Ugh. Now that we’ve turned the clocks back, it will be dark by 4:30pm. I don’t know about you, but long hours of darkness and cold make me want to eat lots of piping-hot comfort food. Pasta is definitely in my top 5 comfort foods, but it’s really difficult to work in when cutting weight for a contest, or even just trying to lose a couple extra pounds before seeing your family for the holidays.
Luckily, we have a couple of really good options for meeting our pasta needs without breaking our diet. Here are two of my favorites:
TRADER JOE’S BLACK BEAN ROTINI
Our very own strong momma, Natascha Karlova, shared this awesome product with me a few months ago. It’s a fantastically high fiber rotini pasta made with only black beans. An awesome gluten-free pasta option for those of you with allergies.
A serving size is ¾ of a cup dry and packs in 15 grams of fiber and 14 grams of protein. It will cost you 35 grams of carbs, which is about 10 grams under traditional pasta on average, but you get the added benefit of the protein and fiber.
The overall taste and texture is very good, but it does have a definite black bean taste. This pasta would be great in a soup or casserole that would complement the bean taste.
ISOPASTA BY ISOLATOR FITNESS
First, let me start out by saying that this option is NOT gluten-free. It also contains soy, milk, and eggs. I will note, however, that I have a soy allergy and this pasta does not bother me at all. Now, on to the good stuff…
ISOPasta packs in an unbelievable 30 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber and only 11 grams of carbs – all for roughly the same serving size as the black bean pasta. And it actually tastes more or less like traditional pasta, which makes it a great vessel for getting sauce and cheese into your mouth.
Typically, when ISOPasta is my dinner meal plan for the week I will mix up how I prepare it. Tomato sauce with parmesan and a hefty serving of broccoli help fill out the pasta into a satisfying meal. We have also made a pretty tasty cheese sauce with 2{885586236f5820200058e61f9e2fcec1023d525f8b1a6e4e5a4fd7f3c0d65acb} cheese and fat-free half and half. But, my favorite way to enjoy this pasta is with garlic, parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs and just enough olive oil to get it all to stick to the pasta. (I like to use garlic infused olive oil and Italian seasoned breadcrumbs just to make preparation easier). Broccoli mixes well in this dish as also, but I generally prefer a can of green beans.
Now, go enjoy some healthy pasta dishes. I’m looking forward to seeing your recipes!The opinions expressed in this article are my own and do not represent the opinions of Jimmy McCurry or Progrssive Performance, LLC. All products were purchased on my own and I received no compensation from any of the companie mentioned here.
The opinions expressed in this article are my own and do not represent the opinions of Jimmy McCurry or Progressive Performance, LLC. All products were purchased on my own and I received no compensation from any of the companies mentioned here.
