Comments on: Foodfilter: vegetable substitutes for pasta?

Question: Foodfilter: vegetable substitutes for pasta?

gregb1007 — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:15:42 -0800

Foodfilter: vegetable substitutes for pasta?

As a low carber, I avoid flour and dough-based dishes most of the time, but I still think pasta sauces are great. Are there any vegetables/beans that would be for pouring pasta sauce on?

By: Brittanie

Brittanie — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:18:12 -0800

Spaghetti squash! (a childhood favorite of mine)

By: cobaltnine

cobaltnine — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:23:10 -0800

You could possibly use them in a vegetable bake. Sub sauce where practicable for chopped tomatoes?

I had a swiss-chard and cottage cheese bake recipe that's probably low-carb enough. It basically was 'wrap cottage cheese in lightly cooked swiss chard, bake in a casserole at 350 under tomato, chopped or sauce.' It would have been fine but for blandness: a very flavorful sauce might have helped.

By: melissam

melissam — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:24:16 -0800

Mmmm...zucchini and other types of squash are my favorites. There are so many different kinds and most are very nutritious and have only "good carbs." I sometimes do a bed of zucchini, with a poached egg on top, and then ladle some pasta sauce on that.

By: Daily Alice

Daily Alice — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:24:22 -0800

My first comment: step away from the spaghetti squash. Yes, it looks like spaghetti, but it is weird and crunchy if you're expecting a pasta-like texture.

To my taste, zucchini, broccoli, eggplant, green beans, and mushrooms pair well with tomato-based sauces. With dry beans, I tend to go more for Mexican-style spicing, but there's no reason you can't use Italian-style pasta sauce on them. I would use white beans - navy, Great Northern, or Cannellini.

By: altcountryman

altcountryman — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:28:42 -0800

My wife made this recently, and it was incredible.

By: iconomy

iconomy — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:31:52 -0800

I'm with Brittanie - spaghetti squash is pretty farking good. You just slice it in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and then steam it and then scrape out the strands and put a good marinara on them. Make sure it's thoroughly steamed according to the label - I've never had "crunchy" spaghetti squash. It's orgasmic!

You can also make a great pasta mimic from zucchini. If you have a Saladacco or a Spirooli, you anchor the zucchini on the end and crank it through and it's pared down and spiralized into long, thin spaghetti-like strands. You can steam it, boil it, or eat it as is with sauce on it. You can use any elongated squash instead of zucchini, too. The saladacco makes really thin strands like angel hair while the spirooli makes slightly thicker strands like spaghetti. I have and recommend the spirooli - it's great.

If you like the taste of bitter greens, steamed broccoli rabe with Italian-type sauces on it is HEAVEN.

By: Brittanie

Brittanie — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:32:33 -0800

step away from the spaghetti squash. Yes, it looks like spaghetti, but it is weird and crunchy if you're expecting a pasta-like texture.

Well, it's *not* spaghetti, but if it's cooked long enough it shouldn't be crunchy at all.

By: Brittanie

Brittanie — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:37:20 -0800

Also, one of my favorite types of pasta sauce is filled with big chunks of carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, olives, etc. If it's chunky enough I can easily eat it without the pasta.

By: junesix

junesix — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:40:43 -0800

Eggplant parmesan - leave out the bread crumbs

By: onhazier

onhazier — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:43:21 -0800

Don't forget eggplant. You could try making Eggplant Parmesan without the bread crumbs on the eggplant slices.

By: onhazier

onhazier — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:44:04 -0800

Oops. Should have previewed but was distracted.

By: cabingirl

cabingirl — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:46:53 -0800

Not pasta exactly, but you can do a faux risotto with cauliflower. I have never done so, but some people swear by it.

By: wallaby

wallaby — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:58:14 -0800

nthing spaghetti squash. If you microwave it whole (which is possible) make sure you pierce it many times with a fork. It will explode otherwise.

I made eggplant manicotti one time, substituting thin slices of eggplant for the pasta. It was stuffed with some cottage cheese mixture. It was good but not good enough to make an eggplant eater out of me.

I would happily eat any pasta sauce over a bowl of lightly sauteed white mushrooms. Then again, I just love mushrooms. Also, I think white beans do well with tomato based sauces.

By: thinkingwoman

thinkingwoman — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 19:10:42 -0800

i don't like spaghetti squash with spaghetti sauce, but with butter and/or fruity olive oil, salt, pepper, and grated cheese, it's fantastic.

you could slice ribbons of zucchini and/or eggplant and/or carrots and serve it with sauce. potatoes and canellini beans are also good with sauce (just make pasta e fagioli without the pasta).

not veg, but shredded rotisserie chicken with sauce and cheese would be yummy.

By: thinkingwoman

thinkingwoman — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 19:11:28 -0800

and chickpeas with sauce are good, too.

also, eggs poached in tomato sauce are yummy.

By: pluckysparrow

pluckysparrow — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 19:16:58 -0800

Polenta! Not exactly low carb, but a very small piece, baked with mushrooms, cheese and zuchinni, is surprisingly filling.

By: Webbster

Webbster — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 19:19:41 -0800

you could slice ribbons of zucchini and/or eggplant...

(For our English viewers: courgette and/or aubergine)

By: rxrfrx

rxrfrx — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 19:48:16 -0800

Zucchini/summer squash cut into matchsticks on a mandolin.

By: amtho

amtho — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 20:23:25 -0800

Kale can be good with sauces. I also like it with Italian salad dressing.

Note: cook kale before eating.

By: calumet43

calumet43 — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 20:32:45 -0800

Soy noodles work well with most asian sauces. Italian red sauces usually pair well with cheeses like ricotta. Saute some spinach, pour on a little marina, and sprinkle with ricotta. Mung Bean Pasta is another possibility. Green beans go well with a marinara sauce as do chick peas. Grill an assortment of veggies like, eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, and mushrooms. Fava or gigante beans work with red sauce as do artichoke hearts or a whole steamed artichoke. You will probably get better suggestions if you could be more specific of the type of pasta sauce that you would like to use.

By: eiramazile

eiramazile — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 20:43:28 -0800

If you have a pasta craving you can't quash, try Tofu Shirataki Noodles. They're mostly made up of tofu and yam flour, iirc. I think there's only 20 calories in a serving. I buy mine at Trader Joe's or the local Asian market.

By: web-goddess

web-goddess — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 20:53:00 -0800

Spaghetti Squash seems to be all but unknown overseas. I couldn't find a single grocer in all of Sydney who knew what the hell I was talking about. We went with zucchini, sliced into ribbons and steamed. We just used a peeler to slice it really thin.

By: Lyn Never

Lyn Never — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 21:28:17 -0800

Zucchini, eggplant, and cauliflower are my standards. I don't bother with the thin strips of zucchini; half-circles are satisfyingly shell/rotini-like, sort of.

Shirataki noodles creep me out. Don't do like I did and order a great whopping selection of packages before you decide whether you can stomach them.

By: ikkyu2

ikkyu2 — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 22:39:53 -0800

Occhiblu's broccoli arrabbiata is the best. It is basically broccoli with a spicy tomato sauce on it.

By: 26.2

26.2 — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 23:20:50 -0800

Thinly sliced peppers. Mushrooms. Artichokes.

Yum!

By: RoseovSharon

RoseovSharon — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 23:58:28 -0800

Kelp noodles rule! They don't have much flavor of their own but go great with anything you cook them with. Very low carb, low fat, low calorie, low everything... and lots of fun to eat.

By: letahl

letahl — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 05:30:52 -0800

My grandma buys low-carb pasta and loads it with veggies. She seems happy with it.

By: nebulawindphone

nebulawindphone — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 06:43:34 -0800

Chickpeas are indeed good with tomato sauce. You'll likely want to use canned ones, since dried ones are very slow to cook. Cover them in tomato sauce and bake them in a hot oven for, I dunno, half an hour or so. The best, though, is to bake a few pieces of dark meat chicken in with the chickpeas and sauce. The contrast between the rich-and-smooth meat, the rich-and-grainy beans, and the smooth-and-tangy sauce is wonderful.

By: doctor_negative

doctor_negative — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 07:18:03 -0800

Have tried japanese soba noodles? No fat, no carbs from sugar.

By: caution live frogs

caution live frogs — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 07:36:49 -0800

This may or may not be helpful, but many low-carb diets aim to remove all carbs; such diets are generally not as good for you as those that reduce the consumption of processed carbs: whole grains are actually really good for you, it's the easy-to-digest ones you really want to avoid. If you're able to allow it in the diet (ie, the diet is by choice and not medically necessary, etc.), there are a wide variety of whole-grain pastas, all of which my wife and I like better than the "regular" stuff. You'll still be reducing "bad" carbs, but with the added benefit of more fiber in your diet (less colon cancer!) and you can still have pasta now and then.

By: socrateaser

socrateaser — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 08:41:20 -0800

Seconding the Shirataki noodles. The key is to rinse them very well in hot water, then dry well. You can also put them in boiling water for a couple of minutes. Hungry Girl has substitutes for pasta, including Shirataki noodles, and bean sprouts. The recipe for Fettuccine Hungry Girlfredo made with Shirataki noodles is pretty tasty.

By: melissam

melissam — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 21:35:01 -0800

Little late, but saw this today:
http://www.slashfood.com/2007/09/05/zucchini-spaghetti/