Sunday, May 15, 2011

Sprouted Pasta Dish, 5 WW Points Plus, 310 Calories



Sprouted Whole Wheat Pasta Dish

So, I have been working on making healthy sauces lately. I have also been taking classes to get a degree in nutrition, hence the scarse posts!  So, back to the sauces.  I am sure that my ideas are not super original, but I am enjoying making them be a realistic part of my recipe collection.

So, here is the recipe for today's experiment:

Ingredients:

1 serving of 100% Whole Grain Sprouted Flour pasta (57g uncooked)
1 Tbsp. Freshly Grated Parmesan
1/4 c. Skim Milk
1 c. Pureed Yellow Squash
1/2 Tbsp. Hemp Hearts
1 + Tbsp. Minced Fresh Tarragon
salt and white pepper to taste (easy on the salt b/c the parmesan is naturally salty)

Directions:

Make the pasta as indicated (cooks very quickly)
Combine milk, half of the parmesan, half of the tarragon, and the squash in a pot 
to warm up and cook together
Add fresh pasta to warmed sauce
Put it on a plate and sprinkle with the rest of the tarragon, salt, pepper, and the rest of the parmesan

Eat.

Ok, here are the nutritional facts about this dish. Click on graphic to enlarge.


I used this particular pasta, although I hear that Trader Joe's also makes a comparable pasta.


Here are the hemp hearts that I used:


Hemp hearts are a new addition to my pantry.  They are high in iron, and healthy fat and protein.  
If you want to check them out, go to this site:

hemphearts.com

The nutrient breakdown for 5 Tablespoons is this:

Calories: 340
Fat: 28 g
Saturated: 3 g
Cholesterol: 0 g
Sodium: 0 g
Carbohydrates: 4 g
Fiber: 2 g
Sugars: 1 g
Protein: 17 g
Calcium: 4% DRI
Iron: 60% DRI

There is a lot of information on this site, some of which I think sounds hokey, but I do like the nutritional qualities.

The pasta I used is supposedly digested in a manner similar to vegetables.  You can read more about that on this site:

http://www.essentialeating.com/products.asp

Overall, I liked this pasta dish.  It wasn't amazingly filling.  If you want to make it more filling you could add more vegetables, or more hemp hearts at 2 pts. per tablespoon, about a 68 calorie increase from what I posted.  If I had some nice ripe tomatoes, I would have diced them and added them because they would have perfected this dish!!!

Yellow squash is wonderful.  It tastes incredible and has a great texture when pureed.  It is also one of the easier vegetables to cook and puree b/c you don't need to add water to puree it and you don't need to peal it.  
Just wash it, cut it up, boil it, let it cool, put it in the blender and blend.  You don't need a very high power blender to do this and this puree is amazingly versatile.  Yellow squash is not very expensive either, especially when it is in season.  You can puree it, freeze it in cubes and use it later, like I just did!

Notes on Tarragon:


Medicinal value of tarragon

Tarragon is mainly used to treat stomach disorders and also acts as a mild anaesthetic and sedative. Tarragon is also said to:
  • Stimulate the appetite and therefore can help treat eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.
  • Numb aches and pains due to its anaesthetic properties.
  • Act as a mild sedative and sleep inducement.
  • Treat hyperactivity and promote calmness, especially when taken as a tea.
  • Aid digestion, particularly the break down of meat fats and proteins.
  • Release and flush out toxins from the body.
  • Relieve stomach cramps, indigestion, wind and colic in babies.
  • Ease menstrual pains.
  • Alleviate rheumatoid and arthritic pain.
  • Act as a laxative and relieve constipation.
  • Help depression if taken with fennel.
  • Help people with heart problems and obesity if taken as a substitute for salt.
According to: http://www.helpwithcooking.com/herb-guide/tarragon.html


Notes on Yellow squash (click on graphic to enlarge):

according to: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=62


1 comment:

  1. Thank you for the tutorial and for the feature on these products. I'm eager to look for them on my next shopping trip, especially the hemp hearts. I've never heard of them. Thanks for the introduction!

    ReplyDelete