Are you a fan of Italian food? If so, then these foods will be great for you. Modern day pasta is made with wheat grains with a lot of its nutrients removed, leaving just the starch behind. This bare starch with hardly any other nutrients in it increases your calorie intake a lot and has the ability to cause you to put on weight. But it is not difficult for you to make and eat replacements for these pasta products, such as the three examples below.
1. Spaghetti squash
Spaghetti squash is a fruit with a stringy inside. It can be cooked in a microwave for about 12 minutes, making a hole in the skin to let the steam escape which feels and tastes like pasta when the strings are tossed on to a plate. You can dress it with pesto sauce, toasted pine nuts, sliced tomatoes and fresh basil bread.
2. Spicy Asian carrot “noodles”
This food has a rich array of flavors, from salty, to sweet, to spicy, all in one dish just like a typical Asian dish. It is made with soy sauce – which adds the salty flavor, Asian chili paste – which adds the spicy flavor, honey or coconut nectar – which is responsible for the sweet taste, carrots – which are responsible for the noodle shape and which add some elements of sweetness, and brown rice vinegar – which adds a little sour taste, and which research has shown can control blood cholesterol and sugar levels and also protect the liver.
3. Bell Pepper Cacio e Pepe
This food helps with weight loss as it contains a very low calorie content of 160 units and a lot of vitamin C that stimulates the body to burn off its fat reserves. The high level of vitamin C also makes this food great for the immune system. It is made with cracked black pepper, Pecorino Romano cheese and yellow or black bell pepper strips (replacing spaghetti usually used to make the pasta version).
Image courtesy of: juliesjazz.com, people.com.
