Easy and Light Dinner – Thanks to Wildwoods

The other day I came home to a big box with the word, “perishable” marked on it.  Well, we all know what that means…food!  I was the lucky recipient of a few Wildwood products to review. 

I received a couple of their soyogurts, one plain, and one plain, but with probiotics added.  The other samples were of their Pasta Slim, a low calorie, wheat free, gluten free alternative for pasta.  Not only that, it has only 20 calories per serving!  My mind was immediately racing at the score this would be for someone with diabetes watching their carbohydrate intake.  Then, I saw that it was also gluten free and thought it would be great for people that suffer celiac disease, which is an intolerance to gluten.  BUT, that’s all great in theory, really, it still has to taste good. 

I decided to give the fettuccine noodles a whirl first.  One thing I learned with the tofu shiratake noodles, is to drain them well, rinse, drain, and dry.  This is easily done with a colander over the sink in a couple minutes.  The beauty is that they only needed to be warmed in the microwave after that.  Here is what I got out of one bag of the fettuccine.  (2 servings)

I tasted a noodle plain, and it did not have any funny taste or smell (like the shiratake noodles do.) It had a bit of a slippery texture, but not in a bad way.  I did a shrimp in wine sauce for topping and it turned out delicious. 

Shrimp in Wine Sauce (serves 2)

1/4 onion, sliced

1/2 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup-2/3 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup broth (chicken, seafood, or veggie)

2-3 oz goat cheese

1 tsp fresh tarragon

1 tomato, diced

1/2 lb peeled and deveined shrimp

salt and pepper to taste

Sautee onion in a bit of EVOO until starting to soften.  Add mushrooms and wine and broth.  Let simmer about 5 minutes, or until sauce reduces a bit, then add the shrimp.  Cook a few minutes and then add fresh tomato, tarragon, and salt and pepper.  (We also threw in a handful of fresh spinach.)  Sprinkle generously with goat cheese and serve over the Pasta Slim.

 

I was curious as to what Scott’s reaction would be.  Being half Italian, and having a grandmother that made homemade pasta, I was skeptical of his acceptance to this.  So what did he think?  He really enjoyed it.  He said he probably wouldn’t have given it a second thought if I hadn’t mentioned that it was not real pasta.  I liked that I didn’t feel heavy and weighed down like I sometimes do after a big pasta meal.  I didn’t feel guilty about having dessert after dinner either.  (OK, who am I kidding, I never feel guilty about eating dessert.) 

Would I buy it this in the store?  ABSOLUTELY.  It is healthy, and a lot quicker and easier than boiling a pot of pasta.  Thanks again Wildwood!  Next up I will try the spaghetti noodles.  I’m thinking of a peanutty noodle type recipe.  Stay tuned!