Playing with my food!

1-30-2014                                                                                                                          

My first recipe post!

Finding new ingredients is always a joy. I recently came across a new line of pasta’s from“Explore-Asian Authentic Cuisine” that are made from several varieties of beans. I received a Mung Bean Fettuccine, Black Bean Spaghetti, Adzuki Bean Spaghetti, and Soy Bean Spaghetti. All the pastas are 92% bean and 8% water. Simply said, the pastas are organic, gluten free, vegan, and kosher. The noodles have vibrant colors that naturally match their bean variety. The pasta packs in 25g of protein and 11g of fiber. I found the texture to be better than most of the gluten free pastas that I have tried. They are still delicate when cooked but do not have gummy texture commonly found in other noodles. When I cooked the pasta I noticed the package called for a 7 minute cook time, this didn’t seem right. I decided to check the pasta every minute and note the texture while it was cooking. I reached the desired al’ dente texture at about 3 minutes and 30 seconds. The 7 minute cook time would have resulted in mush. My first pasta choice was the Mung Bean; it has a really cool texture and great color. There are actually little dimples in the pasta that resemble the outer shell of a Mung bean. As I mentioned earlier the pastas are made by “Explore-Asian”, but don’t let the name tell you what direction to take when preparing meals. I took the Italian route with the green pasta and I was happy with the results in texture, taste, and appearance. I made a traditional Caprese salad of fresh Mozzarella, grape tomatoes, basil, olive oil, and Balsamic vinegar then blended it with the pasta.

My original idea was to keep this site simple and here I start with an obscure new pasta, and not even sure where it is available, well I know Amazon has it. The good news is that I’ll link us to the manufacturers’ page and we can learn where to get the product. If you can’t find the pasta you can substitute another gluten free variety, or try using quinoa. It was an easy meal to prepare and those who sampled it were impressed, nice!

The recipe:
Caprese Salad with Mung Bean Fettuccine
Serves 4 as an entrée

7 oz package Explore-Asian Mung Bean Fettucine

12 oz container fresh   Mozzarella, diced

1 pt of grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup micro basil

2 oz Annies Naturals Balsamic dressing

Season with salt and pepper

Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil and add fettucine. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain pasta and rinse under cold water. Place pasta in large bowl and add tomatoes, mozarella and 1/2 of the basil. Add dressing, salt, pepper, and gently mix. I use my clean hands. Place salad on serving platter and garnish with remaining micro basil.                            
*Regular basil can be substituted for micro basil.

 

 

http://www.explore-asian.com/