Comparison: Whole Grain Pastas

Last September, in an effort to lose some weight and at a suggestion from my doctor, I decided I was going to attempt the "Atkins" diet, in which one starts off at no more than 20 carbs (not including fiber) per day, and then gradually adds "healthy" carbs back in. I didn't want to try this diet change approach, but my grandpa on my mother's side (from whom I have inherited my body type) had relatively good success with the Atkins approach so I figured I would give it a try.

Within a couple of days, I found myself having terrible cravings for all manner of items I wasn't "allowed" to have. In addition to this, I was very irritable and moody, lethargic, and had sprouted a horrible headache. It was plain to me that the Atkins approach might not have been the best idea for me to attempt; even more so since I had just started my costume business and Halloween was approaching, so it was a very busy time for me.

I basically quit the Atkins diet after a little less than a week; I needed my ability to focus and I needed my energy. I didn't have time to wait out the lethargy (which, I've been told, gets better as your body adjusts) because I had so much work to do, and only a month or so in which to do it. I learned a lot from my researching, though, and I vowed to attempt a "backwards-Atkins" style diet change. I would start removing simple carbs from my diet - using brown rice instead of white, for example, or only buying healthy cereals, not the sugary stuff - and that's kind of what's led me to the eradication of enriched flour from my diet today.

One of the items I really lamented "losing" in my Atkins attempt was pasta. Pasta is one of my staples at home; if I don't feel like making anything complex for dinner, I will make some spaghetti, or mac-n-cheese, or cook some chicken breasts, cut up some tomatoes, bake it with some rotini, and some cheese on top. I serve my stews and soups over pasta to make it more filling. Pasta is such a versatile food, so I didn't want to cut it out of my diet when I ditched the enriched flour.

About a year or so ago, my husband and I had tried Ronzoni's "Healthy Harvest" spaghetti, and weren't exactly fans. We figured some time would be needed for pasta manufacturers to get it right and release some of the good stuff. In all honesty, the Healthy Harvest had too much of a gritty texture, and too much of a "brown" flavor, that was not able to be covered up by pasta sauce.

Good For You, but Not Tasty.

I'm sure that this pasta would have been usable in certain culinary situations, but I just never came up with one, and so we didn't even finish the box, we just got rid of it. It sat around in our pantry not being used, because we just didn't care for the flavor. Come to find out, upon inspecting the ingredients list, this pasta has flax seed meal added to its ingredients, which likely gave it the unfavorable flavor. Keeping the ingredients simpler is better, when it comes to pasta; the added fiber and omega 3's are probably nice, but if I'm looking for that I'll get it in my cereal in the morning, thanks.

I was hesitant, then, to try any whole grain pastas after choosing to eliminate enriched flour from my diet. As my diet was starting the day after returning from a trip to Atlanta - the location of our nearest Trader Joe's, unfortunately - I checked their pastas and found both spaghetti and rotini whose only ingredient was "Organic Whole Durum Wheat Flour." Perfect!! This pasta - both spaghetti and rotini - was actually quite delicious, and lasted a lot longer than pastas normally do, because of the whole grains being so filling in comparison.

Great, so now I've found a pasta I love, and one that fits my requirements, but it's a six-hour drive to get the stuff. Now what do I do?

I inspected the shelves of Publix, my local grocery store, and found there are actually a few whole grain options for pastas available. One of them was Mueller's pasta, a brand I know I already liked, and their ingredients list read the same as Trader Joe's: nothing but whole durum wheat flour. Fantastic!

This one was pretty tasty!

Actually, the flavor of this pasta is pretty darn close to the taste of "regular" pasta made with enriched flour. The only difference in this, as well as the Trader Joe's pasta, is that the texture is ever-so-slightly "grittier" than usual, but this is very easily ignored, especially if the pasta is cooked properly.

Okay, so I've solved the problem of the pastas that I love so much.... all except one. What to do about Mac-n-Cheese?

Annie's Homegrown to the rescue!

Our grocery store also carries "Annie's Homegrown" organic foods, among which are several pasta varieties. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any of the whole grain pastas at Publix, but I did find the White Cheddar shells at my local Target. We gave it a try last night, and it wasn't too bad! You make it a little differently from the Kraft stuff (mix the cheese sauce separate from the pasta, and then you pour it in) but it wasn't too bad, and the price was pretty reasonable too. Again, the flavor was just fine as the whole grain flour was the only ingredient used in the pasta, and by now, after having converted to whole grain pastas, I don't even notice the slightly rougher texture of the flour used.

One benefit to eating whole grain pastas instead of the usual stuff made with enriched flour is that you are getting a good bit more fiber in your diet. The manufacturers don't have to add fiber or other ingredients to bring up the fiber content; you get a good bit of that directly from the whole wheat.