Skinny Pasta- Simple and Delicious!

Sometimes you just want a great big bowl of pasta.    With bikini season right around the corner, do you exercise portion control and eat half serving?  Do you ignore your craving and have another salad?  Or . . . do you try shirataki pasta?  Shirataki has a firmer texture than wheat based pastas.  It also has a strong odor that requires the pasta to be rinsed before using.  But if you can create a recipe that works with shirataki’s unusual texture and flavor, you may just be able to have keep your figure and eat pasta too!

For this dish we started at the local farmer's market, where we found asparagus and mushrooms fresh from the garden.  We sauteed these with onions and garlic, and then infused the whole dish with a rich sauce made with miso and sherry.  Top it off with a bit of fresh rosemary and thyme and you have a dish that will keep your taste buds happy (and your waste-line slim!) 

Shirataki Pasta with Seared Asparagus

Serves: 2

Shirataki Pasta with Seared Asparagus, Mushrooms, Rosemary and Thyme

Ingredients:

·      ¼ cup Sherry

·      1 ½ tablespoons Miso

·      1 tablespoon Lemon Juice

·      1 tablespoon Agave

·      1 package shirataki noodles, such as Nasoya

·      ½ onion, julienned in ¼ in slices

·      ½ pound asparagus (~12 spears), ends snapped off, cut along bias in 2 inch pieces

·      6 oz button mushrooms (~12 small to medium), ¼ inch slices

·      2 large cloves garlic, very thin slices

·      1 sprig rosemary, removed from stalk, chopped finely

·      1 sprig thyme Leaves, removed from stalk, chopped finely (plus extra for garnish)

Sauteed Onions, Garlic, Mushrooms

Method:

1. Blend miso, olive oil, sherry, lemon, agave in blender 
2. Rinse shirataki multiple times then place in pot of boiling water 
3. In 12 inch skillet, either spray with pam or coat with oil and heat to medium-low, add onion and sautee until starting to brown (about 7 minutes) 
4. Add garlic, turn heat to low and cook until garlic just starting to brown (about 3 minutes, be careful not to burn garlic!) 
5. Add mushrooms, cook until juice from mushrooms has been released into pan and then cooked out so that pan is again dry (about 5-8 minutes)
6.  Drain water from shirataki and allow noodles to cook on low heat to boil off remaining water 
7. Push mushrooms and onions to side of pan, add asparagus.  Turn heat to medium high and cook for 4 minutes, without stirring, until underside browns
8. Add shirataki and blended miso mixture, cook until miso mixture darkens and reduces
   

   

   Nutrition Facts (Recipe yields 2 bowls):
   Shirataki Pasta with Seared Asparagus

  ~Grace