I haven't eaten pasta in quite some time because it makes me feel bloated. I supposed it was the glutens in it, so when I came across something claiming to be "Gluten Free Spaghetti" made of rice and flax, I was, "eh, let me try it."
And the verdict is... ugh. This is some *nasty* tasting stuff. Didn't taste like spaghetti at all. The only thing that made it even passably edible was the nice marinari-based sauce I put on it, that had garlic and bellpepper and onion and a touch of red pepper aside from the tomato and had some spicy Portuguese sausage in it in little chunks too. Nice sausage. Nice sauce. Nasty spaghetti.
Hmm, I wonder... I can get rice noodles at the local Asian groceries. I have this nice sauce. You think?
Oh yeah, regarding the gluten-free part, seems to have done the trick. Definitely didn't end up feeling bloated after eating this "spaghetti". Hmm...
-- Badtux the Culinary Penguin
Absolutely try the sauce on rice noodles. Try it on soba noodles, too.
ReplyDeleteI tried Woodchuck Hard Cider due to the gluten free label, and now it is my alcohol beverage of choice. I've been thinking of looking for a cookbook on gluten free dishes - would you have one to recommend?
ReplyDeleteThere are various gluten free pastas out there. The rice ones tend to be sticky and sort of tasteless. The corn based and those with somewhat exotic grains like amaranth generally taste better and have a better consistency.
ReplyDeleteJust eat smaller servings and save some money.
ReplyDeleteI was just in LA visiting a childhood friend who wanted to try out this Detroit Coney place near her apartment. She ordered a *vegan* coney and I was all like, "The only way that could be more California would be if they served it on a gluten free bun" :)
ReplyDeleteBBC -
ReplyDeleteClassic. A serving of pasta costs - what - about 35 cents?
Lynne -
Judging from the pic at the link, it is a very Detroit-style looking dog. If you're ever here in the Detroit area, the Senate is the best.
Great gyros and chicken-lemon-rice soup, too. Had dinner there just tonight. The small Greek Salad is seriously HUGE!!!
Cheers!
JzB
I find myself in the Detroit area pretty much all of the time :) (I live in Ypsilanti) I think that Senate place is one that is a favorite of a friend of mine in Livonia but I am not sure. If it is, I'm sure I'll end up there eventually since he and I share such a fondness for Opa! cheese.
ReplyDeleteHere is a Detroit Coney Dog story for you. While looking at the pictures on the wall at the place in LA, I realized that I have never once been to American Coney Island. Every time I have been down there to get a coney dog, I've always gone to Lafayette because that is where my folks always used to go and where my friends always go. I asked my Dad about it and he said that I wasn't missing anything because they are exactly the same. haha. I've kind of decided that the next time I go down there, I'll make a point of trying out American. I guess if it is just like Lafayette, I wont be disappointed.
Are sure you have a gluten problem? Or do you just eat to many carbs too late?
ReplyDeleteWell, DK, the rice-flax pasta had plenty of carbs, but the feeling after I ate it was just of being full, not bloated. So maybe there's something to the notion that I might be gluten-sensitive, but I'd have to experiment to see if it actually is true.
ReplyDeleteLabrys, I'll look for something corn-based.
Karen, time for a trip to the Asian grocery I guess.
For you guys talking about hot dogs, those things are nasty. Which is why I only eat them when I'm camping out and toasting the weiners over an open fire on a big ole' fork ;).
BT, everyone knows that the best hot dogs are the ones with natural casings. I wouldn't be surprised if your Portugese sausage had natural casings as high quality sausages often do. It doesn't get much more nasty or delicious than stuffing lips and a-holes into a poop chute. ;)
DeleteFrom the time I was 5 years old to when I left for college and they retired there, my parents and I (myself not always willingly) commuted from our San Francisco Bay Area home to a rural cottage in California's Central Valley, where Dad could grow a big garden, Mom could go fishing, and so forth. Occasionally we stopped in some Livermore Valley town (I never quite knew where) at a tiny, family-owned Italian deli, and bought the most wonderful ravioli you could possibly imagine. This was back in the 1960s and 1970s; to this day I have not tasted ravioli as good. It would definitely be worth getting bloated for.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, try the soba noodles in particular; I've never met a sauce on soba that I didn't like. Safeway carries them in Silicon Valley.
Karen, I wish you could remember where that deli was. I love ravioli. :) Besides, my recent trip to California has me convinced that if they are still around, they are probably also selling a gluten free version of it :) I bought some fabulous gluten free cheese bread things last Saturday at a farmers market in Sebastopol. I eat gluten but those were really good and better than many wheat breads I have had. If there is one thing you can say about California, the food is good.
ReplyDeleteTry some Tinkyada gluten free pasta. It's the best I've tried so far.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Marc, Woodchuck Hard Cider is great! Does your store carry the seasonal specials? I've got Spring & Summer in the frig right now. Tasty. Your library should have a selection of GF cookbooks to try. But many vegetarian or East Indian recipes can be adapted to GF fairly easily.
BadTux, for a real treat, find yourself some Amy's GF burritos and wraps. For that matter, any of Amy's GF foods are great.
Jazzbumpa: the down side to going gluten free? The cost. Gluten free foods are usually quite a bit more than the nonGF varieties. Although they are getting to be more 'mainstream'. General Mills offers a half dozen varieties of GF rice and corn chex cereals that are almost cheap!
Susan, I don't know if my store carries the seasonal stuff, but there is a BevMo! nearby I can check. I've just recently been introduced to the idea of GF food, and I was fishing for a specific title or author recommendation, but I'll give my dead tree building a look see - gotta start somewhere.
ReplyDeleteWow, some great suggestions for gluten-free stuff here :). For the record, I'm going to try a week or so of gluten free to see whether it makes any difference, but I'm sort of skeptical. Unless I eat something high-gluten, like pasta, it doesn't seem to affect me any as far as I can tell.
ReplyDeleteMarc:
ReplyDeleteI suggest the library first because there are so many types and styles of GF cookbooks: and like the GF foods, they're not cheap. So go to Amazon, search for gluten free cookbooks, then take that list to the library. Check out a few to see which ones have ingredients you can find and have recipes that suit your lifestyle and degree of cooking comfort. Then go back to Amazon and buy those ones.
And google "gluten free recipe blogs" for more free ideas and leads to their favorite cokbooks. Two to try are:
http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/
& http://www.elanaspantry.com/
For supplies: check out Bob's Red Mill, and search their gluten free selection.
BadTux: it might take more than a week: and you do have to be careful of 'hidden' gluten. Things like 'modified food starch'. Go to www.celiac.com for more info on safe ingredients. Once you start looking, you find wheat added to the strangest things (as modified food starch).
The great news is, you can eat all the fresh fruit and veggies you want, with no problem, and all the rice you want. But make the switch to brown rice, it's healthier. And then store your brown rice in the fridge or freezer (the natural oils will decay if you keep it in the pantry, which is why most brown rice you buy at the grocery store has an 'off' taste to it. It's been sitting too long on the shelf.
And hey, Marc, don't go knocking the local public library. Two points: what's worse: cutting some [renewable] trees to make paper to print books; or the manufacture of an e-reader, using [non-renewable] plastics, rare earth minerals and electric power that might be generated by a coal powered plant?
ReplyDeleteAnd never lose sight of the truth of the library: books that anyone can read, free. Can you just imagine, if libraries didn't already exist, trying to get them established now? The cries of outrage from publishers and authors: 'you want to buy one copy of the book and then lend it to thousands? What, are you crazy?'
e-books may give you thousands of books in one small case. But can you give them to someone else when you're done? And then get it back when they're done, or pass it on to another friend? Only in rare cases can you lend them once. So, do you really own the book, or are you just leasing it from the seller?
And you can't press a flower between the pages of a kindle book, or use that very special bookmark. And you can't write in the margins! [you can add notes, I know, but it's not as easy as that penciled note. And not as personal.]