Posted on March 07, 2017 by Kate Halsall
It seems that these days we’re all looking for a low carb alternative for our meals. Courgetti, butternut squash noodles, cauliflower rice..you name it, we’re trying it! A client of mine put me onto black bean spaghetti – and I’m hooked!! Best of all you can buy it from supermarkets which have good “free from sections”.
Don’t get me wrong – I was not keen at first. It’s black for a start, which would normally put me off eating something. But here’s the nutritional contents for you: Per 100g (the bag contains 200g):
- Ingredients: Black Beans 100%
- 336 cals
- Fat 4.5g (of which saturates – 0.9g)
- 17.8g Carbohydrates
- Protein 45.1g!!
Ok ok – so it’s a little calorific (although trust me, one portion is much less than 100g!), but then a portion of black beans is normally around 120cals. But look at the carbohydrate and protein amount! In 100g of rice there is 25.1g of carbs and 2.7g protein; in 100g of cous cous there is 29.7g of carbs and 7.0g of protein, and in 100g of egg noodles there’s 43.8g of carbs and 7.5g protein. It’s eye opening really when you start to look at the nutritional content of your food!
So what do you have it with? Well so far I’ve had it with pesto and veg, and last night I had it with home made mixed bean chilli. It takes 5-6 minutes to cook so it’s brilliant when you just want something quick. Even better, there are other brands and other types of “bean” spaghetti. There’s soy bean, edamame bean and edamame & mung bean varieties. Better still, there’s now a number of website which contain recipes so that you know what to do with your new type of spaghetti: http://www.explorecuisine.com/blog/en/recipe/
And if this hasn’t convinced you to try something new, you need to keep in mind that these high protein, high fibre beans contain lots of iron, calcium and antioxidents – they are great for you!
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=2
http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/eating-black-beans-good-you-3605.html