Zero Calorie Food!

Well, almost.

I was recently killing time in Selfridges in the Trafford Centre and I found the health food section (oh no). And it's pretty incredible. A great gluten free selection of pasta, bread, granola (maple pecan, passionfruit pistachio, mango macadamia...heaven) packet mixes and bits and pieces, along with a sports nutrition bit with protein supplements and a diet food bit. Which is where I found ZERO CALORIE noodles, rice and pasta. That's right. You may have heard of them before, but they're fairly hard to find. The noodles are made from Glucomannan fibre and the pasta is made from Moyu. I do not know what these things are and I am too scared to find out but I haven't read anything bad about them so I am assuming that they are healthy for human consumption. Here are the websites if you want to have a little look before you spend your money on these (they are expensive, obviously) : http://www.zeronoodles.com/about.asp?sid= http://www.slimpasta.co.uk/index.html. They are suitable for all dietary requirements, including gluten free and vegan, so they are obviously a great choice for Tom and I.

Now, as I wasn't sure what they would be like, I didn't waste my time making nice recipes to go with these bizarre things. I wouldn't be happy if I wasted an evening making a nice teriyaki sauce for it to go in the bin because my noodles were gross. So I cheated and used a Blue Dragon packet teriyaki sauce (which was a teeeny bit bland but fine) with the noodles and a Lloyd Grossman sweet red pepper and tomato pasta sauce (which is really nice).

To cook both the noodles and the pasta, you open the packet and drain the fluid off. At this point, do not smell it. It smells gross. Sorry. But once you drain and rinse the pasta/noodles, its completely taste and odorless. So drain, rinse and then boil for about 3-5 minutes. Then rinse again and leave to the side whilst you prepare your sauce.

 The noodles whilst cooking. They came out with a fairly normal noodle texture and just absorbed the taste of the sauce.

 Sorry, got a little excited and ripped the packet open before I took a picture.

For the noodles, I fried some courgette, mushrooms, mangetout and green pepper in coconut oil and teriyaki sauce and added prawns. For the pasta, I went for courgette and mushrooms with olive oil, with chicken added. I added a little paprika to the sauce too.

 Teriyaki Prawn Zero Noodles

Mediterranean Vegetable and Chicken Slim Pasta

The pasta was a slightly more unusual texture than the noodles, and I think in future I would stick to the noodles as they were both nicer and cheaper. Amazingly, these were both ridiculously filling. Obviously unless you eat them completely plain there will be calories in your meal (for mine, there was 176 in the pasta meal and 180 in the noodles) but this is significantly less than normal carbs. 

The verdict on these products? I like them, but I am a student and thus they will not become part of my weekly shop. I might buy them occassionally but they are expensive (in Selfridges, £1.89 for noodles and £2.99 for the pasta). However, they were fun to try out. They are probably not a great idea if you're exercising a lot because you do actually need carbs to replenish your body afterwards, but if you're pretty sedentary and on a diet (and rich) then definitely give them a go. I also still have slim rice to try which I haven't got round to yet. And Tom has some zero noodles too so hopefully he will add a nice recipe too. 

Let us know if you have any recipes using zero cal carbs!

Spicy Garlic and Lime Prawns

Just Jess here today! Tom is busy being a student.

Sadly (or not), this recipe isn't vegan. I love seafood and will apologise to nobody for this. It is however, gluten free, easy to make and really versatile. The ingredients I used made enough for two - I ate half fresh with gluten free spaghetti and kept half overnight in the fridge to eat the next day with salad. I imagine it would also work well with any other type of pasta, rice, potatoes, veggies, anything you fancy.If cooking for more people, just double the ingredients up.

Ingredients
1 lime, zest and juice
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 chilli pepper (I used a small red one), chopped
A drop of olive oil
100g king prawns
1/2 tin/carton passata (or chopped tomatoes, up to you)
1/2 pack (or about 10) closed cup mushrooms, chopped
1/2 courgette, sliced
Paprika and italian herbs to season

First, add half the lime juice to the prawns to marinate for a while. I just left it whilst I was chopping the veg but you could leave it longer.

Fry the chopped chilli and garlic in the pan and add around 1/4 of the lime zest. After a couple of minutes, add the mushrooms. When the mushrooms are softening, add the courgette. Fry until softened, then add the prawns and another 1/4 of zest. Fry the prawns with the veg for a couple of minutes, then add the passata/tomatoes, the remaining lime juice and zest. Cook for a few minutes until it starts to bubble a bit, then add the paprika and herbs. Cook for another 3-5 minutes. And serve.

Simple. I also added sweetcorn to the recipe, adding with the passata, but this is just a preference (and I had corn to use up...). If you like onion, fry one with the garlic and chilli. I'm weird and only cook onions with red meat. But again, just a preference. Oh yeah, and when I say italian herbs, I mean I literally used a couple of teaspoons of 'herbs italienne' that I bought in a French supermarket earlier in the year. Basil and oregano are probably what that means.