by Alison Landolt
Living gluten-free means I do a lot of recipe searches. I love it when a website has the option to filter by GF recipes. I hate when that “GF” recipe is for a cake/pasta/bread/whatever and the GF part of the recipe is:
“Well, I used a wheat product, but you can just sub with your fav GF product to magically eliminate the gluten!”
Like, thank you, but that’s not a gluten-free recipe, and I don’t have a favorite because they’re all terrible.
So, on today’s installment of #FeedMeFriday, I’m going to take a non-GF recipe and tell you to sub in a GF item to magically make it GF. BUT unlike those monsters, we’re talking specifics. We’re talking quinoa pasta.
A while back, I went to a GF, dairy-free, sugar-free, everything-free-except-the-price-tag restaurant with some friends. The cheapest thing on the menu was an $18 plate of quinoa spaghetti with, like, flowers and leaves on it. I’m not made of money, so that’s what I got. It was FANTASTIC. It was the real deal “who even needs wheat?” kind of good. This set me on the hunt for quinoa spaghetti to make at home.
Andean Dream quinoa pasta is, well, a dream. Five dollars will only get you an 8 oz box of it at Whole Foods. (*cough* that’s $10/pound!) And it is worth it. This is not a sponsored post, but I wish it were because then I wouldn’t have to shell out so much for the good stuff. Seriously, it’s the perfect GF pasta.
If you find yourself with a pasta craving, I highly suggest you make this Brothy Pasta with Chickpeas using whichever small Andean Dream quinoa pasta shape makes you happy.
It's healthier than a full plate of spaghetti, and the chickpeas give a nice protein and fiber source to balance out the pasta carbs. Plus, you can cut the pasta down to 3-4 oz (weight). Trust me, 6 oz is a bit much.
Recipe Notes: 1. Use organic GF vegetable broth instead of water. It’s more flavorful that way. 2. Skip the parm if you are DF. It is good enough without it.
Alison Landolt is an EFHou founder.