Product Review | Explore Cuisine Pasta Alternatives

FSM Media was provided with the product in this post to review and offer an honest opinion.

Pasta, the ultimate comfort food but for some, like myself, traditional pasta is a no-go due to health restrictions. In my case, celiac disease. That’s why I get extremely happy when companies contact me to try pasta alternatives like the black bean pasta and green lentil pasta from Explore Cuisine.

About Explore Cuisine:

Explore Cuisine is a health-minded food brand dedicated to innovative cooking using organic ingredients of the highest quality. Explore Cuisine integrates beans, peas, lentils and rice to provide you and your family nourishing meals which are easy, quick, colorful and simply delicious!
Explore Cuisine offers consumers affordable food by buying ingredients direct from the farmer and producing right next to the fields. Explore Cuisine is committed to fair trade and sustainable living, so that everyone benefits along the way – from the field to your home.
2% of all proceeds support the Food to Thrive Foundation. For more info, please see foodtothrivefoundation.org.

First I tried the Black Bean spaghetti made from 100% black beans. You can’t get any more natural than that and it packs 50% of your daily fiber intake. I love black beans so I figured this would be a winner and I was right.

The noodles are thin like angel hair pasta so they only take 6-8 minutes or so to cook. Drain like normal and serve.

I made a shrimp dish using the black bean spaghetti and it was delicious. You can definitely taste the black beans, so if you are a fan, you will love this pasta.

I also paired it with squash noodles and tomato sauce the next night. I definitely loved the flavor but also the bite of the pasta made me feel like I wasn’t missing out.

The Black Bean Spaghetti is organic, non-GMO and gluten-free. Check out the nutrition label:

You can also purchase Adzuki Bean Spaghetti, Organic Edamame and Mung Bean Fettuccine, Edamame Spaghetti and Organic Soybean Spaghetti.

Next, I tried a product from Explore Cuisine’s newest collection of pasta, Pulse Pastas, which are made from organic lentils and chickpeas. I was sent the Green Lentil Pasta which contains the following:

ORGANIC GREEN LENTIL FLOUR (60%)
ORGANIC GREEN PEA FLOUR
ORGANIC BROWN RICE FLOUR

You cook the green lentil pasta 7-9 minutes, to get your desired consistency. I found them to be very soft after the 9 minutes, so you may want to adjust cooking time for a more al dente texture. Again, you can taste the lentils, but it’s more subtle. Because it is made from lentils it packs in 13 grams of protein, low in saturated fat and high in potassium and folate, organic and gluten-free.

I just served it with a little butter and fresh grated parmesan.

Explore Cuisine Pulse Pasta collection also includes Red Lentil Penne, Chickpea Fusilli, Red Lentil Spaghetti, Chickpea Spaghetti, and even no-boil Green Lentil Lasagne. Each box retails for $4.99. Explore Cuisine also has Rice Pastas, Rice Noodles and Soups!

If you are looking for recipes, Explore Cuisine has you covered with many to choose from in their recipe section.