Fave Food Find: Shirataki Noodles

This weekend, I was invited to a Chinese New Year’s luncheon. And while I usually stick to bringing my staple of baked goods for dessert, now that I’m no longer eating processed white sugar it’s hard to justify making a dessert when I’m not going to be able to eat it! So, while searching through my cookbooks for an Asian dish, I came across a Hungry Girl recipe that included my new fave food find for the month: Shirataki Noodles. These are essentially tofu noodles, low-fat and gluten free, and function much like any regular pasta or noodle. I was so excited about this recipe, that I woke up early Saturday morning, unable to sleep, just so I could get out and find these noodles. I had to go to Whole Foods to get them, and I hate Whole Foods just as much for the locations (which are hard to get in and out of) as for the prices. However I was pleasantly surprised to find that the noodles are only $1.99 a package. So I bought four :-).

I think the dish turned out great. It includes Shirataki noodles, zucchini, scallions, mushrooms, egg whites and pancake mix (I bought mix with a whole wheat base). I think it tastes great, but the next time I make it I will add some bell peppers and a little more eggs and pancake mix. This iteration was a little noodle heavy so the pancakes fell apart easily. But the noodles tasted good. And although they are a little unconventional, I am very excited to try them with pasta sauce as a substitute to pasta noodles and see how they go. My Hungry Girl cookbook has a lot of recipes with these little noodles, and I look forward to trying them soon.

Noodlicious Zucchini Pancakes (courtesy of Hungry Girl):

(50 Calories, <0.5g Fat, 8 Carbs, 1.2g Fiber, 4g protein - 1 WW point)

Ingredients:
2 x 8 oz. pkgs. House Tofu Shirataki Noodles
4 egg whites
1 cup pancake mix
1 Tbsp. salt
3/4 cup green onions (scallions), chopped
4.5 cups zucchini, shredded (unless you can find them pre-shredded, this takes about 45 mins and equals about 4 zucchinis)
1 cup finely sliced fresh mushrooms

Directions:
Rinse noodles well. Microwave for 1 minute, drain and pat dry with paper towels. Cut into 2-3 inch pieces. Next, combine egg whites, pancake mix and salt in a bowl. Stir in noodles, green onions, mushrooms and zucchini. Place skillet over medium heat, and coat with non- stick cooking spray. When hot, scoop a little less than 1/3 cup of the mixture (per pancake) onto the skillet. Cook until underside is golden, then flip and cook the other side. Continue until all the batter is gone. Makes 15, 4-inch pancakes.

Serve with a dollop of fat free sour cream or even some salsa. Yum!