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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – I love to try new foods. Some are great. Some don’t measure up and some become staples in my kitchen. See what you think.
Einkorn is the original species of wheat, first domesticated in Neolithic times. Otzi, the Bronze Age man found perfectly preserved in a glacier in the Italian Alps in 1991, had eaten this type of wheat for his last meal. Einkorn wheat provides a low yield per acre and the type of gluten (wheat protein) it contains is not good for making bread. As newer types of wheat were developed, this relic crop fell out of favor.
Fast forward to today and Jovial Foods who are producing pasta products from einkorn wheat. This rustic, hardy variety does not need herbicides or fertilizers to grow. The low yield per acre makes it suitable for small-scale organic farms. Jovial works with organic farmers in Italy and Europe to produce 100% certified organic einkorn wheat. Even the packaging is 80% recycled cardboard.
It is available as spaghetti and other pasta shapes as Whole Grain Einkorn Pasta and White Einkorn Pasta sold in 12-ounce boxes. The white variety simply has more of the outer hull removed to produce a creamy looking product with half the fiber of the whole grain pasta. Both have 200 calories in a 2 ounce serving (uncooked), with 1.5 grams of fat, no saturated fat, cholesterol or sodium.
I tried the whole grain fusilli in a pasta salad and found the taste nutty and pleasant and the mouthfeel excellent, not soft or gummy as happens with some whole grain pasta brands. Even the next day the einkorn pasta maintained its texture. I used the whole grain spaghetti for an oil and garlic hot dish and again was pleased with the results and the next day leftovers were of good quality. Even die-hard white pasta fans that ate the two dishes, admitted the pasta was excellent.
Recently Jovial introduced a line of organic cookies.
Three flavors – Crispy Cocoa, Ginger Spice and Checkerboard — are made from einkorn wheat. The cookies are made in Italy and are not overly sweet. You might say they are “adult cookies”, less cake-like and sweet than most American brands. Straight from the box they are crunchy but soft and rich when dipped in coffee, tea or milk.
Three flavors – Fig Fruit Filled, Vanilla Cream Filled, and Chocolate Cream Filled – are certified gluten free made from organic rice flour. Each is packaged in a 2-cookie pack which makes them ideal as a snack or lunch box treat. They have a crunchy shell with a soft center and again, not overly sweet.
For more information go to: www.jovialfoods.com.
© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of the nutrition counter series for Pocket Books with 12 current titles and sales of more than 8.5 million books. The books are widely available at your local or on-line bookseller.
Current titles include:
The Diabetes Counter, 4th Ed., 2011
The Protein Counter, 3rd Ed., 2011
The Calorie Counter, 5th Ed., 2010
The Ultimate Carbohydrate Counter, 3rd Ed., 2010
The Complete Food Counter, 3rd ed., 2009
The Fat Counter, 7th ed., 2009
The Healthy Wholefoods Counter, 2008
The Cholesterol Counter, 7th Ed., 2008
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to TheNutritionExperts
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