Adventures with Brown Rice Pasta

YUM! I stumbled upon this phenomenon at Trader Joe's the other day and decided to spice up my meal routine with something a little more carby but just as healthy.

Aglio-olio-esque pasta with seared ahi steaks and roasted asparagus:

Recipe:
-Cook brown rice pasta on the al dente side and cool (note, the cooked pasta itself was naturally more firm than the normal version) and save some of the pasta water.
-On a baking sheet roast asparagus drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper (roasting veggies is a new thing for me from which I got from the queen of the roasters, jessica!)
-Sprinkle salt, pepper, & thyme on both side of ahi steaks and sear in garlic and olive oil in a large pot
-Once seared on both sides, add wihte wine. Simmer and remove
-Reduce the wine-oil juices that remain in the pot. Add some pasta-water, chopped onions, butter and garlic. After a few minutes add tomatoes and lots of fresh basil and simmer, but not for too long.
-Add cooked pasta and toss. While tossing, add fresh cilantro and parsley. And thyme and salt to taste.
Easy! And the brown rice pasta was good! molto al dente.


Back Story:
So I've been avoiding carbs like the plague these last few years and only allowing myself their joys when dining out, trying my best not to cook them (though I've definitely slipped up many times). It was tough at first since I was used to rice at nearly every meal, but replacing the rice with a veggie (preferably a leafy) one proved to be easier that expected.

Anyhow, after watching too many cooking and food shows on TV, I was drawn into this whole quinoa craze of late. (perhaps its not a craze and I'm just learning about it after the fact...) So quinoa (kin-wa, like the Chinese restaurant in Kaneohe that has the sizzling platters!) is a South American grain like food that is high in nutrition, high in protein, LOW in CARBS (whoo hoo!) and gluten free. (additionally, the gluten free aspect caught my attention since my parents have self diagnosed themselves as "semi-gluten-intolerant" recently since they, meaning my mom, thinks that due to their climbing age, pasta makes them gassy. I know, EW.) The granola gal in my office let me try some a while back and its good, it's like couscous in taste and texture.

I vowed to try and make a healthy quinoa pasta for a nice change since I've been in a food rut lately. And during my last trip to Trader Joe's I remembered my vow and decided to live the dream. I found the quinoa pearls, but not the pasta. It was a sad day. I had already bought all the ingredient for the pasta I had envisioned making. So my heart lit up when I discovered Brown Rice Pasta sitting on the shelves. Not quite quinoa, but still a healthy alternative to regular pasta, so I decided to give it a go.

And there you have it.

ps- I found quinoa pasta at a health food store! And while there, I got sage cooking advice from a South American woman... we'll call her Bolivia. Bolivia said that she's eaten it all her life and that when I make it "DON'T over cook it!". She said that part like 5 times. Will post about my adventures with quinoa soon.... and will do my best NOT to over cook it!

EDITED:
Note, my ahi steaks turned out a little over seared and hard... so after my first meal, I just crumbled the steaks and mixed it into the remaining pasta. Just as good!