Black Bean Noodles with Thai Peanut Sauce

When I first gave up gluten a couple of years ago and stopped eating wheat-based pasta, I found brown rice pasta… and also occasionally enjoyed the white rice pasta favored by The Captain’s sister.  I never cared for either cold though, in pasta salads.

Then I decided to try a Paleo diet for a few months, and started using spaghetti squash in place of noodles. The firm strands of the baked spaghetti squash make a nice replacement for noodles in many dishes, particularly with tomato-based sauces.  But like the rice pastas, I just didn’t care for it cold at all.

Then I got a spiralizer and discovered zucchini noodles.  Zoodles quickly became my pasta of choice and I love them with both hot and cold sauces.  But lately, just when harvest here should be at its peak… sadly, the zukes are not very nice at all.  They are either too large and subsequently quite tasteless, or way too small to put through the spiralizer to make zoodles.

Lucky for me that I had come across and purchased this Organic Black Bean spaghetti at Costco a few weeks ago.  It has a high protein content 23g per serving, is gluten-free and quite tasty.  And for the low-carbers out there, it has only 5 net carbs per serving too…. and that all works out to 3 Points Plus if you are a Weight Watcher.  Oh yeah... it is also vegan and kosher.

I admit, the color of the cooked noodles does tend to put me off a bit, but the texture and the taste is very good.   They are good hot or cold.  And they only take 6 minutes to cook… I wish I had discovered them while we still lived on the sailboat.

The first time I tried them I ate them hot with a tomato and ground beef sauce.  Delicious.  Filling with great staying power.

And then I decided to try them cold.  And because The Captain would much rather have plain old wheat pasta, I made a single serving, just for me.

I cooked the 50g suggested amount for a single serving in boiling water for about 7 minutes.  Then I drained the noodles in a colander and held it under the cold water tap for a couple of minutes to cool the noodles as quickly as I could. I wanted to eat my lunch right away… if I had had more time, I would have left them in the fridge for a while to chill even more.

I made up a sauce with some PB2 and some gluten-free soy sauce (tamari) and then added some unflavored North Coast Naturals whey protein powder… to thicken my sauce and also give it a nutritional punch.  A few slices of red pepper and green onions and I was good to go… and gobble it all up! 

Next time I might add a bit of minced fresh garlic, and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.  I am sure any unflavored protein powder would work, too.  If you used a pea or rice protein instead of whey you could make it vegan.  A few chopped peanuts or cashews would make it company-worthy!  And of course you could serve this quick sauce over any cold pasta, or zoodles.

Black Bean Noodles with Thai Peanut Sauce

Makes 1 serving

• 2 Tbs PB2
• 1 Tbs water
• 1 Tbs tamari
• 1/2 scoop NCN unflavored whey protein powder
• 1/3 medium red pepper
• 2 green onions
• 1 serving noodles of choice, prepared and chilled
• salt and pepper to season

1. Mix the PB2 and water in a small bowl until creamy.
2. Add the tamari (soy sauce) and blend well.  Set aside.
3. Slice the red pepper into thin strips.
4. Cut the green onions into short lengths.
5. Place the noodles in a serving bowl.
6. Pour the sauce over the noodles and then arrange the veggies over the top.
7. Serve with salt and pepper to season.

Per serving, sauce and veggies only.

Weight Watchers P+ = 3.

Calories 129; Protein 20g; Carbohydrate 11g; Fat 2 g; Fibre 4g.

50 g is a very generous serving. You may be happy with less. Yup, the color is not very appetizing at all.

Prep your veggies and make the sauce.

Assemble and dig in!

Printable Recipe

Have you tried black bean noodles?

Are you a fan of PB2?

Do you like to punch up your dishes with added protein/protein powder?