Glad to see this post about the rotini. I prepared my today in the microwave, according to a sheet I received from my counselor that lists all the basic foods and how to prepare them (puddings, drinks, soups, etc.). It said to mix the pasta with 5-6 ounces of water and then microwave for 2-3 minutes. It was just awful! The taste was okay, but I could not get past the tough chewy texture. I am definitely going to go the extra mile and boil it next time.
Glad to see this post about the rotini. I prepared my today in the microwave, according to a sheet I received from my counselor that lists all the basic foods and how to prepare them (puddings, drinks, soups, etc.). It said to mix the pasta with 5-6 ounces of water and then microwave for 2-3 minutes. It was just awful! The taste was okay, but I could not get past the tough chewy texture. I am definitely going to go the extra mile and boil it next time.
Definitely boil it! I don't know why they would even suggest microwave. I know if you boil it you will be happier w/results. It IS a chewier texture than most pasta but when mixing w/veggies, olive oil, spices or even using no sugar added tomatoes or tomato sauce, it is very satisfying! I also use cold w/tuna and veggies for a cold dinner salad.
Used walden farms ranch dressing, mixed white vinegar and a ton of dried dill. Added broccoli, different colored peppers, celery, and red onions (or whatever veggie you desire). Pretty delicious !
I guess I am too European. I only use the microwave for storing my cat's treat because it is the only door she cannot open. I also use it for incubating my home-made yogurt since with the light on the inside of the microwave heats up and keeps the milk at an ideal temperature.
The rotini definitely need 12-15 min in boiling water. I like them with a tomato sauce: I mix some anchovies in a bit of their oil with crushed garlic and hot pepper flakes and capers and let it simmer until the anchovies fall apart. Then I add some canned or fresh tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes.
The above is very close to the IP rotini, better in my opinion. It is temporarily unavailable though. According to Nashua, the supplier is looking for a new manufacturer.
had some over the weekend.... great! didn't realize how much I missed pasta until I had some again. I tossed it with my 2 cups of veggies, olive oil and spices for a great cold pasta salad.
I know this may sound strange, but I too add it to my salad, but UNCOOKED!
The pasta is not real hard or uncomfortably crunchy. It is light and thin enough the eat from the bag, added to the salad.
This adds an element of crunchiness where there are not a lot of other things on IP which will do that. With some nice thousand Island dressing it makes me a satisfying meal.
I mix 1/2 rotini pasta with 1/2 a soup mix and 2 cups of veggies to make a nice pasta salad. My favorite is the chicken soup, then mushroom soup. I tried it with Broccoli & cheese today and it was pretty bland. I didn't care for the tomato soup until I added in some franks hot sauce and that was pretty good also. The chicken pasta salad was pretty good cold (I took it to a picnic).
You can try a pomodoro sauce with it.This recipe makes a lot of sauce, so you might want to make a half batch, unless you have some people to share it with.
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 medium cloves of garlic smashed and roughly chopped
4 large vine ripened tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1-2 teaspoons salt
basil leaves, julienned
Directions
1.The sauce should take about 5 minutes to cook, so time your pasta accordingly. Use the boiling water for the pasta to parboil the tomatoes for about 30 seconds to make them easy to peel.
2.Add the oil and garlic to a large frying pan and heat over high heat. Fry until the garlic is fragrant, but don’t let it brown. Add the tomatoes and sauté until the liquid left in the pan isn’t watery anymore. Add salt to taste.
3.When the pasta is done, drain and add it to the frying pan along with the basil. Toss to coat and serve immediately.
This is a lovely recipe, simple and fresh. I just need to be careful not to use too much of it.
Earlier in this thread there was a back and forth regarding the Occasional (restricted) veggies. I went back to the latest (June 2014) Protocol Sheet before posting this info --
You can have:
"Maximum 4 cups per week [weigh (sic, measure) before cooking]:
beans (green and wax), brussels sprouts, eggplant, heart of palm, snow peas, rutabaga, tomatillo, tomatoes"
So from my garden until it played out last week as the weather has turned too cool.... I have had as much as 2 cups tomatoes and/or green beans with dinner twice a week, or one cup of either a couple of times a week.... paying attention on quantity so that I have stayed under the full 4 cups as often as possible, and definitely not exceeding the 4 cups between official weekly weigh in's!
it takes a bit of work to figure out how much sauce to have - but it can definitely be done.
So happy to have found this post because its 6am and I just decided that I wanted the rotini and had no idea what to do with it. I quickly sauted some spinach, tomato and garlic in EVOO and Im boiling my pasta. Since today is only day 3 for me on IP I am hoping for the best.
I noticed some people have said they liked the WF alfredo .... I am so happy to see someone say something good about the WF. So far I heard the only decent one was a bacon dressing....:/
