Making Whole Wheat Pasta Palatable

My curse is that I love carbs. I love Asian-style sticky white rice. I love pasta. I LOVE bread. I also know that when I eat a higher ratio of proteins to carbs and eat "better" carbs than the lily-white kind I so enjoy, I feel and probably look better. This is a problem when one is not over-fond of fowl. *Sigh*

Last night I decided to try once again to prepare a "healthier" pasta dish, using Barilla Plus multigrain rotini with ALA omega-3. Each cup contains 17 g of protein, 360 mg of ALA 0mega-3, and 7 g of fiber. I would roll my eyes if I hadn't given up sarcastic and resentful thoughts for Lent.

Well, my dish was devoured with enthusiasm by the entire family, and I have Larry Elder of Charlotte, NC to thank for his recipe for Sicilian Lemon Chicken with Raisin-Tomato Sauce, which I found on Allrecipes.com and adapted for my family. Thank you, Larry!

Here's what I did.

Mediterranean Whole Wheat Pasta D'Après Larry Elder

• Soak 1 cup of golden raisins in warm water to plump.
• Zest 1 lemon and set aside the zest
• Thinly slice 2 small onions and 6 garlic cloves.
• Chop up half a can of medium pitted black olives (about 20 olives).
• Heat some olive oil (about 3 Tbs).
• Dump onions, garlic, olives, and 2 Tb pistachios (supposed to be pine nuts, but I only had pistachios) into it, and cook till soft and fragrant.
• Season with 1/4 tsp dry oregano, 2 bay leaves, and a dash of cayenne pepper.
• Stir in 2 cans of diced tomatoes (15-oz each).
• Season w/ salt & pepper. Cook 5 minutes.
• Drain raisins and add.
• Add 2 Tbs balsamic vinegar and 1 1/2 tsp sugar.
• Cook 5 more minutes.
• Remove bay leaves and add some shredded fresh basil (which I didn't have, sadly).
• Cook till heated through. Toss with 1 to 1 1/2 lbs whole wheat pasta along with lemon zest and, if desired, some shredded fresh Parmesan or Piave di Vecchio.

Larry's recipe also calls for some cooked chicken breast that has been tossed with the juice from the zested lemon - I did that, too, but the pasta-and-sauce part can stand on its own.

Photo source.