CAPSULE REPORT: Talk food with a nutritionist for more than 10 minutes, and chances are good that “white foods” will come up at some point. Like fat in the ‘90s and carbs a few years ago, white foods are the new bad guy, nutritionally speaking. The claims against them are many: they turn to sugar practically the moment they reach your mouth, they have absolutely no nutritional value, they zap your energy, and so on. Unfortunately, the category includes many of our favorite foods: bread, sweets, and—perhaps the hardest to accept—our beloved pasta. Fortunately, soy-based Revival Pasta bypasses the problem and is as delicious as wheat pasta: we couldn’t even tell the difference!
As we saw it, the bad news about white foods left us with three options: swear off these staples forever, substitute the real stuff for healthful (but tasteless) imitations or just ignore the claims altogether. We chose option number 3. In fact, the more warnings we heard, the more determined we became to include the culprits in our diets—the culinary equivalent of covering our ears and singing “la la la” to drown out what we didn’t want to hear. Mature? No. Satisfying? Yes. Sure, we may be jeopardizing our health—even shaving a few years off our lives, if some nutritionists are to be believed—but at least we’re eating some terrific stuff in the meantime.
Still, even we can’t help but feel a tiny twinge of guilt every time we pile our plate with a mound of pasta. In an effort to ease our conscience, we’ve tried every pasta substitute we come across. Again and again, we’ve come to the same conclusion: the flavor is either simply not there, or peculiar to the point of being distracting. And if the flavor doesn’t put you off, the texture will. Gummy and chewy, these pastas wouldn’t be allowed within a hundred miles of Italy.
This is why we were nothing short of thrilled when we tried Revival Soy Pasta. We know, we know, it doesn’t sound promising—soy-based products too often have that odd, chalky taste. But you must believe us when we say that there is none of that here. Instead, Revival Soy Pasta tastes like—go figure—real, wonderful, wheat pasta. We tried it alone and with a variety of different sauces just to be sure, and we never once picked up on any strange flavors. Just good, solid pasta, almost nutty and durham in taste.
Is it magic?
We’re guessing this is a result of the brand’s “Soy Without The Soy Taste” goal. Instead of simply substituting soy into any number of foods and calling it a day, Revival spent anywhere from six months to two years developing the taste, texture and consistency of each of its products. If the pasta is any indication, their efforts were well worth it.
It tastes like “real” pasta.
Even more surprising than the taste of the pasta was the texture. Instead of the gummy stuff we’ve grown accustomed to associating with pasta substitutes, Revival Soy Pasta has the consistency of regular pasta and cooks to a perfectly al dente texture. So not only does it taste just like pasta, it feels just like pasta, too. In fact, the only way it’s not like pasta is in the nutritional breakdown. Compared to ordinary pasta, Revival Soy Pasta has:
Twice the protein
25 percent fewer carbs
8 grams of soy protein
15 milligrams of soy isoflavones
A two-ounce serving has 200 calories, 15 of them from fat. With soy being linked to everything from weight loss to energy to bone, kidney, thyroid and fertility health, we can’t see any reason not to make Revival Soy Pasta a staple in our pantry. And since it comes in different varieties—Penne and Spaghetti—we’re not likely to grow bored of it. We simply match the shape with the appropriate sauce, load up our plates, and enjoy. Now if only we could find equally delicious substitutes for those other white foods…
REVIVAL SOY PASTA
Penne & Spaghetti
12-Ounce Bag
$6.24
Purchase online at RevivalSoy.com
or telephone
1.800.REVIVAL
(1.800.738.4825)
Shipping and taxes additional. Prices and flavor availability are verified at publication but are subject to change.
Penne and Rotini (since discontinued)
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