How to Make Low-Carb Alfredo Pasta

Dieting is always hard for one reason and one reason alone--the cravings. Cravings range from ice cream to pizza to the classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I have found myself in a situation after a hard workout where I’m starving and craving for pastas. Like most of the world, I love pasta. Among my favorite recipes is the Shrimp or Chicken Alfredo. But, it was later in my dieting era that I realized I don’t have to cut out the wonderful tastes; I merely have to concoct different renditions of the same thing.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Start off boiling the desired amount of pasta as disclosed on the packaging. For the dieting purposes, you want to try using wheat pasta. It sounds gross, but it doesn’t taste very different from what everyone expects. And, it has lower simple carbs with the better complex carbs.
2. Put your selection of protein on the grill, in the broiler, or pop it in the toaster-oven. Personally, I like chicken, but anything goes--shrimp, meat, or even just vegetables. Make sure you moisten the meat or poultry periodically as not to dry it out.
3. It is now, about five minutes before the pasta is ready, that you want to prepare the veggies. Quickly cut them in the preferred style and sauté them to extract their natural sugars and juices.
4. Drain the pasta. It should be al dente, which means it is soft, but has a nice sticky-springy consistency to it. After draining, place the pasta back in a sauce pan or wok.
5. Mix in the vegetables to give the pasta a zing from the sugars. While they meld together, cut up your meat or poultry in bite-size portions. Mix in with the veggies and pasta.
6. With the stove at a low heat, take a couple of tablespoons of sour cream and mix it in the pasta. The sour cream will thin out from the heat and juices of the meat and vegetables. At this point you only want to keep the food on the heat for a short time. It is now that you decide if you want salt, pepper, garlic, or anything else your taste buds would like to indulge.

Tips & Warnings

• If the sour cream is too running for your liking, you can whisk in a very small dash of flour. When you do this, remember to stir quickly and constantly until the flour is dissolved throughout.
• You can also add bread crumbs or crumble up cracks to help thicken the sauce. I usually use three crackers for a table spoon of sour cream.