Black rice pasta fail
As Halloween approaches, there are many things we can think to do with Big Green’s Black Rice Rotini, but eating it isn’t one of them.
Only two testers enjoyed the black rice rotini, but with four legs, they have fewer votes that count. For the two-legged humans, it was quickly apparent the black rice pasta wasn’t standing up to the test.
We give it points for color. Though it changed from black to dark purple when cooked, the pasta’s color remained appealing; it didn’t wash out. That’s where the positives end, though.
When cooked for 10 minutes, per the instructions on the box, the pasta lost its shape. On the outside it had a slimy film, and in the mouth it turned to glue. It was devoid of taste, too, which was disappointing. Black rice often has a nutty flavor profile, but this pasta had no flavor.
Hence our pivot to using this pasta for Halloween decorations rather than treats. Uncooked you can create creepy, crawly worm decorations. Cook and mash the pasta and you’ll have sludge you can drip from the mouth of a carved pumpkin.
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When searching for the perfect pasta, ingredients are important. #readthelabel
Big Green’s Black Rice Rotini has one ingredient: organic black rice flour. This means it’s a complex carbohydrate that won’t impact your blood sugar like simple carbohydrates found in highly-processed pastas. While we don’t think black rice is the right ingredient for pasta, there are other pasta options out there. It’s a matter of spending some time to find quality pastas that fit your taste and dietary needs.
While we couldn’t find much on the company behind the product, we learned that Big Green Organic Food was slated to introduce its products during the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California this year. Millet, brown rice and buckwheat are also used in the product line; perhaps these grains perform better than the black rice.
For more information on the company and its products, visit Big Green Organic or BGreen Food.
If you want a run down on all the different pastas and pasta sauces in local grocery chains, including what’s good and what’s not, watch FlavCity with Bobby Parrish.
