making the best of what you got

I bought some Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted wheat penne, whilst in the throes of having read an article about the increased nutrition in sprouted grains. I’m also trying to figure out what changes I can make to my foodwhore diet to drop some of the extra 20 pounds I’m lugging around. I figured I’d at least try it.
It’s nasty.
It tastes like pasta made of beans, which isn’t surprising since there are two types of beans in it. If you overcook it even a little bit, it gets mushy and falls apart, and the difference between hard in the middle and mushy is about 30 seconds in the pot. It’s pasty and grainy.
I first served it with sauteed kale and garlic and broad beans, which wasn’t atrocious, since the kale and beans were in the same nutty flavor universe as the pasta, but when we tried it with some tomato sauce it was just yucky.
Armed with this knowledge and the hope that a nutty tasting pasta might taste better with actual nuts, today I cooked the rest and put it together with some well-salted zucchini and vidalia onion, chopped walnuts, a sprinkle of salt & pepper and some walnut oil. This was actually something I might consider food. It was reasonably tasty, with the salt and bright squash and nutty oil working their magic, and though the pasta has a tendency to stick to your teeth, it was at least cooked the right amount this time. I won’t, however, be buying this product again — life is just too short.