Every once in a while, Trader Joe's will launch a product that immediately gains a fanatical status (we are looking at you, soy sausage). Its Hearts of Palm Pasta is one of the newer hits. In fact, according to Jasmine, the grocery category manager of the chain store, he had appeared on Inside Trader Joe's podcast, and Palm Pasta was its “top-selling pasta”.

When I searched for products on Google, I found more than one million results. Most of the comments were very positive, so I had to try it myself.

There are many low-carb noodles on the market to choose from, but many of them seem to be major compromises in terms of taste and texture. Other vegetable-based noodles such as zucchini noodles (aka zoodles) and sweet potato noodles may be noodle-shaped, but they still look and taste like vegetables. On the other hand, the heart of palm noodles is very similar to noodles in texture and appearance.

So, what exactly is spaghetti made from palm hearts? The palm heart comes from the center of the cabbage palm tree (also known as the "heart") that grows in Ecuador, Florida, and South Carolina. The heart of the tree looks a bit like white asparagus, but the taste is more subtle. To make noodles from them, the hearts are cut into flat noodle-shaped pieces. Trader Joe's packs them in plastic bags, which can be stored stably.

What makes Trader Joe's noodles so popular is that each serving of noodles contains only 20 calories, 0 grams of fat, 2 grams of fiber, 4 grams of carbohydrates, 0 milligrams of sodium, and less than 1 gram of protein. This compares to linguine made from wheat, which provides 200 calories, 0 grams of fat, 3 grams of fiber, 42 grams of carbohydrates, 0 milligrams of sodium, and 7 grams of protein per serving. Like other vegetable noodles, the heart-shaped palm spaghetti is also gluten-free and vegan.

There are other heart-shaped palm noodles on the market, such as Palmini funded by Shark Tank, but they contain 60 mg of sodium per serving. Not a deal breaker, but if you eat more than noodles (which is easy to do) and add sauce, you will start to consume a lot of sodium.

You can simply open a bag of TJ's Hearts of Palm Pasta and heat it in a pan for a few minutes. Serve with tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese, or stir with sauteed vegetables and diced chicken. The noodles themselves are very neutral in taste, with a subtle artichoke flavor, which makes them versatile.

My family likes pasta with meatballs and sauce, but it can be seen that they are not "normal" noodles. I love cold sesame noodle salad, so I tried the palm spaghetti heart in this 4 ingredient cold sesame noodle recipe. This is a quick and delicious lunch.

Conclusion: I am not ready to give up my semolina pasta or chickpea pasta, but I will put a few boxes of these no-cooking noodles on the shelf so that I can eat convenient and quick plant-based foods in the evening on weekdays .

Frances Largeman-Roth, RDN, is a nutrition expert, author, and best-selling author. Her latest book is "Smoothies and Juices: Preventive Cure Kitchen". Follow her @FrancesLRothRD or check her website.