A few weeks ago, Groupon was selling a vegetable spiralizer for fourteen bucks and I could not resist. Last night, I finally had the opportunity to try it out. I wanted to make a zucchini spaghetti dish, similar to the Rawicotti I had made before (and loved so much!) I decided to wing it this time, so, here’s what I did!
First, I set up the spiralizer! Isn’t it cute? It is SUPER simple. It comes with 3 different blades, which store in the machine itself. It has two handles, one for pushing the food closer to the blade, and one for rotating the food. It has really good suction cup feet so it stays firmly on the counter.
Next, I stuck the zucchini to the grippy part. From there, all you do is spin one handle and slowly push the other. It is SO easy and super fast.
Next, you take this picture and text it to everyone you know because you are so easily amused.
Or maybe that’s just me! I don’t know why, I was very thrilled at the sight of these little noodlies!
I was even more delighted by what was left over. This is the core of the zucchini !
And, it’s little butt…
So cool, right?
Ok, back to the cooking…
I set my zucchini noodles aside to sweat. (adding a bit of salt and setting in a colander for about 20-30 minutes. It sweats out some excess water)
While those sit, I made the sauce.
I started with a package of sundried tomatoes, which I rehydrated during the day and then drained.
I put both those suckers into the Ninja with some fresh garlic, hot pepper, salt, pepper, and basil.
In seconds. It was sauce!
I set the sauce in a pan and just heated it up. I didn’t want to cook it down, I just wanted it warm. I like really fresh and tomatoey tasting sauce, so I never liked mine cooked down or stewed tasting. While it heated up, I chopped some baby bella mushrooms and some sweet onion.
I sauteed the shrooms and onions for a couple minutes in a dry pan. Once they were soft, I added the zucchini noodles. I let them cook for about a minute and a half. I knew I wanted the zucchini still crisp (al dente!) so once it just barely started to wilt I pulled it out.
I then covered the “noodles” with the sauce and sprinkled on some nutritional yeast (aka, shaky cheese for health nuts)
And then… I ate it.
And it was phenomenal!
This entire bowl (and I know you can’t tell, but it was large, like a restaurant portion) was 200 calories. It was hot, spicy, savory, fresh and filling. The texture of the zucchini really makes a great base and holds the sauce well.
You can absolutely still make this without a spiralizer as well, you can just cut the zucchini in tiny strips with a knife, I imagine it would taste just as good. It might just not look as cool. But I won’t judge you for that.
I love when I experiment and it comes out this good. I am suddenly excited that I have about 16 ounces of sauce leftover, and 3 more zucchini in the fridge!
I’ve done spaghetti squash, and the miracle noodles before – have you ever tried to find a healthier replacement for pasta?
id you know that the Easter Island heads have BODIES?
Tonight is my first “free” night in weeks! No plans or major chores to do. I almost convinced my Bro to bring his new Xbox Kinect over for our workout tonight. He’s got some MMA game that looks like a good sweat generator! But I think I lost him on that idea.
