The cold weather and snow don’t seem to be stopping, but everyone I know is getting back on the healthy bandwagon as they think of summer and swimsuits! Pinch of Yum has us yet again covered with a healthy and tasty recipe combing something for everyone in our family. The kids love using the spiralizer, I have a recent obsession with avocados and the husband loves that it’s a quick meal with pasta!
Now I had bought a Spiralizer a few months ago and swore I was going to use it every week…. but then realized I had no good recipes. So I grabbed the bad boy outta my cupboard and whipped up some zuccini noodles, once I stopped my kids from fighting over who gets to use it first.
photo from www.pinchofyum.com
Here are some of the things I learned:
- Spiralizing anything works better with larger vegetables. We tried this with sweet potatoes, carrots and parsnip mix and it was great.
- The zoodles are best if NOT overcooked, or else you will be eating zuccini mush rather than zoodles. If you do have left overs try to store the zoodles separately and mixing right before serving.
- My kids will eat anything that is made with this machine!
Tomato and Zucchini Spaghetti with Avocado Aauce
Ingredients
- 3 cups yellow and red cherry tomatoes
- 2 zucchini, spiralized
- 4 ounces whole wheat spaghetti (optional – see notes)
- Parmesan for topping (but skip this if you’re vegan)
Avocado Sauce:
- 1 avocado
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup fresh flat leaf parsley
- 3-4 green onions (green parts)
- 1 garlic clove
- juice of 1 lemon
- freshly ground pepper to taste
photo from www.pinchofyum.com
Instructions
- Pulse all sauce ingredients together until smooth. Set aside.
- Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Heat the cherry tomatoes in a large skillet over medium high heat with a very quick drizzle of olive oil. Gently shake the pan to get them moving (you might want to grab a lid for this – they really start to spatter when the juices hit the hot oil). Continue cooking until tomatoes are roasty-looking and the skins are split or loosened. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Add the zucchini to the same pan and toss for 1-2 minutes, until tender-crisp. Add the spaghetti and the avocado sauce. Toss until combined. Season with salt and pepper, top with reserved tomatoes and Parmesan if you like that sort of thing. Serve immediately.
Notes
Okay, so if you’re going SUPER HEALTHY on us, you could skip the pasta. We made this without pasta as a side for grilled chicken, and even with JUST THE ZUCCHINI, it was still super delicious.
However, if you were making this without the chicken, I wouldn’t go for the zucchini-noodles-only approach. The pasta makes it more of a meal in and of itself
