Zucchini is the perfect food for revamping your diet. The green, cucumber-looking fruit is an easy-to-cook savoury replacement for some favourite foods. It substitutes easily for oil in baking and can be switched in for potatoes when making chips. Most convenient for many university students though, it’s a healthy alternative to pasta. While spaghetti has 221 calories per cup, a cup of zucchini only has 19. Plus, a cup of zucchini has 33 per cent of your daily vitamin C and 4 per cent of your daily dietary fibre. Zucchini noodles or “zoodles” can replace noodles in any of your favourite pasta dishes. Or, to try something new, you can check out the recipe below:
Avocado Zoodles
Ingredients:
Zoodles:
-
3 zucchinis (1 ½ zucchinis approximately 1 serving)
-
2 cups cremini mushrooms sliced
-
2 cups kale chopped
-
1 red pepper chopped
-
salt to taste
-
1 clove garlic minced
-
1 tablespoon olive oil x 2
Avocado Sauce:
-
1 avocado
-
1 tablespoon olive oil
-
Juice of ½ a lemon
-
1 teaspoon dried basil
-
1 teaspoon cilantro
-
Salt to taste
-
Optional: hot sauce to taste
-
Wash zucchinis. If you have a spiralizer, spiralize the zucchinis. If you don’t own one, you can use the long side of a cheese grater or you can thinly slice the zucchini lengthwise. For both of these options, once you have sliced them, slice them lengthwise again so they make noodle like strands.
-
In a pan, heat olive oil and half of the minced garlic on medium heat. Add the zucchini and cook for about 3-5 minutes until tender. Next, move the zucchini into a separate bowl.
-
Add more olive oil to the same pan and the other half of the garlic. Then add the mushrooms. When they start to brown add the pepper. Cook for about 3 more minutes on medium heat. Add the kale and cook until wilted.
-
Mix the zoodles back into the pan and switch to low heat. Stir occasionally.
-
With the zoodles on low heat, start making the sauce. Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
-
Turn off the heat on the zoodles. Stir in the avocado sauce until all the vegetables are evenly coated.
-
Put zoodles into serving bowls and top with fresh cilantro.