Recipe: Zucchini Noodle Alla Norma

New year, new me, blah, blah, blah.

Like most people in the universe, I'm using the new year as an excuse to try and eat a little healthier, move a little more, and get to a place where I'm happier about "me." I just completed a 3 day Blueprint juice cleanse (I'd write about it, but I've written about juice cleanses before - it's like a marathon - tough, long, and if your head is in the wrong place, you're going to fail) After you finish a juice cleanse, you're advised to eat "light," so I decided to make a dish loosely inspired by a recipe I saw on Inspiralized, a site dedicated to using a spiralizer to make vegetables into noodles and other fun shapes. Instead of noodles, this dish uses zoodles, or noodles made out of spiralized zucchini, and is topped with a flavorful tomato and eggplant sauce. Here's a link to the original Zucchini Pasta Alla Norma Recipe. My modified, boozier recipe follows below.

A photo posted by Roxanne (@roxetta) on Jan 8, 2016 at 5:47pm PST

Ingredients:

• 2 medium zucchini - OR a package of zoodles (now sold at Whole Foods and other finer grocery stores - look in the produce section)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Vegetable stock or broth - 1/4 cup
• 1 medium eggplant, diced
• 2 + garlic cloves, minced (use as much or as little as you like)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cans diced tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• Red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/4 cup red wine
• Fresh basil - chiffonade or whole leaves - 1/4 cup
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts
• Optional: balsamic vinegar

Method:

1. Spiralize your zucchini and set it aside. 
2. Place a large skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil, onions, and vegetable stock and cook until the onions are translucent. 
3. Add the eggplant and garlic and season with salt and pepper. 
4. Ad both cans of tomatoes, a pinch of red pepper flakes, oregano, Italian seasoning and bring mixture to a simmer.
5. While eggplant and tomato sauce is cooking, bring a small skillet to medium heat. Put pine nuts in the pan and toast (with no oil) until they start to just turn a darker tan color. Set aside.
6. Add wine to eggplant tomato sauce. Continue to cook until wine has evaporated and eggplant is a soft but still slightly firm consistency. (mushy eggplant = no bueno)
7. Fold fresh basil into the sauce just before serving and stir. Leave a few pieces aside for plating.
8. Drain any excess water from zoodles. 
9. Split zucchini noodles into 2 or 3 portions and top with eggplant tomato sauce. Toss a handful of pine nuts and a few pieces of basil on top and serve immediately. 
10. Optional: I like eggplant topped with balsamic vinegar, so I put a splash of that on my zoodle dish.

My dish was a lightened up version of the Inspiralized one, but I think adding extra garlic, cooking everything all together for a longer amount of time, and adding a touch of red wine and basil added a lot of flavor. I could eat zoodles and egpplant daily, so this is definitely a dish I'll be making again.

Recipe: Quick and Easy Zucchini Planks

I'm too old and lame to use Pinterest, but I do appreciate it when people share recipes on facebook via photos. Makes no sense, I know...but maybe it's because I use facebook all the time and I'm just too lazy to log into one more social media something to look at pictures. Besides Instagram!

A person who I barely know likes to post a lot of photo recipes on facebook, and I saw a seemingly simple one the other night for fancy looking zucchini planks. These zucchini planks turned out so well, I forgot to take an "after/cooked" picture.

Ingredients:

• zucchini 
• olive oil
• garlic powder
• sliced tomatoes (any size/type will do)
• Parmesan cheese (optional)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Slice zucchini in half. Cut off the rounded bottoms so the zucchini can sit flat on a cookie sheet. (it's a good idea to put foil on the cookie sheet first)
3. Brush the zucchini planks with olive oil. Sprinkle with garlic powder and garlic salt.
4. Put tomatoes on top of zucchini planks. Sprinkle with cheese. (optional)
5. Cook for 20-30 minutes or until zucchini is thoroughly cooked - but not soft.
6. Serve and enjoy!

I really, really enjoyed this fancy looking zucchini. Not just because I didn't have to make it and my boyfriend did. It was quick, easy, and delicious! (and low calorie even if you use cheese - I opted for vegan zucchini goodness) I have a feeling I'm about to be up to my ears in zucchini, and I think we'll be making this a lot!

Recipe: Spicy Sesame Zucchini Pasta

Hello.  I'm back from a long blogging hiatus with a recipe I just can't seem to get enough of - spicy sesame zucchini pasta.  It's so good that I eat it before I have a chance to take a picture of it.  (or I got a new iPhone and lost all my old photos...d'oh!)

It's about that time of year where we're about to have zucchini coming out of our ears, so this is a great way to use up tons and tons of zucchini and make a low cal pasta dish for you and yours.

Ingredients:

•  2-3 fresh zucchinis, chopped into small circles or half moon shapes
• chopped fresh garlic (as much or as little as you'd like to use - I normally use 2-4 tablespoons)
• garlic salt (to taste)
• red pepper (cayenne) powder (use as much or as little as you'd like - but at least 1/2 - 1 teaspoon)
• shredded Parmesan cheese (at least 1/4 cup - use more if you like)
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 cup pasta (dry)
• sesame seeds (optional)

 Method:

1.  Prepare pasta following directions on box. Set aside.
2. Place chopped zucchini, sesame oil, garlic, red pepper, and garlic salt into pan. Add a little bit of water to the bottom of the pan to help steam the zucchini.
3. Stir ingredients together and turn heat to "high." Cook zucchini until they begin to soften, stirring frequently. (most of the liquid/oil mixture should be evaporated)
4. Reduce heat to low. Add cooked pasta to pan and stir to combine with zucchini. Add Parmesan cheese to pasta/zucchini mixture (use vegan cheese if you like!) and stir until cheese has melted. Sprinkle sesame seeds over pasta.
5. Place in a large bowl and serve! Optional - Before serving, sprinkle additional cheese on top of pasta.

This is a quick, easy, and low calorie recipe. Nothing needs to be too exact, although I think one cup of dry pasta is more than enough for 2-4 people.  You want to have way more zucchini than noodles - that's what keeps it low cal.  If you're a wimp about spicy food like I am, try to not be too heavy handed with the pepper.  I made a batch recently which made my eyes and nose burn...but it was so good I kept eating it anyway.

What's your favorite way to keep zucchini from coming out of your ears?