Last night I was in the mood to cook something different – but too lazy to take pictures of it and blog about it. But then….once it was done – I thought it was so fun I couldn’t help myself! So there aren’t any process images – only the final product….but I couldn’t help myself – I had to share this recipe!
Zucchini as noodles? Yea, that’s right – I went there. And believe me, when you’re trying desperately to reduce the amount of carbs you eat – these are almost as good as real pasta. Almost.
First things first – you need to slice the zuke. If you have a mandolin – use it! I don’t – so I just used my kitchen knife to cut thin slices – and then thinly slice those into noodle size pieces. It took a little while – but wasn’t too bad.
Then blanch the zuke noodles in salted boiling water. I had mine in the water for about 5 minutes b/c I wanted them really tender. Drain the ‘noodles’ and start on the sauce.
Dice 2 green onions on the diagonal, place 2/3 of the green onions in a pan with 1 tablespoon of canola oil. Throw in 1 tablespoon of ginger garlic paste and allow that to spatter for 1 minute. It’s super quick because you don’t want the items to burn – only to get that raw taste out of them.
Take the pan off the heat and add in the rest of the ingredients: soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, natural peanut butter, package of Truvia, red pepper flakes, sesame seeds, and sesame oil. Stir those items together – and toss in the zucchini noodles. Toss the zuke with the sauce. If you think the sauce is too thick – add in 1 tablespoon at a time of hot water (preferably water left over from the boiling liquid). Note: I added in water – but then regretted it. The zuke has moisture in it – more than a noodle would – so they give off more water as it sits….so that’s something to consider.
I made this same sauce for pasta noodles for N – and it was super delicious on that too. I might have tasted it…..but just tasted – I swear!
To serve – sprinkle over the remaining green onion slices and eat! Super simple, relatively quick (after the slicing) and super healthy. You have to try this – zucchini noodles just became a new obsession for me….I have a feeling I’m going to be experimenting with them a fair amount in the near future!
Thai Peanut Zucchini Noodles
Serves 2 (2 big helpings)
Ingredients:
2 zucchinis
2 green onions
1 T. ginger garlic paste
½ T. canola oil
1 t. sesame seeds
1 t. sesame oil
1 ½ T. sugar free rice wine vinegar
1 ½ T. reduced sodium soy sauce
1 packet Truvia (or 1 T. honey/sugar)
2 T. natural peanut butter
½ t. red pepper flakes (more or less depending on level of heat you like)
optional – tablespoon hot water
Directions:
- Slice the zucchini into noodle width pieces. Cut length wise with a large knife – then cut again into thinner pieces. Use a mandolin if available. Do this for all pieces.
- Bring a pot of water to boil – salt the water.
- Add in the zuke for 5 minutes or until tender and then drain.
- Slice the green onions on a diagonal into ½ inch pieces.
- Heat canola oil in pan, add in 2/3rds of the green onions, the ginger garlic paste, and the sesame seeds – cook for 1 minute, stirring to make sure it doesn’t burn.
- Take pan off of the heat and add in the remainder of ingredients.
- Stir sauce until consistent – then toss in the zucchini.
- Sprinkle remaining green onion slices on top.
Enjoy!
