You’ve seen the spiralizer right? This is one of the coolest kitchen tools out there! You can literally turn anything into a noodle in seconds! Sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, zucchini, cucumbers, radishes, you name it. My favorite vegetable to put through the spiralizer is summer squash. Zucchini noodles (zoodles) are so refreshing and are wonderful eaten raw! If you don’t have a spiralizer or don’t have room to store one, no worries, I’ve seen vegetable noodles prepackaged in grocery stores now. The recipe I’m sharing today takes only about 15 minutes to prepare and even faster if you buy the pre-spiralized noodles.
Summer squash (including zucchini) are rich in antioxidants, help stabilize blood sugar, have anti-inflammatory properties and help support prostate health! You can read about the health benefits of tomatoes here. Besides for containing double the amount of protein as other nuts, pine nuts also contain vitamin K, vitamin E, zinc, iron and manganese as well as cholesterol-lowering phytosterols and omega-3 and 6 fatty acids. Look specifically for Mediterranean pine nuts which take longer to mature than other varieties and are more nutritionally dense.
raw zucchini noodles with balsamic marinated tomatoes
(recipe from one of my favorite bloggers laura wright from the first mess)
serves 2
ingredients
1 large zucchini (or 2 small)
2 cups of small tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (make sure no caramel color in ingredients)
2 tablespoons first cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
handful of basil, leaves finely sliced
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons of mediterranean pine nuts, lightly toasted
directions
in a medium bowl, combine the halved tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, basil, salt and pepper. toss lightly to combine and set aside for 10 minutes.
using the 1/8” blade on the spiralizer, crank the zucchini into long noodles and place them in your serving bowls.
spoon the marinated tomatoes on top of the zucchini noodles. garnish with some extra basil and the toasted pine nuts.
