Why should you try zucchini noodles?
Unless you are hiding in a cave for the last few years, you would know that spiralized vegetables are the new hype for some time now. Nowadays, they sell already spiralized vegetables in grocery stores. In my opinion, zucchini noodles (aka zoodles) are the best vegetable to spiralize. Here is why:
- Even after cooking just a few minutes, it resembles spaghetti, helping you with feeding your eyes.2. It is super quick to cook. All you need is 5-6 minutes to cook zucchinis.3. Since it has very little flavor on its own, it is so easy to flavor zoodles with whatever you have in your fridge.4. You can eat as much as you want. Since zucchini is a very low calorie and good-for-you kind of vegetable, you can eat as much as you want. Plus, you get almost 2-3 cups of zoodles from one zucchini.
About This 5-Ingredient Zucchini Noodles Recipe:
If you ask me, this zoodle dish is the dictionary definition of a workday lunch. You cook the zucchinis in oil flavored with minced garlic and top it off with crumbled feta and dill. Voila! You have an amazing, low calorie lunch ready in 15-20 minutes, from start to finish. You can serve it warm or cold. Want to add some animal protein? Top it off with a poached or fried egg. Have some cherry tomatoes? Add them in. Don’t like dill? Substitute it with fresh parsley. Sky is the limit. Pack it in a container and take it to work. Seriously, do yourself a favor and make this 5-ingredient zucchini noodles before the zucchini season is over.
- Make sure that your skillet is very hot. The cooking oil should be sizzling and it should cover the bottom of your skillet.2. Be sure to not to overcrowd your skillet. When you spiralize zucchini, they will look like a lot of zucchini pasta, but once they are cooked they will shrink quite a bit. The trick here is to cook them in small batches.
How long to cook zucchini noodles?
I prefer my zoodles al dente so I cook them for 4-6 minutes. However, it depends on your preference. The longer you cook the softer and soggy they will get.Also, to ensure even cooking, I recommend using tongs to toss them as they cook.
How to make zucchini noodles without a spiralizer?
While I love my Spiralizer, I know that you may think of it as “yet another gadget” that will take up space in your kitchen. I understand. Luckily, there are some other ways you can make zoodles without a spiralizer. The below 2 are the ones I tried:
Use a julienne peeler: I recommend investing in a julienne peeler. I have one of these Ultra Sharp Stainless Steel Dual Julienne & Vegetable Peeler and I think it is super handy. It does a really good job of evenly julienning vegetables. Though this is one of those tools you want to be very careful while operating as it is very sharp, especially around children.Use a regular vegetable peeler: I wanted to list this method as most of us own a vegetable peeler. If you choose this method, you can make ribbons out zucchini and cook them as “fettuccine” style pasta. A great example of this is this Zucchini Fettuccine with Kale recipe.
I have seen some people also use a mandoline but I do not own one. If you do, I think it is worth a try.
Can zucchini noodles be frozen?
I do not recommend freezing zucchini noodles as they get very mushy and watery.
Where can I buy zucchini noodles?
It used to be that you can find spiralized vegetables only in health food stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. However, nowadays even small supermarkets has a section in their refrigerated sections for various types of spiralized vegetables, including zucchini noodles.
How can I make zucchini noodles more flavorful?
As I mentioned earlier, since they are pretty much flavorless you can easily flavor them in various ways. In addition to this 5-Ingredient Zucchini Noodle recipe, below are my favorite ways:
Top it off with a ladle of my Homemade Tomato and Basil SauceShave chunks of parmesan cheese on topWant to make it vegan? Mix it with this Green Cashew SauceMix it with a cup of cooked (or even leftover) chicken
