
One way to eat lighter and healthier is to eat more veggies, and why not have fun while you do it, by transforming all sorts of vegetables into noodles using a spiralizer, mandoline or a Y-shaped veggie peeler and a sharp knife.
The best choices are firm, not floppy, and the longer the better. Enjoy them lightly cooked and then treated just like you would regular pasta or served raw as part of a salad or a slaw.
Ingredients
- 2 medium size green zucchini
- 3 cups basil leaves, loosely packed
- 1 cup flat leaf parsley, loosely packed
- 1 avocado, pitted
- ½ cup cashews, walnuts or pine nuts
- 4-6 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
- 2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated – plus more to taste
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- Pinch of dried thyme
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- ¼ cup sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
- Basil leaves, for garnish
Directions
- Coarsely grind fresh and dried herbs, nuts, parmesan and garlic in a food processor. Add lemon juice, avocado and salt and pulse briefly to combine.
- Prepare zoodles with your choice of spiralizing tool. Add 1-2 Tbsp olive oil to a pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add just enough zoodles so they have room to cook and aren’t overcrowded. Cook for 30 seconds to a minute and transfer to another dish. Repeat as needed to cook all zoodles.
- Toss zoodles in pesto sauce and top with fresh and sundried tomatoes and basil leaves. Add a little more Parmesan, salt and pepper if you’d like.