Did I Just Eat a Whole Zucchini?
I know what you’re thinking. Spaghetti in vegetable form? Yuck.
But what if I told you that if you didn't know it was zucchini, you would probably just think you’re eating a really bomb bowl of spaghetti?
This zucchini spaghetti is a delicious, guilt-free dish that lets you splurge on pasta without having to worry about carbs. Served with baked tilapia and grilled vegetables, you may just never want to go back to traditional spaghetti again. And by the time you’re finished the plate, you would have NEVER guessed you literally just ate one whole zucchini.
Read on below, but be wary, this recipe is not for the bland at heart.
Ingredients (Serves four)
Pesto Sauce
1 package basil leaves, chopped
¼ cup of cashews, pine nuts or walnuts, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 of a lemon, juiced
1/4 cup of olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1/4 cup of parmesan or mozzarella cheese, grated
Baked Tilapia
4 fish fillets
1 lemon, sliced into rounds
Handful of fresh parsley, chopped
1 small red onion for topping, sliced
12 cherry tomatoes
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Grilled Vegetables
1 sweet red pepper, sliced
1 sweet yellow pepper, sliced
A handful of string beans (roughly 16)
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
Zucchini Spaghetti
4 large zucchinis
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Handful of fresh parsley, chopped
Directions
Pesto Sauce
Combine all ingredients except the oil in a blender and pulse until you get a thick paste.
Slowly incorporate the olive oil and pulse each time until you get a thick sauce.
Reserve for later.
Baked Tilapia
Season fish fillets with salt, pepper, paprika and chopped parsley.
Take lemon slices, squeeze some of the juice on the fish, and place the slices on top of the fish, followed by the red onion slices.
Place the fish in an oiled pan and add the cherry tomatoes in the same pan to bake.
Bake fish at 325°F for 8-10 minutes.
Grilled Vegetables
Mix the sliced veggies in the balsamic vinegar, then heat up a grill pan with cooking oil and grill the green beans until tender, followed by the peppers.
Zucchini Spaghetti
Save the pasta for last. Because the pasta gets soggy when left out too long, you should cook it when you’re nearly ready to serve. To turn the zucchini into spaghetti, you will need to use a spiralizer. I used a multi-purpose slicer and spiralizer that was $20 at Walmart.
Once you use the spiralizer to turn the zucchini into spaghetti, heat up a wok, or large pan, with a bit of cooking oil at medium heat.
Add the zucchini in the wok. Season with salt, pepper, paprika, and fresh parsley.
Then mix in the pesto sauce.
When cooking, you’ll notice that a lot of the juices from the zucchini will start filling up the pan. Simply make a well (circle-shaped hole) in the middle of the pan and push the zucchini to the sides of the pan. You can remove the liquid, heat it up separately until it becomes thickened, and use it as a sauce for the zucchini spaghetti when you are ready to serve.
Don’t overcook the “spaghetti”, as it will get mushy if cooked for too long or at too high of a temperature. Within two to three minutes, it should be cooked and ready to serve. Remove from heat.
Top the spaghetti with the sauce, grilled vegetables and tilapia.
