I made this the tonight after coming across the idea of zucchini as pasta on here the other day. so I went out and bought a julienne peeler. and i think i did it wrong because the zucchini turned out looking more like linguini but i think this would work any way as long as the zucchini noodles were all relatively the same thickness and fairly thin to begin with.
I used 1 medium zucchini for this as well as the rest of my ingredients, which are portioned for one large portion. Double it if you like for more people.. not sure how this would last in fridge. might lose a lot of crunchiness which is something I'm not willing to sacrifice. but then, I don't really feel like sitting there and peeling a hundred zucchini. My boyfriend said he like it but wished it was with real pasta and that there was cheese and sausage and I was just like.... *crickets*
Ingredients:
1 medium zucchini--prep cutting off ends
1 carton of Baby Bella mushrooms (I usually eat white so I'm sure you could use those instead, the Baby Bella's were on sale so I tried them. They're good!)
1 small onion (bigger if you really like onion)
Fat Free Italian Salad Dressing (mine is Great Value brand from Walmart. 2 tbsp is 20 calories and i used roughly 4 tbsp. but use how ever much you see fit. the calorie count for this dish was based on me using 4 tbsp
1-2 cups fresh spinach (I used baby spinach but you don't have to)
fresh dill to taste
light salt if your plan accomodates... if not, try lower sodium spices. my blood pressures quite low so I use salt
Directions:
Dice the onion
Chop the mushrooms to whatever size you like. I like mine about dime size
Peel the zucchini with the peeler or a julienne peeler. You could use a mandolin slicer if you have one, but I don't. basically you want them all the same thickness. When you get to the last little nib and its too small to peel without cutting yourself, just dice it real small with a knife.
Turn your burner up to high and spray a large skillet with a little cooking spray. Throw in the onions first and then the mushrooms. I went ahead and
put 1 tbsp of the italian dressing on and then salted my mushrooms and let that cook for a bit. tossed it occasionally for about 5 minutes. Then I added the spinach and stirred it around till it wilted.
Then I added the fresh dill. If you don't know this (I didn't know for a while till I watched a cooking show), when you add fresh herbs, rub them between your fingers while you sprinkle them over the pan. It releases more of the aroma and flavor.
Then toss in your zucchini noodles and stir them in about a handful at a time. measure out 3 more tablespoons of the Italian dressing and throw that on there and add in whatever other spices you want. For me I added some oregano and a bit more salt because i tasted it and thought it needed that. Let it cook, stirring occasionally for no more than 5 more minutes. Like I said, I wanted my dish to be crunchy slightly and I ended up cooking mine for only like 3 more minutes and then I plated it. My zucchini noodles were soft with a definitive outer crunch, kind of like a pop, and my onions were still a little textured and hadn't gotten soggy.
The key to the crunch of the dish is not to cook it too long because all of these ingredients are safe to eat raw. Also, try not to drown it in salad dressing lol.
BTW, I REALLY wanted to add fresh cherry tomatoes after the cooking, but mine were too old to use
but I am going to make this again on the weekend and will def. try it with the tomatoes.
after i have enough posts i will show you guys the pic
Italian Zucchini pasta for 150 calories!
