So have obviously been away, and since I have been back I’ve faced the tidal wave of backed up admin work that accumulated whilst I was off trying to enjoy myself. The North Lakes Paeds in Pod is hosting its second GP education evening tomorrow night (it is Sunday night and I am writing this post a little early as I know I won’t have time later in the week) and I am presenting a talk about “Developmental Assessment and ADHD” to a group of about 20 doctors from around (mainly north) Brisbane after a full day of clinic. Although I have finished writing the talk, I still need to run through it a few times so I am running a bit short of time! Eek!
So tonight’s recipe is a re-hash of one I have posted before (way back in September last year) – “Zoodles and spaghetti in burnt pine nut butter.”
I must admit this is a bit of a cop-out as the only real difference is that I have substituted the butter tonight with peanut oil (but you could use Nuttelex, grape seed oil, olive oil – whatever you want) and for my daughter I used a “dairy-free parmesan cheese” – see pic in gallery above. This one actually tastes fairly normal (which is good). I am a little low though on pictures of recent home cooked meals and this is what I had for dinner tonight – so I took a picture of it and… voila! 👐
Regardless, this recipe (and its variants) is a bit of a classic in our house… my kids are now so used to zoodles that they don’t even register that they are vegetables anymore and just eat them. PLUS it takes literally 15 min to make and it is a great way for Troy and I to have a lower carb pasta meal, whilst getting a decent serve of veggies into the kids!
This next paragraph I cut and pasted from the old post back in September last year – a few little pointers on devices to MAKE your zoodles (although I have noticed that Woolies and Coles sell pre-shredded zoodles pre-packed in the salad area of the fresh food department). Do yourself a favour and just BUY a hand held device –> you will make your money back after making zoodles just once or twice rather than buying the pre-shredded stuff – the price of which is nothing short of highway robbery.
“With spiralising the zucchini – I did a bit of research and there are heaps of gadgets out there that can do the job. There was an impressive, heavy, table top one I saw at Wheel & Barrow that cost about $90 I think, and would have taken up a fair bit of space in cupboard AND on the bench. I settled for a $9.95, hand held spiraliser that I think I bought from either Matchbox or Robins Kitchen. In any case, you can get them at pretty much ANY decent kitchen store for anywhere around $10-$15. It does the trick.” Otherwise a “julienne peeler” that looks like a fruit peeler but shreds fruit/veg instead is worth about $5 and also works well BUT your zoodles won’t be as long.
INGREDIENTS
About a handful of dry spaghetti (you can buy fresh or dried – I do like fresh better, but I didn’t have any in the fridge tonight)
Enough oil in the bottom of a non-stick fry pan to cover a 50 cent piece
200g of diced bacon
80g (small packet/ about 0.5 cup) of pine nuts
2-3 medium sized zucchinis – spiralised
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Dairy free parmesan [OR freshly grated normal parmesan (you can use the pre-shredded stuff – I just don’t think it tastes as nice)]
METHOD
- Cook the pasta until al dente. Add the zoodles for the last 1-2 min of the boil (don’t overcook them or they will get soggy) and then drain (reserve a little of the pasta liquid – this can be used to loosen up your pasta if it gets a bit dry later; if you are tricky, you can time your pasta to be ready at the same time as your bacon/pine nut mix and your dish will turn out much better!)
- Pop your oil in a non-stick fry pan and brown the bacon pieces later adding the pine nuts – toss until golden
- Add the pasta/zoodles to the pine nuts (or vice versa)
- Add pepper and sea salt and toss through hot pasta/pine nut mix
- Finish with parmesan and serve immediately
Don’t forget to check in with us NEXT week for our new team blogger – Paediatric Endocrinologist Extraordinaire (and one of my really good mates) Dr Sarah McMahon who will be teaching us over 2 weeks, all about puberty.
Catch you Monday!!
Have a great weekend!
xxDr Megs
