Comfort food—there is just no substitute! As someone who could eat pasta at every meal if I could, I swore that I would never be able to eat zucchini noodles with the same satisfaction as pasta! I must admit, when I first heard about turning this green and white vegetable into a plate of “pasta” I was very skeptical. Because we eat with all our senses, there is something about twirling your fork through a big plate of spaghetti that makes it taste so much better.

But then came spaghetti squash.  And now there are zucchini noodles.  Spaghetti squash is great, and I could eat it just about every night in some cheesy form or another, but the texture of zucchini noodles is very similar to regular pasta—without all the refined grains and blood sugar complications.  Maybe it’s because you can twirl your fork to grab these zucchini spirals just like a kid eating spaghetti, but seriously they are good!!!

For me, eating healthy means choosing foods that are delicious, comforting and fitting to your personal desires.  Taste is most important and never ignored.  If these little green noodles weren’t so tasty (and nutritious), I would not recommend eating them—so be adventurous and try them with your favorite sauce tonight.  I made these with a simple tomato sauté, fresh from the farmers market, as it is simply too hot for meat sauce.  This simple sauté relies on the freshness of ingredients for delicious flavor.  Perfect for a hot evening, wine night on the patio, or when a simple dinner is needed!

Farmers Market Zucchini Noodles

Ingredients

• 2 zucchini squash
• I pint cherry tomatoes
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• dash of salt and pepper
• handful of pine nuts

Sea salt & paper towels

Directions

• Wash zucchini. Slice ends off the squash.
• Using a spiralizer, shred the raw zucchini into noodle like spirals.
• Place zucchini noodles in a strainer, and sprinkle with sea salt (about 1/2 tsp).  Allow the noodles to sit for 30 minutes then shake out excess water. Pat zucchini dry with paper towels to absorb any remaining water. The salt will allow the vegetable to sweat so that your dish is not full of water as zucchini has a high water content.
• Heat a skillet to medium heat. Briefly sauté noodles in olive oil for 2 minutes.
• Transfer to a serving bowl.
• Slice cherry tomatoes in half. Briefly sauté tomatoes, garlic, herbs, and salt and pepper in olive oil.
• Scoop tomatoes onto noodles and garnish with pine nuts.

Making zucchini noodles—

*I used this Spiral Vegetable Slicer to make the zucchini spirals.  It is an investment, but quite worth the money.  This slicer can be used to make homemade waffle fries as well!  It easily shreds all sorts of vegetables and fruits adding beauty and color to your daily meals.

Zucchini versus wheat noodles—

Yes, real wheat pasta is comforting and delicious, but at the same time recking havoc in your body.  As the New York Time’s best seller, Wheat Belly explains, wheat is highly addictive as it actually binds to your brain’s morphine receptor creating a “high.”  The reason for endless spaghetti dinners?  Your brain does not actually know it is full.

Wheat is also full of starch and carbohydrates that spike the blood sugar, creating a need for increased insulin. Insulin is stored in the body as fat cells—sadly its not butter that causes us to get fat, its the wheat.

{for more about grain free vs gluten free and all about grain free baking click here}