For all of my pasta lovers (including me)! A true serving size of pasta is so so sad once you measure it out. The truth is, most restaurants will serve you 3 to 4 times the size of a single serving of pasta. That's about 600-800 calories and 130 to 172 grams of carbs in just noodles alone! By the time you add sauce and toppings, you've just eaten an entire day's worth of calories in ONE meal.
I have a great tip to help bulk up your pasta bowl without bulking up your calories! Whether you are eating regular glutenous pasta or gluten-free pasta - the carbohydrate intake is about the same. Sometimes gluten free actually has more carbs than regular pasta.
I like to double up the volume of my meal by adding vegetables - in this case, Zoodles. I love zucchini not only because it virtually calorie free but also because it is loaded with nutrients and antioxidants.
Quick tips for easy preparation:
You can make a good amount of zoodles at once, place them in a ziploc bag and refrigerate until you are going to cook them. Zucchinis will shrink a bit once you cook them, so I usually use 2 small to medium sized (or 1 large) zucchinis per person.
Although, it literally takes minutes to zoodle a zucchini, I will still hear from some that "I don't have time for all of that food prep." So for you, I found these! Frozen zoodles from Costco. They are very good! Skinnier than I like, so I will always prep my own but in a pinch, these are fantastic!
How to Cook your Zoodles:
You can throw them in a pot of boiling water just as you would regular pasta. However, the cook time is different than pasta, so I would use 2 separate pots: one for zoodles and one for pasta. Drain your zoodles really well before adding them to your bowl.
OR
I like to sautee mine in a pan with about 1/4 cup organic chicken broth and spices (red pepper flakes, black pepper, oregano and a pinch or 2 of salt). Once they are cooked, pull them out with tongs (I don't keep the cooking liquid because it will thin out your spaghetti sauce and make it watery). Timing tip: Don't start cooking the zoodles until you have just dropped your regular noodles into boiling water.
To finish: Add your favorite sauce and protein. I use 3 ounces of ground turkey (which is already prepped in bulk and on hand), about 100 grams of my favorite spaghetti sauce (It's actually pizza sauce, I'll add the link below - it's amazing) and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (about 5 grams).
My favorite products for this dish:
Trader Joe's Brown Rice & Quinoa Spaghetti Noodles
Muir Organic Pizza Sauce
My favorite Spiralizer:
OXO Tabletop Spiralizer (I have only been able to find it at Kohl's). Here's the link:
Great tip! I never thought about mixing zoodles with my regular pasta. I’m going to try that this week!