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Day 3 – Kitchen Tools – The pasta maker & Zucchini Pasta with meatballs!

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My mother always said that we should strive to learn something new every
day.  Well I’m happy to report
that my day is done!  Today I didn’t
learn about Zucchini noodles, no no, I’ve known about those for a long
time.  I didn’t learn about the
kitchen gadget to make mountains of these zucchini noodles easily and
efficiently, I’ve known about that for many months.  I did however learn what these zucchini
noodles are called in the everyday world… they are called ZOODLES!  And that’s what we’re going to talk about
today!

The
Spiral Vegetable Slicer

Last
year around this time, I told you about my favourite kitchen tool, the
mandolin (I had not yet discovered the spiral vegetable slicer).  If you have been watching Chef Verati’s
videos on the IP TV coaching, you have no doubt noticed that he likes his mandolin
almost as much as I love mine!  If
you’re a bit in the dark about what a mandolin is (aside from the musical
instrument), take a moment to view it here. 
However, that is not what I want to share with you today.   Although there is much that you can do
with a mandolin (and I couldn’t live without mine), there is a new “tool”
in town and it is the spiral vegetable slicer. 

I
guess the main difference between the two is that with the mandolin, you
are limited by the length of the vegetable. 
If you use the julienne blade, you will make zucchini noodles (or
zoodles) but they will only be the length of the zucchini itself.  If however, you use the spiral vegetable
slicer, you will make strands of zoodles that really imitate real
spaghetti… really long spaghetti!

But
how does the taste compare you ask? 
Incredibly well!  The first
time I made zoodles, it was a true inspiration.  You know, we’ve all been there…
standing in front of the fridge looking at leftovers and thinking that none
of them are really exciting on their own.  But all of a sudden, the light goes off
(and I’m not talking about the light in the fridge here…) and you think,
hey wait a minute, if I take this, that, and the other thing, I could make
something that looks, tastes and feels a lot like… in my case it was
leftover Chinese food!  I remember
taking the zucchini and cutting the strands, sautéing them in the pan,
adding mushrooms, a bit of thinly sliced celery and leftover chicken with a
bit of soya sauce!  Voilà, This was
the best leftover makeover I had ever had!

Then,
someone told me about this little “wonder” spiral vegetable slicer and I
thought, wow, this can really trick the brain into thinking that this is
real pasta.  Because let’s face it,
bean sprouts is a close replica but not that close!  So if you’re looking for a neat new
kitchen “toy” to put on your wish list, this could be just the thing!  Oh and as a side note, this thing can do
a lot more than simply slice zucchini noodles.   Any vegetable you can think of making
into strands or ribbon, this little wonder can handle the job!

 

Zucchini
Pasta with meatballs

 Ingredients:

   Zucchini (cut into
long strands)

   Meatballs (seasoned
the way you like them and cooked in a pan)

   Spaghetti sauce
(made from the Quick spaghetti sauce, see recipe below)

Directions:

  1. Cook
    zoodles in the microwave for about 2 minutes (don’t overcook) and
    remove any excess     water.
  2. Top
    with 8 oz of meatballs
  3. Add
    some spaghetti sauce (remember that tomatoes are a restricted
    vegetable and should be counted as such)

All-Purpose Quick Spaghetti Sauce

(from the Lighthearted Cookbook p. 188, 1987 Edition)

This recipe is slightly modified to accommodate certain
restrictions in Phases 1-2-3.

2
Leeks chopped

1
Large clove of garlic, minced

1
can of tomato paste (156 ml)

1
can of tomatoes (796 ml)

1
tsp dried oregano

1
tsp dried basil

½
tsp dried thyme

¼
tsp of freshly ground pepper

In
a large heavy pot, with a little Pam to avoid sticking, brown the leek, add
garlic and cook until softened. Stir in tomato paste, tomatoes breaking up
with back of spoon (or get the ones already crushed or cubed), oregano,
basil, thyme and pepper.

Bring
to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 10 minutes. Thin with water if
desired. Taste to adjust seasoning if necessary. Makes 4 servings, and
counts as ½ a vegetable portion and 1 of your restricted vegetables for the
week.

 

 

Phase
4 tip…

During
all of the other phases, pasta is often one of the top 3 foods that people
miss the most.  The issue with pasta
is that satisfaction comes from the volume that we consume.  Honestly, on its own, it has very little
taste so the sauce then plays a big role and it ends up being a question of
quantity.  This is the reason why
when we get to maintenance, we need to stay vigilant.  One portion of pasta is about ½ cup
cooked… it hardly seems worth the effort. 
Now on the other hand, you can have a cup or so of spaghetti squash
and that will make for a nice portion. 
There is also nothing wrong with sticking with “zoodles” and having
a nice piece of whole wheat bread as the evening carb… why not!

 

Finally,
I did some spot checking for places to get a spiral vegetable slicer. I imagine
they are available at places like Stokes, Think Kitchen and Bed, Bath and
Beyond but I must admit that I have increasingly become your typical online
shopper (it keeps me away from crowds and bad weather driving). So in that
spirit, I did find the perfect one on Amazon.ca.  

One last thought… Do you remember the 70’s… This is when the whole fad
of eating pasta started.  It was
scientifically proven that eating a good plate of pasta the night before a
hockey game was a great idea because it gave you pure energy to perform
well during the game… so as it turns out, an entire generation of people
started eating big plates of pasta the night before SITTING DOWN IN FRONT
OF THE TUBE TO WATCH said hockey game! 
Sound familiar?  

Sincerely,

Lise
Hamilton-Carriere
Food-Wise Weight Loss

903 thoughts on “Day 3 – Kitchen Tools – The pasta maker & Zucchini Pasta with meatballs!”

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