Recently, a couple of my good friends have brought something wonderful to my attention. A new, nutritious way to mimic your vegetables into a big bowl of mouth watering spaghetti, simply by turning them into noodle form. It’s called veggetti, and it is actually pretty awesome and delicious. The name, obviously coming from vegetable and spaghetti, also shares the name of and probably derived from a new tool that easily turns your vegetables into spaghetti noodles. Of course it’s from an infomercial and of course you’re going to go watch it and want to get one, but the new craze of making spaghetti without all of the noodle carbs is actually pretty great and versatile. We’ve all seen spaghetti squash renditions, but new veggie noodle recipes are starting to pop up all over the place, using all sorts of vegetables. You do not need to order the special veggetti tool to make it work and there are some great recipes that I have found, all low carb, gluten free, and definitely worth trying.
Zuchinni Noodles With Pistachio, Lemon Pesto
Cucumber Noodles with Smoked Salmon
Carrot and Sweet Potato Pad Thai
Not only are these dishes lighter, but they also turn out so colorful and beautiful. If you haven’t jumped into the veggie-noodle band wagon yet, start now. Crispy, light and satisfying, just like spring.
The most recent rendition that my friends made for me and probably one of the easiest and most basic, is spaghetti squash with ground turkey and tomato sauce. Literally tastes like spaghetti, but with a nuttier flavor an so much lighter!
Ingredients
- 2 whole spaghetti squash, cut in half length-wise
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 4 cups prepared marinara sauce (your favorite recipe)
- 1 pound of ground turkey
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 small green bell pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 F.
- Cut the squashes in half lengthwise and scrape out seeds.
- Line an oven tray with aluminum foil.
- Season the spaghetti squash with olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Place the squash flesh side down on the baking sheet and roast for 30-40 minutes until tender and fully cooked, let cool.
- Meanwhile, combine ground turkey, onion, garlic and green pepper in a large saucepan.
- Cook and stir until meat is brown and vegetables are tender. Drain any grease.
- Add homemade marinara sauce and let simmer.
- Once the squash has cooled, simply use a fork to scrape away at the flesh making spaghetti like strands.
- Toss in the warm marinara turkey sauce and enjoy. (I like to top mine with some fresh avocado slices.)
Big thanks to the blogs: Simple Healthy Kitchen, The Smoothie Lover, The Delectable Feast, and Nosh and Nourish for the great recipe ideas above!