Easy Zoodles with Garden-Fresh Tomato Sauce

Behold the great Zoodle!

 

We love zoodles at our house. Especially since we got my new favorite gadget: the spiralizer. 

I picked mine up on a super sale on Amazon last year and have been spiralizing everything I can get my hands on. 

Zoodles can be very wet and watery, so my fool-proof version with a garden-fresh tomato sauce is a real hit. The key is to saute the zoodles, add lots of flavor with herbs, and (most importantly) to strain them like you would pasta to take out the excess moisture. 

Spanish Rice

I love a good Spanish rice, there is something about the combination of sauteed onions and peppers with skillet browned rice and slowly cooked with tomatoes. Delicious. It is the perfect side dish to your favorite taco or enchilada or a great filler with beans in a delicious taco salad.

Start off by chopping one onion and green bell pepper. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute' pan and add chopped onions and peppers. Cook until tender and fragrant, about 5 minutes.Add two cups of rice to the pan. Cook until the rice starts to just barely brown, stirring frequently. It will brown fast.

 

Add 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoon of chili powder, and stir to coat the rice.

 

1 can of diced tomatoes, stir to combine. If you have extra tomatoes around (anyone else have an overload of garden tomatoes?) feel free to add 2 cups of fresh chopped tomatoes.

Add three cups of chicken or veggie broth - or bouillon and water.

Cover, turn to low, and cook until all the liquid is adsorbed and the rice is tender - about 20 minutes.

Spanish Rice
Serves 8

1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 cups long grain white rice
1 can diced tomatoes ( or two cups of fresh chopped tomatoes)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon chili powder
3 cups of chicken or veggie broth

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute' pan. Add the chopped onion and green pepper and cook until tender and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the rice, stirring frequently, cook until the rice starts to brown lightly. Add the salt and chili powder and stir to coat the rice. Add the tomatoes and stir to combine. Add the broth. Cover and cook on low until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.
 

Brown Rice and Arugula Salad + Mason Jar Salad

I have a a darling little boy who is ten months old. When he was born last summer my little sister, Layne, came to help out and spend a few days with us. The afternoon we all came home from the hospital I walked into my house and my table was set beautifully with this scrumptious looking salad. It may be all of the positive feelings associated with this salad, but it is definitely one of my favorite salads in America. This is technically Layne's recipe, but since she is off gallivanting around Jerusalem for the summer, I am going to share it with you. It really is incredibly simple, I could hardly call it a recipe, more of an ingredient assembly, if you will.

Baked Brown Rice

It's no big secret that I am slightly obsessed with America's Test Kitchen. Every month or so I pick up a different ATK book from the library, and almost every cookbook they have released has this amazing brown rice recipe. It was a dream come true because I love brown rice. It has the nuttiness and heartiness that plain white rice lacks, but it seemed the brown rice NEVER turned out correctly. I tried the rice cooker, stove top, and boiling, but it always seemed to fail me, until I came across this recipe. I give you my word that it will turn out every time.

Yes, you may notice that brown rice is not a veggie-based recipe, nor does it have any veggies in it. I have a recipe coming up on Friday that needs this recipe, so go ahead and bake your rice and have it prepped for the recipe coming Friday!

Balsamic Roasted Tomato and Asparagus Pasta

About two months ago I checked out an America’s Test Kitchen cook book from my local library. I absolutely loved it! The technique I fell in love with was roasting tomatoes with balsamic vinegar. The oil and balsamic vinegar made a nice sauce for pasta and it was positively delicious. For me, this opened up a whole new realm of possibilities and this recipe was born. One other notable thing about this recipe is that it is very easy to prepare a few hours before hand, and it’s not something that will send your kitchen and dish pile into shambles.

Kale Basil Pasta

When I graduated from college I was gifted with a high power blender, a Blendtec!  I really didn't have a preference when it came between a Blendtec or Vitamix; my mom had one and my sister had the other. They both were good to me, so I LOVED my gift. When I went online and registered the beaut it also came with weekly recipe emails. I usually just ignore them (am I the only one who gets 10,000 ad emails a day but is hesitant to unsubscribe because I am convinced they will send me a free gift or something?!), but one day Blendtech sent me a recipe for Whole Wheat Spinach pasta. My husband and I always wanted to get a pasta attachment for our Kitchenaid but could never justify the $200 purchase. After I got the recipe, I decided that if I made homemade pasta enough my dear husband would be convinced we needed the pasta attachment. Long story short, it didn't work. BUT some good did come out of my pasta making stint - this adaptation of Blendtech's recipe. Quinoa Kale Basil Pasta. Yes. It's just as delicious as it sounds. 

Quick Gnocchi with Pumpkin Sage Sauce

So my mother loves a good deal. As long as I can remember she's been finding the best way to get the most for her money (and best quality too) for her 6 girls. She recently came across a wild deal on canned pumpkin and kindly shared. Needless to say, since then we've all been eating A LOT of pumpkin. I'm normally all for the fresh stuff (like our pro gardening sister talks about here), but, when you've got it, use it.

So...how to use all of this pumpkin. Seeing flat after flat of canned pumpkin reminded me that a few years ago, my non-cooking husband made me a knock-out dinner for my birthday. He really went all out. Pumpkin coconut ravioli (all hand made) with brown butter and sage. It took him about 7 hours. (No, I'm not kidding.) I really loved that meal, and with all of the pumpkin around, I thought I'd try a deconstructed, super simple version of that to share with my family for Valentine's Day. It was a hit.

Spinach and Mushroom Greek Penne

I was never going to be the mom with picky eaters for kids (you know, the one whose kids order chicken strips at an ethnic restaurant...). That was never going to be me. And yet, here I am with a 12 year old and 9 year old that are PICKY eaters!

I am always on the look out for healthy meals that will incorporate veggies into my growing boys' bodies. I love to cook, but am at a point in my life that during the week if it takes more than a half hour, or I can't throw it in a crock pot before I leave for work, breakfast for dinner it is!
My weeknight recipes have to be picky eater friendly also need to be quick and easy so I can throw a meal together in between homework and all of the boys' activities. And, most importantly, nutritious.  This pasta with a Greek twist (adapted from an Our Best Bites recipe) has become one of my family's favorite weeknight meals and I am sure will become one of yours as well.

Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese

Butternut squash. I have a slight obsession. A few years ago my husband and I went out to Boston to visit Collette, and we had butternut squash at close to every meal. My sister has a husband who doesn't necessarily love vegetables, so she has gotten pretty clever at how to disguise vegetables into things like Macaroni and Cheese! While we were there she made us Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese and I loved it. The pureed squash adds a depth of flavor to the classic dish, but also makes the dish extra creamy without adding whole milk or extra cheese (but you could if you wanted to).

Zucchini "Risotto" or Creamy Zucchini Rice

I love Risotto, it is a super creamy rice dish but the catch is there is no cream! The starch in the rice breaks down and creates a "creamy" consistence. The typical Risotto uses Arborio rice, but I typical don't have that rice as a staple in my pantry and I loath having to run to the grocery store for one random ingredient this dish was born using plain boring long grain white rice. It is creamy delish and loaded with veggies. Its an amazing side dish.