Ooodles of Zoodles!

Have you heard of zoodles? They’re thinly sliced zucchini strips that can mimic noodles in pasta recipes and I just can’t get enough of them. They’re simple to make if you’ve got the right equipment – lots of people I know use spiralizers and love them, but I get good results using a mandolin that I happen to already have. Since I don’t have a ton of kitchen storage I try to make do with what I’ve got, and the mandolin with a julienne blade works just fine for me.

The technique is super simple. Use a large zucchini (the larger the squash, the longer the zoodles will be) and either with the spiralizer or mandolin slice it into long skinny strips. These are your zoodles! Now you don’t want to overcook them, so you can either boil them in salted water for just a few minutes (3 minutes tops!) or else add them to sauce that is simmering and again, don’t overcook them. We like to eat them with our favorite pasta sauces (they’re excellent with pesto and we love them with meatballs and red sauce), as a base for stir fries instead of rice, and they also work great as a side dish just lightly dressed with olive oil, butter or soy sauce.

Zoodles are so light and refreshing – they can turn a heavy meal into a really healthy one, and it’s very satisfying to see your children gobble up a big pile of zucchini. We still love our pasta, but zoodles are a winner in our house now!