This is what I ate for dinner tonight. Sigh. Isn’t it beautiful? It tasted as good as it looks too. As you know, I don’t eat a lot of grains. For one reason, Ashley and I have a hard time digesting them (especially rice), and for another reason, I gain weight just looking at grains 😉 So I keep my grain consumption to a minimum. But I was really in the mood for my nutty szechuan rice noodles tonight. Hmm… what to do? First I found a bag of 100% buckwheat noodles (buckwheat is a seed, not a grain) hiding in my pantry, and I thought about making those for me and Ashley (hubby does not like buckwheat).
Then, as I peered into my fridge for veggies to throw in, I saw zucchini. Light bulb. I remembered my nifty new julienne slicer that Elana told me about, and I recently ordered. I’ve been loving it. Now when I’m at the grocery store, I buy zucchini in bulk 😉
This turned out so good, I may never it it with pasta again. I hope you love it too.
Nutty Szechuan Vegetable Noodles
For the Nutty Szechuan sauce
Add to small pot:
1 cup broth
2 tbsp brown rice vinegar
2 tbsp almond butter or Sunbutter (I use one of each)
2 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp GF tamari sauce
Bring barely to a simmer, watching so it doesn’t boil over.
Reduce heat to low.
For the veggies and vegetable noodles
Chop and wash about 4 cups of red cabbage.
Saute over low to medium heat for about 15 minutes.
Add one red pepper, chopped.
Saute about 10 minutes longer.
Turn off the heat.
Lightly steam 4 zucchini that have been julienned. I used this tool.
Combine cabbage, red pepper and steamed zucchini.
Top with sauce.
Optional: Usually when I make this I add lightly toasted sesame seeds, but tonight I didn’t have them on hand.
Tip: I always double or triple the sauce recipe when I make this, so I can use it throughout the week.
♥, Kelly
Mars says
That looks delish! I have a Spirooli spiral cutter like this:
http://www.rawguru.com/store/raw-food/spirooli-spiral-3-in-1-slicer.html
And have made a number of similar “pasta” dishes. Sadly, I’m the only one in the family that really likes raw food. It’s a lot of effort for just one person. 🙁
On the positive side, we all love buckwheat soba noodles. YUM!
Elana says
That looks too good, Kelly 🙂
Ricki says
Beautiful! I will have to pull out my spiralizer to make this. 🙂
The teenie foodie says
So colourful and wonderful, what a great dish! I can’t wait to try this! I’m allergic to buckwheat so I’m glad you made these courgette noodles instead! Sounds delicious…
Teenie Foodie
themommybowl.com says
Yum! I got a spiralizer for Xmas and haven’t used it yet. But, this looks like the perfect way to break it in.
Jeanette says
Great idea, and nice way to add veggies into a meal. I’ve been looking for gluten free dairy free recipes, so I am really grateful for finding your amazing blog.
Sherri says
This tool is half off right now!! Use CLEARANCE2011 to get half off!! Just ordered mine!
Tasty Eats At Home says
Yum! I just bought a spiral slicer thingamajig and I’m dying to make some zucchini noodles. Love this!
gfe--gluten free easily says
Yes, that is beautiful, Kelly! I love being able to have “noodles” without having to have pasta on hand. 😉 Will definitely have this in the near future!
xo,
Shirley
judee@glutenfreeA-Z says
The colors are fabulous.. gotta get my spiralizer out..
Lindsay says
Tried it tonight, sooooooo yummy. Made homemade szechuan sauce to go into. It’s a hit : ) Thanks for sharing!!!
Noel says
I’m so glad a few people mentioned a spiralizer for zucchini noodles. Mars specified the Spirooli. I have in mind to buy a spiralizer but am torn about the style/brand — between the Spirooli sideways style and Vertical Spiral Slicer (that you can see at SurLaTable.com).
I want to love it — for it to work well and be easy to clean. Anyone LOVE their spiralizer? I like the julienne tool that Kelly and Elana use, but I tend to work hard to use as much of the zucchini as possible AND not cut myself. Maybe I need a tutorial on how to do this! : ) Thanks for this recipe, Kelly!
Noel says
I just looked and found 3 spiral slicers that look interesting for making zucchini noodes… — Spirooli (as Mars commented about), Spiral Slicer (formerly known as Saladacco spiral slicer), and Benriner Vertical Spiral Slicer. You can find YouTube videos showing how each works. Spiral Slicer looks easiest – and good for kids to use. But there is something appealing also about that small julienne tool that Kelly and Elan use — maybe b/c it’s so small and easy to clean??? Can’t beat that. : )