‘Zoodles’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Recipe: Turkey Bolognese {Cucina Antica}

March 27, 2018 · Narrative

A light take on the traditional heartier Bolognese sauce, this Turkey Bolognese, served over Zucchini Noodles, is filling, guilt-free, and quick to table. Let’s get started!

I’ll be honest. When Cucina Antica first reached out and asked if I wanted to be a Brand Ambassador for them this year, even though I was currently on Whole30 (and have now morphed into Food Freedom Forever), I didn’t inspect their ingredient list too carefully.

Because, well, I’m Italian and they said sauce, and I was there.

So imagine my pleasant surprise when the first shipment arrived of sauce and I turned the jar around so I could read the ingredients and found out that it was, in fact, Whole30-complaint.

Whoop!

When it comes to developing new recipes for clients, I tend to keep my own family’s needs close to heart … in that, I usually create recipes that would actually appeal to us and would hit our everyday dinner table. As an on-the-go family with young children, but one that still places a great deal of importance on family dinner time, that means healthy recipes that are easy to make, delicious, quick to table, and use commonly sourced ingredients, and I think this is something that appeals to a lot of people.

And this Turkey Bolognese recipe hits those notes easily.

My daughter will eat pasta seven days a week if I let her, and my son, well, much less. As for me? Since I’m following most of Whole30’s core principles, I’m not eating pasta at all. So for my first recipe with Cucina Antica, I focused on a meal that I could make but adapt so we could all enjoy it … but not keep me in the kitchen feeling like a short order cook. That means spaghetti for my daughter, zucchini noodles for me, and half and half for my son … and bolognese sauce all around!

Because the Cucina Antica sauce line is all natural, it has no added sugar, no preservatives, and is gluten-free. It uses imported tomatoes (no tomato paste here!), and the ingredients are all completely pronounceable and clean, and a jar of their Tomato Basil made a delicious simmer-all-day flavor for my bolognese.

I started by cooking onion, celery, carrot, and garlic, and then the ground turkey. Once that was done, I added a jar of the Tomato Basil sauce, warmed it through and served it over the noodles.

Which means a healthy dinner that we all loved was on the table in under thirty minutes.

Take that, Rachael Ray!

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Recipe: Zucchini Noodles with Avocado Cream Sauce

April 14, 2015 · Narrative

Light, healthy, yet perfectly filling, this recipe for Zucchini Noodles with Avocado Cream Sauce is the perfect celebration of all things Spring.

Avocado, I swear, has to be one of the most annoying produce items on the planet.

Because this happens ALL. THE. TIME.

Without fail.

Which means sometimes we have to be a little creative and find new ways to eat avocados. NOW.

I have had a recipe for avocado cream sauce pinned forever, and since all of us like avocado, I figured it was a safe bet.

Not all of us like zucchini noodles, but that’s life.

Like this recipe I shared last week, this one is super quick and perfect for a crazybusy weeknight.

It’s super light and healthy, so zero guilt involved, yet it’s filling enough to be a good meal for anyone.

Well, except those looking for red meat.

#sorrynotsorry

The creaminess of the avocado lends itself well to make a unique pasta sauce, and the zucchini noodles mean that you can have “pasta” without the carb guilt.

So this is perfect if you’re following Whole30, paleo, carb-free, or clean eating.

Or just love avocados.

Give this one a try.

I think you’ll fall in love.

Hungry for more avocado recipes?
This Chicken Avocado Salad is in regular rotation in our home and after you taste it, you’ll know why.
You can find ten of our favorite avocado recipes in this post here.
And lastly, more often than not, we split them open, drizzle hot sauce on them, sprinkle a little sea salt and dig in.

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Game Changer: Spiralizer

May 20, 2014 · Narrative

Real estate in my kitchen is a pretty valuable commodity.

Which is to say, it’s not filled with gadgets, machines, and the newest as-seen-on-tv must-have.

No bread machines, pasta makers, and not even a rolling pin.

A quote from William Morris comes to mind. “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

I’ve never been a fan of low-use items, and I really just keep my kitchen maintained with the basics.

It worked in the kitchens of the 1950s. It works now too.

But every now and again, there is something that proves its case and I make an exception.

Introducing the spiralizer.

I’ve been making zucchini noodles (sometimes also referred to as zoodles, which is perhaps even more fun) for awhile now, doing it the old school way via vegetable peeler.

And it works fine.

But then I happened to see a spiralizer in action last year and became intrigued.

One, because it makes quick work of making vegetable noodles.

And two, because there is less vegetable waste using it. I just slice off a little from both ends of the zucchini, put it in, and go to town.

Read: I don’t peel it.

Which means we get a little added nutrients from the (well-washed) skin and less is going in the trash.

Which is kind of a beautiful thing.

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