Summer Zucchini "Pasta" Salad

Can you even believe we are just a couple of days away from the first day of summer? I am beyond excited for the summer heat, beach days (minus this pretty unfortunate sunburn I'm rocking right now), and of course my favorite, picnics. There is so much fresh, local, and delicious produce filling up the farmer's markets and grocery stores, and I honestly couldn't be happier.

So in celebration of summer and all of the delicious goods I picked up this weekend, I decided to throw together a pasta salad with a twist. I wanted to keep it light and fresh, so I swapped out the noodles for some raw zucchini ribbons, added in some other tasty flavors, and finished it all off with Stella Cheese's new mozzarella.

The verdict - you NEED this in your life. It's so fresh and summery, plus this Stella Mozzarella is insanely delicious. This is the perfect side dish (or main dish if ya ask me) for your 4th of July picnics coming up in a couple of weeks. Or feel free to just make it as a quick, week night dinner. It's super easy to throw together, so it's the perfect way to end a long, hectic day.

Need another reason to try this one out? Yeah, I didn't think so, but I'll give you one anyway. You can use the $1 off coupon here when you pick up Stella mozzarella at your local store. So let's get to it!

Here's What You'll Need:

-2 zucchinis, spiralized using the ribbon blade
-1 tomato, cubed
-8 oz ball of Stella fresh mozzarella, cubed
-1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
-1/4 cup sherry wine vinegar
-2 tbsp olive oil
-1/2 tsp dried oregano
-Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1) In a large bowl, mix together the zucchini ribbons, tomato, Stella mozzarella, and olives.
2) Drizzle on the vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper, and mix well.
3) Plate the "pasta" salad, top with the oregano, and serve.
4) Enjoy!

Let me know what you think in the comments below, and don't forget to snag your $1 off coupon for Stella's fresh mozzarella here. Be sure to check out their Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram pages for other recipe ideas using their delicious cheese!

Zoodles with Grilled Chicken in a Vegan Basil Cream Sauce + Rainstorm Wines

 Summer officially means zucchini season in my mind. It also means grilling season, so what better way to celebrate both than will a spiralized zucchini and grilled chicken dish. 

I decided I wanted to go a pesto-ish route because 1) I had basil and 2) pesto is freaking delicious. Instead of using raw nuts, I decided to go with the Artisana Organics walnut butter I had and make into more of a "cream" sauce. Toss in some sundried tomatoes and olives, pour yourself a nice big glass of Rainstorm Wines pinot grigio, and we have ourselves the perfect summery, spiralized meal.

Here's What You'll Need:

-1 zucchini, spiralized
-1/4 cup kalamata olives, halved
-1/4 cup sundried tomatoes
-1 chicken breast, grilled and sliced
-2 tbsp Artisana Organics raw walnut butter
-8-10 basil leaves
-2 tbsp olive oil, separated
-2 cloves garlic, minced and separated
-1 tsp lemon juice
-Salt and pepper to taste

Serves 1

Instructions:

1) In a food processor or blender, mix together the walnut butter, basil, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 clove garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper to make a creamy sauce.
2) On the stove top heat up 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan over medium heat.
3) Add in one clove of minced garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
4) Add in the spiralized zucchini and cook for 3-5 minutes, long enough to just heat the zucchini without cooking it down too much.
5) Add in the olives, chicken, and tomatoes.
6) Add in the sauce and mix everything completely, cooking for an additional minute.
7) Remove from heat, serve, and enjoy!

I paired mine with a nice refreshing glass of Rainstorm Wines pinot gris. It was the perfect compliment to this meal. It has a nice rich fruity flavor that played perfectly off the "creamy" sauce. Also zucchini and white wine just go hand in hand in my opinion, so I definitely recommend this combo!

Let me know what you think in the comments below.
 

Ginger Soy Turkey Stuffed Peppers Over Zoodles with a Rice Wine Vinaigrette

I had ground turkey sitting in my fridge that I needed to use, but I didn't want to do the standard tacos. I feel like this happens to me more often than it should. I'll buy it thinking oh this will be easy, and then I don't want tacos.

So it was brainstorming time, and stuffed peppers popped into my mind. But, like I said, I just wasn't in the mood for Mexican. So why not go more of an Asian route? My Sriracha Ginger Turkey Meatballs are one of my favorite recipes, so I knew that I could definitely come up with something delicious. And what better way to pair it than with a fresh, raw zucchini salad.

Here's What You'll Need:

-3 bell peppers, cut in half and seeded
-1 lb lean ground turkey
-2 green onions, chopped
-1/4 cup Tamari (or low sodium soy sauce)
-2 tbsp sriracha (if you don't like the heat just use one)
-1 tsp ginger, shaved
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-2 zucchinis, spiralized
-1 tsp olive oil

For the dressing:

-3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
-2 tbsp Tamari (or low sodium soy sauce)
-1 tbsp olive oil
-1/2 tsp sesame oil
-1 tsp spicy brown mustard
-1 1/2 tsp hoisin sauce
-1/4 tsp pure cane sugar

Instructions:

1) Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2) Heat up the tsp olive oil in a large pan on the stove top, and add in the garlic. Cook for about a minute.
3) Add in the ground turkey and cook fully until it is no longer pink.
4) Add in the scallions, soy sauce, sriracha, and ginger, and continue to cook for another minute or so.
5) Place the bell pepper halves on a baking sheet, and fill each with the turkey mixture, using it all.
6) Pop the peppers into the oven, and cook for 30 minutes.
7) Mix together the dressing ingredients, and toss the zoodles in it. Split the zoodles between 3 plates, and top each with 2 bell pepper halves.
8) Enjoy!

You can easily use this dressing on any salad. I used on spiralized cucumber with some raw bell pepper and shrimp. I also want to try the peppers using lentils or faux meat, so let me know if you give it a try! I'd love to hear what you think in the comments below!

Garlic Chili Potato Noodles with Collard Greens and BBQ Shrimp

I was literally in the middle of a spin class when I started craving some comfort food. I mean like southern BBQ, potatoes, you name it. So (still in spin class) I started coming up with ideas in my head.

Spiralized sweet potato is always one of my favorites, but spiralized potato is creeping up there. It really goes well with everything. I know it isn't necessarily as healthy, but toss in some other veggies, a light protein, and you have yourself a meal!

Here's What You'll Need:

-1 tbsp ghee
-1 potato, peeled and spiralized
-1 clove garlic, minced
-1/2 tsp chili powder
-6 oz cooked shrimp
-1/4 cup BBQ sauce
-4 collard green leaves, chopped
-1/4 cup (heirloom) tomato, chopped
-salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1) Heat up the ghee in a large skillet at medium high heat, and add in the garlic. Cook for about a minute.
2) Add in the spiralized potato and cook for about 3-5 minutes alone.
3) Add in the chili powder, mixing it around to cover the potato noodles.
4) Add in the collard greens, and continue to cook for about 3-5 minutes.
5) In the meantime, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Toss the shrimp in the BBQ sauce, and throw them in the oven for about 3-5 minutes. The shrimp is already cooked, so you just want the BBQ sauce to coat the shrimp and to warm them up.
6) Add the heirloom tomato, salt, and pepper to the potato noodles. Cook for another minute or two, and remove the pan from heat.
7) Split the potato noodles between two bowls, top each with half of the shrimp, and add additional BBQ sauce as desired. 

 Let me know if you give it a try and what you think in the comments below! It really was the perfect way to satisfy that comfort food craving.

Honey Sriracha Salmon Over Spiralized Broccoli Stems and Bell Pepper

So I have about a billion thoughts I want to get across in the post, and they're all a little jumbled in my head so bare with me. 

I'm a HUGE fan of spiralizing! And over the past year or so, I've come to realize how many different, amazing things you can spiralize. Two of these perhaps not-so-predictable things are bell peppers and broccoli stems. I've touched on broccoli stems with a couple other recipes and I think bell peppers once before, but I want to do a quick recap of how to spiralize each.

Broccoli stems are easy. Cut them off and shave off the side nub parts with a knife. The idea is to get the stem as cylindrical as possible, but don't go too crazy. It will be fine, trust me. Just try to get anything that's jutting out a ton off the sides. Cut the ends so they're flat, and spiralize as if it's a zucchini. 

Bell peppers seem complicated, but they really aren't. Cut off the top of the bell pepper, maybe about a centimeter below the stem, and remove the seeds from the inside. Have the open top part facing the blade when you spiralize, and the bottom of the pepper will attach the spiky end. Spiralize as you would any other vegetable. I've found that peppers tend to have a lot of juice, so just be aware you may want some paper towels nearby.

Okay, so now that we've covered how to spiralize them, I'm going to briefly touch on spiralizers. Every time I post a spiralized recipe, I get a lot of questions about which spiralizer I suggest. My major suggestion is to invest in a good one. I wouldn't settle for a small hand one, honestly, because you really won't use it that much because you just can't use it on as many things. My suggestion would be the Inspiralizer. It's comparable to some other, good quality spiralizers, but it reduces the amount of wasted vegetable which is actually a huge deal. For more information or to buy one, feel free to click the link below.

So onto the recipe. I've had the fortune of coming across Fix Hot Sauce lately, and it has literally be a game changer. It is by far the best sriracha I have ever had. They are not paying me to say this, I am not endorsed by them, it is JUST THAT GOOD. So I've pretty much been putting in on or in anything and everything. So I figured why not a nice, simple recipe with sriracha and throw in honey for a touch of sweetness.

Slight tangent here, I buy broccoli a lot. And if I buy broccoli, you pretty much know that there's some sort of broccoli stem concoction coming your way because they may be very high up there on my favorite vegetables to spiralize list. I also may or may not shop for broccoli by broccoli stem size now (insert embarrassed buldgey eyed emoji here).

So I had my broccoli stems laying around, and I thought they would be the perfect compliment to an Asian-ish salmon. Bell peppers came into my mind next, and the rest is history really.

Here's What You'll Need:

-3 red bell peppers, spiralized
-6 broccoli stems, spiralized (may need more or less depending on size)
-1 lb of salmon, cut into 3 equal pieces
-1/4 cup water
-1/4 cup Tamari (or low sodium soy sauce or liquid aminos)
-2 tbsp sriracha
-2 tbsp honey
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1 tbsp coconut oil

Instructions:

1) Mix together the water, Tamari, sriracha, honey, and garlic in large bowl or container. Marinate the salmon pieces in the sauce for at least an hour covered in your fridge.
2) Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
3) Cook the marinated salmon for about 12 minutes. The rule of thumb is 4-6 minutes per half inch thickness, so times may vary. DO NOT THROW OUT THE REMAINING MARINADE. You'll be using it as a sauce. 
4) In the meantime, heat up the coconut oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Toss in the broccoli stems and cook for about a minute.
5) Add in the bell pepper and cook for another minute or so.
6) Add in the leftover marinade and let it cook for 3-5 minutes.
7) Once the salmon is cooked, remove it from the oven.
8) Plate the pepper and broccoli stem mixture and top each with a piece of salmon.
9) Enjoy!

Not a fan of spiralizing or not want wanting buy a spiralizer at the moment? Feel free to make the salmon alone. I served mine in a variety of ways over on my Instagram, and you can still save the marinade to use as a sauce.

Let me know what you think in the comments below!