What a great, fast and super healthy meal! This meal was inspired from Melissa and Dallas Hartwig's "Whole 30" guide to total health and food freedom. I plan to do the Whole 30 in February! Check it out and if you are interested, I would love to have you be apart of the group. It is free! You just need the guide and a willingness to follow along!
This meal was hubby and kid approved too! That is always a win! Last week I made cauliflower risotto. I thought it was great and my husband was like, "Nope. Not a fan!"
My son OBSESSES over noodles and honestly, I think the fact that the zucchini was "noodle looking" totally hooked him! He could still slurp up the noodles just as if it was spaghetti! Too cute!
I adapted this recipe from the Whole 30 to save a little time! I used fresh tomatoes instead of the canned crushed that it called for. The book said if you plan to freeze the sauce then canned tomatoes would be better. The other thing I adapted is I used already cooked frozen shrimp. I thawed the shrimp in a colander with cold water and added them straight to the sauce when it was almost finished so that they would be heated and not be over cooked. The original recipe had you saute onions/garlic in a frying plan then add the raw shrimp and cook. I am sure that would have been great, but the sauce seemed to be enough flavour for me that I didn't feel like taking that extra step but if you choose to do that, then go for it!
I decided to add more veggies to the Romesco sauce and combine that recipe with the Tomato Sauce recipe also in the cookbook for some added nutrition. Feel free to chose the ingredients that you would like to use! Many are optional!
To get the veggies tiny enough I also used a hand powered veggie chopper. Oh my goodness it saved SO MUCH chopping time, I couldn't believe it. It has been sitting in my cupboard forever and I thought I would dig it out to see how it worked. It was amazing! I would give this kitchen tool an A++! You could also use a food processor if short on time for getting the veggies chopped fine, but that adds another dish to wash. I hope you enjoy!
Prepare the Zucchini Noodles:
4 medium zucchini (about 4 cups worth)
Using a zucchini spiralizer (aka: Veggetti) , prepare your zucchini. I purchased my Veggetti for about $20 at Bed, Bath and Beyond and the investment was worth it! My Veggetti is a hand operated one, but there are many other versions to get your zucchini in spiral or noodle form!
Using the Veggetti, rotate the zucchini until it has been turned into noodles. Discard the core and set the noodles aside until you are ready to use them. I would make sure that you have the sauce and shrimp prepared as the noodles will not take long to steam.
Ingredients for Romesco/Tomato Sauce:
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 c chopped almonds (*optional - this WAS in the original recipe, but I didn't use them)
1 small onion diced
1 medium carrot finely diced (*optional - not in original recipe)
2 medium celery stalks finely diced (*optional - not in original recipe)
3 cloves of minced garlic
1 tsp chili powder (If you don't want to use the chili pepper or the paprika just use 1tsp of thyme AND oregano for a milder flavour)
1 tsp paprika
6 fresh plum tomatoes chopped (or diced tomatoes). The recipe suggests to seed the fresh tomatoes. I did not.
1 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp himalayan pink salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
31-40 frozen cooked shrimp, thawed
Fresh/dried parsley for garnish (*optional)
(Optional: 1/2 cup almonds, chopped -- I didn't add this in)
Steps to prepare the sauce:
In a sauce pan, heat the oil. (***If using the almonds, then add them to the oil when it is hot and toast for 3 minutes and stir often and then continue on with the rest of the steps). Add and cook the onion, carrot and celery until the onion is transparent. Add in the minced garlic and cook until the garlic is aromatic. Then add the chili powder and paprika and cook another minute.
Add the plum tomatoes, red wine vinegar, and salt. Cook until the tomaotes become soft and some liquid has formed. Make sure to stir up the tiny bits on the bottom of the pan. Stir every 20 minutes. I allowed my sauce to cook for about 40 minutes. IF USING the CANNED TOMATOES, then just cook until the sauce has warmed (about 2 minutes).
Blend/puree sauce, return sauce to pan and add cooked shrimp. Warm sauce with shrimp and heat for an additional 3 minutes or until the shrimp is heated thoroughly. (I actually did not puree the sauce and found it delicious!)
Zucchini Noodles:
Add 2 cups of water to a large pot and bring to a boil. Add a colander or a steamer inside the large pot of boiling water and add the zucchini noodles. Cover and steam the noodles for about 2-3 minutes. Drain the noodles and transfer them to individual plates. Top with the Romesco Sauce and garnish with fresh or dried parsley! Enjoy! This dish would also be great with a pinch of parmesan cheese too!!
Enjoy and let me know how you like it!
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