Vegetable 鈥渘oodles鈥� are super trendy, and summer is the best time to make them since the king of veggie noodle 鈥� zucchini 鈥� is ubiquitous, and inexpensive.
Go ahead and load up, because zucchini is a true powerhouse of vitamins.
One cup provides more than a third of your daily vitamin C, and about 10 per cent of five additional vitamins and minerals, and weighs in at under 20 calories.
While 鈥渮oodles鈥� are easily the most popular noodle, noodles can be made from a variety of vegetables. Try other summer squashes, winter squash such as butternut, beet, carrot, sweet potato, and parsnips. Veggie noodles are easy to make, too. You can buy an inexpensive spiralizer to make quick work of cutting perfectly shaped noodles.
Or, you can even use your vegetable peeler to shave long, thin ribbons from your vegetables; no special equipment needed. Cooking the noodles is quick: usually by steaming or saut茅eing briefly. Some veggies, such as summer squash, can be left completely raw if you want, and made into a cold summer noodle-like salad.
If you have been seeking the perfect recipe to dip your toe in the veggie noodle world, today鈥檚 recipe is perfect. Sunshine Vegetable Ribbons can be made in mere minutes using only a vegetable peeler and a pan as equipment. The flavours are bright and familiar: a little garlic, lemon, toasted pine nuts and nutty parmesan cheese.
Serve this as a pretty first course, as a side dish or even as a vegetarian main course with a thick slice of crusty Italian bread on the side.
Once you鈥檝e mastered the vegetable peeler noodle, get creative and explore the endless options for this new technique, swapping in vegetables for pasta in your favourite recipes.
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Sunshine Vegetable Ribbons
Makes: Four servings
Start to finish: 15 minutes
2 large carrots, peeled
2 crookneck squashes (yellow summer squash)
2 zucchini
2 tsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp toasted pine nuts
1 oz parmesan cheese, shaved into shards with a vegetable peeler
鈥� Lemon zest or fresh herbs for garnish, optional
鈥� kosher salt
鈥� Freshly ground black pepper
Use a vegetable peeler to shave long, thin ribbons (like flat noodles) of the vegetables. (You will likely have a thin core remaining of each vegetable that you鈥檒l have to use for another purpose.)
Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large saut茅 pan. Add the garlic and saut茅 for one minute, until fragrant.
Add the vegetable ribbons, a pinch of salt, and stir. Add the lemon juice and cover with a lid for just one minute (or longer if you want very soft ribbons). Remove the lid, and remove from heat.
Serve vegetable ribbons on four plates, topped with pine nuts, parmesan cheese, black pepper and lemon zest or fresh herbs, if desired.
