No-Pasta Pasta

The big question: What to do for dinner? It’s been a long day – work’s a beating, traffic is bumper to bumper, the house is a mess, the dog’s going crazy, and if you have kids… oh. my. god. You need something quick and easy and satisfying… NOW. And possibly a drink.

This faux pasta dish is a perfect meal for one. On the time to prep/cook scale I’d put it between a Lean Cuisine and spaghetti. It swaps noodles for veggies so you can majorly cut down the carb count while adding a lot more vitamins. And it has about 100X less sodium than a Lean Cuisine. Win. Win. Win.

What you need:

• 1 zucchini, peeled
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt & pepper
• parmesan cheese

What you do:

With a peeler, shave the zucchini into long pasta-like ribbons. Heat olive oil in a skillet. Toss in zucchini and coat with oil. Cook 3-4 minutes. Add tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper, if you like. Continue cooking 1-2 minutes. When the zucchini is tender, it’s done! Put it in a bowl. Sprinkle some parm on top. And there’s dinner!

You can also…
Use pasta sauce as a topping instead of tomatoes.
Add garlic or fresh herbs like basil and oregano while cooking.

It’s colorful, fresh and delicious. And the no-noodles twirl like spaghetti so it’s fun to eat too. Enjoy!