For many, pasta is the perfect answer to the age-old question: “What’s for dinner?” But consider this: pasta consumption and obesity—where one goes, the other follows. Traditional pasta is composed primarily of carbohydrates. One cup of noodles contains roughly 390 calories, with 78 grams of simple carbs. Realistically, you’d eat two cups of noodles when pasta is your main dish, so this would put your carb count close to 200 grams, not counting sauce and the remainder of your meal. All those simple carbohydrates are quickly stored in your body as fat. So to reduce body fat, eliminating meals that are high in carbohydrates is a simple and effective strategy.
But don’t give up on pasta just yet! Allow me to introduce you to the new age of pasta . . . noodles made from vegetables slash the calories in half!
Why make high-calorie, high-carbohydrate noodles from our when we can simply and easily make low-calorie, low-carbohydrate noodles from vegetables?
Brilliant, right?!
A fresh zucchini, when peeled and run through a spiral slicer, turns into white noodles that are just like the ones you grew up on . . . give it a try!
Note: Don’t stop at zucchini; butternut squash, spaghetti squash, asparagus, jicama, and cucumbers are all exciting options for healthy noodle production.
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh thyme
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, minced
2 bell peppers (any colors), seeded and chopped
1 pound ground beef
1 (24 oz) jar spaghetti sauce (no added sugar)
1 cup Cherry Tomatoes, halved
5 medium zucchini
Place an extra-large nonstick skillet or medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and warm for 3 minutes. Add the garlic, onion, thyme, and rosemary. Sauté, mixing often, for 5 minutes, until the onion is tender. Add the bell pepper and continue to cook for 5 minutes.
Add the ground beef and cook, stirring and breaking the beef apart with your spoon or spatula, until all the pink is gone. Drain the fat, then return the pan to medium heat.
Add the spaghetti sauce and cherry tomatoes and mix until well combined. Decrease the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
Wash the zucchini and use a veggie peeler to remove all of the green skin. Use the veggie peeler to create long, at “noodle” strips of zucchini. Collect in a large bowl. There’s no need to cook these noodles. Simply serve with a large helping of the warmed spaghetti sauce and a sprinkle of fresh herbs on top.
Calories: 371
Fat: 18g
Carbohydrates: 23g
Sodium: 570mg
Fiber: 6g
Protein: 24g
Sugar: 14g