Whether it be Thai, Chinese, or Japanese, it’s all delicious in our book. It is also super easy to make healthy, Asian-inspired dishes at home. A Bare Staple meal is zucchini noodles, a.k.a zoodles, and they technically can be made with yellow squash, zucchini, or a mixture of both. We love making all sorts of varieties of zoodles (Check out our Italian-Style Zoodles with Vegan Cream Sauce here), but this Asian style version might be our fave. It tastes amazing and it’s insanely FAST AND EASY to make. Quick and healthy dinners are our specialty.
The cool thing about zucchini noodles is that you are getting the satisfaction of noodles but the fiber and nutrients of veggies, sans the starchy carbs. If you love pasta and noodles as much as us, this is good news indeed. Zoodles are also an awesome way to seriously up your veggie intake, as they are the main event of this dish. Which lends to another major plus: you can guiltless give yourself a pretty hefty portion. This is a notion that many of us aren’t used to anymore. Many people focus on eating less, or having smaller meals as a way to lose weight or get lean. When you eat plant based or mostly plant based, as we recommend, you ADD to your diet. More veggies, more veggies, more veggies, and in virtually unrestricted portions. With that being said, vegetables can make you super full and sometimes bloated if you over do it, so don’t have more than you need. Just listen to your body.
Ok, so how do you make ‘em? This is yet another incredibly quick and easy recipe, but you will need one kitchen gadget—a spiralizer. Hand held spiralizers can be purchased for about $5-$10 from most grocery stores, Home Goods, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc. You can also purchase a higher quality, more efficient spiralizer for about $20-$40 from Home Goods, Bed Bath and Beyond, or Amazon (example, the Inspiralizer or the Veggetti Pro) . It’s worth the tiny investment, as it makes the spiralizing much easier and less like manual labor, trust us. If you aren’t ready to buy a spiralizer, most grocery stores are now selling pre-spiralized veggies like zucchini, butternut squash, and sweet potato (this route will be less cost-effective, but very convenient).
Ingredients: Serves 2
Zoodles:
2 large zucchinis
½ white onion
2 green onions
1 red bell pepper
White or shiitake mushrooms
1-2 cloves garlic
1 jalapeño
1 egg (optional)
Wild caught peeled shrimp (could also leave out or do diced chicken or salmon)
*add any additional veggies you’d like. This recipe is also great with snow peas and bean sprouts.
Sauce:
½ inch thick piece ginger or dash of ginger powder
1 Tbsp white balsamic vinegar, or apple cider vinegar (We used a honey ginger balsamic vinegar from Con' Olio)
1 tsp olive oil (we used a harissa oil)
1 tsp sesame oil
1 heaping tsp organic honey
1-2 tsp sriracha (go for 2 or even 3 if you like things super spicy)
Juice of a lemon or lime
salt and pepper
Toppings:
Cashews
Sesame seeds
Cilantro
Instructions:
1. If shrimp is frozen, place in a bowl filled with cool water to thaw.
2. Finely chop garlic, roughly chop the onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, and jalapeño.
3. Place in a pan on medium high heat with a drizzle of olive oil (~ 1 tsp). Season with salt and pepper.
4. Spiralize your zucchinis while the onions and pepper cook down a bit (~ 5 minutes).
5. Add in the shrimp. If anything is sticking to the pan, add a little water or another tsp olive oil.
6. Mix your sauce. Finely chop the ginger, combine with the other ingredients, and add into the pan.
7. When the shrimp is nearly cooked, make an opening in the center of the pan, and crack an egg. Allow it to cook, scrambling it in the pan with a spatula.
8. Stir everything together, then add in the zucchini noodles (and bean sprouts, if using). Cook for 3-4 minutes. (The zoodles cook very quickly so cooking longer than 5 minutes may make them mushy. They also are a high water volume vegetable, so as they cook your mixture may become a little more brothy—this is how you want it!)
9. Pour the sauce over it and stir everything together again.
10. Serve yourself a bowl, and add your toppings!
