Veggie spirals
Hubby and I just purchased a spiralizer, and my life is forever changed! Who knew endless squiggles of vegetable strings would be so delicious and playful to eat!? Within just the first few days of opening my prized Amazon package, I’ve already transformed just about every vegetable I had on hand at home into a spaghetti-like masterpiece! Zucchini, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, you name it! I pretty much daydream about what vegetables or fruit I can swirl up next.
We received a paleo cookbook for Christmas a couple of years ago, and we’ve only made a few recipes from it so far. But, hubby has been wanting to experiment more with this paleo trend, so the other day I made him chicken Amatriciana over sweet potatoes “noodles,” instead of traditional pasta. He loved it, to say the very least….but maybe because there was a whole package of bacon in the recipe?? Bless his heart, he really has grown to enjoy veggies more and ever since we first met, and he’s so adventurous in trying anything.
And now to appease my palate, because, as you know, there is no way I would touch that Amatriciana with all that bacon in it, I made a black bean pasta dish with avocado, spiralized cucumber, grape tomatoes, corn, and cilantro vinaigrette. I used Trader Joe’s organic black bean pasta for the first time, and it was delicious! – toothsome texture and flavor, without any chalkiness or bitterness that can be all too characteristic of legume-based pastas. I concocted this dish on the fly, so I wish I had written everything down because it was fantastic! Don’t you hate when your best dishes are just improvisations of whatever you’re in the mood for that day? And then every time you try to re-create it, it’s never the same? Well, the recipe I have below is an approximation, because I remember what went into this pasta, I just rarely measure anything. Oh, and yes, hubby devoured this too….and guess what, here was no meat in it!!
Chicken Amatriciana over sweet potato “noodles”
(from “Easy Paleo Meals” cookbook by Kelly V. Brozyna)
10 oz. bacon, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
1/8 tsp. sea salt
1/8 tsp. onion powder
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 (24-oz) jar strained tomatoes
For the noodles:
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. herbs de Provence
1/8 tsp. onion powder
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 1/4 lbs. sweet potatoes, spiralized
Place a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the bacon and onion, and cook until the bacon is browned. Remove the bacon and onion from the pan, but reserve about 2-3 Tbsp. of the bacon fat in the pan. Season the chicken on each side with the sea salt, onion powder, and garlic powder. Sear the chicken in the bacon grease in the skillet, and cook for about 1 minute on each side. Add in the tomatoes, and then add back in the onions and bacon. Cover the skillet and allow the chicken to simmer in the sauce for about 20 minutes. While the chicken cooks, toss the spiralized sweet potatoes with the sea salt, herbs de Provence, onion powder, and garlic powder. Place the sweet potatoes in another large, shallow pan and steam the potatoes in about 1/4 cup of water for about 10 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are cooked through, but not mushy. Serve the “noodles” with the chicken and Amatriciana sauce on top.
Black bean pasta with veggies cilantro vinaigrette
12 oz. bag of organic black bean pasta from Trader Joe’s
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 cucumber, spiralized
1 cup of organic fresh or thawed frozen corn
2 avocados, diced
1 large bunch of cilantro, washed and dried
Zest and juice of 1 lime
1 tsp. salt
1/2 roasted jalapeno, diced
1/4 cup avocado oil (or substitute olive oil)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 clove garlic
1 scallion
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Boil the pasta for about 8-10 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente. Drain and rinse the pasta and allow to cool. Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette: in a food processor, blend together the cilantro, lime zest, lime juice, salt, jalapeno, avocado oil, apple cider vinegar, garlic clove, and scallion. Blend until you achieve one uniform mixture, adding more oil or vinegar to taste as needed. Set the dressing aside. Prepare the veggies: in a large bowl, toss the grape tomatoes, spiralized cucumber, corn, and diced avocado. Then toss in the cooled pasta and pour the vinaigrette over top. Mix together gently and serve at room temperature.