WEIGHT LOSS: Low -Carbohydrates Pasta Recipes

Lentil bolognese zucchini pasta

Here’s the thing about spiralized noodles. It requires a tool, as in another thing to have lying around your kitchen and we tend to be anti “stuff.” We like to keep our kitchen minimal, as you might’ve guessed. (Get it, Minimalist Baker? Sensing a trend? You’re quick, I knew you’d get it.)

However, when your pal sends you her new cookbook and your very own spiralizer to try out, you kind of sort of have to use it. And since the rest of the free world seems to have one in their kitchen – including my mom, my sister, and probably all of my aunts – it’s about time I get on board.

The cool thing about spiralizing noodles – besides vegetables morphing into curly q’s – is that there are options:

You can buy a countertop spiralizer,

A handheld spiralizer,
Or use a good old-fashioned vegetable peeler like I’ve done for the past several years.

And when in doubt, just use pasta. You simply can’t lose with pasta.

Ingredients

PASTA

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium shallot (minced)
• 4 cloves garlic (minced)
• 2-3 medium carrots (finely shredded // 1 cup or 110 g as original recipe is written // I use the grater attachment on a food processor)
• 1 pinch sea salt (plus more to taste)
• 26 ounces favorite marinara sauce (or sub tomato sauce* // I prefer Trader Joe’s brand Tomato Basil)
• 1 pinch red pepper flake
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 Tbsp coconut sugar (for sweetness // plus more to taste // or sub stevia)
• 1/2 cup water
• 3/4 cup red lentils (rinsed and drained)
• 2 medium zucchini (rinsed and both ends sliced off)

FOR SERVING optional

• Vegan parmesan Cheese

Instructions

1. Heat a large rimmed skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add oil, shallot, and garlic. Sauté for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently, until slightly softened and fragrant. Turn down heat if browning.
2. Add carrots and a pinch of salt and stir. Cook for 3-4 minutes more, then add marinara sauce and stir to coat.
3. Add red pepper flake, basil, oregano, coconut sugar, water, and lentils. Increase heat slightly and bring mixture to a simmer, then reduce heat to low/medium-low and continue cooking until lentils are tender - stirring occasionally - about 17-20 minutes. Add a bit more water if mixture gets too thick.
4. Once lentils are cooked, taste and adjust seasonings as needed, adding more salt to taste, coconut sugar for sweetness, red pepper flake for heat, or herbs for flavor balance.
5. While the sauce is cooking, spiralize your zucchini into noodles using a tool such as this or this. Alternatively you can use a mandolin or vegetable peeler, or simply cook up your favorite pasta.
6. Serve the pasta over noodles of choice (I opted for raw zucchini noodles - so good!) and garnish with desired toppings - I prefer Vegan Parmesan Cheese and red pepper flake.
7. Sauce will keep in the refrigerator up to 3 days or in the freezer 1 month.

Notes

*4 cloves garlic yield ~2-Tbsp minced garlic
*Tomato sauce is generally pureed tomatoes with garlic, salt, and Italian spices.
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate.

Source:  https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/07/13/6-delicious-low-carb-pasta-recipes_a_23027279/

=======================================================

Spiralized zucchini mac and cheese

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked (I soaked mine for 2 hours)
• 1/2 cup raw Brazil nuts, soaked (feel free to substitute with more cashews, which I did)
• 4 medium zucchini
• 1/2 to 1 cup filtered water, divided
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Oat Crumb Crust:

• ½ cup gluten-free rolled oats
• 1 tablespoon virgin olive oil
• Pinch of sea salt, for garnish
• Pinch of freshly ground black pepper, for garnish
• Fresh parsley or basil, for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Cut the ends off your zucchini. We like to leave them unpeeled, but you can peel them if you’d prefer. Using a spiralizer, create zucchini “noodles.” Place them in a large bowl and set aside.
3. To make the cheesy sauce, combine the cashews, Brazil nuts,½ cup water, mustard, garlic, nutritional yeast, olive oil, lemon juice, turmeric, apple cider vinegar and salt in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. If the sauce is too thick, slowly add the remaining ½ cup water until you have reached a smooth, sauce-like consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired. Pour the sauce into the noodle bowl and mix until well coated.
4. To make the oat crumb crust, combine the oats and the olive oil in a food processor and pulse until well crumbled.
5. Arrange saucy noodles in a shallow baking dish and cover with a layer of the oat crumb crust. Bake until golden and warm all the way through, about 10 minutes.
6. Garnish with salt, black pepper and a few leaves of parsley or basil.

Source: 

https://www.thehealthymaven.com/2017/06/spiralized-zucchini-mac-and-cheese.htmll 

========================================================

 Lower carb zucchini noodle spaghetti bake

INGREDIENTS

• 2 ounces spaghetti noodles
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 large zucchini
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• Basil for garnish, if desired
• 
  

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Cook pasta according package directions.  Once done, drain and set aside.

1. While pasta is cooking, heat a large oven safe pan over medium heat.  Add olive oil and onions and cook for 3-4 minutes.

1. While onions are cooking, spiralize the zucchini (or cut in thin strips if you don’t have a spiralizer).  Add garlic, zucchini, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to the pan and cook for about 7 minutes, until zucchini is tender.  There will probably be a fair amount of water that comes out of the zucchini, I like to use a turkey baster, or spoon, to discard as much of the water as I can.

1. Next, add the spaghetti noodles, tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of the cheese.  Stir until everything is combined and then sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese on the top.  Place the pan into the oven and bake until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly, 10 – 15 mins.

1. Top with fresh basil if desired and enjoy while hot!

Source:

https://www.shelikesfood.com/lower-carb-zucchini-noodle-spaghetti-bake/