Zuchinni Noodles - Again

I make this often!  I LOVE pasta but I don't really want to eat all the carbs.  And most of the time I don't miss it.  I make these just a little differently every time and tonight's tweaks on the recipe yielded a super delish batch of Veggie Noodles in a cheesy garlicky sauce.  Use your imagination and change it up in any way you think it might be great!  Add shrimp, firm white fish, mushrooms, scallops, and change up the spices to complement your other additions. Change it up completely and use soy sauce, ginger and thinly sliced beef for an Asian flair!

 

After I sautéed the zucchini strings, and then the carrot strings, separately, with a little sea salt,  I made sure they were "squeezed" of their liquid back into the sauté pan and set them aside on a platter. Don't overcook the zucchini strings or it will just turn to mush.  All this liquid got reduced by about half.  Add a little more olive oil to sauté 2 cloves of crushed garlic.  THEN, and this is where the magic happened - I added 3/4 c. of white wine to deglaze the pan and reduced it by about half again.  Now, about 6 oz of mascarpone cheese that I had in the refrigerator went into the pan.  I let that melt and added about 1/2 c of grated parmesan.  That simmered until it thickened up a bit. All the veggies strings got added back to this sauce and tossed it well. You might look at it and think, look at all that grease around the dish!  NO!  It's not grease!  It's a beautiful cheesy garlicky white wine sauce!  I could have eaten the whole pan!!!  But instead I put it away for tomorrow's lunch with a piece of sautéed salmon.  There is still some left and I'll add some sautéed shrimp to the rest of it OR it will be a side dish to a lovely piece of chicken breast or another steak. 

 

It's a delicious way to avoid eating too many carbs with regular pasta.  You will NOT miss the regular noodles in this dish!  That said, I have on occasion added 1/2 pound of cooked angel hair pasta and added the shrimp to make it a complete meal.  You can also add your favorite Marinara or Bolognese Sauce for a super delicious treat! 

 

 

 

It's been a long time since I posted at this blog. A year or more!! I've just been posting at FB with abbreviated descriptions and a picture. The nice thing about a Blog is that it allows you to go on and on about what you've created, and your Followers can decide to read or not to read. I would never post something this long at Facebook and I feel like telling you more than you want to know tonight. But I promise, I'll try to get right to the point. When I got home tonight, I suddenly had this urge for Nachos!! But of course, I didn't have what I needed to make them.  Or so I thought!

As most of you know, the way I usually cook is trying to figure out what to make with what I already have at home.  It's relatively rare when I shop for food to make a specific recipe, although I love doing that too. 

I had some leftover Chicken & Mushroom Shit on the Shingles (SOS) that I made with some chicken from a pot of stock I made last weekend. (In case you don't know what that is - it's just creamed chicken and mushrooms).   I had the dregs of some tortillas chips in a bag I found in the pantry.  It wasn't really enough for Nachos, but I found some frozen thin slices of French baguette.  I had some cheddar cheese.  I had a new package of Queso Fresco, which I've never tried before.  And I had 2 half bags of taco seasoning mix left on the spice rack.  Yep, You guessed it!!  I made chicken  nachos!!

Shit on the Shingles went into a sauce pan with some shredded cheddar and the taco season mix.   Ooey gooey yumminess! 

The tortilla chips went into the center of the skillet and were surrounded by some French baguette slices brushed with olive oil.  The newly seasoned and "cheesy" chicken SOS topped the chips and the bread slices.  Then it all got topped with some more shredded cheddar and some crumbled Queso Fresco.  Under the broiler it went!! Maybe 5 minutes!  Don't take your eyes off of it!!!  It will be charcoal. 

Well let me tell you.  I was TOTALLY satisfied!!!  I couldn't even eat it all.  I would have been happy if I'd been served this dish at a restaurant, except I would have paid +/- $15.00 for it.  I made it with leftovers and pantry items.  Want more details?  Jus ask me.