Spiralized vegetables are an excellent replacement for traditional pasta in a healthy Paleo lifestyle, plus a fun way to get a heap of fresh vitamins into your family. Use this tangy, cheezy flavoured vegetable 'pasta', with meatballs, bolognese or for any meal that wheat pasta would be used. Also use as a side dish or just on it's own.
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Wash zucchinis (leave skin on), peel sweet potato and parsnip. If you can choose a fatter parsnip it will slice through the spiralizer easier.
Cut zucchini and sweet potato in half, remove ends. Cut narrow part off parsnip. (I freeze ends of vegetables and pieces left over from slicing to use in broth or soup.)
Use a spiralizing slicer to make vegetable noodles, use the finest blade. Vegetables that have narrow ends, need to have the larger part pressed into the teeth, narrow end into metal piece on the blade. Harder vegetables will need a bit of a firmer push when turning the handle to slice.
Slice sweet potato and parsnip first, set aside. Place a tea towel next to the splicer for the zucchini to fall onto, once sliced into noodles roll up into the tea towel and press moisture out of zucchini.
Before cooking, cut through the longer noodles to make it easier to eat.
Heat a large 32cm non stick frying pan on high, then add oil. Add sweet potato and parsnip, tossing as they quickly cook on high for 2 minutes. Add zucchini and mix through the other vegetables, cooking for a further 2 minutes, continuing to toss. (If you don't have a large pan you could cook in two batches.)
Add Nutritional Yeast Flakes, lemon juice and salt, mix through the vegetables just before serving. (Noodles should still be a little firm, not soft and soggy.)
Use in place of traditional wheat pasta. I like to eat left over vegetable pasta with avocado smashed through it for lunch.
A zucchini is also called a courgette or summer squash depending on which country you live in. Zucchini looks similar to a cucumber and is usually served cooked with it's skin left on. Zucchini contains a good amount of folate, potassium, vitamin A,C and fibre.
Sweet potatoes are a nutrient-dense root vegetable, naturally sweet and high in fibre. They are a rich source of beta carotene (vitamin A), on average one medium sweet potato provides more than 100% of the Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI) for vitamin C. Also high in vitamin E and potassium. Store in a cool place but not in the fridge.
Parsnip is a root vegetable closely related to the carrot and grown as an annual. It has a sweet flavour, delicious in stews and soups, roasts well and I enjoy them cut into fries or chips and cooked in coconut oil. Parsnips are high in vitamins and minerals, especially potassium and also contain both soluble and insoluble dietary fibre. Choose firm parsnips with light coloured skin in season.
Ghee is a lactose-free ancient superfood. It is made by slow cooking and clarifying butter to remove the milk solids and lactose, it's pure butter fat. You can get the flavour of butter in your cooking without the dairy (please don't consume if you have an allergy to ghee). My favourite brands are Organic Valley Purity Farms or Puresoul grass-fed. It is also very easy to make yourself. Ghee has a high smoke point 485F/250C.
Also know as Savoury Yeast Flakes. It’s a fermented and deactivated yeast, which means it isn’t going to grow (and has nothing to do with brewer’s yeast or bakers’ yeast). It has a creamy cheesy flavour and I’ve used it in a few recipes to create a cheese flavour. Vegans use it as a condiment and a cheese substitute, and to also add additional protein and vitamins to their diet (it’s a complete protein). Nutritional yeast flakes are free from sugar, dairy, grains and gluten. Do not confuse it with yeast extract (MSG). Purchase from health food stores or in the health food aisle of supermarkets.
The lemon is a citrus fruit which makes it high in vitamin C. Lemons have a distinctive sour taste which makes it a key ingredient in drinks and foods. The pulp and rind (zest) are also used in cooking and baking.
Raw pink Himalayan salt crystals is unlike common table salt which can be a highly refined industrial byproduct, otherwise know as sodium chloride. Himalayan salt is completely pure and may naturally balance the body's alkaline/acidity and regulate water content. In addition Himalayan salt helps in the absorption of nutrients from food and contains many trace minerals for healthy cell structure. I purchase fine pink Himalayan crystal salt so I can use it in my shaker and for cooking.