I love pasta, but I don’t love the carb heaviness it can leave me with afterwards. In fact, just this week I ate one small pancake at Bob’s Red Mill and on the way home I felt tired enough for a nap after only being up for about 3 hours.
So my simple solution to off-setting the carbs is to sub in vegetables for two-thirds of the noodles. This not only makes the dish lighter in general, but also provides another two to three servings of vegetables which pretty much benefits everyone whether they like it or not (i.e. husbands).
I’ve used carrots for 100 percent of the noodles in a pasta dish before but it ultimately left me feeling unsatisfied. So by mixing carrots and zucchini ribbons in with whole wheat spaghetti noodles, I was able to satisfy my raging pasta cravings with less than half the calories.
Not to mention, it’s quite a beautiful dish.
Ribboning vegetables is simple: Just rinse the veggies and peel away any rough parts of the skin with a vegetable peeler, and then continue to ribbon out the vegetable until it’s practically gone. And if you’re looking for an easy way to spice up your go-to marinara, simply add in some sun dried tomato sauce or spread to give it a sophisticated twist without much effort.
- 1 carrot
- 1 small-medium zucchini
- 2 ounces whole wheat spaghetti (a small handful)
- ½ – ⅓ cup tomato sauce
- 3 Tablespoons sun dried tomato spread (or pureed sun dried tomatos)
- parmesan cheese and fresh basil (optional)
- Cook the noodles according to package instructions, shooting for al dente.
- Rinse and peel any rough skin spots from the carrot and zucchini. Then continue using the peeler to ‘ribbon’ them into noodles.
- Combine and warm your tomato sauce and sun dried tomato spread in a medium saucepan over low-medium heat, stirring to combine and adding a little water if too thick.
- Once noodles are done, scoop them into a strainer (reserving the water) and cover with towel to keep them moist.
- Place zucchini and carrot noodles in the pasta water and boil for 3-4 minutes until tender or ‘al dente.’
- Add pasta noodles and vegetable noodles into the sauce, toss lightly and serve immediately.
- Garnish with parmesan cheese and basil for additional flavor.
* Leave off cheese or use cheese alternative to make it vegan.
I loved this dish not only for the flavor and ease of preparation, but also for how healthy it was. I was so satisfied by the time I’d finished my bowl, which probably contained at least 2 if not 3 servings of vegetables. If you’re not a fan of marinara, you could also toss your noodles in pesto or a mix of olive oil, garlic and parmesan instead.
Enjoy,
Dana
Sara @my less serious life July 5, 2012 at 8:57 am
i adore the idea of combining spaghetti noodles and veggies. i need a few carbs in my life, afterall!
Megan Davis July 5, 2012 at 9:02 am
YUMMY! Can’t wait to try this :)
Heidi @ Food Doodles July 5, 2012 at 5:27 pm
Yummy! I’m totally with you on lightening up pasta dishes, especially in the summer the last thing I want is a whole meal of pasta. This looks perfect to satisfy those carby pasta cravings though :)
Kelli H (Made in Sonoma) July 5, 2012 at 8:50 pm
Girl, ONE small pancake fills you up!? I’m concerned!
dana July 6, 2012 at 12:01 am
Ha ha, I had one “small” restaurant sized pancake – which was huge – and an egg with tons of fruit. One pancake would never fill me up!
Kelli H (Made in Sonoma) July 6, 2012 at 9:12 am
Okay, thank god. Thanks for the clarification! Now I don’t have to worry about you, friend. ;)
Caitlin July 6, 2012 at 5:42 am
what a beautiful, delicious solution to a traditionally carb heavy dinner. i love the ribboned carrots and zucchini. beautiful photos!
dana July 6, 2012 at 8:53 pm
Thanks! It’s becoming one of my favorite meals : )
Sharlee@believinginsomething July 6, 2012 at 5:39 pm
Hi, Dana! Stopping by your blog from Pinterest. I love what you see and I’m so glad you decided to start up a blog and share. We will be trying the oatmeal choc chip pancakes on Sunday (hopefully) and this lovely pasta dish in the very near future. I am thinking of even trying it with some white spaghetti recipes I’ve seen. I’m adding you to my Google reader. Just thought I’d drop a note and say hi.
dana July 6, 2012 at 8:53 pm
Lovely to hear from a new reader! Thanks for stopping by and letting me know how you found me. Hope you like the pancakes and pasta – let me know how they turn out! -Dana
Brittany July 7, 2012 at 8:05 pm
This looks delicious! I love carrots and pasta but I haven’t found many recipes that combine the two. I need to make this soon.
Margaret July 7, 2012 at 8:33 pm
Brilliant idea! I’ll try anything from your blog after those amazing pancakes! My husband is from Italy and loves veggies with his pasta so I think this might be a big hit. Can’t wait to try this :)
Allie July 27, 2012 at 5:09 pm
This sounds great! Do you have a recipe for the red pepper sauce you mentioned, as well? I just had a romesco sauce for the first time and I’m hooked!
dana July 27, 2012 at 9:07 pm
The sauce was actually sun dried tomato, which I got store bought. But I assume you could buy sun dried tomatos, add a bit of water and maybe some seasonings and puree them into a tasty sauce : )