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NEXT MAIN MENU PREVIOUS Zoodles Marinara Zucchini has never been my favorite vegetable. It’s kind of bland, it’s usually pretty watery when dining out, it’s just kind of blah. I refer to zucchini and other summer squashes as “bottom feeder” vegetables because they always just seem to be void of their own personality and boring. With summer here, soon the bumper crop of zucchinis will be upon us and it’s good to have a tasty meal that puts them to good use. The other benefit of this recipe is it is so simple to make and barely heats up your kitchen. The only kind of gadgets I really go for are kitchen gadgets and a nice spiralizer had been on my list for a while. For this year’s Mother’s Day, I finally got one, a really elegant model that fits onto my KitchenAid mixer and comes with five different blades for use in everything from creating spaghetti “noodles” to peeling. Let’s be honest, though: I mainly wanted the noodles. This especially kicked in after a recent dinner party where I lost my mind over my friend Meg’s zucchini noodle dish and she taught me that the secret to her soft spirals was salting them and then squeezing the water out. I couldn’t wait to try on my own and not long after that, my spiralizer arrived. For this recipe, I used Meg’s trick and I think that it adds that extra something special that transforms zucchini into a rather lackluster vegetable into a squash with some real pizzazz. You can make it with any spiralizer and also any sauce: I think it’d be great with a vegan pesto, too, and that wouldn’t require heating up the kitchen at all.       Zoodles Marinara 2 large zucchinis 1 teaspoon salt ¼ cup low-sodium vegetable stock or 1 tablespoon olive oil ½ yellow onion, diced 2 – 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup vegan marinara ½ cup low-sodium vegetable stock ½ cup frozen peas, defrosted 1 cup baby spinach Salt, pepper and red pepper flakes Spiralize your zucchinis and place them in a colander. Sprinkle with salt and place the colander over a bowl the water can drain into. Gently massage the salt into the zucchinis and allow to sit for thirty minutes. After thirty minutes, gather the zucchini spirals in a clean kitchen towel and gently squeeze over the bowl or the sink to release more the water. Don’t squeeze too hard or your pretty spirals won’t survive! Meanwhile, you can start your sauce. Heat the vegetable stock or olive oil over medium heat in a medium sauté pan. After a minute, add your onion and sauté for five minutes; then add your garlic and cook three more minutes. Add the marinara, vegetable stock and peas, cooking until the peas are heated through. Add the baby spinach and other seasonings. Turn off the heat, add your zucchini spirals and serve. This is great with lots of pepper and garnished with fresh basil. © 2013-2016, Vegan Street