Zoodles! with Ground Turkey in a Tomato & Basil Marinara Sauce

ZOODLES! with Ground Turkey in a Tomato & Basil Marinara Sauce

Spiralized veggies have been super popular lately on cooking blogs, cooking magazines, etc.  If anything, I am late to the party... again. 

I have been wanting to try spiralized veggies, but did not want to invest a ton of money in an expensive gadget, nor did I want a possibly-seldom-used-one-trick-pony-kitchen-gadget to take up precious space in my crowded kitchen cabinets.

ABOVE:  On a recent trip to Des Moines, Iowa, I did find an inexpensive veggie spiralizer (less than $10.00) but the design leads to quite a bit of veggie waste when you use it.

LIGHT BULB MOMENT! It occurred to me that I was gifted a mandoline as a retirement gift from my friends, Belinda and Bev (Thanks, ladies!!!) and the mandoline has a setting to cut julienne strips which are similar in size/shape to the spiralized veggies.  The mandoline made these great matchstick shapes which made great zucchini noodles (Zoodles). 

I read a bit on line about how to cook up my little Zoodles.  I ended up sautéing my Zoodles in a small skillet which had been sprayed with a little non-stick cooking spray (Pam).  Next time, I'll cook my Zoodles just a bit longer.  They were a tad crunchy this time around, but I really did mind chewing on my noodles.  The Zoodles did not taste like pasta; really, they did not taste like anything.  But they were great with the spaghetti sauce I make at home.

For my sauce tonight, I used Jennie-O Italian Seasoned Ground Turkey. I cook and crumble it, and add in a little salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and garlic powder, as well as a little dried oregano and dried basil.  I used some jarred pasta sauce as you can see above. I have a few favorite brands and this is one of them.

This is not much of an exact recipe, but I was excited to have finally tried Zoodles!  I loved this meal and it really felt light and healthy with the veggie noodles instead of pasta, and the turkey in place of ground pork sausage or beef.  For my husband, I did make up some mini-bow tie pasta. 

If you've not heard of veggie spiralizers, here is an image of a more elaborate version.  Yes, my mandoline-made veggies noodles are missing the characteristic spiral shape, but that's okay in my book!