It has been almost a year since I used my spiralizer.  Every time I walk through our local grocery store I see so many fresh zucchinis and feel a pang of guilt for not picking some up and using my fun kitchen tool.  So the other night I grabbed a few ingredients and made one of my favorite pastas, spaghetti with pesto sauce.  I love everything about pesto; the basil, the pine nuts, the cheese.  I would put pesto on everything if it wouldn’t make my waist line immediately expand!  I was looking for a very quick and easy dinner so I opted for a jar of premade pesto, but making your own can also be pretty fun (as in I need to break out my mortar and pestle too!).

The idea behind this dinner was to make something filling but actually very light.  Zucchini comes in at only about 19 calories per cup and is packed full of vitamins.  I added in one of my other favorite vegetables, asparagus.  I love this veggie because it is known to have detoxifying elements as well as natural diuretic effects and is packed full of vitamins and other nutrients.  Round this out with the pesto which is full of basil, one of the healthiest herbs around.  It is an anti-inflammatory and full of  disease fighting nutrients.

I baked a beautiful piece of fresh caught Atlantic salmon to round this dinner out.  Full of protein and super lean, it is great to add in some occasional fresh caught fish to your meals.  While it is a bit more expensive than farm raised, it is much better for you.  Pay the extra few dollars to know that your fish came right out of the ocean.

Ingredients:

2 zucchinis

1 jar pesto

1 bunch asparagus

1 pound salmon

Dijon mustard

Minced garlic

Minced basil

Olive oil

Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°.  Line a baking dish with tinfoil.  Place salmon on tinfoil, skin side down.  Brush salmon with olive oil and then a generous layer of mustard.  Sprinkle with minced garlic and basil.  Cover with foil and bake for 40-50 minutes or until fish is nice and flaky.

Wash asparagus and cut into thirds.  Toss in pan with olive oil.  I did splurge and use a touch of butter instead because I was looking for an added salty flavor with the pasta.  Sautee over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes.  Add in some minced garlic during the last few minutes for added flavor.

Peel zucchinis.  This isn’t necessary but I find the pasta tastes more like the real thing without the skin.  You can either use a spiralizer to get the strands or use a veggie peeler to make “spaghetti.”  Toss zucchini in another pan with olive oil and cook over medium heat until just warm.  Add in a few teaspoons of pesto to coat the “pasta.”  Toss and allow to continue to heat up and then add in the asparagus.  Keep warm until ready to serve and add a little freshly grated parmesan on top.  Plate with a piece of salmon.  Voila!

Any other ideas for veggies to try spiralizing?  What would you prepared this “pasta” with?