Zucchini Noodles with Creamy Avocado Pesto

Zucchini Noodles!

Family Fun Returns to the Kitchen

Did you know? Since the 1960’s and beyond, cooking at home has been on the decline. Among the reasons, people, in general, say they are too busy! Of course, everyone is busy these days… phones, tablets, digital games, social media, streaming shows all of it eats up valuable time. And, that’s before we get in some exercise and do some grocery shopping.

Avocado Pesto
Recognize that eating out can wreak havoc on the body. Pre-packaged foods, restaurant meals, convenience foods are readily available and can create habits that may not be the best for our health. Convenience foods can easily become a daily or weekly habit. These “to-go” foods are problematic. One has no idea exactly what is in the recipe. Consider that most convenient foods contain high amounts of sodium, are often cooked using fats high in omega-6 or omega-9 fatty acids, and chemical preservatives. More than enough good reason to enjoy more meals at home.

Cooking at home can be fun! With a little pre-planning, making flavorful meals with nourishing ingredients can be a fun, stress-relieving activity.

Zucchini Noodles with Creamy Avocado Pesto

This simple zoodle noodle – that’s zucchini + noodle = zoodle – recipe uses ground turkey, a little diced onion, healing grape seed oil, taco seasoning, and zucchini.

Spiral Slicers:

Buy a small spiral slicer to turn the zucchini into noodles.
Spiral slicers can be found at most home and kitchen stores.
Small hand-held slicers like the one I use (the Veggetti) cost about $15.
The slicer works like a pencil sharpener for zucchini.
There are other brands of slicers, but for beginners, I recommend keeping it simple. For the record, I am not getting paid to recommend the Veggetti. It was recommended to me by one of my good friends. I use the “thick” blade for my zoodle noodles.

See recipe below and let me know how it turns out!

Nutrition:
Serving size: about 1 healthy heaping cup
Calories: 504
Fat: 36.5g
Saturated fat: 8.1g
Cholesterol: 87mg
Sodium: 405mg
Potassium: 1493mg
Carbohydrates: 23.3g
Fiber: 10.0g
Sugars: 5.5g
Protein: 29.5g

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Recipe

Zucchini Noodles with Creamy Avocado Pesto

Entree

Zucchini noodles are tossed with taco seasoned turkey and fresh avocado pesto

Ingredients

8 medium zucchini
1 tablespoon grape seed oil
½ medium white onion, diced
1 pound ground turkey
1 packet taco seasoning
2 -3 large avocados
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions

Using a “zoodler” (spiral slicer), make zucchini spaghetti and place in a large mixing bowl.
Fill a large stockpot ¾ with water and bring to a boil.
Add zoodle noodles and cook about 2 minutes, drain and set aside.
Heat grape seed oil in medium skillet over medium heat.
Add onion and saute about 1 minute.
Add ground turkey and taco seasoning and cook until turkey is cooked through, about 7 minutes.
Remove from heat and set aside.
In a food processor, puree avocado, basil, garlic, lemon, sea salt, and pepper.
Toss zoodle noodles with cooked ground turkey, avocado pesto, and olive oil.
Coat evenly and serve with parmesan cheese or a sprinkle of nutritional yeast.
Vegan? Skip the turkey, use ½ packet of taco seasoning.

Zucchini Noodles with Creamy Avocado Pesto

Zucchini Noodles!