No pasta pasta dishes
Craving Pasta
As a Type-2 diabetic, I find there are many things I want to eat, but shouldn’t. Pasta is one of those. I absolutely love pasta, and have even written a pasta cookbook. I prefer making my own, but the carbs… At the store last Friday, I bought four medium zucchini with the idea of making low-carb “pasta.” Actually, what I wanted was to run those green cylinders along a mandoline and get nice, smooth, thin slices–sort of like home-made lasagna noodles.
I even looked up a recipe for Keto lasagna, and found one that used Fathead style cooking to make the “noodles” out of eggs, mozzarella, parmesan and seasoning. I still believe that zucchini slices are the way to go, and some day soon I’ll go that way.
Today, I was just too busy researching and writing to go to all that work. But hey! I have some interesting things in the freezer that could make up a low-carb “pasta” dish. Let’s see what happens when I just throw things together.
The things you find at the store
We have a Mennonite owned grocery surplus store just down the road in Thompson Falls. I love shopping there, partly for the low prices, but mostly because they have items I’ve never seen anywhere else. I believe they get dents and similar items that cannot be sold at retail grocers. I know they get packages with names I’ve never seen.
As an example, last week I found something in the freezer compartment. Lunds and Byerlys Mediterranean Riced Cauliflower. It came in a microwavable bag and contained cauliflower, tomato, peppers, zucchini and onion. The package said 7 grams of carb per serving, with 2 grams of dietary fiber. Sounds great so far. But I’ve never heard of Lunds and Byerlys. That’s ok. at $1.29 a bag, it’s worth a try. And I can always look the company up on line, right?
I bought two bags. One went right into the freezer. The second went into the microwave. Yeah, I saw that it was “Mediterranean,” but I was hoping for Spanish rice. You know, sopa seca? Five minutes later, I was eating my riced cauliflower. Good, but most definitely not Spanish rice. But it would be great with pasta. And idea was born.
So what did I make for supper?
There was a pound of ground beef in the refrigerator. Kevin had picked up extra crushed tomatoes. I had that Mediterranean riced cauliflower in the freezer. And also a bag (or two) of Green Giant zucchini veggie spirals. What would happen if I just threw it all in the skillet? It was great. Had I known that Kevin wasn’t going to eat any of it, I would have added more spices. Maybe some oregano, thyme. But I was trying to cook for him. Oh well. Here’s the recipe for the dish. Easy peasy. And both Tim and I liked it. Try it and tell me what you think. It was a satisfying way to have low-carb “pasta.”
Zucchini Pasta Spagetti
A way to enjoy "pasta" with out spiking your blood sugar
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- dash onion powder (or to taste)
- 1 can crushed tomatoes
- 1 bag Mediterranean riced cauliflower
- 1 bag Green Giant zucchini veggie spirals
Heat cast iron skillet over medium high heat
Add ground beef and stir to break up chunks
As beef browns, keep stirring to break chunks and add onion powder to taste
When meat is thoroughly browned, and broken up, add frozen mediterranean riced cauliflower
After a minute, add zucchini veggie spirals
Cover skillet and saute for 10 minutes
Uncover, stir to mix all ingredients. If there is a lot of liquid, leave uncovered and continue to cook off some of the liquid
Serve with grated parmesan cheese and enjoy
In closing
Last week I wrote up my experience making Jambalaya. The Monday before that I wrote about keto brownies, keto cinnamon rolls, sourdough bread and Instant Pot™ chicken and dumplings. Are you seeing a pattern here? I don’t know what food I’ll write about next Monday. But don’t forget to tune in.
TTFN
