Zucchini Noodles With Broccoli Pesto

HAPPY FRIDAY!! I hope you're as pumped for this weekend as I am! My hubby and I are headed to Omaha for the Darius Rucker concert, yay! Do you have any big plans??

Exciting things; Riley and I are training for a duathlon at the end of September! Swimming is so hard and I would need far longer than seven weeks to prep for swimming 1/4 mile (which sounds so short but totally isn't) so I said sayonara to the swimming part and signed up for the running and biking. :)

Also-- I will have a new niece or nephew by the end of today! EEEEK! That definitely calls for celebrating.

So let's talk lunch. I've seen zucchini noodles before but hadn't tried them until today, and I wanted to try this sauce but had nothing to put it on! I've used corn pasta but I never was much of a pasta eater pre-Celiac/etc. so it isn't something I always have on hand. Zucchini, I had. :)

I've seen lots of ways to make zucchini noodles. Some cook the zucchini, others don't. Just type in zucchini noodles to allrecipes.com and you'll find an abundance of ways to make them! To make the noodles, I simply cut the ends of the zucchini and used my potato peeler to shave thin slices off the zucchini until I got to the core! Then I tossed them in the pan with a dash of olive oil for a few minutes and took them off the heat when they got soft and seemed to be noodle-textured. Sidebar: I used one zucchini because I wasn't sure how much it would make, but next time I'll use two! While those were sauteing, I grabbed my kale out of the fridge and discovered what I had left was too droopy to use raw. I sadly tossed it and forced my brain to think of alternative sauces I could make. Surprisingly, I came up with an idea, in part thanks to this recipe's  idea of using sunflower seeds (which tend to be used for those with nut allergies)!
Here it is. ;)



Broccoli Pesto Sauce
serves: 2

1/2 cup broccoli, steamed
1/4 cup water from steaming
1 tsp. EVOO
pinch of basil
pinch of thyme
pinch of savory
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. sunflower seeds

After steaming the broccoli, place in Magic Bullet cup (or food processor) and add the water, EVOO, seasonings and seeds. Blend until combined. You may need to add a little more water, depending on how thick you'd like the sauce.

I steamed a cup of broccoli so I could add half the florets to my noodles. Just an option! I also cut up half an avocado to toss on top. I imagine adding some avocado to this sauce would be wonderful; I shall let you know when I try it! :)

So that's the story of the first time I ever made an entirely single-colored meal without even meaning to. ;) It turned out scrumptious.

One last thing while we're talking sauces! I tried this alfredo sauce (which uses cauliflower) and it was AMAZING! Even Riley thought it was eerily similar to "real" alfredo sauce, just without the dairy! I used water rather than any of the milks and it still turned out yummy. Hooray for vegetables made into sauce! ;)

Enjoy your first weekend in August you crazy cats!

--KQ