Paleo madelinettes, I have really missed the sense of peace and happiness that I feel when I sit down to share a recipe with all of you. I genuinely apologize for the brief hiatus I have taken – I had a job switch, a great vacation (although not too paleo), a torn meniscus and a few other bumps in the road the past few weeks. However, the past few days I have hardly left the kitchen and been living in my apron, and I have some great things to share with you….
I had my eye on this creamy roasted red pepper pasta ever since it was the “Recipe of the Day” on the Foodee Project a few weeks ago. For those of you who have not yet tried the thinly sliced zucchini and squash as noodles project yet — I totally get that it sounds weird and you probably think “how could that EVER taste like pasta?!” As someone who was once in your confused Olympic weightlifting shoes, I totally get that. Give this recipe a try, and all of those fears will melt away with every amazing bite.
Zucchini as noodles = MAGIC
This “pasta” tasted great the next day for leftovers. You can use any cut of steak you wish as the topper – we had some leftover pre-marinaded Black Pepper Steak from Whole Foods that we sliced thinly over the top. The original recipe used London Broil.
If you have leftover sauce, you can put it on your eggs in the AM, put it over some salad as a thicker dressing, or eat it with a spoon 
Dinnertime is heaven time
CREAMY ROASTED RED PEPPER PASTA
INGREDIENTS:
2 zucchinis, sliced as thinly as possible (if you have a mandolin, it really helps)
2 yellow squashes, sliced as thinly as possible (ditto above)
1 jar of roasted red peppers (I love the jar from Trader Joe’s)
1/2 cup almond butter
1/2 can coconut milk, full fat
1.5 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp mustard powder – I didn’t have any of this, so I just did 1 tsp of Dijon mustard and it was a great substitute
salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS: Slice up your zucchini and yellow squash – if you don’t have a mandolin, like yours truly, this takes a little patience, but it doesn’t have to be perfect. Take a blender (or food processor), and dump your jar of roasted red peppers in. Puree the peppers until smooth. Now add almond butter, coconut milk, and your spices (mustard powder, onion powder, garlic powder). Puree again until smooth.
Appliances are like little kitchen helpers
Make sure you are timing whatever cut of meat you chose on the grill to come off around the same time your pasta will be done. Next, add your zucchini, squash, and sauce to a hot pan and cook over medium heat for about 5-8 minutes, or until the “noodles” become soft and floppy. Place your “pasta” on a dish, and then your thinly sliced steak on top!
Voila! Enjoy!
More to come this week INCLUDING:
- a new savory breakfast casserole
- pumpkin coffee muffins
- seafood enchiladas
- salmon cakes with ginger mayonnaise
- chicken salad
- paleo crisis management
- Hawaiian shredded pork
Told you I haven’t left the kitchen….get excited!
Peace love and paleo xo
Do you think eating Paleo helped heal your torn meniscus quicker? I just tore mine tonight and I’m trying to figure out how I can optimize my diet for healing.
Hey Jennifer! Well, I just found out about mine a couple weeks ago so I haven’t begun the healing process yet. HOWEVER, eating a clean diet can definitely speed up your recovery since it allows your body to concentrate on healing vs. other things like insulin stability, etc. Eating clean/paleo also improves regeneration of tissue (although with meniscus we’re talking cartilage, which the body cannot regenerate) and bone strength, which are all important players in recovery. More than anything, eating clean will help your body to stay in optimal condition while you can’t work out like you normally do – which will be a big thing for me. You should be able to bounce back much faster when you get to start working out again if you’ve been giving your body the right nutrients and TLC! Please let me know how it goes!