If I could eat this simple meal every night for the rest of the summer I would. The only reason I won’t is because there’s so many great veggies that need to be honored this season so I’ll do my best to restrain myself and prepare this only a few times a week. In all honesty, this meal was damn good, I mean really good. I was inspired by Melissa Clark from the New York Times Cooking section and did I wild spin on her recipe for Tangy Pork Noodle Salad. Her recipe was a bit more complicated and called for ingredients I didn’t have on hand but I was intrigued by the sound of the dish and did my own version with local ingredients (minus a few pantry staples) and I’m so happy with how this turned out. I hope you all enjoy this light and refreshing salad as much as we do. It’s going on permanent rotation until we run out of peaches or all of our pork from last season’s harvest!

Dig in everyone!

This recipe makes a single beautiful loaf of walnut studded zucchini bread. And a sizable one at that. For years I would load my zucchini bread batter with all manner of zest, spice, and whatnot. But that’s not how I roll anymore. Over the years I began to prefer this pared-down and more minimalist version. Moist, just sweet enough and loaded with toasted walnuts inside and out, it has a sweet nut-crusted top, requires just one pan and is a rustic stunner. If you’re looking for a go-to zucchini bread recipe, give this a shot.

A Few Zucchini Bread Tips

Pre-grate & Freeze Excess Zucchini: When you have more zucchini than you know what to do with, grate it and divide 2 1/2 cup portions into freezer bags. Thaw and use with this recipe later in the year.

Too Much: If you’ve baked more zucchini bread than you can eat, slice it, divide with parchment paper, and freeze in baggies. When you’re ready for it, thaw and toast (or toast in a pan with a bit of butter).

Accurate Baking Time: A cake tester is important here. This is a big loaf and you want to make sure the interior is cooked though. If cake batter is visible on your tester keep baking in 7-10 minute increments. 

Yellow Summer Squash Are OK Too! You can basically use any summer squash you like here. Classic green-skinned zucchini are most typical, but you can also use eight-ball squash, patty pan, crooked neck squash, etc. I like to leave the skins on all of them for the color-flecks they lend to the batter. One thing to keep an eye out for is any squash that has developed seeds. Just scoop those out prior too grating.

Variations

My Special Zucchini Bread: This is the more maximalist version of zucchini bread I’ve featured here since 2008. To the batter add: the zest of 2 lemons, 1/4 cup poppy seeds, 1/3 cup finely chopped crystalized ginger, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1 tablespoon favorite curry powder. So fragrant!

All the Zests Zucchini Bread: Add the zest of 3 limes, 2 oranges, and 3 lemons. Consider swapping almond extract for the vanilla extract.

Basil & Lemon Zucchini Bread: Add 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil and zest of two lemons to the we ingredients. You can use Italian or lemon basil.

Zucchini Oat Bread: An idea I haven’t tested yet, but want to mention it in case someone wants to give it a try. Swap 1/3 cup of the flour for old-fashioned oats.

Raz el Hanout Zucchini Bread: I’ve baked a delicious version using a Raz el Hanout spice blend, highly recommended! Just add 1 tablespoon of Raz el Hanout to your dry ingredients.

Zucchini Bread Muffins: Yes, you can make muffins! Fill lined muffin tins 2/3 full – 3/4 if you’re living on the edge! And bake until golden and cooked through.

More Zucchini Ideas

If you have a garden that is anything like ours, it’s putting off an incredible number of zucchini right now. Take a look at these zucchini recipes. I’ve been trying to come up with more recipes that put a real dent in the zucchini supply. So far, this Pasta with Smashed Zucchini Cream is a favorite, and this Grilled Zucchini & Bread Salad is perfect for summer & using up extra sourdough at the end of the week. And we love this Simple Sauteed Zucchini, especially with a little side action of this favorite pesto.

Enjoy! And please leave notes in the comments if you have other variations you like.

Continue reading Zucchini Bread on 101 Cookbooks

In this guest post Kylene Bogden, performance dietitian for the Cleveland Cavaliers and co-founder of FWDfuel Sports Nutrition, teaches how an elimination diet can be used to help fix gut issues and chronic fatigue. Hi guys, Kath here! You guys know I believe that I don’t believe in diets, and that all food groups can...

The post How To Do An Elimination Diet appeared first on Kath Eats Real Food.

This healthy spaghetti squash Pad Thai uses spaghetti squash strands instead of rice noodles for a veggie-packed dish that’s lower in carbs and super satisfying.

Pad Thai is probably one of the most well-known Thai dishes, but if you’re unfamiliar it’s traditionally a stir-fried noodle dish originating from Thailand. It’s typically made with rice noodles, but since I’m a spaghetti squash lover through and through, I had to try it with squash noodles instead. Authentic Pad Thai is made with a sauce that consists of fish sauce, vinegar, tamarind paste and sugar. For this untraditional Pad Thai we’re using a sweet chili almond sauce that doesn’t use fish sauce, but still has a ton of flavor and makes this dish absolutely delicious.

While I never want to imply that spaghetti squash noodles are exact healthy dupes for regular noodles, they are a really great substitute for this Pad Thai dish! I find that while the texture is super similar, spaghetti squash has a firmer texture than cooked noodles and of course, they are thinner than the traditional rice noodles used for Pad Thai. You will know you’re eating vegetables instead of rice noodles, but I love the extra texture in this dish!

Spaghetti squash has a hint of sweetness to it, but overall it’s pretty mild in taste so it takes on the flavors of the dish. In this case there are a lot of delicious flavors happening (especially from the almond sauce) so you don’t have to worry about it tasting bland.

Ingredients Needed:

There are two main components of this recipe: the sauce and everything else. I’m obsessed with the chili almond sauce, which is inspired by my chili almond dressing.

Chili Almond Sauce Ingredients:

• natural almond butter – look for one with just almonds or almonds + salt
• fresh lime juice
• low sodium tamari or coconut aminos – I love the sweetness coconut aminos add to this dish but either option works and in a pinch soy sauce works as well
• fresh ginger – you could certainly try ground ginger if you don’t have fresh, but fresh ginger gives this sauce so much flavor
• garlic cloves
• maple syrup
• sambal oelek or crushed red pepper

Pai Thai Ingredients:

• spaghetti squash – either one large one or two small
• olive or avocado oil – whichever you have in the pantry works
• chicken breast – you could swap this for tofu or shrimp if you don’t eat meat
• Sea salt and ground pepper
• chopped ginger
• chopped yellow onion
• red bell pepper
• matchstick carrots
• green onions, fresh cilantro and limes, for garnish
• salted almonds (optional)

How to Prep Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai

There are a lot of methods you could use to cook spaghetti squash, but my personal favorite is to cook it in rings. Check out my blog post for the full details, but the cliff notes are: you preheat your oven to 400º F and then cut your spaghetti squash into 1 1/2 inch thick rings. Gently scrape out the seeds in the middle of each ring, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake for 30-40 minutes, flipping about 15 minutes in. You’ll be left with perfectly cooked spaghetti squash strands that are long and not watery at all.

After you cook the spaghetti squash and whip up the sauce in your food processor or blender, this recipe is straight forward – just lots of sautéing! First you’ll cook the chicken, then the veggies and then you mix everything together for serving. And if your sauté pan isn’t large enough, you can do the mixing in a large bowl.

Once everything is combined, simply serve with green onions, cilantro, lime and chopped almonds for garnish!

More Spaghetti Squash Recipes to Try:

• 20+ Healthy Spaghetti Squash Recipes 
• Spaghetti Squash Tuna Noodle Casserole Boats
• Almond Pesto Spaghetti Squash with Shrimp
• Spaghetti Squash Pizza Crust
• Spaghetti Squash Taco Bake
• Vegan Spaghetti Squash Lasagna Bowls

More Healthy Pad Thai Inspired Dishes:

• Kale & Cabbage Pad Thai Salad
• Lightened-Up Pad Thai in Under 15 Minutes
• Zucchini Noodle Pad Thai

If you make this spaghetti squash Pad Thai, please be sure to leave a comment and star rating down below letting me know how it turned out. Your feedback is super helpful for the EBF team and other EBF readers. 

Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai

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• Author: Brittany Mullins
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 45 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings
• Diet: Gluten Free

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Description

This healthy spaghetti squash Pad Thai uses spaghetti squash strands instead of rice noodles for a veggie-packed dish that’s lower in carbs and super satisfying.

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Ingredients

• 1 large spaghetti squash (approx. 5 cups after roasting)
• 1 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoons olive or avocado oil 
• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
• Sea salt and ground pepper
• ½ teaspoon chopped ginger
• 1⁄2 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 sliced red bell pepper
• 1 cup matchstick carrots
• Green onions, fresh cilantro and lime wedges, for garnish
• 2 Tablespoons chopped salted almonds (optional)

Chili Almond Sauce

• ½ cup natural almond butter (no sugar added)
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice 
• 1 Tablespoon low sodium tamari or coconut aminos
• 1 inch knob fresh ginger, peeled
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 teaspoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon sambal oelek or crushed red pepper
• ¼ cup water

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Instructions

1. Cook spaghetti squash in rings using instructions from my spaghetti squash post. 
2. Allow squash rings to cool for about 15 minutes, then peel the skin away and use a fork to separate the strands.
3. While squash is roasting, make the chili almond sauce by adding all ingredients into a blender or food processor. Process until smooth and set aside. 
4. Chop raw chicken breasts into 1-inch chunks. Heat a large skillet over medium heat with 1 Tablespoon oil. Add chicken to the skillet and liberally season with sea salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often until all sides are golden and chicken is cooked through and no longer pink. Transfer to a plate and set aside.  
5. Add remaining 2 teaspoons of oil to the same skillet and sauté together ginger, onion, bell pepper and carrots. Cook until the veggies are starting to soften, about 5-6 minutes. 
6. Add chicken back to the skillet with the veggies. Then add the chili almond sauce and mix everything together thoroughly.
7. Add spaghetti squash to the skillet and mix again. If your skillet isn’t large enough, you can put everything in a large bowl to mix instead. 
8. Serve the spaghetti squash pad Thai immediately with green onions, fresh cilantro and lime wedges for garnish. Top with chopped almonds. 

Equipment

vitamix blender

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food processor

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• Category: Dinner
• Method: Sauté
• Cuisine: Thai

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1/4 of recipe
• Calories: 456
• Sugar: 6g
• Sodium: 607mg
• Fat: 24g
• Saturated Fat: 2g
• Unsaturated Fat: 6g
• Trans Fat: 0g
• Carbohydrates: 27g
• Fiber: 8g
• Protein: 35g
• Cholesterol: 36mg

Keywords: spaghetti squash pad thai

The post Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai appeared first on Eating Bird Food.

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Keeping it healthy today with my loaded Greek Chicken Chopped Salad with Lemon Tahini Vinaigrette. Pan-seared Greek chicken tossed together with greens, chickpeas, tomatoes, avocado, feta cheese, cucumbers, and the most deliciously addicting creamy, lemony tahini vinaigrette. It doesn’t get more delicious than this loaded greek salad. It’s simple to toss together, extra colorful, super […]

READ: Greek Chicken Chopped Salad with Lemon Tahini Vinaigrette.