I hadn’t made this recipe since we originally published it back in September of 2010…but I still agree with my 2010 self when I said, “This has to be one of my all-time favorite recipes.”  Zucchinis are pretty tasteless on their own, so a strongly flavored sauce as the base, and a texture that isn’t quite noodle-like, but seemingly similar, makes this dish work really, really well. For kids (the picky ones that don’t like the color green in their food), you could peel the zucchini, then proceed with the rest of the recipe, and I betcha they wouldn’t even realize these aren’t real noodles.

Ingredients

• 1/4 c fat (butter or coconut oil)
• 2-3 zucchinis
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 T apple cider vinegar
• 2 T fresh ginger, minced
• 3 T almond butter
• 1 T chili garlic sauce
• 1 T fish sauce
• 1 lime, juiced
• s&p

Method

If you have a mandoline, get it out and start slicing the zuchinnis lengthwise. If you don’t have one, you can get one on the cheap at TJ Maxx or you can get it from Amazon or you can use a knife to slice the zukes as thinly as you can (lengthwise). Slice the slices into thin strips, just like the shape of a spaghetti noodle. Another option, for speed, lack of the proper tools or sheer laziness, you can just chop the zukes into chunks. Not quite the same effect, but same flavor.

Over medium heat, melt your fat of choice. Saute the onion, garlic and ginger, until soft. Add the fish sauce, chili sauce, vinegar, lime juice, almond butter and a bit of salt. Stir to combine.

Add the zuke noodles to the saute pan. Stir them around to get the sauce incoporated onto the “zoodles”. The point here is get the zoodles hot and very slightly cooked through (just like an al dente noodle!), about 10 minutes.

Serve hot. Any kind of grilled or pan seared meat or seafood would go really well with this.