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My mother-in-law gifted my sister-in-law and I each a spiralizer a few months ago and I'm still amazed at how fast a simple vegetable can turn into a noodle-like consistency. The only thing I have "spiralized" so far is zucchini, but I'm planning to noodle as many vegetables as possible this summer. You can find a similar spiralizer here.
I made an effort to spend most of the day outdoors on Sunday since it was the summer solstice, and came up with this recipe as a way to enjoy the first official day of summer. It was a warm, sunny and humid day in Chicago with a high around 80 and no thunderstorms {a day without rain is a rare occurrence lately}. I ended up with over 25,000 steps for the day according to my Health app, including several walks and a sweaty run. One of those walks was to the Logan Square Farmers Market, to pick up sunburst tomatoes for this recipe.
We ended the afternoon by walking to the grocery store for the rest of our dinner ingredients, and spiralized the zucchini as soon as we got home. It works best to cook "zoodles" one serving at a time {one zucchini per person}. I sauteed each zucchini for 4-5 minutes with 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Toss the zucchini occasionally while they cook.
K was in charge of the grill for this dinner. He prefers to marinade chicken for at least two hours before grilling. Any mild marinade will work for this recipe - we used Hawaiian dressing (1/2 cup) and marinaded it for 2 hours in a container {refrigerated}.
I hope you enjoy this summer in a bowl!
Caprese Chicken Zoodle Bowls
Serves 4.
Ingredients~
1.25 pounds boneless, skinless chicken tenders
1/2 cup Hawaiian dressing {for marinade}
1 cup mozzarella pearls
1 cup cherry tomatoes {sliced}
1 cup sunburst tomatoes {sliced}
4 zucchini
8 basil leaves
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning {divided}
Salt & pepper, to taste
Balsamic vinaigrette
How to~
*Spiralize four zucchini. Saute each zucchini separately on medium heat with 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, one lemon squeeze, 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning, and salt/pepper to taste. Stir occasionally while cooking, for 4-5 minutes.
*Slice tomatoes and chiffonade 8 basil leaves.
*Grill chicken tenders on medium heat for ~4-5 minutes on each side.
*Slice the chicken and top zoodles with tomatoes, mozzarella pearls, and basil. Dress with balsamic vinaigrette.
yum. this looks so tasty! Those zoodles look so good. I should really break out mine more.
ReplyDeleteYum! I love zoodles and caprese salad.. I will have to try this!
ReplyDeleteMinus the cheese and I will dive in head first! ;)
ReplyDeleteDear Celia, I love walking to the Farmer's Market in town to buy fresh veggies for summer meals...This looks perfect for summer. I don't have a spiralizer yet, but I really want one. My concern is the space to store it. But I do love the awesome zoodles! (Choices....) This is a beautiful dish!
ReplyDeleteI recently got a spiralizer so I can make this now!! YUM!
ReplyDeleteAwesome Beth! I'm completely obsessed with my spiralizer. I still haven't tried anything besides zucchini because it's so good!
DeleteDear Celia, this dish looks fabulous! I love the zoodles tossed in...a perfect meal! xo, Catherine
ReplyDelete