Zucchini Noodle Pasta Salad, aka Zoodles!

This zucchini noodle (aka zoodle) salad contains no pasta whatsoever, but you won’t miss it. It’s great as-is for a healthy, gluten-free / paleo side dish, or use it as a base and get creative: extra vegetables will turn it into a lovely vegetarian meal; leftovers from last night’s grilled chicken, steak, or salmon are great additions too!

Ingredients

• 2 medium zucchini, washed and julienned into “zoodles” with a mandolin (smaller, younger zucchini will be easier to slice on the mandolin and have less seeds; if your zucchini are more mature, consider cutting them in half and removing the excess seeds with a spoon before proceeding.
• Juice of 1/2 of a fresh lemon
• Juice of 1/2 of a fresh lime
• 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp honey
• 1/2 cup good Olive oil (I love basil infused)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 cup shredded (aged) Parmesan cheese

In a small pyrex measuring cup, blend lemon juice, lime juice, mustard, honey, and olive oil to make your vinaigrette. Taste and add salt and pepper to your preference.

Combine everything in a serving bowl — “zoodles,” vinaigrette, dried thyme, shredded parmesan — and toss well to coat. Serve immediately, or allow to rest for up to an hour to let flavors meld.

Extra Ingredient Options to Make a Full Meal

Choose one or multiple; depending on how much you add, you may want to double your vinaigrette batch:

• Grilled chicken, steak, or fish (great use of leftovers!)
• Cherry tomatoes, halved
• Shredded carrot
• Diced cucumbers
• Diced bell peppers (choose yellow for color contrast if you’ve already added tomatoes)
• Diced radishes
• Steamed broccoli florets, cut into small pieces
• 2 brussels sprouts, sliced very fine like confetti
• Fresh basil
• Snipped fresh chives (and blossoms if you like!)
• Fresh nasturtium leaves (peppery, edible, and pretty)