Recipe: Quinoa with Zucchini "Pasta"
Co-Founder Ravi shares his recipe for Zucchini "Pasta" paired with quinoa - perfect dish for summer!
Zucchini "pasta" is a nice alternative to regular wheat-based pasta. Should I mention that it's also low-carb, gluten free and raw? Interested yet? I like to pair zucchini "pasta" with some quinoa and mediterranean delicacies such as olives and feta. Vegans could easily omit the feta and still achieve an amazing dish (more on that later).
1 large zucchini
1 cup of cooked white quinoa
handful of pitted black olives
3 tbspn of tahini
3 tbspn kosher salt
clove of garlic, smashed
olive oil
vinegar (white wine or balsamic)
Take zucchini and run it through a mandolin slicer to achieve thin ribbons. Mix zucchini with kosher salt and smashed garlic and allow to sit for 2 hours. Salting the zucchini removes the crunch without rendering the zucchini mushy. This is how zucchini "pasta" is made. Rubbing in a clove of smashed garlic infuses the zucchini with a faint garlic flavor. After 2 hours, rinse zucchini in water to remove excess salt, drain in sieve and pat dry with a paper towel. You can discard the garlic at this point or add it back. Set zucchini aside. Take 1 cup of cooked quinoa and combine with fresh tahini and a pinch of salt. On a plate, arrange zucchini "pasta" and spoon on quinoa. Add olives and feta (optional) and dress with oil and vinegar. If vegan, omit the feta and use balsamic vinegar for an acidic note. Otherwise, white wine vinegar is the way to go (the feta will add enough sourness here). Serve and eat!