What are they?
Zoodles are noodles made out of zucchini also known as zucchini noodles. Often eaten raw or just slightly heated, they are a nutritious gluten-free, vegan and Paleo alternative to pasta or noodles in every day and gourmet cooking.
Why is it good for me?
The zucchini or courgette is a summer squash which are members of the Cucurbitaceae family and relatives of both the melon and the cucumber. They are great source of key antioxidant nutrients, including the carotenoids lutein,zeaxanthin, manganese and a very good source of vitamin C. These antioxidants are especially helpful in antioxidant protection of the eye, including protection against age-related macular degeneration and cataracts. This is also good for the digestive system which helps skin and nails look their best.
Where to get it from:
Supermarkets are now stocking organic varieties but it is better to get them from markets or vege shops as they are more likely to be fresh and should be cheaper.
What to look for:
Ideally buy organic to avoid potential unwanted contaminants. Generally the green variety is the most common and you should look for bright green skin with minimal markings. The skin should be firm. Zucchini can be eaten even if a bit old, however once it has started going mouldy or decomposing it is very obvious and isn’t advised to eat.
How to make them:
Zoodles are easy to make and there are many options on how to make them depending on what tools you have. You don’t even need to peel them as the skin is particularly antioxidant-rich.
One zucchini makes enough zoodles for two people but often I do two so I can keep some in the fridge for later use. Consume zoodles within a week, but obviously the fresher the better.
Making zoodles by knife or vegetable peeler are obviously the most basic ways to make them but just as valid as any other. By hand you are limited by your knife skills but its a great way to practise. These two ways make semi long zoodles as you can go the entire length of the zucchini. Although these take slightly longer to make than a food processor or spiraliser, the clean up is much more simple.
By knife
- Cut of the ends of the zucchini
- Slice the length of the zucchini into 3-4mm strips – stop here for wide noodles
- For thin noodles, julienne the slices by slicing those again lengthways
Vegetable peeler
- Hold the zucchini in your hand and peel lengthways along the zucchini avoiding the ends – stop here for wide noodles
- For thin noodles, julienne the slices by slicing those again lengthways
Food processor
Making zoodles by food processor is the quickest way but clean up is a little more. You are limited to the width of your feed shoot so this way produces the shortest zoodle out of any way.
- Cut off the ends of the zucchini
- Cut the zucchini to be the width of the feed shoot
- For wide noodle use the slicing blade, for thin pasta/soba zoodles use the julienne blade
- Place the zucchinni length ways on the blade, turn on and process like normal. Repeat until all pieces are gone
Spiraliser
Making zoodles by spiraliser is by far the best way if you want really long zoodles. They can be purchased for around $40 and often have two settings – wide or thin. To use refer to your specific models instructions, but generally there will be a camber where you stick the pre-cut zucchini and turn to peel into zoodles. The length is achieved because it goes around and around the width of the zucchini as opposed to down the length of it like the other methods. It is worth buying if you plan to make a lot of zoodles and don’t want to clean a food processor.
Cooking
Eating the zoodles raw reserve the zucchini’s antioxidant activity, but light steaming if desired is ok, but only lightly and for a short period of time as you want your zoodles to be crisp and al dente.
How to use:
Use zoodles wherever you would use pasta or noodles such as meatballs, Japanese dishes instead of soba noodles or egg noodle, creamy chicken, slow cooked beef etc.
You can find delicious and nutritious gourmet recipes with zoodles here.
