Even my Christmas was 100% low carb I definitely ate more and exercised less than I usually use to. So I had such a craving after something very light and simple. Pesto zucchini noodles with chicken totally fulfilled my desires. Who visits my blog more often probably knows I am little obsessed with zoodles. But I can help myself they are the best. So easy to make and tastes delicious. You can combine them with anything that comes on your mind. Any sauce you loved from the Italian cuisine, you can make them Asian style. In combination with other vegetable noodles, you can, for example, create a super tasty low carb Pad Thai.
And those of you, who know me even better know, I love to prepare all that is possible at home. That obviously means the pesto inside the noodles is homemade and it is heavenly good. Maybe you think, too much excitement for one meal. But the good thing is, the pesto can be stored in airtight container in the fridge and is an excellent accompaniment to any other dishes. (I put it for example in scrambled eggs). And it is also effortless and fast to make. You would be surprised! Basically, you only mix all the ingredients, and it is done. And I know from my own experience I always appreciate having something like this prepared in my fridge. Sometimes you have no idea or mood or just not enough time to be creative in the kitchen, and homemade pesto with some quick zoodles can save your life :)
Zucchini noodles are very easy to make. Usually, you will get along with a kitchen knife or vegetable peeler. But if you do noodles out of veggies regularly and for more people, your life will be more comfortable if you get yourself a spiralizer. There are many types. The most simple (Was the first one I purchased) is handheld spiralizer. It is easy to create zoodles with it, only after third zucchini your hand can hurt a little bit. And it doesn’t split the grains from the middle, so the noodles are more watery. The more professional devices do that already, so the veggie pasta is even tastier. The price is very different from type to type and obviously from brand to brand. But around 100 dollars you can get yourself a very professional spiralizer with many kinds of pasta shapes that are done in a few seconds. It is very comfortable.
Ingredients
For the basil pesto
50 g / 1,8 oz basil leaves
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp cashew nuts
10 tbsp olive oil
80 g / 2,9 oz mozzarella cheese
Salt, pepper
For the chicken zoodles
500 g / 17 oz chicken breasts
8 zucchini (small/middle size)
4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt, pepper
Instructions
For the basil pesto
- Remove stalks from the basil leaves and keep only the leaves.
- Clean the garlic.
- Put all the ingredients together and mix in a blender.
- Add the first half of the amount of olive oil, and add more as required.
- Pour the finished basil pesto into an airtight container (I used a 200 ml / 6,5 fl oz container) and store in the fridge.
- Be careful with adding it into a meal. It has a pretty significant taste.
For the chicken zoodles
- Wash the zucchinis properly and use a knife, handheld spiralizer or any other device to create noodles.
- Clean the chicken breasts and cut into equal cubes. I usually don't make them smaller than 1,5-2 inches (4-5 cm), so they aren't dried from cooking. You can still cut them shorter when they're done.
- Season your chicken cubes with salt and pepper and leave them aside.
- Preheat 1 tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, add garlic cloves (can stay unpeeled - is only for the aroma) and cook the zoodles inside constantly stirring around 3-4 minutes to keep them al dente.
- Salt them and put them aside into a bigger bowl.
- In the same skillet add one more tbsp olive oil and add chicken breast cubes. While occasionally stirring, cook them around 8-10 minutes or until slightly brown.
- If you are not sure, you can still take one piece out of the pan a cut it in the middle.
- Add 2 tbsp of homemade basil pesto into the bowl with zucchini noodles and stir properly. (You can add less or more - it is all about personal taste).
- Divide zoodles into four plates and put the chicken cubes on the top of every dish.
