Hey everyone!!! Today I wanted to share with you one of my all time favorite dishes!!! I had discovered a recipe similar to this one about 8 years ago. At the time I attempted to follow the recipe but it was missing something for me so I have added, changed, tweaked to my personal preferences. It doesn't fully resemble the original as we have different measurements, different proteins and a couple other ingredients amended.
Personally, I LOVE THAI FOOD! Seriously, you can always drag me to a Thai restaurant and I will be all in. The problem is when I go out for Thai food there is often rice or noodle dishes that I love but my blood sugar doesn't love them back. This is why my favorite zucchini based recipe is Thai Drunken Zoodles. Zoodles, if you aren't aware, are zucchini that are cut into spaghetti noodle shapes. Usually one needs either a spiralizer for this or a lot of patience and knife skills. The spiralizer I own is a Veggetti Pro but there are tons of brands out there. Even if you don't love this recipe I highly encourage you to purchase one of these and experiment with your own spiralized vegetables.
I use my spiralizer for zucchini, carrots, turnips, potatoes, yellow squash, butternut squash, onions and all sorts of other vegetables. Once cut I add to regular spaghetti, make "pasta" salad or just add to other dishes I am preparing as strips. Just be sure once you spiralize that you use some clean kitchen shears to cut the "noodles" down to a normal size or into whatever size you need them to be. If you are using a harder vegetable, like carrots or butternut squash, you can also use a food processor or something similar to cut these even further down into rice sized pieces. If you don't cut them down you will have a crazy long noodles to slurp up.
The ingredients for this are easily found in your local grocery store. There isn't anything strange or peculiar unless you have never gone through the ethnic aisle looking for Asian ingredients. If you really want to branch our or purchase the most authentic ingredients Asian markets are your friend but it is not necessary for this recipe.
I really prefer to measure everything out and chop as much as I am able well before I am ready to cook this dish. Since everything is added pretty quickly once you get started you won't be able to stop and chop or prep as you go. Oftentimes I will do my prep the night before and just pull all the prepared pieces out when I am ready to go. This includes putting all the sauce together in a container but not cooking it, spiralizing my zucchini, chopping my peppers, etc. Also, feel free to add whatever vegetables are in your crisper. This dish is a great way of cleaning out those small pieces or whatever you have on hand.
Sauce Ingredients:
1/4 cup Hoisin Sauce
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 tbsp Chili Oil (can be omitted or more added depending on preference)
1/4 cup Fish Sauce
Ingredients:
1 tbsp Stir Fry Oil (vegetable oil will work as substitute)
1 lb Ground Beef
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 large Shallot, minced
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
2 Bell Peppers
1 tsp Basil
3 to 4 medium to large Zucchini
2 thinly sliced Scallions (green onions)
Directions:
Heat a large skillet over medium heat.
Add sauce ingredients and heat until shimmering.
Remove from pan and set aside.
Add oil to coat pan.
Brown the ground beef breaking up as much as possible.
Add in the shallot and garlic to the browned meat.
Mix in the bell peppers, carrots & basil. Cook until the vegetables are beginning to soften.
Add in the zucchini & sauce.
Mix well and allow the zucchini to soften. (I will often toss everything and put the lid on the pan for a moment to help steam the zucchini a bit faster but that is not really necessary.)
Once the zucchini is soft without being overcooked serve and top with the scallions.
This may not be the most authentic version but it keeps all the flavors I love and all the vegetables I can eat mixed into one really tasty dish. I'm a firm believer if I can kick those cravings without breaking my calorie bank I am all for that plan. Enjoy!
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