A quick and simple meal that is loaded with vegetables and flavour, this zucchini noodle and beef mince recipe was inspired by my best friend who threw it together for us one night when we were hanging out. We needed to cook ourselves dinner and it had to be healthy and quick. She made it look so easy, and fortunately it is very easy to make. Considering that it’s low in carbohydrates its quite a filling dish and the trick behind that is filling the beef mince with lots of vegetable. You can pretty much use any vegetables you have sitting in the fridge, creating all sorts of flavour combinations. We used beef mince but I reckon lamb or roo mince could work just as well. There’s onion, grated carrot, home grown tomatoes and spinach mixed into the mince and if I’d had them in the freezer I’d have added corn and peas too. Add herbs and spices to add even more flavour, again they can be anything you have in the pantry. Get creative but don’t over do it. Keep it simple. I added garlic, basil and a pinch of cayenne pepper (I add cayenne pepper to pretty much everything and have a tendency to add way too much, thus burning my tastebuds) to tomato paste before combining with the mince and veg. If you want to up your protein intake add in some beans or legumes to the mix as well.
When I came to making this recipe for myself, a few days later, I realized my spirilizer was stil at my best friend’s place so I found my old julienne peeler and made modified zucchini noddles. Not quite as long and spirally but they still taste the same. Zucchini noodles are a great substitute for pasta for those who are gluten free or simply watching they’re carb intake.
Lastly, top with Parmesan cheese or crumbled feta or mix the feta through the mince before serving to add a slight bite to the mince.
Serves 3-4
Ingredients:
- 500g beef mince
- 2 large zucchinis
- 3 carrots, grated
- 1/4 large onion, diced
- 4 small tomatoes
- 3 large handfuls of spinach
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- Basil
- Cayenne paper
- 2 sachets of tomato paste
Recipe
- Using a spiraliser or julienne peeler, create the zucchini noodles. Put the zoodles into a sieve to drain a little.
- Melt coconut oil in a pot or pan add the onion, stirring until starting to soften.
- Add the mince to the pan and let brown. Then add the carrots and tomato and mix through the mince. Stir through the spinach until it’s wilted.
- Squeeze the tomato paste on top of the mince and before mixing it through add the garlic, basil and cayenne pepper and 1/3 cup of water.
- Make sure it’s all mixed together thoroughly. Place the zucchini noodles on a plate and the mince on top. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and enjoy!
Stephanie's Test Kitchen 