I’ve been on a zoodle kick lately. My husband got me this spiralizer for my birthday and I love it!! Zoodles are spiralized zucchini noodles. Of course, when I use the word zoodles it includes all veggies I can spiralize!

There’s a bunch of different ways to make veggie noodles. If you don’t have a spiralizer you can still make zoodles by using a spiral slicer, julienne peeler (cheapest option), or mandoline slicer. Here’s the spiralizer I have but here is another good option that my sisters has.

This irresistible zucchini noodle recipe has become one of my favorites!! It’s so simple and all together takes less than 30 minutes to prepare and cook. Healthy+Fast+Cheap=Awesome Recipe (That’s the extent of my math skills.)

You might think cooking fish and zoodles can be tricky. Other foodies sometimes make it look really difficult and time intensive. But it’s not. For example, some bloggers say you have to let your zoodles ‘sweat’ by putting salt on them and letting them sit for awhile and then rinsing them off (yada yada). I’ve done that jazz and I don’t taste the difference.

In regards to fish, the secret is buying good fish. I go to Giant Food Store and buy their fresh wild-caught sockeye salmon from Alaska in their seafood section by the deli. (I might be slightly picky with fish since I was born and raised in Alaska.) Prices for this salmon vary from $6.99/lb to $29.99/lb. (CRAZY!). The key is to just keep your eye on the price when you go grocery shopping. When the price goes on sale (anything under $14/lb, I like to buy several vacuum-packed frozen filets. Keep them frozen until you are ready to use them. Otherwise, you can buy them fresh and thawed from the seafood department.

Yes, they should have skin on one side. And yes, they might have bones. The day before you cook the fish, put the filet in the fridge to thaw. When you take it out to cook the next day, feel along the flesh of the fish for any spiky bones (they are tiny about an inch long and white) and pull them out using tweezers (be sure to clean your tweezers before and after!) like you would an eyebrow hair. 😛

If you don’t get all the bones out and accidentally eat one, don’t worry I’ve eaten several in the past and I’m still alive!

Spicy Salmon Recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, rice vinegar or white vinegar
2 garlic cloves, crushed or chopped
1 tsp freshly grated ginger root
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
Dash of salt

*The Sweet Chili Sauce above is based off of  iFoodReal’s recipe here.

Directions: 
Step 1: Mix all ingredients together. Lay the fish skin side down on an oven safe dish. Brush half the mixture over de-boned fish.

Step 2: Place in a preheated oven at 350. Cook for 15-20 minutes depending on thickness and size of fish.

Tip: Put foil down on your oven safe dish and place the fish on top to make clean up easy! Just fold up the foil with the fish skin inside. If you don’t plan to take the trash out in 48 hrs, place the foil with the fish skin in a clear plastic produce bag (like the one’s you put your zucchini in at the store to take home) and tie up so the smell won’t sneak out.

Step 3: You’ll know the fish is cooked when you start to see the white protein ooze out of your fish– that’s nature’s sauce and it’s good for you! When you take the fish out of the oven, the flesh should easily flake and pull away from the skin. The gray stuff between the skin and the fish is fat…the good kind filled with omega 3 and it’s perfectly safe to eat as long as you bought wild caught fish. If you purchased farm raised then it could contain some harmful PCBs so you might want to scrap it off then.

Thai Zoodles Recipe

While your fish is in the oven, it’s time to whip up your thai zoodles!

Ingredients:
1 zucchini, spiralized
1 yellow squash, spiralized
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed or chopped
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce or the thai sweet chili sauce you made above
Optional garnishes: Chopped peanuts, chopped green onions or sesame seeds

Directions: 
Step 1: Heat the pan over medium-high and add your olive oil, onion and garlic.

Step 2: Saute for 5-8 minutes till onions start to turn translucent and then add your spiralized veggie noodles. Stir the zoodles around so they get covered with oil and they begin to loosen.

Step 3: Add your thai or teriyaki sauce to the zoodles and continue to stir till everything is thoroughly coated and the zoodles are soft to your liking. Typically it takes around 10 minutes to cook the zoodles.

Step 4: Spoon out your zoodles with the sauce onto two plates. Split the salmon and add the filet on top of the zoodles. If you want to make it fancy, you can choose to add the optional garnishes. Enjoy!

Have a suggestion? I’m always open to improving my recipes or even doing spins off of them! Let me hear about your creations below!