I used to be a carb-aholic. True story. My favourite foods were pasta, bread, pizza, cake, you name it, if it had flour in it I liked it. This diet seemed to work well for me (or so I thought) until I entered my twenties. That’s is sort of when things started to change, and they changed on every level you can imagine.
My lower half getting a little bit bigger was the least of the side effects, although at the humble age of 21 it seemed like the most important matter. What I came to realize later and was far more concerning, was how extremely tired I felt all the time. And when I say tired, I mean tiiiiiired. If you’ve been (or still are) a carb addict, you are more than familiar with the extreme fatigue that follows a carb-crash.
And that folks, is one of many reasons why I gladly eat zoodles instead of pasta without even blinking. Sure, real pasta and bread can be really tasty, I hear you. But you know what tastes even better than that? Being healthy, felling good, not feeling bloated, having ENERGY throughout the day and not feeling like a bag of garbage. THAT, is priceless, and well worth eating zoodles for. Plus, zoodles are only the vehicle for all the yummy ingredients you put on there anyway. If you have tasty toppings, all of sudden the noodles aren’t as important, end of the story.
Here’s what you need to make this dish:
(1 SERVING)
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 medium to large zucchini, spiralized
- 3 slices of local pastured bacon
- 2 local pastured eggs
- 1 small leek, sliced thinly (or diced onion)
- 1 cup of sliced uncooked mushrooms
- 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
- fresh italian parsley, for garnish
- Grass-fed butter
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Start by prepping all of your veggies. Slice the mushrooms, leek and mince the garlic.
- In a large pan, cook your bacon until desired doneness. Remove from pan and allow to cool down.
- In the same pan you cooked your bacon (with the bacon fat still in there), mushrooms, leek, and garlic, and sautee for about 7-8 minutes on medium heat. Add a spoonful of butter and continue cooking until mushrooms are a nice golden brown with crispy edges.
- In the meantime in a small pot, bring some water and salt to a light boil. There should be small bubbles but not large ones. This is where you will poach your eggs. I like to bring the water to a boil and then let it calm down for a minute until the bubbles are gone.
- Once bacon has cooled down a bit, chop finely (bacon bits size).
- Using a spiralizer, make your zucchini noodles and gently toss into the pan with the mushroom mixture, and add the bacon bits. I do not like to cook my noodles for very long, as I find they get quite mushy if cooked for longer than a few minutes.
- Your water should be ready for the eggs by this point. Crack eggs directly into the pot of water and do not touch them. For medium-runny yolks, remove after about 4 to 5 minutes with a slotted spoon.
- Plate your noodle mixture while eggs are boiling, and top with lemon zest, fresh parsley, and optional parmigiana cheese.
- Serve eggs on top and enjoy. (I also served this with some pork belly on the side).
