You guys know I love my zoodles. You also know that I love quick, easy dinners. One of our go-to quick meals is whole wheat spaghetti with marinara. While I’m following the Tone It Up plan, eating starchy foods with dinner on a regular basis is frowned upon. I also have a tendency to over-eat pasta and consume super-sized portion. Luckily, I’m obsessed with spaghetti squash and zoodles, so I’m still able to get my “pasta” fix. You can also pile it high on your plate without being concerned about the amount of calories you’re consuming. I really enjoy a bold-flavored sauce when I’m pairing it with zoodles, so I decided to whip up a Tomato-Basil sauce from scratch. I wanted to keep it simple, so I tried not to use too many ingredients and I kept it under twenty minutes from start to finish. I spiralize my zucchini with a Veggetti. It costs less than 10 dollars and I’ve had it for over two years now- so I’d say that’s a pretty good investment! You can buy fancier spiralizers for more money- but these also take up more space and I have a lot of appliances in my kitchen already. This sauce is also great over spaghetti squash or regular pasta. Last night for dinner I made this for myself but served my husband the Tomato-Basil sauce over regular, whole wheat spaghetti. Why is this sauce good for you? It’s loaded with tomatoes. Tomatoes are rich in Vitamins A, C, K, fiber, and lycopene. It’s also low in calories, but packs a lot of flavor. Now enough about this meal- go ahead and make it! You can even add some Chickpea Meatballs for added protein. Yum!
NOTE: I like to spiralize one zucchini for myself, top with sauce, and store the rest of the sauce in an air-tight container in the fridge. It will stay fresh in the fridge for about five days.
Active Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 3 gloves fresh garlic, minced ½ cup chopped white onion 3 tablespoons tomato paste one 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes ½ teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon dried parsley ½ teaspoon oregano ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper (you can omit if you don’t like spice) salt and pepper, to taste ½ cup loosely packed chopped fresh basil
4 zucchinis, spiralized (“zoodles”)
Directions: Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and saute until the onion is slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, then add the crushed tomatoes. Sprinkle in the sugar, parsley, oregano, crushed red pepper (is using), and salt and pepper and stir. Taste the sauce and adjust seasonings if necessary. Once sauce begins to bubble, stir again, then reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer for about ten minutes. Meanwhile, warm the spiralized zucchini in the microwave for no longer than one minute. The zucchini should be slightly warm, but not watery. Stir the chopped basil into the sauce.
Separate the zucchini into four servings and serve with ¼ of the sauce. Top with additional basil and red pepper flakes, if desired.
Nutrition Information per serving:
Calories: 168 Fat: 4g Carbs: 28g Protein: 8g Sodium: 452mg Sugar: 15g
*Nutrition information is based on the products I used personally in this recipe. Different products may yield slightly different information.
