While I was away last week in New Jersey, my friend Candace and I were in our hotel room watching a little TV. I hardly ever watch TV but have decided I should watch cooking shows a little more often because it fuels my ideas for healthy hacks on recipes!
We were watching The Rachel Ray show and she did a spin on Gremolata (parsley, lemon zest and garlic). Instead of garlic, she used walnuts and this got me thinking how delicious it would be to take a version of this and add to a shrimp and veggie noodle dish.
Now you might think OMG there’s butter and wine in this dish, is that healthy? My answer is YES, butter is a nice choice for a saturated fat, plus we will be matching it up with some monounsaturated fat – olive oil. The key is to balance out your fats throughout the day.
There is wine but it will cook down and in the scheme of the dish, it’s not a big deal. It adds flavor and satisfaction.
Let’s talk about the rutabaga right quick and why I chose it for the veggie noodle. One medium rutabaga has approximately 33 grams of carbs, 9 grams of fiber and 4 grams of protein and you ready for this….. 160% of Vitamin C!!
We are using 1 rutabaga for this dish split between 2 people, so this is a lower carb option compared to regular pasta. The texture is great too as a replacement for pasta!
So here is what I have come up with for this week’s healthy hack.
| Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time | 30-40 minutes |
| Servings |
people
|
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 1 medium Lemon zested
- 1 tbs Italian flat leaf parsley chopped
- 1 lb shrimp shell peeled and deveined
- 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbs grass fed salted butter
- 3/4 cup Chardonnay Wine
- 1 medium rutabaga peel wax off, spiralize and trim noodles
- 1 juiced Lemon juice the zested lemon from gremolata
- Salt
- Pepper
- Garlic Powder optional
- parmigiano reggiano parmesan cheese
Ingredients
Gremolata
Main Dish
|
|
- Heat oven to 400F Place pine nuts on small baking sheet and toast for 8-10 minutes until slightly golden. Check often as your oven might bake quicker.
- Zest lemon
- Wash and dry parsley and chop about 1 tbs
- In a small bowl toss toasted pine nuts, lemon zest and parley and set a side for later
- Place a large nonstick pan on the burner over medium heat. Add in extra virgin olive oil.
- Once the oil is heated add rutabaga noodles and cook for about 10 minutes, tossing every couple of minutes until half way cooked through, then transfer to baking sheet and bake for another 10-15 minutes until done. (You want the noodles to be done but not soggy, think the texture of pasta for doneness.)
- While noodles are baking, add shrimp to heated pan and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
- Cook shrimp for about 3-4 minutes per side until cooked all the way through and shrimp has a nice pink color. Once cooked remove from pan, place on a plate and set aside.
- In the pan, carefully add in wine and butter, scraping the bits from the bottom of the pan to develop a nice flavor. Add in lemon juice, a pinch of salt and pepper and reduce sauce for about 5 minutes.
- Remove pan from the heat and add back in shrimp and noodles. Toss to combine the sauce evenly.
- Plate up your dish and top with gremolata and freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese
- ~Enjoy!
If you love garlic, you can add chopped or minced garlic and cook up for a couple of minutes before adding wine to the pan. I love garlic but it does not like me so much!
You can substitute any veggie you love for the noodles, potatoes, parsnips or zucchini would work well too. If using zucchini, I would just saute in the pan and not bake in oven.