squash and zucchini?

Hi,

I have a bit of a bad eating habit, in which I LOVE to eat.  I thought maybe using healthy "fillers" in my food will help me think I'm eating more than I am.  I heard squash and zucchini are good to put in things like pasta dishes.  How are those things added in/cooked?  Do they need to be cooked like other veggies or just placed in.  I've never ate them besides in microwave meals.

Also, are there any other good things to throw in recipes to get substance without more calories?

I'm new to this whole eating healthy and substituting stuff like squash into pasta dishes. But I can tell you that zucchini and squash roasted are the best thing ever. Some people coat them with olive oil first, I don't. And if you have a george foreman grill its real simple. Just slice them the long way into thin slices. I eat that with some brown rice and roasted chicken. Mmmmmm!

thanks :)

I'm going to pick some up today and try that out

Zucchini is definately one of my favorite cooked veggies, and yellow squash isn't bad either, very close to the zucchini. It's filling with lots of fiber, water, and vitamins.

I cook zucchini in three ways, the quickest is while you're making pasta dishes, cut it in half length wise and then slice them in about half inch thick slices, and just throw them in about 10 minutes before the pasta is finished, they should be tender but not mushy.

Another way is in the oven, bake them for 30 minutes at like 350 degrees. It's great if you're making meat loaf or something in the oven with gravy, it's great with gravy ontop.

The third way is that I slice it up the same as the first way, and toss them into a steamer for about 10 minutes and sprinkle a little salt on top. This is the most nutritious way. It's good if you're steaming salmon for dinner.

The squash works the same way, but I haven't eaten squash plain, just mixed into pasta or stir fries.

just what I needed to know, thanks!

Here's a good example that was posted in last week's Recipes Blog.

Chive Ricotta Pasta with Zucchini

The addition of lightly cooked ribbons of zucchini added to the whole wheat pasta, makes for a very generous serving size.

I love adding these things to my meals... I julienne zucchini & summer squash and steam them & then add other ingredients to make it more of a meal. You can also do this with spaghetti squash, egg plant & cabbage.... Also if you have never tried Yam Noodles - they are something to look into because they serve as bulk and are quite filling and ALL fiber! Same goes with Kelp & Konbu noodles (seaweed). 

I make the Betty Crocker Ratatoullie(sp) recipe on here, which has squash, yellow and green and eggplant along with tomatoes, onions, garlic and bell peppers, add some crushed red pepper flakes to make it spicy and put it on top of 1/2cup pasta for a really filling dish. It is about 300-350cals or so, dependent on the pasta you use.

I also make it with spaghetti squash steamed in the micro for 5-10minutes a half and broken up like noodles with a fork.  You can have a cup of this for pretty minimal calories, i also like it with parmesan and butter or spaghetti sauce.

They are both very filling and you can eat a lot for minimal calories.

Have you ever heard of pasta alla carbonara?  Usually it is made with either spaghetti or rigatoni , pancetta(a bacon type product), and the sauce is usually eggs (I use one egg for every 60-80 grams of pasta), grated Parmesan (you can get low fat, for every egg, put in 2-3 tablespoons), a half teaspoon of olive oil and salt and pepper.  However, since bacon has LOADS of fat, I trade it out for fresh zucchini. 

Cut the zucchini up into little pieces (try to cut out the majority of the fleshy/seedy inside of the zucchini).  Then, just cook the zucchini for a couple of minutes (like 3-4) in a skillet with some olive oil.  In the meantime, cook your pasta and whip up the egg mixture (eggs, parm, olive oil, salt and pepper).  Cook the pasta up until it has two minutes left (the bag says 14 minutes, but I cook for 12) and turn the heat on again for the zucchini.  Strain the pasta, and mix with zucchini in pan for remaining two minutes (this keeps it hot).  TURN THE FLAME/HEAT OFF (parmesan is gross when cooked on a flame), and wait like 10 seconds.  Then, pour the egg mixture over the pasta and zucchini, mixing well. 

It is also great with whole wheat pasta! 

I do like pasta alla carbonara and never thought of putting in a vegetable to bulk out the serving size.  Since zucchnini readily takes on other flavors, it would be perfect.  Thanks!

Don't forget the black pepper at the end because that's what gives carbonara its name.  La carbonara is the coalminer's wife and the pepper is the flecks of coal dust.

I've heard from family in Abruzzo that this dish was invented when American troops came to Italy in WWII.  They'd share their rations - eggs and bacon, with the people, who shared their pasta and cheese, so everyone could have a big meal.

About the black pepper, I just put it in the egg mixture.  Then I do usually add some at the end after it is finished.  My husband is Italian (we live in Rome), and this was actually his idea (I said I couldn't eat carbonara because of the pancetta), so he whipped up the zucchini version. 

I had heard both of those stories as well!  I love Italian food, and living in Italy has meant lots of pasta, so I have been trying to find ways to come up with good alternatives to ones that aren't so good for you. 

Hope you enjoy the recipe :)

so I tried a receipe.  Well, actually, I just cooked some zuchini and squash in with the pepper and onions and added some chicken and multigrain pasta.  For the sauce I used pesto.  It was NOT good.  SOmething gave it a funny taste, maybe the squash?

and I added more water than oil to the pesto sauce thinking it would make it more heathy...no, it was watery and left the veggies and noodles flavorless cuase it was piled on the bottom. 

I'll try another soon

thanks for the recipes! I'll keep on exerimenting

If  you have a garden, my friend Barbara turned me on to this trick for summer squash.  Put your basil trimmings (the flowers that you pinch off to keep the plant producing leaves) in the bottom of the steamer basket. Add sliced summer squash (about 1/2 inch thick), steam until barely tender (I check after about 4 minutes, depends on the size of the squash).  Serve the squash, discard the basil.  You can drizzle it with extra-virgin olive oil, sprinkle it with salt and pepper, and it tastes (and smells) divine.  Even if you don't have the room for the oil in your daily plan it still tastes really good.

I really only like squash cooked way down or grilled, no raw or simple saute for me...it's too strong of a taste for me personally.

Nicole, how did you cook the squash?  I don't eat nuts, so I don't use pesto, but I like the combo of tomatoes and squash, so I use tomato sauce or add diced tomatoes and the sauce when over pasta.

Did you add any seasoning to the squash?  It's kind of bland on it's own.  I use Mrs. Dash or red pepper, salt and black pepper, but I like it spicy.

Hope you have better luck with your experimenting. :)

I sauted it with the onions, peppers, and zuchinni.  Perhaps that is where the strong odd taste was coming from. 

I have extra squash left over.  I think I might try eating it cooked.  I like the red pepper idea- i love spicey food too

With the left over zuchinni, i'm going to try a tomato based dish instead

Another cooking question- I think a big reason my pesto dish tastes bad is because the pesto is so watered down it didn't stick to anything- so when you take a bite there is nothing but the veggie taste.  How would I thicken up a dish like that? I thought about adding flour? its the only thing I could think of. 

Original Post by kaetlynm:

Have you ever heard of pasta alla carbonara?  Usually it is made with either spaghetti or rigatoni , pancetta(a bacon type product), and the sauce is usually eggs (I use one egg for every 60-80 grams of pasta), grated Parmesan (you can get low fat, for every egg, put in 2-3 tablespoons), a half teaspoon of olive oil and salt and pepper.  However, since bacon has LOADS of fat, I trade it out for fresh zucchini. 

Cut the zucchini up into little pieces (try to cut out the majority of the fleshy/seedy inside of the zucchini).  Then, just cook the zucchini for a couple of minutes (like 3-4) in a skillet with some olive oil.  In the meantime, cook your pasta and whip up the egg mixture (eggs, parm, olive oil, salt and pepper).  Cook the pasta up until it has two minutes left (the bag says 14 minutes, but I cook for 12) and turn the heat on again for the zucchini.  Strain the pasta, and mix with zucchini in pan for remaining two minutes (this keeps it hot).  TURN THE FLAME/HEAT OFF (parmesan is gross when cooked on a flame), and wait like 10 seconds.  Then, pour the egg mixture over the pasta and zucchini, mixing well. 

It is also great with whole wheat pasta! 

 

I'm not understanding this....do you cook the eggs? I'm a little nervous to try this one out, I've never heard of anything like it.

Is it like a keish?  do I  cook it all in the oven?

Nicole, I still cook it in a skillet like saute, just cook it until really soft and the juice from the squash comes out, it gets pretty soft, I then add the diced tomatoes(canned or fresh) and the spices and let it stew for a few minutes to incorporate.  I would still use onions and garlic in the pan 1st, but I just like it that way.  I also add eggplant just to change it up a little.  What kind of squash are you using?  I use yellow and green cut into half moons or thin slices.

Now the pesto, I am not sure.  I have never made pesto.  It's oil based, so you probably need to add more oil, or if is a parsley based pesto, you could put it in the food processor with fresh parsley and thicken it that way.

You may need to add tomato sauce, like spaghetti sauce to the noodles with the new squash, depending how much sauce you like on your pasta.  Butter and parmasan on the pasta before you add the squash gives it a lot of flavor too, but increased calories too.

I just keep playing around with it until I like it.

Carbonara is a typical Roman dish.  It has been around in some form since before the Roman Empire.  In any case, you more or less make a "sauce" from the eggs.  You don't cook them beforehand.  For this reason, you cook the pasta 2 minutes less than it says on the package and then transfer it to where you cooked the zucchini on the stove.  You heat up both the pasta and the zucchini (then turn off the flame) and then put the egg mixture (with ingredients stated above) on almost immediately (5-10 seconds).  The heat from the pasta and the zucchini cooks the eggs enough that they are not harmful, but the eggs remain sauce-like.  I have eaten this LOADS of times and have never gotten sick from it. Also, it is absolutely delicious! 

I just made a post where I used zucchini instead of noodles in lasagne, and the whole casserole (quite large!) came out to only 2000 calories.  You might want to check that out :D