Self Improvement with Irinä: Nutrition: Carrot spaghetti

Hello back to my blog!

Nutrition has been an inseparable part of this blog as it contributes not only on our physical existence (directly linked to physical self improvement) but plays a crucial role to our wellness through affecting our mental side in various ways. I am REALLY happy to share with you this extremely easy recipe of Carrot Spaghetti!

Why do I love this recipe and not enjoying regular spaghetti instead? First of all, spaghetti have always been the simplest dinner to prepare, a dish pretty easy, cheap and fast (if you are a student you understand very well what I mean 😈 ) and thus we all tend to consume it frequently. Some day I fed up and felt the need to try different options. Now days, you can find on the market not only different formats of pasta but also different tastes as well. Spaghetti with some spinach or carrot taste infused can indeed make a stand but they are still common spaghetti.

If you want to try a different approach on your favorite "pasta dishes" such as carbonara, bolognese, napolitene etc here and then, keep reading.
If you are following a healthier diet trying to reduce flour-based foods or if you overate one day and your caloric intake has not the capacity to host the bomb-calories of spaghetti's carbs also keep reading. If you host a dinner, it is a lovely way to take care of your guests and impress them or use it as a trick to convince your kids to eat veggies. I tried these carrot "spaghetti" several times in many different combinations in order to save all the carb calories and enjoy any sauce i choose free of guilt while still keeping my macros and calories in track. Furthermore, the super little calories of carrot let you enjoy larger quantity than the typical "restaurant portion" recommended for pasta consumption and thus this dish will indeed satisfy your hunger. Last but not least, you will be able to enjoy all the benefits of the carrot itself such as:

Sounds like a win-win situation right? 😉 It is. Here comes the recipe for you. You can follow EXACTLY the same process with zucchini too, I tried it and it tastes equally nice.

You will need:

Carrots and a peeler.

Quantity/Serving:
I used 2 large carrots for one serving. I could use one more, the volume shrinks in a bit after boiling.

Process:

Wash your carrots and cut the ends. Use your peeler to remove the first layer of skin (throw it away) and then keep peeling in thin pieces (you can choose the width you prefer. For me a medium width similar to tagliatelle worked perfect). The more surface your "spaghetti" have, the more quantity of sauce they will keep on afterwards. If you prefer spaghettini, then you will have one more step to go: cut the pieces into thin vertical lines.

The carrot spaghetti need to be boiled. The first time, I just let them boil the same amount of time as regular spaghetti on strong heat and they almost melted. So they certainly take less time than spaghetti to boil (depending on the thickness you gave them) but also the duration which worked better most of the times was 7-9 minutes. Keep checking to ensure you will achieve the texture of your preference.

Before boiling

Strain your spaghetti and Voila!

I have tasted them with 4-5 different sauces and ALL OF THEM were matching. Most frequent choice has been a tomato based sauce served with feta cheese but you can experiment and add any sauce you would normally choose for regular spaghetti.

As for the sauce displayed in the picture above, I decided to experiment too and try a whole different combination just to check out how it will turn. I used:

(For 1 serving)

Chicken breast leftovers (oh yes I never throw away food)
1 tbsp tahini, raw unsalted walnuts
Very little milk
1 tsp honey, some raisins
a pinch of salt

STEP 1

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE SAUCE

Step 1: Use the tahini on a heated pan and when it melts, place the chicken breast leftovers (mine were already boiled) to give them a crunchier texture and tahini taste. Up next, it's time to add the raisins and set the heating to medium. Pour a very small amount of milk in your pan and start stirring to make sure that you have the bottom covered in milk but not covering the chicken entirely.

STEP 2 (before adding the walnuts)

Step 2: Add the honey, salt and keep stirring to mix all the flavors together in the milk, let it thicken and 2-3 minutes before turning the heat off, add the walnuts as well.

Step 3: When you get the desired texture, take the pan away, add as much cheese as you prefer (i like A LOT of it - preferably crumbled to blend perfectly into the sauce). Enjoy!

STEP 3: This is the final texture. Then it is ready to serve.

Yum yum yum ❤

That's it! So fast and easy you get this colorful dish ready to enjoy. Some last recommendations: carrot works great with meat, tomatoes, shrimps, mushrooms even milk based sauce and creams (and of course CHEESE). If you try zucchini spaghetti, I personally think that tomato based sauce or anything with taste similar to BBQ (use the proper spices) works better. Also, if you try the sauce I presented above, make sure to taste here and then while making it to ensure if it fits your preference. You might need to add more/less honey depending on your personal taste.

I hope you got as excited as I did while composing this article and you felt motivated to integrate more vegetables and healthy foods in your nutrition. Replacing our usual options with healthier alternatives here and then does really make a difference plus it offers a whole new world of experimenting for you.

Thank you very much for visiting my blog, feel free to share your thoughts and feedback with me through the contact information provided below. Have a fantastic day!

Love,

Irina😻