Asian Shrimp with Zoodles

Recently, I road tripped with a car full of friends to Long Island. On the way back, we decided to delve into a few podcasts. My friend Steve suggested two podcasts that were focused around race and education. My friend Kristen suggested a podcast on the psychology of 30 not being the new 20. All three were excellent podcasts that sparked intellectual conversations on what we took from the podcast. It made me excited to get out of my own little world and expand my view.

I've never been what one would call an academic or intellectual. I basically floated my way through high school and college. Don't get me wrong, I put in some long hours of studying and had a very real interest in what I was learning. I just never had the patience to pull an all-nighter. I always figured if it hasn't stuck by now it's not going to matter if I cram a few more hours in. Needless to say, I never made the Dean's List. That might be one of the regrets in life that I carry, not putting in the effort for all of those classes. Oops.... but to get back on track, the podcasts sparked my interest in learning. If you ask any of my friends or co-workers what I do in my free time 9 out of 10 will respond, binge watching Netflix or any season of her favorite television shows. So putting together my love for watching TV, and my new found interest in learning, I dived into a series of TED Talks. The talks were called Chew on This, and featured on Netflix. They revolved around food, food production, and agribusiness. I highly recommend you watch a few, most are only 20 minutes in length, and I promise you will learn at least one new thing from each!

Watching these talks only reiterated my intent to repeat the Whole30 challenge, see older posts for more on that. In my preparations for a September eating only whole and natural foods, I slowly have been cutting out the bad stuff. At least one meal a day is dedicated to Whole30. Tonight, it's dinner. My Whole30 cookbook and zoodler arrived in the mail via amazon.com on Monday, so I was eager to break in at least one! I decided to go with the zoodler first. The cookbook was a little intimidating!

Asian Shrimp with Zoodles
2 medium zucchini, peeled and spiralized (a julienne peeler also works well) --> zoodles :)
1 lb. wild caught shrimp
1 Tbsp. ghee
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 inch ginger, peeled and minced (about 1 Tbsp.)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (or to taste if you like it spicier)
1 Tbsp. Coconut aminos (check your labels)
3 scallions, sliced for garnish
Zest of 1 lime for garnish

Bring 2 quarts of water to boil in a medium saucepan. While the water is boiling, heat ghee in large sauté pan adding the onion, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Cook until onion in slightly translucent. Add shrimp and continue to cook for 2-4 minutes or until shrimp is opaque. Turn the heat off. Add the coconut aminos, salt and pepper to taste. Once the water comes to a boil, add the zoodles and cook for 2-3 minutes or until tender, then drain. Serve shrimp hot over the zoodles, garnish with scallions and lime zest!

The lime zest was a last minute addition and boy did it add a nice little fresh zip at the end. The red pepper flakes and ginger add some heat. The zoodles were tender and great! Love this new style of veggie eating. Overall, a great summer evening meal that came together so quick!