zucchini noodles with tomato, olives + rocket

Thanks to two lovely friends from my CrossFit gym, I was given some homegrown zucchini and loan of a vegetable spiraliser. So I had a go at zucchini noodles. Zucchini noodles, or 'zoodles', can be used as a substitute for spaghetti (to the horror of many Italians, I'm sure). You just push the zucchini through the spiraliser and watch the string of zoodles come out the other end. 

As it's summer here in Australia, I decided to do a fresh uncooked 'sauce' for the zoodles. I like the combination of peppery rocket, sweet tomato and salty olives, but you can add/substitute ingredients to suit what you have in your fridge. I've given rough quantities to serve one, but you can easily multiply the quantities for more people. You could also add some flaked tuna or salmon if you want to up the protein.

You can eat the zoodles raw or blanch them by pouring some hot water over the top (if you heat them too much they will go to mush). If you don't have a spiraliser, you can just use a simple vegetable peeler to slice the zucchini lengthways into fettuccine-like strips.

ingredients

• 1 zucchini
• Handful of mini Roma or cherry tomatoes
• Handful of black olives
• Handful of rocket
• Handful of fresh parsley
• Extra virgin olive oil
• White wine vinegar

preparation

1. Pass the zucchini through a spiraliser or slice it into strips with a vegetable peeler. Place the zoodles in a colander or sieve and put some water on to boil.

2. While the water is coming to a boil, chop up the tomatoes and olives, roughly chop the rocket and parsley and place it all in a bowl. Drizzle with some olive oil and a splash of vinegar and toss to combine.

3. Pour the boiled water over the zucchini, draining well straight away. Toss the zucchini with the tomato, olive and rocket mixture and serve.

Serves 1.