I’m building a post for this week called “How to Inspiralize Your Favorite Meals,” featuring all of the recipes from my blog that are classic pasta, rice and noodle dishes, made healthier with the spiralizer.
Looking through all of my recipes, I realized there weren’t enough rice dishes for the roundup, so I’m trying to squeeze in one more before the post.
Arroz con fideos is a rice (arroz) dish with short pasta noodles (fideos), cooked with simple ingredients (pretty much just olive oil, pasta noodles, rice and chicken broth.)
Sounds blah, but it’s surprisingly one of the most delicious things ever. The last time I was in Puerto Rico visiting Lu’s family, his mother made a big batch of it. Of course, I devoured three helpings! I think there were also bits of ham in there, but it was the same premise: rice and fried noodles.
In an attempt to recreate this, I’ve replaced the “arroz” (rice) with butternut squash rice and the “fideos” (noodles) with zucchini half moons. Why half moons? They’re shorter!
It’s essential to use a zucchini on the smaller side (smaller in diameter) to ensure a shorter noodle. If you only have large zucchinis, that’s okay – just trim them up after spiralizing to ensure that most are shorter than 2-ish inches.
I added a few ingredients to this traditional Hispanic dish to counteract the sweetness in the butternut squash – hence the use of lime juice and onions.
If you don’t want to attack that butternut squash, you can use these zucchini noodles with regular rice (still helps keep the processed carb count down!) or try putting the zucchini noodles into cauliflower rice or quinoa. Overall, your tastebuds will get the point – yummy noodles with fluffy rice. You really can’t beat it!
Actually, as we’re building our wedding menu, I’m trying to obviously find creative ways to build in our heritages – mine, mostly Italian and his, Caribbean (he was born in Puerto Rico but his mother is Colombian and his father was Dominican.)
Of course, something spiralized is making the menu! But, I definitely want that Hispanic-Italian fusion in there somewhere.
Since this is Meatless Monday, I left out a meat, but this would work fabulously with chicken, bacon or even shrimp. Try this as a side dish – it also stores well, so build it into your weekly meal plans for lunch.
While this arroz con fideos isn’t entirely like the original, it’s 100% spiralized and therefore, 100% good-for-you.
Nutritional Information & Recipe
Spiralized Arroz con Fideos
Ingredients
- 1 medium butternut squash peeled, Blade C
- 1 small thin zucchini no larger than 1.5” diameter
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup diced yellow onions
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/3 cup chicken broth low sodium
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
Instructions
- Place the butternut squash noodles into a food processor and pulse until rice-like. Set aside.
- Chop the ends off the zucchini and slice lengthwise in half, careful not to pierce the center. Spiralize, using Blade C. Set aside.
- Place a large skillet over medium heat and once heated, coat with cooking spray and add in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Then, add in the zucchini noodles and sautee for 2-3 minutes or until cooked through and al dente. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate using pasta tongs or a slotted spoon to let excess moisture drip out. If there are a few stragglers, it’s okay – you can leave them in the skillet.
- Immediately add in the olive oil and onions to the skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add in the butternut squash rice, season with salt and pepper, stir and add in the chicken broth and lime juice. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until butternut squash is cooked and is a soft, rice-like consistency, stirring frequently. Once done, add the zucchini noodles back to the skillet, give one big toss and transfer to a serving bowl.
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