Vegan zucchini glass noodles are the perfect dish for a mid-week meal or for any other occasion. They are made in less than 20 minutes yet they are delicious and nutrient. Translucent noodles, zoodles and broccoli florets tossed in a creamy coconut, curry sauce and spiced with clementine zest. You need to try this soon.
Well, yes. It’s noodles time again. However, this time I made glass noodles. Do you know them? When you buy the glass noodles they don’t look like something eatable. They are dry and look like a white stiff thread that you use for sewing. But when you cook them they become transparent. That’s how they got the name.
Moreover, they are made from water and starch, such as mung bean starch, tapioca, potato or sweet potato starch. They are perfect for stir-fried dishes, in soups, in spring rolls and in summer rolls, too.
Did you know that glass noodles don’t require actual cooking in boiling water? On one hand, you can cook them like normal pasta, but only for 3-5 minutes. On the other hand, you can simply soak them in hot water for 10 minutes.
If you don’t find them or you don’t like them, you can still use vermicelli, which look almost the same, or simply use any other pasta. Since the glass noodles are almost “invisible” this dish needed some colour. So I added some green, my favourite. I made glass noodles with zucchini and broccoli.
These two vegetables are both beautiful green, delicious, quick to prepare and extremely healthy. In fact, they are both packed with fiber and protein, they are very low in calories yet very high in vitamin C and vitamin B (with the addition of broccoli being extremely high in vitamins K and E).
In addition, they are both rich in calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and zink. Omg, they are superfoods! Therefore, you should definitely include both in your diet plan.
For more zucchini and broccoli recipes simply click on these following links: golden zucchini salad, rustic tomato-zucchini goat cheese tart, fabulous pesto zucchini noodles with burrata, healthy broccoli egg cups, super fancy zucchini cream cheese puff pastry shells, delicious baked zucchini cakes, fun summer squash boats and broccoli egg salad.
Ingredients for two portions of vegan zucchini glass noodles:
- olive oil
- 100 g glass noodles
- 1 big zucchini or 2 small ones
- 1/2 of the broccoli head or tree
- 3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
- 1 red onion (chopped)
- 2 mandarins or clementines (zest and juice)
- 2 Tsp of canned coconut milk
- 1 tsp of red curry paste (or some chilli flakes)
To begin, wash the zucchini and make some zoodles. You can either use a spiral cutter or, if you don’t own one, simply use a knife or a potato peeler. Be creative. Wink.
Then, wash the broccoli and cut it into smaller florets. Peel and chop the onion and garlic and wash the clementines or mandarins.
Furthermore, prepare a bigger frying pan, a smaller pan and a small pot. The best way to make this dish is to “cook” the glass noodles, preparing the vegetables and making the sauce simultaneously.
Therefore, drizzle some olive oil in a larger pan. Once it gets hot, add the onions and sautee them until soft and translucent. In the meantime, place the glass noodles in the small pot and pour some hot water over them (enough to cover them). Put aside and let them soak for 10 minutes.
And, in the small pan, nicely arrange the broccoli florets, add some hot water (enough to cover the bottom of the pan), cover with a lid and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Afterwards, drain them and keep aside.
At this point, add the garlic and grate some mandarin zest to the onions and saute for a minute. Then, stir in the curry paste, clementine juice and the coconut milk. Let it simmer, on low heat, for a couple of minutes.
When the noodles are soft and translucent, add them, together with the zucchini noodles, to the larger pan, gently toss and season with salt and pepper.
Now, you can either add the steamed broccoli to the pan or simply add them later on the plate when serving. It’s up to you. Wink.
Finally, plate the noodles and zoodles, add the broccoli florets and add some more of the lovely sauce on top. Here you have a healthy vegan zucchini glass noodles meal. It’s easy to prepare yet full of flavours, which makes it perfect for a mid-week meal.
Enjoy!
PS
If you like the recipe, if you make the recipe or if you have any new ideas how to improve or change it, let me know in the comments section below or alternatively share your photos and reactions with me on Instagram (@Passionspoon), Facebook or Twitter (@PassionSpoon1). Simply use the hashtag #passionspoonrecipes in your posts. I would love to see them! (wink)
