Yesterday I did… yard work! Gasp! I know! Those of you who know me would be absolutely SHOCKED!! The last time I did “yard work” I ended up rushing to the local urgent care and getting 10 stitches in one of my fingers. I played it safe this time… I just purchased ferns for my front porch and transferred them (with some help from my brother and hubby) into hanging baskets. Then I filled my “\Window Box” or porch flower boxes with dirt and pretty little flowers that by daughter picked out. My husband was laughing at how little the flowers were for the flower boxes and said that noone is going to know that any flowers are in the box! I am HOPING that they will grow and hang over a bit. My daughter picked them out and was SO excited about it. I figured, who really cares… you know? I’m ok if they never really show to those people walking by my house… I know they are in there! 🙂

So after a hard day (hehehe) doing yard work and I needed to take my ol’ hound dog 🙂 on a bit of a jog. So, my sweet husband took care of the kids and I went for a little jog. Well, my hound dog decided to cut me off mid-jog to smell something on the other side of the path and I rolled my ankle over a tree root and fell pretty hard! Silly dog. It took me a second, but I got back up, finished the, now walk, and got back home to fix some dinner. I feel old this morning though. I only have 2 tiny bruises from this fall, but I feel sore all over. I’m so old.

So, after all of this, I decided to do something carb free and quick. I THINK this took me 30 min or under from start to finish. The most time consuming part of this was making the zucchini noodles. It wasn’t that bad, it’s just that I had to figure out how I wanted to make them. My cheese grater worked the best. I didn’t have a fancy Spiral Vegetable Slicer. Honestly it probably would have been WAY easier, but I wanted to try this recipe with what I already had without buying anything. You can also try a Mandoline. I have one, but I really decided I would use my Cheese Grater because most people already have one of those.

So, here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 cups cauliflower florets (fresh, not frozen if possible)
• 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/4 cup chopped onion – 1/2 small onion (I prefer sweet yellow)
• 4 pieces of nitrite and nitrate free bacon (I used pre-cooked Trader Joes Bacon)
• 2 TB unsalted butter
• 2 medium zucchinis
• 1 TB homemade pesto (optional) for garnish
• Shaved parmesan as garnish
• For the lemon sauce:
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1.5 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1.5 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking tray with tin foil.
2. Toss the cauliflower in a medium bowl with the olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Lay the cauliflower out on the prepared baking tray and roast for 25 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork and lightly browned.
3. While the cauliflower is roasting, grate the zucchini using the cheese grater (or your “spiralizer” if you have one!)
4. Place a large skillet over medium heat and coat with 1-2 TB olive oil. Lay in the bacon slices and cook for 3-5 minutes or until crispy. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and set aside.
5. After bacon is removed (don’t overcook it, it’ll add a burnt flavor the rest of the dish!)add in your minced garlic, and onions. Cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant and then add in the zucchini noodles. Sprinkle the lemon zest and pour the lemon juice over top of the mixture and stir.
6. Cook, tossing frequently, for 3-5 minutes or until zucchini noodles are slightly soft, or “al dente”. Add in the butter and stir until melted. Add in the cauliflower and crumble the bacon back in over the skillet, with your fingers. Give a toss and then remove from heat and stir in the Greek yogurt mixture. Toss to combine thoroughly and divide into bowls.
7. Sprinkle with parmesan and drizzle a bit of pesto (optional) over top for garnish and a bit of extra flavor.

Tip: you NEVER cook pesto. You heat the meal and then add the pesto. Only add the pesto to the amount of food you want to eat. Save the remainder of the pesto with a bit of oil over the top in an airtight Jelly Jar in the refrigerator and the food separately. When you reheat the meal, add the pesto AFTER. If you cook the pesto, it changes color and flavor.

This meal was really good! It actually satisfied my craving for pasta, and I didn’t have any!! The zucchini was a little crunchy, but still “noodle-like”. This one was easy and tasty! Give it a try!

And now, for the quote of the day: