It’s summer time and figs are in season (and on sale!), so I stocked up and wanted to get creative with some clean eating #figspo recipes.  I came up with this zoodle trio platter which has been one of my favorite recipes to make, eat and taste.  

What’s a “zoodle” you ask?  Simply, zucchini pasta, or zucchini that has been julienned or gone through a spiralizer.  It’s now become a zucchini noodle, or Zoodle, which is a great raw pasta alternative if you’re trying to avoid grain.  Zoodles work great for paleo lifestyles, allergy-free lifestyles such as gluten free & dairy free, raw food lifestyles, and it’s very low carb compared to regular pasta that uses grain.

For this zoodle trio platter, I did a wild mushroom & fig in a cashew cream sauce, a simple Italian with olive oil, fresh basil, and cherry tomato rainbow, and finally a zucchini pasta with a raw kale pesto.

Let’s dig in to the zoodle awesomeness…

 Ingredients:

 Zoodle #1:  Wild Mushroom & Fig with Cashew Cream

– 1 Large Zucchini, run through spiralizer

– 4 big figs, sliced or quartered

– 1/2 cup wild mushrooms

– 1/2 cup cashew cream

– 1 teaspoon coconut oil

– sea salt & pepper to taste

 Cashew Cream recipe:

– 1 cup raw cashews, soaked 4 hours

– 1/2 – 1 cup clean water, depending on thickness you want

– 1 teaspoon garlic powder

– sea salt to taste

Cashew Cream Directions:   Soak 1 cup of cashews in clean water for 4 hours.  Strain and drain. Add to blender with your sea salt and garlic powder and blend with 1/2 cup of water for thick sauce, 1 cup water for thinner sauce (make the sauce as think/thin as you want with water).  Blend for about a minute, or until the cashew chunks are gone.

Zoodle Directions:  

Add your mushrooms to a pan with your coconut oil on low-medium heat.  Let them cook for 3-4 minutes.  Turn heat to low and add your figs, cashew cream sauce and zoodles.  Mix all together.  Plate and add sea salt and pepper to taste. I don’t like to cook it too long to keep the dish as raw as possible, so cook just enough so the dish is warm to serve (about 1-2 minutes stirring the ingredients together the entire time).

Zoodle #2:  Simple Italian

– 1 Large Zucchini, run through spiralizer

– 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

– 1/2 cup basil, chopped

– 2 tablespoons olive oil

– sea salt to taste

Directions:  Add your olive oil to a pan on low heat.  Add your tomatoes, about 1/2 your basil, sea salt and zoodles.  Stir them all together while they warm up to serve (about 2-3 minutes).  Plate and sprinkle with remaining basil.  You can add pepper if you like, and if you like it spicy, chili flakes are a great addition as well.

Zoodle #3:  Raw Kale Pesto

– 1 Large Zucchini, run through spiralizer

– 1/2 cup Raw Kale Pesto (recipe is here)

– Sea salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:  Add pesto and zoodles to a pan on low heat.  Warm up until ready to serve (about 2-3 minutes).  Finish with sea salt and pepper to taste.

You can either serve all of these as a trio platter, or adjust the ingredients on each one and serve as it’s own dish.  Each recipe is for one serving.

Total Cost Breakdown:

3 Large Zucchinis –  $2

1 basket cherry tomatoes – $3 (used about 1/2 = $1.50 for dish)

1 package wild mushrooms – $4 (used 1/2 = $2 for dish)

1 basket of figs – $3 per basket (used 1/3 of basket = $1 for dish)

1 cup cashews for cream sauce – about $5 from bulk (raw, organic cashews)

Kale pesto sauce- Kale and basil from garden, garlic cloves and brazil nuts purchased – about $5 total (here is the recipe if you missed it).

**I don’t count the minimal use of oils and spices used in dishes

Total Cost Ingredients:  about $16.50.  All ingredients are local and certified organic.  Note:  The big cost of ingredients for this zoodle trio was the raw nuts (about $10) used for the cashew cream and kale pesto.  You can substantially cut down on costs by using an alternative sauce, or even just one of the sauces.

Total Cost per person for dish:  $5.50.  I made one serving for each zoodle dish, 3 servings total for the platter.

Left overs:  I had plenty of cashew cream sauce which I used the next day for lunch with left over zoodles and some previously meal prepped chicken breast.  I also had plenty of raw kale pesto which I used again with left over figs and mushrooms served with kelp noodles, found here.  Two more bonus meals from total cost of ingredients, and there was still left over cashew cream and pesto after that.

Grand Total Summary Cost:  Including next day left over two bonus meals, about $3.30 total cost per meal/person for certified organic, local and sustainable real foods.

Buon Appetito!