I have another healthy, delicious recipe for you today!
This is one of those recipes I sort of stumbled on by accident. I was making pasta for my husband and kids, but since I’ve cut back on refined sugars and flour, I wanted an alternative for me to eat.
I’d bought some fresh zucchini at the store a few days ago, but didn’t have a plan for it. That’s when the light bulb went off. I found a recipe for roasted zucchini, which I thought would make a good side dish for my husband and kids’ pasta. And it would also make a great “pasta” base for me to enjoy with marinara sauce.
All of this sounded good in my head, but holy moly, the final result was beyond good! As I was eating it, I couldn’t stop raving about the flavors. My husband and kids kept looking at me like I was crazy, but I didn’t care. I was in a happy place with taste buds dancing. (By the way, the hubby and kids weren’t converted to liking zucchini, but no sad faces here. It just means more leftovers for me to enjoy!) 🙂
With a hefty serving of vitamins and minerals, it’s hard to not like this recipe as a healthy side dish. (Try pairing it with a lean grilled protein, like fish or chicken). Or it also makes a great vegetarian main dish. (Vegans or clean diet purists would want to eliminate the cheese.)
For another tasty, healthy side option with this, you could make “clean” bruschetta by taking whole-grain Wasa crisps, topping them with fresh mozzarella, tomato, and basil, and drizzling with olive oil. Yum!
*Update: Since posting this recipe, my friend Sarah tested it for me and made some tweaks that took the dish from amazing to UH-MAZING! Her whole family gave it a thumbs-up! The recipe below reflects both of our creative genius. (Go, Team Sarah!)
All right, on to the recipe. Here it is…
Roasted Italian Zucchini
Notes
To enhance color variation of the dish, you may wish to substitute yellow squash for half of the zucchini.
Ingredients
- 4 zucchini, cut into ¼-inch slices
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 cups “clean” marinara sauce of your choosing, warmed (If you like an extra saucy dish, you can bump this up to 3 or 4 cups)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare large roasting pan by layering with foil.
- Combine zucchini and oil in large mixing bowl. Add garlic powder and pepper, and mix until vegetables are evenly coated.
- Spread zucchini onto baking pan in an even layer. Sprinkle with half of the Parmesan cheese. Bake 5-7 minutes.
- Remove from oven, flip zucchini, and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan. Bake for an additional 5-7 minutes.
- Turn oven to broil, and broil zucchini for 1 minute, until cheese is golden brown.
- To serve, layer on individual plates as follows: 1/4 cup marinara, 1-1/2 cups zucchini, additional Parmesan (if desired).
– The original roasted zucchini recipe I used can be found HERE. I tweaked it slightly for my preferences and eliminated the salt to offset the sodium in the marinara.
– Below is a picture of some of the ingredients we used, including Simply Nature marinara sauce from Aldi.
