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Oriental Zucchini Noodle Dinner With Chicken

Making a bowl of Zucchini noodleLooking for tasty ways to get in all your veggies? You may want to try turning your zucchini into noodles! This gluten-free recipe provides a tangy and flavorful way to pack some great nutrients into your meals. All youā€™ll need to do is invest in a handy-dandy vegetable spiralizer. Youā€™ll get your moneyā€™s worth! After trying this meal, youā€™ll have wished you started making zucchini noodle meals a lot sooner!

Why Choose Zucchini Noodles Over Traditional Pasta?

Getting the right combination of nutrients in your body is crucial for optimal health. The easiest way is to eat a variety of foods so that you get a wide assortment of vitamins and minerals in each meal.

Weā€™ve all heard the saying ā€œmake your plate colorfulā€. Itā€™s true! The more colors in each meal, the more likely you are to be eating foods packed with vital nutrients. Getting creative and trying new recipes can keep mealtime fun and interesting for you and your family. No one wants to eat chicken breast with a side of broccoli every night. But when you dice that chicken, saute it with something flavorful, and make an innovative side dish like zucchini noodles, you just upped your dinner game and your nutrition.

Check Out This Ingredient List!

This recipe not only tastes delicious, it is full of nutrients that can keep your body running efficiently. If you arenā€™t already, learn to be a conscious eater.

A healthy diet is one of three legs that helps to keep you healthy along with sleep and exercise. This trio cannot be compromised! They hold equal weight in the equation of a healthy lifestyle.

Zucchini

A superfood! This veggie is packed with superpowered nutrients like vitamin A and vitamin C, fiber, potassium, calcium, and folate. Together they contribute to a healthy heart by regulating blood pressure, keeping cholesterol in check, and decreasing the chances of stroke.

Vinegar

Vinegar is a source of dietary polyphenols and antioxidants that defend against oxidative stress on the body. It has also been shown to help control blood glucose levels, helps with weight loss, and reduces cholesterol.

Honey

Both a food and a medicine, honey has been used since the ancient times for its health benefits. Honey has trace amounts of nutrients, bioactive plant compounds, and antioxidants. Itā€™s a great replacement for refined sugar in cooking, and for conventional cough medicines. It's antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, and itā€™s great for dressing wounds and healing diabetic ulcers.

Garlic

Garlic is another super-food that is used both for its potent medicinal values and for adding flavor and nutrients to cooking. Garlic contains sulfur compounds that are known to travel all over the body and exert medicinal effects. Garlic is one of the few foods that contains almost everything the human body needs. It's strongest elements are manganese, vitamins B1, B6, C, selenium, fiber, calcium, copper, potassium, phosphorus, and iron.

Sesame Oil

As the name implies, sesame oil is a yellow colored oil from the seeds of sesame. Its health benefits include supporting dental health, moisturizing and improving the skin, preventing diabetes and contagious infections, lowering blood pressure, boosting metabolism and circulation, relieving arthritis pain, helping with constipation, and improving bone density. Do not be afraid to use this oil generously throughout your cooking.

Black Pepper

Bet you didnā€™t know all the health benefits of this common spice! Black pepper contains potassium that helps with digestion and intestinal health. It is also a carminative. It helps eliminate the formation of gas in the body. In addition, the outer layer of the peppercorn aids in weight loss by breaking down fat cells. You will also find calcium, iron, zinc, and manganese. Medicinally speaking, black pepper contains anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial properties. It has fever-reducing actions and is immune-system enhancing.

Onion

Onions are cooked worldwide and are considered one of the greatest sources of antioxidants in the human diet. The onion is full of phytochemicals that fight cancer-causing free radicals and reduce the chances of developing ulcers. It also has chromium and sulfur that help regulate blood sugar. Onions are a great source of nutrients including sodium, potassium, protein, vitamins A and C, calcium, and iron. Recent studies have even found that eating onions helps regulate cholesterol and blood fat levels.

Red Bell Peppers

Not into veggies? These crispy and sweet treats might make you change your mind. Besides being a superpowered cancer-fighting food from its high content of lycopene, red peppers contain over 200% of your daily requirements of vitamin C, meaning they can also help you fight colds, flu, and other illnesses. In addition, vitamin C can help the body absorb crucial iron. Peppers activate increased metabolism and are also a great source of vitamin A for healthy vision.

Bean Sprouts

Sprouting is a huge movement in nutrition right now. Sprouted seeds and grains provide more available nutrients than mature plants. They are also more digestible with less starch than their full-grown counterparts.

Oriental Zucchini Noodle and Chicken Dinner

A delicious Zucchini noodle recipeWhen shopping for your ingredients, aim for buying everything organic. You will avoid unnecessarily exposing your body to harmful toxins including pesticides, herbicides, artificial preservatives, and genetically modified organisms.

Ingredients

  • 2 medium sized zucchinis
  • 3 tablespoons sesame oil, divided
  • 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari
  • 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • Ā½ tablespoon honey
  • Ā½ tablespoon chili garlic paste
  • 1 egg
  • 1 chicken breast cut into cubes
  • Ā½ tablespoon diced garlic
  • Ā½ cup diced yellow onion
  • 1 thinly sliced red bell pepper
  • 5 ounces bean sprouts
  • 5 chopped scallions
  • Black pepper to taste

Method

  1. Spiralize your zucchini into a bowl using a veggie spiralizing tool, or a small noodle blade. Ideally, your zucchini noodles should spiralize into the size of angel hair pasta.
  2. Combine tamari, rice wine vinegar, honey, and chili garlic paste in a bowl and mix well to make a sauce.
  3. Heat a large frying pan or wok over a medium-high heat with Ā½ tablespoon sesame oil. Add egg and scramble. Remove from pan and set aside.
  4. In the same pan, add more sesame oil, cubed chicken, and diced garlic. Add black pepper to taste. Stir-fry the chicken for 3 to 5 minutes, until it is fully cooked with an internal temperature of 165Ā°F (74Ā°C)
  5. Add yellow onion, bell pepper, and bean sprouts, and lightly stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes.
  6. Add the scrambled egg back into the pan and heat for about 1 minute while tossing ingredients.
  7. Finally, add the prepared tamari sauce and reduce the temperature to a low heat.
  8. Meanwhile, heat another medium-sized pan over a medium-high heat. Heat a tablespoon of sesame oil and add in the zucchini noodles. Toss-to-cook for approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Be careful not to overcook so your zucchini noodles will become soggy.
  9. Pour the zucchini noodles in a dish and add the chicken and vegetables.
  10. Garnish the zucchini noodle dish with scallions and black pepper to taste and enjoy.

Nutrition Information

Serves 4
Serving size: 1Ā½ cups
Calories: 296

Total Fat: 13g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 96mg, Sodium 433mg, Carbohydrates: 23g, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 6g, Protein: 25g

Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome and Diet

A woman eating a plate of Zucchini noodleDiet is very important for those with adrenal fatigue and is key to recovery. When the adrenals are exhausted, they need sufficient nutrients to heal. When they are stressed and overworked, they cannot function properly and throw the entire body out of alignment. All systems begin to slow down and misfire like an engine that is not given fuel and water.

It is important to discuss all dietary regimes with a health care practitioner as various stages of adrenal fatigue can leave the body sensitive to change or certain foods. Always take caution with unknown foods and new recipes like the zucchini noodles and start with small portions to see how your body reacts.

Ā© Copyright 2019 Michael Lam, M.D. All Rights Reserved.

Dr. Lamā€™s Key Question

Yes, zucchini noodles are part of the AFS dietary plan. The entire meal covers almost everything your body needs. It is high in vitamins and minerals, as well a protein and fiber. Zucchini is also a great source of calcium.

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