I have this friend who calls me her spirit animal. I love it! I don't feel like I even have to explain what that means. Spirit Animal. That covers it. Lately we've been having some chats about zoodles. Zoodle is just such a fun word! Do you zoodle? Zoodle your noodle! The catchy stuff you can say with the word "zoodle" is endless and I laugh every time.
In case you don't know, zoodles are "noodles" made from zucchini. You can use a Spiralizer, a Vegetti, the large holes of a cheese grater or even just create long strips with a vegetable peeler. It's pretty simple to do. When I make zoodles, I put them in a strainer, salt them and let them stand for at least 20 minutes to allow the salt time to draw out the moisture from the squash. If you skip this step it'll still taste fine, but you're likely to turn your beautiful dinner into a drippy mess.
I've been promising my friend I would create a new recipe with zoodles just so I could hashtag it on Instagram. It has been crazy hot lately and my AC doesn't function properly. Before I start making dinner, it's uncomfortable. Once I kick on the stove it gets miserable, and by the time I turn on the oven I think I could fry an egg on my forehead. It was so hot in my house the other day my coconut oil was completely liquefied - and I store it in a dark cupboard.
Okay, done whining. At least out loud.
The point is, I wanted to make something for dinner that wouldn't require the oven. Please don't suggest barbecuing, because when it's 105 outside, standing over a hot grill is worse than standing over a hot oven (even when it's easily 90 degrees inside). I had a pound of shrimp, which interestingly yielded far less little critters than my last pound of shrimp. Go figure. We were out of leftovers for lunches, so I needed something that would yield more than we would eat in one sitting. I figured a combination of the shrimp and beef would work well with some Asian flavors. Enter the Shrimp & Beef Stir fry. I made a pot of rice for my guy because he needs way more food and calories than I do (and doesn't care for zoodles anyway), but for me it's zoodles forever. Heh heh heh zoodles.
Recipe
1 lb shrimp
1 lb stir fry beef (I use Canyon Meadows Ranch)
1 T. coconut oil
1/2 large sweet onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 T. minced garlic
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 can quartered artichoke hearts in brine, drained
For the sauce:
2 T. apple cider vinegar
2 T. olive oil
1 T. coconut aminos
1 T. honey (omit for Whole30)
1/4 tsp dried chipotle peppers (use less or omit if you don't like spice)
1/4 tsp dried ginger
Peel shrimp and defrost beef (if frozen). Set aside. Melt coconut oil in a very large pan over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper and garlic. Saute until soft. Add beef and cook a few minutes until about halfway cooked. Add shrimp.
Mix together sauce ingredients and whisk well to combine the oil with the other wet ingredients.
When shrimp and beef are cooked through, stir in diced tomatoes and artichoke hearts. Add sauce and stir until evenly combined.
Serve hot over zoodles, spaghetti squash or cauliflower rice. Or brown rice, if that's your thing.