Zucchini Pad Thai with Chicken

With the new year has come a renewed passion to get in the kitchen and whip up lighter versions of some of my favorite meals.  Over the last few weeks, I’ve given a variety of my favorite dishes a delicious makeover and tried to find ways to substitute certain items in order to make our meals line up more closely with our healthy living goals.  While I could go on and on about the easy swaps that I have discovered, perhaps one of my favorite ways to lighten up dinner without diminishing the flavor is by substituting veggies for noodles in some of my favorite dishes.  Now, if you follow many of my recipes, you know this has been a favorite trick of mine for some time but I’ve recently discovered that with Green Giant® Veggie Spirals, creating lighter versions of my favorite meals is so quick and easy! In fact, just this week I was able to throw together a totally drool worthy Zucchini Pad Thai with Chicken dish in less than twenty minutes!

Let me tell you, this Zucchini Pad Thai with Chicken is bursting with flavor and I actually prefer it to my traditional recipe because it doesn’t settle heavy on my stomach, meaning I feel great enjoying it more often! While I’ll admit that I’ve been making a noodle variety of this dish for years, it’s only been recently that I discovered how amazing it could really be if I substituted Green Giant® Veggie Spirals in it! These Green Giant® Veggie Spirals are A New Take On Noodles and I was able to find them at my local Walmart. While so far I’ve only located the Zucchini Spirals (I’m on the hunt for the other varieties though!), I know that I’ll be using them time and time again because they are quick, easy and a perfect swap-in for traditional pasta! Here’s how I made this can’t miss dish!

What You Will Need

(Makes 2 Servings)

1 Package of Green Giant® Veggie Spirals in Zucchini

1 Large Pre-Cooked Chicken Breast

1/4 Cup Matchstick Carrots

3 Tablespoons of Peanut Butter

2 Tablespoons of Chicken Broth

1/2 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce

1/2 Tablespoon of Rice Wine Vinegar

1/2 Teaspoon of Sesame Oil

1/2 Teaspoon of Crushed Chili Pepper

1/4 Teaspoon of Ground Ginger

1/3 Tablespoon of Garlic Powder

Crushed Peanuts and Diced Green Onions for Garnish

How to Make It

This Zucchini Pad Thai dish is easy to throw together quickly, making it a perfect lunch or dinner on those nights when time is short but I still want something amazing! To start, I created my pad thai sauce by whisking together my peanut butter, chicken broth, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, chili pepper, ginger and garlic powder (*Tip: If you’re having a hard time getting the sauce to mix together, microwave it for 20 seconds and continue to whisk).

Once I had my simple pad thai sauce made, creating the rest of this dish only took a few minutes! To create the base of my dish, I pulled my Green Giant® Veggie Spirals in Zucchini out and opened them up.  I adore that the Veggie Spirals are gluten free and come without sauce or seasoning, meaning that I can add whatever flavors I want to them to create really amazing dishes!  Add to that the fact that they are made with 100% vegetables allowing me to have up to 90% fewer calories than pasta (varieties have 65 percent to 90 percent fewer calories per serving than the leading brand of spaghetti) and they are the perfect starting point for my Zucchini Pad Thai!

As if the ease of these Veggie Spirals wasn’t enough, there are multiple ways to cook them as well! You can pop them in the microwave or saute them on the stove with the lid on your pot, ensuring that no matter what dish I have in mind, my Veggie Spirals are a perfect addition.  For my Zucchini Pad Thai, I chose to follow the directions for cooking them on the stove.

Once I had cooked my Green Giant® Veggie Spirals according to the directions, I drained them and added in my matchstick carrots, heating them just enough to warm them up without losing the crunch.  Next, I placed my Veggie Spirals evenly on a serving dish.

I really loved that the Zucchini Veggie Spirals didn’t lose their crunch or their color in the cooking process, making them a delicious base for the creation of my dish.  Once I had spread out my Veggie Spirals, I pulled out a piece of pre-cooked chicken (I grill breasts at the beginning of each week for easy meals), sliced it up and placed it on my bed of veggie spirals.  After spreading out my chicken, I drizzled the Pad Thai sauce I had made earlier over the top of both my Veggie Spirals and my chicken.

As a finishing touch, I sprinkled on crushed peanuts and diced green onions on top for a bit of crunch and a burst of flavor and my simple Zucchini Pad Thai was ready to be served.

This easy weeknight dish was so simple to make and honestly, it’s perfect for night’s when I’m busy but still want to put a great tasting meal on the table.  It’s light and flavorful and by substituting my Green Giant® Veggie Spirals in the place of pasta, I can enjoy it without any of the guilt!

Inspired by this new take on a classic dish and with a variety of lightened up recipes in mined, I’m stocking my freezer with Green Giant® Veggie Spirals. Available in varieties like the Zucchini I used as well as Carrot and Butternut Squash, they are a perfect starting point for an array of delicious dishes and sides!

Ready to lighten up dinner the easy way by using Green Giant® Veggie Spirals? Click here to find out more information about this deliciously simple substitution for pasta as well as recipe ideas and more!

Then tell me, which of the Green Giant® Veggie Spirals will you use to recreate a lighter version of your favorite pasta dish?