Here was our dinner from last night: Fried chicken and zoodles in basil pesto.
The fried chicken was made with crushed pork rinds. I crush them in my blender, but others prefer to use a rolling pin and a zip loc bag. It wasn’t actually fried, I baked it in the oven, but it was still nice and crispy.
Zoodles are zucchini noodles, or raw spiralized zucchini. You can eat them raw, just put a warm sauce on them. Because I was serving them with pesto, which was room temperature, I dropped them in boiling water for 60 seconds just to heat them up, and then tossed them with the pesto.
Keto Fried Chicken recipe: https://ketogasm.com/keto-fried-chicken-recipe-baked-oven/
The recipe calls for a mix of mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, and beaten egg as a wash before rolling in the spiced pork rinds. As I was pulling the mayo and mustard from the fridge, my eyes landed on the Jalapeno Lime Aioli from Costco. I recently read a recipe for Aioli, and it’s basically mayo and mustard with a little flavor. So I used the Aioli instead of the mayo and mustard. It gave the chicken a nice tang.
Natalina’s Basil Pesto
(We learned this recipe in our Italian Cooking Classes a few years ago)
Ingredients:
2 cups packed fresh basil leaves (tender leaves only)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Method:
- Process all ingredients except cheeses in food processor
- If desired, can freeze at this point and add cheese after thawing
- Add cheeses, stirring by hand
- Store covered in fridge for up to 1 week
- Makes about 1 1/4 cups of pesto
Spiralized Zucchini Noodles - Zoodles
This works best if you have time to dry your zucchini before cooking and serving, but if you don’t, no worries. It’s still good if you make it five minutes before serving.
- Wash your zucchini and pat dry
- Run your zucchini through your spiralizer - manual or electric both work fine
- Optional if drying: Place your zoodles in a colander over a bowl. Sprinkle liberally with sea salt and toss to coat. Let sit for as long as you have for the excess moisture to drain out. Save this liquid for a soup or sauce. Squeeze your zoodles in a cheese cloth or clean dish cloth to remove additional moisture. Go ahead and squeeze really hard!
- Serve zoodles raw with a warm sauce, or boil for 60 seconds by dropping your colander into a pot of boiling water. Remove and toss with sauce and serve immediately
Raw zoodles can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to a month. I highly recommend drying them first as described above if you are doing this.