Fresh low carb noodles made out of broccoli stalks! Paired with an Asian-inspired sesame-ginger dressing, it makes a wonderful healthy salad.
This ridiculously easy and fresh recipe is brought to you by your local spiralizer. Egads, I love that thing. It really is a fun gadget to use and now everybody is turning everything into noodles. Got some zucchini? Spiralize it! Got some rutabaga? Spiralize it! Don’t know what to do with all that cucumber, or those turnips or radishes? Yup, you got it. Spiralize those suckers too. In fact, turing vegetables into noodles has become so popular, I am shocked that my auto-correct has yet to recognize the word “spiralize” as a proper verb. It keeps underlining it in red as I type, admonishing me in its own not-so-subtle way that my grammar and spelling leave something to be desired. Well I can guarantee you that within a few years, “spiralize” will be officially recognized by Mirriam-Webster as new word in the English language. This is a trend that isn’t going anywhere any time soon!
A few weeks ago, I saw a recipe on Pinterest for spiral broccoli noodles and I was absolutely struck by the brilliance of it. The florets of the broccoli won’t spiralize very well (oh shut up, auto-correct, it IS a real word!). They’d simply spew little bits of green stuff all over your kitchen counter. But the stalks make excellent noodles and I love me some broccoli stems. In fact, sometimes I like the stalks more than the florets and I find myself snacking on them raw as I cut up broccoli for roasting. They have a lighter, more neutral flavour and they are so crunchy and delicious. I can hardly believe I used to throw the stems away! Or that I used to just get the broccoli crowns at the store, so I wasn’t paying for the added “useless” stems. Funny how times change. I hate food waste so once I found out how much I liked broccoli stems, I stared chopping them up along with the rest of the broccoli.
And now that I know I can make noodles out of them, I’m overjoyed. I hang on to the stalks when I cook broccoli now and keep them in the fridge until I have enough to make some noodles. Three or four is perfect. Most of the recipes I’ve seen use the broccoli noodles as a base for marinara sauce, which is all very well. But broccoli is wonderful with asian flavours and the idea of making a light noodle salad really appealed to me. I thought I would have to steam the noodles to get the right texture but I found I liked them just as they were, fresh and slightly crunchy. It went so well with the ginger and sesame flavours, and I had a hard time keeping enough of this to serve with dinner that evening. I could have eaten the whole batch. It also made great leftovers the next day. Broccoli stalk noodles are a total low carb win.
If you don’t have a spiralizer, you can still make this salad. Simply use a carrot peeler to shave thin lengths of broccoli stems. But I do recommend getting one (I use the Paderno Spiral Vegetable Slicer) because they are inexpensive and a great way to jazz up your low carb recipes.
You also have to check out these Sesame Marinated Cucumber Noodles from Perry’s Plate. Also, have you ever wanted to make your own kimchi? This kimchi recipe from Foodie with Family looks wonderful!
Broccoli Stem Noodles with Sesame Ginger Dressing
Ingredients
- 4 large broccoli stems
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos or soy sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Wash broccoli stems and trim ends. Cut into noodles using a spiral vegetable cutter (alternatively, you could shave them using a carrot peeler). Place noodles in a large mixing bowl.
- In a small bowl, combine sesame oil, apple cider vinegar, coconut aminos or soy sauce, ginger, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.
- Drizzle over broccoli noodles and toss to combine. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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This is a very nice dish, so healthy and flavorful. I have given up on zucchini noodles because they are so watery, but with this recipe I still have a reason to use my spiralizer.
This is awesome. I hate throwing away the stems but don’t like them cooked. I will try this. Hope I like it as well.