Zucchini Pasta

Imagine this--


You're sitting on your couch on a Sunday evening (after drinking way too much coffee), watching some Breakout Kings (very good show, I would recommend finding it on Netflix), relaxing and preparing for the start of a new week. All of a sudden you hear a loud crash to your left. You look over wondering what in the heck just happened. You sprint to your laundry room thinking that something fell or broke. But no, nothing is out of place. Next you look around your kitchen trying to find the source of the noise. You open up your pantry and the top two shelves have collapsed.

The next couple hours include trying to unload all of the food from the pantry while trying to hold up the shelves and not cause any of the bottom four shelves to break as well, making a trip to Lowe's to find replacement hangers for the wooden shelves (and not finding exact replacements but instead splurging for metal instead of plastic ones in hopes of making them more sturdy), trying to get the shelves to go back in because the metal brackets stick out from the holes more than the plastic ones, and finally putting all of your food back on the shelves.


What a night! I mean, aren't shelves in pantries supposed to support a half dozen types of flour, multiple kinds of pasta and every type of canned bean? Plus you need your tomato soup and chicken 'n stars in case you get sick. And all your cooking oils and vinegars and seasonings and everything. Cheap-o apartment building.

I think I'll put in metal shelves that are soldered to the sides of the pantry when I have my own house.


So if you ever get mad at the inanimate objects in your house when they fail to do their job, make this nice and summer-y "pasta". It'll help you calm down and remember that even though you may have spent the evening yelling at your apartment, you are lucky to have a place to store lots of food and the money to buy that food.

You know, it'll put things in perspective.

Zucchini Pasta (adapted from food.com)
Ingredients:
1 medium zucchini, sliced lengthwise into 1/8 in slices
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 lb ground turkey
1 large tomato, chopped
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp dried thyme
3 basil leaves, chopped
1/4 tsp sugar
salt and pepper, to taste
parmesan cheese, for garnish.

Directions:
Heat 1/2 tbsp oil over medium heat in a saucepan. Add the turkey and cook until browned, approximately 6-7 minutes. Add 1 clove of garlic, onion, tomato, bay leaf, basil and sugar. Cook, uncovered until moisture has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the bay leaf.

In a skillet, heat the other 1/2 tbsp oil and garlic clove over medium heat. Add the zucchini strips and cook, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes until the zucchini is tender and golden.

Serve the zucchini hot topped with the turkey mixture. Garnish with freshly grated parmesan cheese, if desired.