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Oooh I’m so excited to share today’s guest post with you, but first, a cookbook update! As many of you know, I’m in the final stages of finishing up my eCookbook (due out next month!) that will feature over 50 gluten-free, grain-free, and dairy-free comfort food recipes focusing on seasonal produce. We’re talking about 50 brand-new recipes using whole foods and real ingredients that taste great, will make your body feel amazing, AND will help you stay slim and healthy (while still being able to indulge!) during the holidays. It’s like a dream cookbook come true! You don’t want to miss it so make sure you’re signed up on my newsletter list to receive details about an early discount and the book launch party!
Alright, onto today’s guest post! Today’s beautiful recipe is brought to you by my friend Ali, who blogs over at Inspiralized. We connected earlier this summer when we discovered our mutual passion for spiralizing and -get this- her entire blog is dedicated to spiralizing recipes! I know you’ll love it as much as I do! Take it away Ali!
To quickly introduce myself and get that out of the way, I’m Ali, the blogger at Inspiralized, a food blog dedicated to creative and healthy meals created with the spiralizer, a kitchen countertop tool that turns vegetables into noodles that can be cooked into nutritious and filling (yet low-carb and low-fat!) meals. Nice to meetchya!
I clearly remember the day when I became conscious of what calories were. I also remember the day, many years later, when I realized that calories mean nothing if you eat clean and healthy….. that was the day that I felt enlightened and was finally liberated from notepads filled with calorie-counts. Those never worked for me anyways!
Then, I met a dish of zucchini noodles. My mother, a diabetic, was trying raw veganism to regulate her blood sugars, and had discovered these revolutionary noodles. One weekend when I was visiting, she made me a bowl for dinner, and before slurping up the last noodle, I stole (thanks mom!) her spiralizer, and ran back to my apartment and my kitchen. Okay, maybe not that quickly, but I was definitely amazed, incredulous, and just …. blown away. They tasted JUST like real pasta!
That following Monday, I surprised my boyfriend with a simple zucchini pasta dish with a fresh tomato basil sauce and shrimp. His reaction was the same as mine: pure amazement and many “how did we not know about this?”s. Honestly, I felt robbed for all 26 years of my life, not knowing about spiralized vegetables and most notably, zucchini pasta.
After a few months of obsession and brainstorming, I quit my job to start Inspiralized. With this journey, I hope to inspire people to cook healthy, quick, and creative meals using the spiralizer. No longer will you need the excuse “I don’t know how to cook” or “I don’t have time” or “Healthy food is boring.” I want people to know that you don’t need to count calories to keep in shape: just eat clean, fresh meals and exercise!
You will never miss real pasta again and you can forget about waiting for water to boil, mushy noodles, and that after-pasta bloat that’s inevitable after eating a big bowl. Ditch the three-day juice cleanses and uncomfortable detoxes: eat real, yummy, and interesting food by taking 30 seconds to spiralize a vegetable!
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Now, about the recipe… A true Italian classic, pesto pasta is rich, creamy and comforting. By adjusting the pine nut to olive oil ratio to leave out the cheese, this vegan rendition truly highlights the fragrance of the basil.
By using the spiralizer to create zucchini ribbons instead of spaghetti noodles, the pesto has more noodle surface area to coat and therefore brings more yummy pesto per bite!
You won’t have to unbutton your jeans to let your belly out with this recipe, since it’s low-carb, low-fat, and gluten-free! Say goodbye to bloat and hello to deliciously filling pasta without the guilt: we’re Inspiralized!
Follow my journey to keep healthy and bring spiralized cooking into the limelight at Inspiralized.com.
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- For the pesto
- 3 cup basil leaves, packed
- ¼ cup of pinenuts
- ¼ cup of olive oil
- ½ tsp grinded sea salt
- ¼ tsp grinded pepper
- 1 large clove of garlic, minced
- For the rest
- 1 medium zucchini, spiralized using the ribbons blade (Blade A)
- 6 large diver scallops
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- 1 pinch of garlic powder
- Put all of the ingredients for the pesto into a food processor and pulse until creamy. Taste and adjust to your preference.
- Place the zucchini noodles in a bowl with the pesto and mix to combine thoroughly, coating all of the noodles with pesto. Place onto two plates and set aside.
- Place a skillet over medium-high heat and add in the canola oil.
- While the oil heats, pat down your scallops to make sure they are dry. Season both sides with salt and pepper and add the pinch of garlic powder to one side.
- Place the scallops on the skillet and sear for 2 minutes. Do not touch or move. Flip over, sear for 1 more minute and then place on top of the zucchini noodles. Enjoy!
The post Guest Post: Pesto Zucchini Noodles with Pan-Seared Diver Scallops appeared first on In Sonnet's Kitchen.