A lightened up version of a Chinese classic, this zucchini noodle lo mein is made with tender shiitake mushrooms and broccoli in savory stir-fry sauce.

A few years ago I tried going on a low carb diet. A lot of people were like “soooo…you’re giving up vegetarianism?” Of course, the answer was no. I’m not sure there’s anything at this point in my life that could convince me to go back to eating meat. It was tough though, because if you go strict lo-carb, there’s not a whole heck of a lot you can eat as a vegetarian. Anyway, the diet didn’t do it for me. I later discovered that I do much better with a healthy balance of plant-based foods. I didn’t loose any weight (really, I didn’t), didn’t feel good, and didn’t enjoy eating at all. Almost. I had one happy take away from that experience, and that would be zucchini noodles.

My cauliflower fried rice recipe went over so well, I decided it was time to give this a try. With zucchini popping up in the garden like crazy, I finally went and bought a spiral slicer . It was well worth the investment. Previously I’d used a mandoline slicer, which worked out okay, though not great, and before that I thought I could make noodley things happen with a plain old kitchen knife, which was way more trouble than it was worth. (Update: Since first publishing this post, I went and upgraded my spiral slicer to a table-top model, which is much easier to handle and makes much better noodles. Highly recommended!)

This dish was delicious and the taste was very lo-meiny. I actually joked with my boyfriend that this dish is like a veggie stir-fry where the veggies are the noodles. His response was that if I hadn’t told him the noodles were made of zucchini, he’d have never known.





Print Zucchini Noodle Lo Mein A lightened up version of a Chinese classic, this zucchini noodle lo mein is made with tender shiitake mushrooms and broccoli in savory stir-fry sauce. Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 6 minutes Total Time 16 minutes Servings 2 Author Alissa Ingredients For the Lo Mein Sauce 2 tbsp. soy sauce

1 tbsp. hoisin sauce

1/2 tbsp. agave

1 tsp. cornstarch For the Zucchini Lo Mein 1 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 tbsp. sesame oil

2 garlic cloves minced

1 tsp. fresh grated ginger

3 oz. shiitake caps sliced

1 medium broccoli crown chopped into florets

2 medium zucchinis spiral sliced

1 scallion chopped

2 tbsp. bean sprouts Instructions Whisk sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside. Heat oils in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, ginger and shiitakes. Stir fry 2 minutes. Add broccoli and stir fry another 2 minutes. Add zucchini and stir fry another 2 minutes. Use a fork to toss around your zucchini noodles during his process. Add sauce and toss to coat. Remove from heat. Transfer to bowls and top with scallions and bean sprouts.

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