Rainbow Noodle Salad with Pesto

This recipe is proof of the amazingness that can be created with just a spiralizer and some colorful vegetables. Use a mixture of zucchini, carrots and beetroot for the rainbow noodles. Add optional rice pasta if you’re not 100% raw, and/or you’d like a heartier dish. Topped with pumpkin seed pea pesto, this noodle salad makes a great comfort food lunch or dinner on busy days!

Ingredients

Pea Pumpkin Seed Pesto

• 1 cup peas, fresh or frozen and thawed
• 2 large handfuls fresh herbs (I used basil + oregano)
• 4 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lime (or lemon) juice
• 1 tablespoon Shiro miso & nutritional yeast each (optional, for a salty ‘cheesy’ flavor)
• ½ teaspoon Himalayan crystal salt or sea salt
• Black pepper & turmeric, to taste (optional)

Rainbow Noodle Salad

• 200g of rice or buckwheat noodles (RFR tip: or use 100% spiralized vegetables for an all-raw dish)
• 2 small zucchini
• 2 large carrots
• 1 large beetroot
• 1 large handful peas, fresh or frozen and thawed
• Toppings: pumpkin seeds (raw or lightly toasted), ALL GOOD almond cashew cheese crumble, fresh herbs, edible flowers

Instruction

Pea Pumpkin Seed Pesto

1. Add your peas, herbs, pumpkin seeds, olive oil, lime juice and salt to a food processor fitted with an S-blade. Process until creamy.
2. I also like to add black pepper and turmeric because they have really strong anti-inflammatory properties + miso and nutritional yeast for a salty ‘cheesy’ flavor.

Rainbow Noodle Salad

1. Use a spiralizer to turn your zucchini, carrots and beetroot into noodles. If you’re using organic veggies, you can leave the skin on for extra minerals — just make sure to rinse them well. If not, it’s best to peel the vegetables.
2. In the meantime, cook the noodles according to the package directions. (RFR tip: emit if using 100% vegetable noodles)
3. Combine the vegetables noodles in a bowl. I like to serve the pesto on the side so you can add as much or as little as you want.
4. For garnish, I used pumpkin seeds, ALL GOOD almond cashew cheese crumble, basil and oregano (the same herbs I used for the pesto) and a few edible flowers from our garden.

Notes

JULIE’S TIPS & TRICKS: • This pesto will stay fresh for at least 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge. • Pumpkin seeds are a great source of zinc and magnesium, so they’ll give you plenty of energy. Don’t have any at home? You can replace them with sunflower seeds, pine nuts, cashews, walnuts… • Want to add even more color to your bowl? Add purple carrots, yellow zucchini… or cook your rice noodles with a piece of beetroot to give them a soft pink color • Never used a spiralizer before? Check out this video for Zucchini Pasta with Basil Hemp Pestowhere I show you more in detail how to use a spiralizer.