What's Cookin'?

By Suzette Munson

How many times a week do you hear this, or possibly think this? More times than I want to I promise. Sometimes I really don't want to eat nor do I want to cook. But the question still stands.

We are visiting my youngest son, JR, and his wife, Adriane. JR is the lead cook, and he is good at it, but last night I took his role and let him play with our granddaughter Olivia. I wanted to fix a kid friendly, adult worthy meal with lots of flavor. I made "veggetti". What is that? zucchini spaghetti with 4 cheese Alfredo sauce and shrimp! Simple because I used prepared products - yes I cheated! And that is okay to do occasionally.

We keep frozen boiled shrimp in the freezer at home. Fresh zucchini is a staple also. When I pick the jarred product I look for the least sugar added (they all have some) and the protein per serving. If there is no protein then where is the cheese? I add more grated Parmesan or hard cheese to improve the sauce.

A tip on cooking the zucchini is to put the sauce in a large sauté pan and begin to heat on medium heat, add the zucchini strings and let them cook gently in the sauce. I tried boiling and straining the zucchini and it was very watery..the zucchini has lots of water in it and when it heats it releases the water. Even sautéing the zucchini before adding the sauce is a way to get some of the water out of the squash. Either way when the zucchini is tender add the frozen cooked shrimp and heat until it is warm through.

This meal is so quick and summery, even little Olivia dug in with gusto. She is not a shrimp eater but she loved the veggetti!

Sue's Zucchini Spaghetti with 4 Cheese Alfredo Sauce (the cheat method)
4 bariatric servings, 2 "normal" servings

2 zucchini, washed and trimmed. Cut into spaghetti strips using a "vegetti" maker or cut into long, thin strips using a knife. If you don't want to do this, just chop your zucchini up and saute it first!
1 jar of  4 Cheese Alfredo Sauce (Jen's daughter's favorite food on the planet)
1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

Heat the sauce over medium low-medium heat until just coming to a simmer. Add the zucchini and the shrimp and heat through until shrimp are cooked through (they should be pink!).