You probably know what zoodles are by now—zucchini that has been cut into spirals or long strands that look like noodles. Paleo and low carb fanatics love the stuff, using zoodles in recipes that normally call for regular spaghetti. I’m not convinced that a bowl of zoodles covered in marina sauce tastes quite the same, but I guess if you’ve been avoiding and missing pasta altogether, this could be a real treat!

However, I love the idea of sneaking in as many nonstarchy vegetables as possible, so I’ve been experimenting with using half zoodles and half regular noodles…it’s a delicious win! I don’t have a spiralizer so I buy ready-prepared zoodles at Wegmans.

Below is a 10-minute vegan dish complete with veggies, complex carbs, and high quality protein. Keep in mind that this is meant to be a quick weeknight meal so I use mostly packaged, prepared items. Start by boiling soba noodles (found these at Ocean State Job Lot) in a medium pot half filled with water. Soba are made from buckwheat flour and are slightly higher in protein and fiber than traditional pasta. They’re also thinner so cook pretty quickly in 7-8 minutes. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, add a cup of frozen edamame. During the last minute of cooking you can throw in the zoodles to soften them, though in the dish below I just added them later without cooking and they tasted fine. I also grabbed a few carrots, using a regular vegetable peeler to cut long strips of the carrot.

After draining the soba and edamame and combining all of the above ingredients, add any sauce or seasonings that you enjoy. Here I poured a yummy bottled mango curry sauce that I’d found at Target that was low in sodium. Last thing is a sprinkling of sunflower kernels for more minerals, protein and healthful fat. Super easy, super quick, and super satisfying!