Baked Feta Zoodles

This delicious side dish is easy and satisfying.  Baking feta in the oven with tomatoes makes a fantastic base sauce for zucchini - add other protein to make this a complete meal!

Ingredients:

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes

• 1.5 tbsp olive oil, divided

• 3 fresh garlic cloves, chopped (or minced)

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

• 8oz (about 1.5 cups) feta cheese - cubed

• 2 large zucchini, spiralized into zucchini noodles (or use peeler to make long ribbons if you don’t have a spiralizer)

• a large handful of fresh basil leaves - chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees f.

2. In a 13×9-inch baking dish, stir together the cherry tomatoes, 1 Tablespoon of olive oil, garlic, oregano, sea salt, and pepper.  Make some space in the center and add in your feta cheese. Drizzle the remaining 1/2 Tablespoon of olive oil on top of the feta.

3. Bake, until the cheese is soft and golden on top and tomatoes are roasted and bursting, about 30 minutes.

4. While the feta is baking, thoroughly wash your zucchini squash and trim off the ends. Using a spiralizer, create zucchini noodles. If you don’t have a spiralizer, you can simply run a vegetable peeler down the length of the zucchini to create thin ribbons. You could also grate the zucchini with a cheese grater.

5. Remove the baking dish from the oven.  Using a fork, mash the feta and stir it together with the tomatoes to form a sauce. Add in your chopped fresh basil.

6. Add your zoodles immediately to the still very hot baking dish, and toss well to combine with the sauce. The hot feta sauce should warm your zucchini noodles nicely.

7. Garnish the pasta with extra fresh basil and freshly ground black pepper, if desired. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Exchanges:Count one quarter of the dish as 2 proteins (group 6) and 1 fat (group 7).Thanks to Wendy for sending this recipe along!  Adapted from: www.cleanfoodcrush.com