cheap eats [carrot pasta with gyoza]

I shared my recipe for zucchini pasta with you last week, and have another version worth sharing. I still haven't purchased my mandoline, but my brother (a top chef, duh) recommends this one from OXO. It's $40, but comes with a lifetime warranty and won the top spot on America's Test Kitchen's product reviews, so I trust it.

On to the recipe!

This meal was a perfect detox-esque salad after a weekend of sinful eating. I did add a little protein in the form of Trader Joe's gyoza, a freezer classic in our household. I usually eat 5 (140 calories, 3g fat, 21g carbs, 8g of yummy protein). They're only $3 and have at least 4 or 5 servings in each, depending.

Anyway, toast these babies up in a frying pan (I do a light squirt of my coconut oil spray) with a slice of fresh ginger and garlic for a few minutes, then add 3T water and simmer, covered, for a few more. Meanwhile I steamed my broccoli in the microwave, shredded two carrots with a peeler, and sliced up a lemon. Once the gyoza were done, I tossed the shredded carrots and steamed broccoli into the pan to heat it up, and squeezed lemon juice on top.

I've instagrammed and tweeted about Wisteria Gardens before, but I'll share it here, too. The company is based in West Virginia and makes prepared foods, sauces, hummus, salsas, and the like to sell in DC. If you've been to Eastern Market before, which is where I stock up, you've seen the crowds around their table for tastings. The peanut sauce they do is out of this world, and I use dollop on my carrot salad. Check out those flavor pairings! Since they're all-natural, they only last two weeks, so I keep mine in the freezer. Any peanut sauce would do, but theirs is healthier and additive free, which is always a plus.

It's a good day when the base of your meal is just two carrots. Doesn't get more "cheap eats" than that.