White Carrot Noodles with Spinach, Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, and Chicken

This red pepper sauce is dairy-free, which makes this recipe great for those on the Paleo Diet. Though this recipe calls for white carrots, regular orange carrots can be used as well. Be sure to soak your cashews overnight to ensure that your sauce is smooth and creamy. Otherwise, the texture may end up being more thick and chunky like a pesto.

Serves 2

3 big white carrots (or 6 small)

1⁄4 teaspoon salt

2 cloves garlic

3⁄4 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter) or extra-virgin olive oil

4 cups uncooked spinach

1 free-range boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Ingredients for Red Pepper Sauce

1 (12-ounce) jar roasted red peppers

2 cloves garlic

1⁄2 cup soaked cashews

1⁄2 cup coconut milk

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1. Cut off the thin parts of the carrot; these won’t be able to spiralize. Cut a slice off both ends of your carrot so the spiralizer has enough diameter to catch. Spiralize carrots, using a small-noodle blade, adjusting the spiralizer to their curves if needed.
2. Fill a medium-sized pot with water and 1⁄4 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil. Add carrots and boil for 5–7 minutes. When carrots are finished, strain and set aside.
3. While carrots are cooking, chop garlic. In a small pan, heat ghee or olive oil on medium-low heat. Add garlic and spinach and cook for about 2 minutes until spinach is wilted. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Prepare chicken by cutting into 1" cubes. In a medium pan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add chicken to pan and cook for about 3–4 minutes on each side or until thoroughly cooked.
5. To prepare sauce, combine roasted red peppers, garlic, soaked cashews, coconut milk, and olive oil in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Transfer to a small saucepan and cook on medium heat until almost to a boil, stirring occasionally. Sauce should thicken.
6. Transfer carrot noodles to pan with chicken and add spinach mixture. Pour Red Pepper Sauce over contents of pan and mix evenly until noodles are thoroughly coated. Turn heat on low if you need to reheat the chicken and noodles. Serve warm.

Roast Your Own Red Pepper

Instead of using premade jars of roasted red pepper, try making your own at home. Just drizzle some olive oil over 1 red pepper and bake for 30–40 minutes, turning it halfway through. This should yield the equivalent of 1 jar.

White Carrot Noodles with Spinach, Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, and Chicken