Spiralized Calabacitas with Salsa Negra Glazed Chicken is a flavorful, Mexican-inspired dinner that makes the most of your zucchini harvest! It can easily be made vegetarian by using grilled tofu.
My friend Kirsten, whose delicious Farm Fresh Feasts is super seasonal, can blog about things a year after making them (to make sure the reader gets the recipe at the right time). I am in awe of this ability, considering how long it has taken and how hard I have found it to write about this dish, which I made a few months ago. I just keep staring at the picture, thinking it looks delicious but not knowing what to say about it. The funny thing is, just by virtue of confessing that to you here, on “paper,” I feel myself remembering other things to say. I guess the lesson is, when in doubt, plow ahead!
This dish is, to me, the perfect example of how fantastically creative you can get with a spiralizer without using it as a pasta substitute. Calabacitas is a Mexican or Mexican-inspired dish of zucchini, often including spices, other veggies and cheese or cream. The spiralizer gives the zucchini and even onion great texture, and keeps the focus on the zucchini, where it should be. As you can see, it looks in some ways like a pasta dish, but because it is not and never has been a pasta dish, there is no sense of the “zoodles” being an un-satisfying substitute.
My family loved this dish. For the adults, I added glazed grilled chicken with Salsa Negra, but for the kids, I grilled them plain because of the heat factor. The adults drizzled extra Salsa Negra on the dish–that stuff is amazing, if hot! I can eat this dish any time of year I love it so much, but it is especially satisfying in late summer and early fall, when the weather is cooling off but the zucchini is still plentiful.
- 2 T butter
- 1 T avocado oil, or any neutral vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, spiralized or thinly sliced (use one of the noodle settings)
- 6-8 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 sweet bell peppers, thinly sliced
- 2 smaller green zucchini, spiralized on a noodle setting
- 1 smaller yellow squash, spiralized on a noodle setting
- 2 t ground cumin
- 1 t ground ancho
- 2 medium medium tomatoes, chopped and placed in drainer over bowl to capture and reserve juices separately
- 1 T cider vinegar
- 2 T cream cheese
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 T sour cream (preferably full fat)
- 1-3 t Salsa Negra, heat tolerance depending
- 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack, plus more for garnish
- chopped cilantro
- more shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- Salsa Negra
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Heat the butter and oil in a large pot or pan with deep sides over medium high heat. Add the onion with a pinch of salt and stir. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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Add the garlic and stir in, cooking for another 2 minutes.
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Add the bell peppers, zucchini and yellow squash with a pinch of salt. Stir.
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Add the cumin and ancho powder. Stir and cook for 1-2 minutes, until the spices are fragrant.
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Add the drained juice only from the tomatoes, as well as the cider vinegar. Stir and bring to a boil.
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Place a lid on the pan and reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Let the vegetables steam cook this way for 5 minutes (I used the thickest noodle setting on my spiralizer--if your noodles are thinner or if you like crisper zucchini, steam for shorter time or skip step completely).
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Remove the lid and raise the heat until the liquid comes to a brisk simmer. Let the liquid evaporate a bit for 5 minutes, stirring if needed.
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The zucchini should be tender at this point--if not (and if you want them more tender), cook a while longer.
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When the zucchini is cooked, add the cream cheese, whipping cream, Salsa Negra and shredded Monterey Jack cheese. Stir constantly to melt the cheeses, and as soon as that occurs, stir in the chopped tomatoes and remove the pan from the heat. Taste for additional salt.
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Serve, topped with protein if desired (see headnote), and garnished with chopped cilantro, shredded cheese and more Salsa Negra if desired.
I’m particularly interested in the avocado oil. I have yet to use it, but by the look of this dish I am going to buy it tomorrow along with the other amazing ingredients!
If you have access to a Costco (or maybe another bulk club, I don’t know) I recommend getting it there. It is by far my most used oil–I use it for anything not calling for coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil. But it is pricey in small bottles often in regular groceries.
I know the feeling of sometimes not know what to say about a recipe you made and love. I can see through your pictures that the dish is absolutely delicious! It really looks like the chicken is on a bed of pasta and the combination of spices must make the vegetables so flavorful.
Yum! This sounds amazing. Definitely want to try give it a try. Pinned!
Laura,
I think that’s why I take so many preparation pictures when I make a dish (including something the dogs were up to or a butterfly/snowstorm outside) because those photos, coupled with my notes, help put me in the frame of mind to write! Of course it’s always better to write the whole thing up while it’s baking or while the dishwasher is running, but I’ll be honest–that rarely happens!
I love the idea of spiraling zucchini for the sake of zucchini–I’m not sold on a spiralizer yet (I am very late to every bandwagon) but knowing that I could just make a non-pasta-substitute side for the heck of it reassures me.
I just love the flavors going on here, and will pick up some avocado oil. I hope I use it more than the truffle oil I insisted on getting at Costco and have used 2x . . .
Thanks for the shout out!
O this sounds delicious! What a wonderful meal!
This sounds so good ! I am going to need to try it!
I haven’t spiralized anything in a while but you’ve definitely re-inspired me! I totally agree that spiralized noodles really only work when you’re not trying to directly compare them to pasta. Nothing against zucchini, but it will never taste like pasta to me!
I love the sound of this, though I have to admit that I hate buying whipping cream for a recipe that calls for 1/4 cup. (Means that I either throw the rest of the container out or use it to make another rich dessert that I shouldn’t eat:) Any thoughts on a substitute for that cream? In any event, the flavor combinations in this dish sound irresistible.
2 T cream cheese and 2 T milk is my best bet. I just usually have cream around. 🙂 But be careful that if you use low fat milk it does not curdle–maybe add it last?