Shaved Zucchini Salad with Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

My life always seems to run in seasons. Good times, bad times. Insanely busy times and lazy weeks on the beach.

This summer has been a season of renewal and healing.

For the longest time, I just couldn’t get inspired for anything. Creating new recipes became a chore. Of course, after almost 600 quinoa recipes, that kind of makes sense.

But it was more than that. Intellectually I knew that I wanted to start this blog, but emotionally I just couldn’t commit.

I was spent. I had nothing left to give because fatigue was my brutal master.

I’m happy to say that two months after my Hashimoto’s diagnosis, I’m feeling much better.

Though the initial weight loss didn’t continue, I’m still down 20 pounds in two months which isn’t too shabby. This is the fifth week that I’ve worked out consistently five days a week, something I haven’t done since 2011, and I’m feeling stronger and more committed every day.

There are still bad days, days where I am so exhausted that every emotion is amplified 1000 times. But for the first time in a very long time, there are more good days than bad days.

I feel like I am making progress with natural healing of my thyroid, so much that I’m going to be talking to my doctor about stopping my medications and seeing what my body is capable of doing on its own.

If I start to feel terrible again I can always start taking them again. I feel like I’ve done enough research, talked with enough people who have healed their thyroid naturally, and am feeling strong enough that I at least need to try to do this.

So let’s celebrate my summer of healing with an amazing Shaved Zucchini Salad! This salad has the best that summer has to offer – tomatoes, zucchini and basil!

I enjoyed it freshly tossed much better than after the salad sat dressed in the fridge, so I recommend just tossing what you think you will be eating within 24 hours.

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Shaved Zucchini Salad with Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

Author Wendy Polisi

Ingredients

• 2 large zucchini spiralized or shaved with a vegetable peeler
• 1 cup grape tomatoes halved
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
• 1 1/2 ounces goat cheese or vegan nut cheese crumbled
• ¼ cup fresh basil chopped thin
• 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds

Instructions

1. Shave zucchini with a vegetable peeler or use a spiralizer to turn them into “noodles”
2. Place zucchini in a medium bowl and toss with tomato. Add vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper and toss until well combined. Top with goat cheese, basil and sunflower seeds and serve.

Recipe Notes

Servings 6, Calories 98, Fat 7.7g, Carbohydrates 5g, Protein 3.8g, Cholesterol 7mg, Sodium 193mg, Potassium 357mg, Fiber 1.6g, Sugars 2.7g