The Spiralizer

The Spiralizer

My favorite new kitchen tool is a the spiralizer. (Thanks for the Christmas gift, Mom!)
It slices fruits and vegetables into rings, spirals, strips or just plain slices. It's easy enough to use, even a kid can do it. My oldest son gets a kick out of it. He cut up some apples in no time at all.

Apple slices

There are many recipes online for making your own apple chips and the spiralizer makes it super easy. 

1. Cut the apples (three to six depending on the size) 

2. Place on parchment paper on a rimmed baking sheet

3. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon each cinnamon and sugar.

4. Bake for 1 hour at 200 degrees.

5. Turn apples and bake for another hour.

My oldest son thinks they are great. My youngest won't try them. He like his apples raw.

Potatoes

 The spiralizer turned five Yukon gold potatoes into ribbon in minutes. The big lesson I learned here was the "noodles" are thin enough to burn quickly and easily. But again, this side dish is kid-friendly as well.
1. Cut potatoes and place on a greased cookie sheet
2. Season with your favorite herbs and spices. I used a mix of garlic salt, onion powder, thyme and pepper.
3. Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes.

My son loves them. Here we had them with sautéed peppers, onions and Tofukey sausage and tomato sauce with diced cantaloupe. It was popular enough of my son to ask for it in his lunch box. My youngest son wouldn't try it.

Noodle salad

The spiralizer turns vegetables the boys won't normally eat into something appealing. This is a side salad or a light lunch of zucchini noodles and carrots with defrosted, shelled edamame. The idea for this recipe came from oatmealwithafork.com. 

1. Slice zucchini and place into colander. Sprinkle with a tablespoon of salt to drain some of the liquid and let sit for 10 minutes. Put in a clean towel and press out the water.

2. Slice carrots. 

3. Add edamame

4. Add dressing of your choice. I used Miso Tahini Dressing from "Veganomicon" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero (I can't say enough how much I love this cookbook. Go get it if you don't have it already). I took the authors' suggestion to add ginger, garlic and lemon. I also used regular miso, not sweet miso, so I added a touch of maple syrup.

My oldest son really liked the zucchini and the carrots. But he's not a fan of the "lima beans" and didn't want to eat them. My youngest son wouldn't try it.

The extras

My spiralizer cores the fruit or vegetable. For an apple, that's great. The core is gross and inedible. The tops of the apple can be spritzed with OJ or lemon juice to keep from turning brown and eaten with peanut butter or saved for a smoothie. 

For a potato or carrot or zucchini, that core is fully of veggie goodness. The carrots went into my son's lunch box. The rest went into a bag in the freezer for vegetable broth I'm sure to make soon.