Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Zucchini Spaghetti


Check out this post for another version of zucchini "pasta." 

A few years ago a friend of mine decided she'd try a raw diet.  Whatever.  It seemed fine with me until I learned that every time she left home, she had to drag her cooler on wheels with her so she always had raw food to eat.  On one of her visits to Boston she came, cooler in tow, and proclaimed that I would eat raw for the weekend.  Resistance was futile.  Breakfast was a juice of kale, tomatoes, garlic, lemon and hot peppers that left me feeling nauseous.  She claimed it was a buzz from eating food that was "alive."  Okay.  But her dinner of zucchini "pasta" with a fresh sauce of tomatoes, onions, herbs, etc., even though it took two hours of chopping, was really quite delicious.  I recall wanting to go back a revisit this idea of zucchini pasta but I had forgotten about it until I recently saw a spiralizer.

I did a little bit of research and found several different versions.  Some of the metal ones are a few hundred dollars but after reading the reviews, I chose the $36 World Cuisine 48297-99 Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer found here.  It arrived about a week ago and I really love it.  I've eaten zucchini "spaghetti" almost every day.  It's great raw or cooked.  My favorite is raw zucchini "pasta" salad with sliced sweet red peppers, carrots and scallions with a Thai peanut sauce.  I've sauteed it with onions and garlic as a side dish which is also very good.

Today I'm feeling lazy so I'm going to make quick zucchini "spaghetti" with bottled sauce.  Let me show you how it works.




The machine attaches to the counter with four suction cups.  It has three different cutting blades all of which attach right to the machine so there's no looking for the attachments.


I washed one zucchini, cut off both ends and loaded it into the machine.


Start cranking and the "spaghetti" just rolls out.


Ten seconds later the entire zucchini is done and ready to go into boiling water.  I chose to leave the skin on but if you peeled the zucchini, it would look almost exactly like real spaghetti. 


Cleanup is really pretty easy.  The blade pops out, the crank portion slides right off and machine itself just needs wiping off and rinsing.


I boiled the "pasta" for about two minutes in salted water and heated up some marinara in another pan.  In less than 15 minutes, I was eating a healthy, low-calorie, (and vegan!) dinner.  Boiling the water takes the most time.

I may tire of my new gadget but during this time of year with fresh vegetables readily available, I'm taking advantage or it.  And it's helping me eat a lot better.


Do you spiralize?  If so, what do you make?

36 comments:

  1. Good for you! I don't spiralize but sure wish I had this gadget. I just spend a ridiculous amount of time with my knife and cutting board.
    It takes awhile to adjust to a new way of eating but don't you feel great...can't wait to see more recipes you whip up with your cool new toy! :)

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  2. Yummy! I've been craving zucchini lately....must be the time of year.

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  3. Steve, that looks SOOOO freakin' delicious that I want to find one of those spiralizers right now. Have you used it for anything besides zuchini yet? I can't wait to try this!
    Karin@lifeinsmallchunks.blogspot.com

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  4. Karin,
    I did some carrots and it works okay. They're very hard. Also the wider the vegetable the better. It would do a great job of potatoes. It has blades for curly fries and full spiral cuts as well.

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  5. I've never heard of this! I have to try it. Oh by the way, I don't touch the kale. I just can't do it. Sassy missed you the other day.

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  6. Wow! I wonder if you can get those things in Australia.

    I think Deb would love this! She's all-vegan and could probably teach Sassy to crank the handle.

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  7. LOVE IT! Looks sooo delicious!

    Trina

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  8. I'm addicted to kitchen gadgets. I need to buy two of these for my house and my daughter who will be away at college in a couple of days:( My daughter has her first apartment this year at school and I am loving putting together her kitchen. I bet butternut squash and sweet potatoes would be delicious as well.

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  9. You know how you were jonesing for a lobster roll and onion rings?

    That is not how I am feeling about the curly zucchini pasta BUT my overfed body is screaming .

    I'll be by for dinner tomorrow, start spiralizing!

    xo Jane

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  10. My son's partner's cousin went on a raw diet last year. I learned some great recipes from her, including the one for zucchini pasta. She doesn't cook hers, though--it's just raw zucchini.

    You can do a so-so imitation of spiralized vegetables with a potato peeler, though you have to feet the last little nubbins to the dogs to avoid slicing your fingers.

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  11. What a great gadget! I've never heard of it but now I want one! That dish makes me hungry!:)

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  12. Maybe this magic machine could get my kids to eat zucchini...
    Camille

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  13. What a contraption, I can almost hear that cucumber screaming, no no not the spiralizer! Ive actually been wanting one for ages but can't find one around here, that's my kind of dinner

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  14. This is something new to me. Spiralizing: how wonderful. We are now harvesting one to two zucchini every day from our garden and I am desperate to find new ways to eat them. This looks like a great idea.

    Anna

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  15. Hm. Am thinking that you have bathing suit weekend on your mind. If the spiraler works good on potatoes, I'm in.

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  16. I really must have this machine. Have you tried onions? Would they come apart or could you make itty-bitty fried onion spirals?
    What about apples?

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  17. I never knew something like this existed! I may just have to buy myself one! I miss my pasta and spaghetti squash is great, but can get boring!

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  18. That looks quite delicious! Pretty too!
    I don't know if I would be able, like your friend, to carry a cooler with me everywhere. I am simply too disorganized for that!

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  19. Kerry,
    I haven't tried onions but it seems the layered structure would prevent good strings. I think it would be more of a dice. I'll give it a try.

    Apples should work well if you core them first. Deep fried apple strings sound amazing.

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  20. this looks good steve. now that i see this, i kinda remember using something this in culinary school. but then we would take whatever veggies we had prepped and deep fry them. ahahha. they were good though.

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  21. Did you HAVE to say fried apple strings??? Although I'd opt for pan fried in a little butter and cinnamon.

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  22. Looks really good, but I would have to boil them a little like you do. Also if you grate zucchini (the side of the grater with the oval holes) with a little onion and saute' it is quite delicious as a side dish. Lana

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  23. Learning about spiralizing is timely for me since I must soon go on a low iodine diet and eat mostly fruit and vegetables and only breads and pastas that are homemade. Steve, thanks so much for this tip and for your absolutely wonderful blog which I began visiting only a short while ago. Each evening, I catch up on a few more early entries. Cannot stay away.
    Linda in Virginia

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  24. Lana,
    When it's used raw, it's also really good, more crunchy like a chopped salad. I did also saute it with onion and garlic and it was really good. I find it needs a good does of salt though.
    Linda,
    I don't envy you whatever necessitates a low iodine diet but I'm glad I could show you something that might make that diet a little easier. And thank you for going back and reading old posts!

    S.

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  25. I haven't spiralized but I DO have a best friend who went raw a few years ago and carries around her "raw sack" with her to restaurants. When she comes and stays at my place I suddenly have no room in my refridgerator and everything smells like kale. The things we do for our friends!

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  26. I don't spiralize but now I want to! I'm a vegetarian and eat lots of veggies so this would be fun!

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  27. I have never seen anything like that before but its got to be more healthy for you than frying them, I'm trying to think what else it could be used for... looks yummy anyway :) x

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  28. Hi Steve
    Just wanted to wish you luck getting through Irene. She's a very scary storm and I'm not getting a good feeling. My thoughts are with you guys up there.
    am

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  29. Looks delicious and soooo healthy!

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  30. I have never seen anything like that vegetable slicer - where did you find it ? Great Blog - thanks!
    Jenny @ French A La Beach

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  31. Jenny,
    I got it on amazon.com. There's a link in the post to the same one but there are several different versions at a lot of different price ranges.

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  32. I don't spiralize. However, I have been know to twirl in my younger days....

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  33. Oh...my gosh...I love this....I need one of these...and the one with thai sauce...I love anything thai. Really....I really do need one of these.

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