Have you been struggling to get more veggies in your diet but you just don’t feel inspired by boring broccoli or mushy squash? Do your grandchildren roll their eyes when you tell them stories of how superheroes get big and strong by eating their veggies?
Well, struggle no more because spiral veggies will change the way you and your family look at veggies and trust me, they will be begging for zoodle soup and rainbow salads!
Spiral veggies are a ground-breaking way to serve healthy vegetables in a very appealing manner. We eat with eyes first and spiral veggies make a beautiful and very appetizing presentation for adults and kids alike.
Spiral veggies are basically vegetables that you run in your spiral vegetable cutter. For example, you put in a whole carrot and what you get after are several long thin strands of carrots that are reminiscent of noodles.
If you have ages of experience cooking, I am sure that your mind is running away with the endless ideas on what you can do with spiral veggies. If you are a newbie cook—no problem, I will help you out with creating your first healthy spiral veggie dish in a jiffy.
So what are the different dishes for which you can use spiral veggies? The first thing that comes to mind is pasta and noodle-based dishes. You can easily substitute the pasta or noodle from your favorite recipe with spiral veggies.
Instead of your usual fare of salad greens, why not mix and match it with spiral veggies? You are not only incorporating new and delicious flavors to your salad, but the visual effect is also mouthwatering. You will get more substitution ideas once you have seen the recipes I have prepared for you.
Spiralizing Tools
There are two tools that work equally well – the Paderno World Cuisine Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer and the Veggetti Spiral Vegetable Slicer. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. However, it is important to note that the disadvantages are only based on personal preference and not necessarily on performance.
The Paderno is a unit that sits on your countertop and includes three blades for thin, thick and ribbon cuts. It is very easy to use and does a great job spiralizing all types of fruits and veggies. This is a great model for when you are making a large amount of spiral veggies because of the ease-of-use.
The main disadvantage to this product is that you need a place to store it – either on the counter or in a cabinet. If you don’t have any storage/counter space then you may be better off buying the Veggetti.
The Veggetti is a small, hand-held spiralizer that also does a great job making noodles out of your favorite veggies. The best part is that you can easily store it in a drawer without a problem. This model is very handy when making a smaller amount of veggies.
The disadvantages of this model include it can only make two sizes of cuts – thick or thin and your hands may get tired after a while if you are making a very large amount of veggies. Also, clean-up can be a little challenging. You will need some type of brush or you may put it in the dishwasher.
It’s important for you to check both out to see which will fit your needs and lifestyle better. Both are great and you definitely won’t be disappointed with the results!
The Different Preparation Methods
To ensure your success with your new adventure in spiralizing veggies, let’s review the basic preparation methods that you will encounter in the recipes I have provided.
Basically in cooking, there are two broad cooking methods – the dry heat cooking method and the moist heat cooking method. In moist heat, you use a liquid medium such as oil or water to cook your food. And for dry heat, you do not use any liquid at all to cook the food.
Dry Heat Cooking Methods
Baked
Baked spiral veggies are easy to make. All you need to do is pop the pan into the oven and bake according to stated temperature and length of time as specified in the recipe. During the baking process, the food is cooked through convection or through the heat inside the oven.
Steaming
Steaming is a process of cooking where food is placed in a steaming basket on top of boiling water. The food does not touch the water and is cooked by the hot steam.
Although this method includes water, it is still considered a dry cooking process because it does not come in direct contact with the food. It is a great way of cooking vegetables because nutrients and flavors are not lost in the cooking process.
Grilling
Grilling is a method wherein the vegetables are placed on an open fire or hot charcoal. The heat coming from the charcoal or fire cooks the vegetables. Grilling vegetables can be tricky so you should check your food every minute or so to ensure that it doesn’t burn and the food is heated equally.
Moist Heat Cooking Methods
Frying
Frying is a method where oil is used to cook food. Under the frying method, you have several subcategories and these are: deep frying, stir frying and sautéing. During frying, nutrients are usually lost because of the high heat used.
Principally in deep frying, you use a lot of oil to cover the food you are trying to cook and the food is placed into the fryer once the oil is really hot. This gives your food an extra crunchy texture.
Stir frying is commonly done in a wok with oil. The oil used should be enough to coat the food you are cooking with a little extra left behind. It also involves vigorous stirring and cooking at high heat.
Sautéing, on the other hand, is almost similar to stir frying but involves lesser amount of oil. Once the pan is hot enough, the food is dumped in. Instead of using a ladle to stir the food, only the pan is used to move the food around by agitating it.
This is so because once the food hits the hot pan, it sticks to the pan and is only released once it is cooked and its juices are coming out. So with the pan maneuver, only those foods that are essentially cooked will unstick themselves and move around when pan is agitated.
Boiling
A common and very easy method of cooking is boiling. All you need to do is to bring a pot of water to boil, add any spices, herbs or meat that you are using and bring to a boil.
Usually, when veggies are cooked through boiling it is added last so that you will have a cooked veggie that’s crisp and soft. Overcooked veggies can be soggy and not too appetizing.
Often, boiling is the process used in making soups. Also, you can use a boiling pot of water to blanch your spiral veggies to cook it.
Blanching is a process of cooking wherein you drop your vegetables or any food in a rolling and boiling pot of water for a minute or less, then strain vegetables and discard water.
Stewing
Stewing is just like boiling but involves lesser amount of water and the outcome of the dish is a slightly thick sauce. Stewing vegetables can be tricky because you need to put the veggie that takes longer to cook first and then add succeeding vegetables.
Add the vegetable that’s easiest to cook last. This way, you will have a veggie stew that’s evenly cooked.
The recipes provided on this site cover all types of American and international dishes – there is something for everyone! The links are below:
