The Veggie Spiral Slicer Cookbook (2 page)

Types of Spiralizers

Let’s take a brief moment to look over the most popular brands, their pros and cons, and their average cost as of the writing of this book.

The most popular style of spiralizer is the tri-blade, as it offers three different slicing blades to make a fantastic variety of noodles. My personal favorite brand to use is the Paderno Spiralizer 3-Blade, though I have had success with other brands. Currently Paderno offers three- and four-blade options. The average price runs from $25 to $55 dollars depending on where you make your purchase. I personally find the fourth blade to be unnecessary and therefore stick with the cheaper three-blade option. Pros of this model include ease of use, ease of clean up, three
different blades for creating different noodles, low cost, ability to spiralize fruits and veggies of many different sizes, and the fact that it’s lightweight and easy to store. Cons include occasional loosening of the suction cup feet and seemingly weak plastic teeth for securing tougher root vegetables and squashes (although none I’ve used have actually broken). The three- (or tri-) blade style of spiralizer is the one we will use most throughout this book. There are other brands offering this style, including the Spiralizer Elite Spiral Slicer, Brieftons Tri-Blade Spiralizer, Benriner Turning Slicer, Kitchen Basics Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer, iPerfect Kitchen Tri-Blade Vegetable Spiralizer, and Inspiralizer from the wonderful spiral slicer–based blog
Inspiralized.com
.

The second most popular style of spiral slicer is one that resembles a pencil sharpener. The most well-known brands for this style are the Veggetti, All Times Finest, SpiraLife, Supreme Home Cook, and Gogogu. I’m going to be honest here, while the prices are much lower (starting anywhere from $10 for a single blade to $25 for a multi-blade option), I do not find them to be worth the cost. But let’s break them down into pros and cons so that you can make your own educated purchases.

Handheld spiralizers are lower in cost and smaller, therefore taking up less kitchen space, but that’s about it when it comes to the pros. These spiralizers are more difficult to clean, somewhat awkward to use since you have to hold them, and limited in the type of fruits and vegetables that you can use with them. The size of these slicers are primarily geared toward zucchinis, carrots, and other long and slender veggies. I will not refer to this style of slicer from this point on.

Another option is the hand-crank style that resembles a baby food processor. The Joyce Chen Spiral Slicer seems to be the most common of this style. I’ve found it priced anywhere from $20 to $35. It is outfitted with three main pieces: a bottom-level “receiving” area where the noodles are deposited, a middle section to place the vegetable that is about to be sliced, and a blade/crank apparatus on top. The main advantage of this style is that the noodles are kept nice and contained in the bottom portion of the appliance. The cons are many. The machine has more parts to clean, is bulky, requires you to crank somewhat hard, and all of your vegetables must be trimmed to fit into the middle slicing compartment. As an alternative, I would recommend using specialty blades on your food processor if you have one, which leads us to the other methods available using equipment already found in your kitchen.

The vegetable noodles will simply be called noodles. Most of the recipes will be made with a tri-blade spiralizer in mind. The blades will be referred to as blade 1, blade 2, or blade 3. Blade 1 is the single blade that makes large long, wide ribbon noodles, or fettuccine-esque noodles. Blade 2 is the larger of the two multiple-noodle blades, and is great for making your own curly fries or any noodle that would break down easily, like the apples in the apple fritter recipe. Blade 3, the smaller multi-noodle blade, is the one most often used in this book. This blade makes angel hair pastas and is also great for rice recipes, although those get pulsed in a food processor after spiralizing, so if you hate the idea of using two appliances for the job you can get away with using a food processor with the shredding blade attachment.

What Can I Spiralize?

Now that all of that is out of the way and you have a better understanding of the types of spiralizers on the market, let’s take a look at the wonderful multitude of fruits and vegetables that lend themselves to this simple and delicious cooking style. The following varieties can be spiralized with a three-blade slicer:

Vegetables

       
• Beets

       
• Broccoli (the stem)

       
• Burdock root

       
• Butternut squash (the neck)

       
• Cabbage (works in a slicer, but does not make noodles)

       
• Carrots

       
• Cauliflower (the stem)

       
• Celery roots (celeriac)

       
• Chayote

       
• Cucumbers (English or seedless work especially well)

       
• Daikon

       
• Jicama

       
• Kohlrabi

       
• Onions (works in a slicer, but does not make noodles)

       
• Parsnips

       
• Potatoes

       
• Radishes

       
• Rutabagas

       
• Summer squash

       
• Sweet potatoes/yams

       
• Taro roots

       
• Turnips

       
• Zucchinis (naturally!)

Fruits

       
• Apples

       
• Pears

       
• Plantains

If, at the grocery store or farmer’s market, you happen to find yourself trying to figure out if the gorgeous produce in front of you will be compatible with a spiralizer, ask yourself the following questions (keeping in mind you will need a three-blade style for most items):

1.
   
Is the flesh of the fruit/vegetable firm? This is an absolute must. If the inside is too wet or soft, it will turn into mush as you attempt to slice it. Eggplant is the perfect example of a vegetable that looks like it would work perfectly, but is too soft and full of seeds to work.

2.
   
Does the fruit/vegetable have a giant pit? Even though mangoes can be firm, the tough and large pit in the center will prevent them from working in the slicer.

3.
   
Is the part of the fruit/vegetable that you plan on slicing solid? You can spiral slice the stems of broccoli and cauliflower, but not the head, as the florets are not completely solid. You can also slice the long, thick neck of butternut squash, but if you attempt to spiralize the base, it just crumples.

4.
   
Is the fruit/vegetable at least 2 inches long? Some will say 1-1/2 inches, but realistically, you won’t get enough noodles out of this length to make it worth it.

5.
   
Is the fruit/vegetable at least 1 inch in diameter? You need at least 1-1/2 inches to get true noodles out of it, but you can make slaw out of thinner carrots or parsnips. Anything less than an inch isn’t worth it, though, as you’ll lose most of that to the core left behind.

Some of these vegetables, primarily cabbage and onion, work great on the spiral slicer, but do not necessarily create noodles. In these instances the slicer works more like a mandolin, also known as a Chinese slicer.

When shopping for “long” vegetables like potatoes, butternut squash, and zucchinis, keep an eye out for the straightest vegetable options possible. If you end up with a curved zucchini or squash, don’t fret—just cut the vegetable in halves or thirds to create the straightest segments possible. The thicker the potato or zucchini, the better. With butternut squash being as thick and tough as it is, it helps to go for the thinner ones. Look for the specimen with the least-bulbous base.

When shopping for “round” fruits and vegetables like apples, rutabagas, or beets, look for the plants that are fat and round and as even as possible. You don’t want apples that look “slanted” when standing upright on the table. You’ll need flat ends on both sides when you load the slicer and don’t want to waste anything cutting it off to get it ready.

And lastly, quality is key here, people. With fresh fruits and veggies being the stars of the dish, more often than not, the outcome will depend on the quality of the produce you choose. You want your vegetables to be firm, never soft or mushy. Zucchinis should have a nice deep green color to them and no bruises or soft spots. Fruit should be ripe but also firm. Again, avoid any items with large spots of bruising.

Prepping Your Veggies for the Spiralizer

Now that you’ve picked the perfect produce, how do you make it ready for the machine?

The first question usually is: to peel or not to peel? Personally, I’m in the no-peel camp. Fruits and vegetables carry so many of their vitamins in the peels, and if you’re buying organic, you shouldn’t have to worry about wax or pesticides. If you’re not buying organic, then I do recommend peeling, especially the root vegetables and fruits. Peeled zucchinis definitely look more like pasta, so this could be good if you are trying to feed picky children or dinner guests, but ultimately, unless the recipe calls for peeled or unpeeled produce, the choice is yours.

Getting the spiral slicer ready will depend on the model you have. Load the blade you want to use. If you have suction cup feet, get those set up as well.

Slice the bottoms and tops off of the fruit/vegetable, line the centers up with the corer on the blade, slide the platform with the crank and teeth toward the fruit/vegetable, and secure the teeth in. You’re ready to crank out some noodles! It works best if you apply steady pressure, but if you have any issues where the teeth of the crank are bending, ease up and check to make sure you’re properly lined up. This can happen with tougher things like sweet yams and butternut squash.

The recipes in this book do refer to which blade you will need to use. Blade 1 creates the largest slice, blade 2 is in the middle, and blade 3 makes the smallest, spaghetti-like noodle.

Some of the recipes in this book will say spiralized, then riced. This is one of my favorite features of the spiral slicer. Take a bunch of noodles sliced on blade 3 and pulse them in the food processor until it resembles rice—simple as that!

Now you are truly ready to use your noodles and/or rice.

A Note on Zucchini and Cucumber Noodles and Water

Zucchinis and cucumbers are full of water that they are just waiting to release, leaving what should be a crispy pizza or thick ragu a soggy mess. In nearly every recipe (unless stated otherwise), I lightly salt my zucchini and cucumber noodles and let them sit in a colander in the sink to drain. Afterward I gently squeeze out the excess moisture and use as stated in the recipe. Alternatively you could cook the noodles separately from the sauce and other components, but that takes extra time. Draining in the colander can be done while you assemble the other ingredients.