Inspiraled!

Meet our new favorite kitchen tool. You may have heard it called the spiralizer, the zoodler—a cute term for a zucchini noodle—or a spiral vegetable slicer. However you choose to identify to this nifty kitchen tool, know one thing: you will be joining the hottest culinary trend in years! It will slice your standard vegetable into spaghetti-like shapes. Instead of carrot sticks, zucchini slices or cucumber half-circles that top boring lettuce salads, you’ll be dining on ribbons and spirals.

So if you are a vegetable fanatic or just attempting to clean up your diet the opportunity to convert a carb-heavy meal into lighter fare is for you.

The process is pretty simple: either peel or wash the raw piece of produce (you can cook it later) and use the tool to spiral it down into a noodle shape. There are two basic varieties of vegetable spiralizers on the market to consider. One is an hourglass-shaped tool that is the choice for smaller kitchens. It’s two-sided for thin or thicker noodles, and calls for an easy manual twisting of the vegetable similar to a pencil sharpener. It is simple and efficient.

For those with more room in their kitchens and a desire for both culinary adventure and a variety of attachments, you will enjoy a triple blade vegetable slicer. This noodler is sold with 3 different blades to give you spiral slices, thick noodles and angel hair-thin noodles.  But the process is still simple: Secure the vegetable onto the blade and crank out some noodles. Both tools above can transform virtually any hearty vegetable into spaghetti form.

By spiralizing, you’re naturally eating more vegetables – without even noticing (especially when they’re covered in a delicious marinara sauce!) Vegetables have an abundance of dietary fiber, which helps keep you fuller longer and help with your everyday digestion. Most importantly, after eating a bowl of vegetable noodles, you’re left feeling light and energized.

Spiralized vegetables are for everyone, but they are especially helpful for those who have sensitivities to gluten, since they’re obviously gluten-free. They’re clean and unprocessed and perfect for Pesach!

Sweet Potato Curly Fries

A favorite for Pesach and all year!

2 large sweet potatoes

Olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

Pesach mayonnaise with garlic to serve

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel and spiralize sweet potatoes using the medium blade.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Add sweet potatoes and spread out evenly. Drizzle or spray with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until crispy, turning once or twice to ensure even baking. Serve immediately with garlicky mayonnaise.

Turkey Bolognese over Zoodles

This hearty meat sauce will hide the fact that your spaghetti is not actually pasta!

½ cup chopped celery

¾ cup peeled and chopped carrots

2 tbsp light olive oil

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 medium onion, diced

½ lb ground turkey

2 tsp oregano flakes, optional

1 cup tomato sauce (homemade or purchased)

salt and pepper to taste

3 medium zucchinis, spiralized using the fine blade

Place the chopped carrots and celery in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.

Put a large skillet over medium heat and add in the olive oil and garlic. Cook for 30 seconds and then add in the onions. Cook onions for 2 minutes or until they begin to soften; add in carrot and celery mixture and cook for 1 minute, stirring.

Push the vegetables to one side of the skillet and add in the ground turkey, crumbling the meat. Break up the meat further with a spatula or wooden spoon. Add in ½ tsp oregano flakes if using and cook the meat until it is no longer pink.

Combine the vegetables with the turkey in the skillet. Add the tomato sauce and season generously with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then lower heat and let simmer for 15-20 minutes or until sauce is completely reduced.

Add in the zucchini pasta and mix thoroughly to combine. Cook for about 2 minutes or until zucchini softens and heats through. Divide among 4 bowls and serve.