Spirals

We're well into the harvest season, my favorite time of year. The leaves crunch under foot, the air is rich with the scent of a season coming to it's close. Typically the garden is ripe with abundance. (Not true for me this year, as I had the worst growing season to date) I find myself reflecting more during this time, often inspired to spend more time getting creative in the kitchen. Even though I've been digging deep to find a spark of visionary enthusiasm, this particular "harvest" seems as barren as my actual garden's this year.

Instead of finding myself immersed in a creative stew, as had been my intention as I began the school year, I have found myself in service to others. It's been satisfying to be of use and much needed help to those I love, and in doing so, I have also picked up a neat little gadget that has been a delight to use, and will continue to reveal new and creative ways to prepare vegetables. What is this gadget, you ask? Why, it's the spiral slicer!! It allows you to make vegetable noodles, to prepare thin, crisp oven chips and so much more. (I haven't explored the "so much more" aspect, but I find the possibilities exciting.)

Here are some lovely zucchini "noodles" that we made

Fun for the whole family. Here's my lovely girl helping to crank the noodles out. I sure wish that adage that kids are going to eat what they make was true. She loves to make the noodles, but gives me a "no thanks" when I ask her to try them.

Here we have a lovely Asian inspired meal using the zucchini noodles, grilled beef kabobs and spicy sauce. It was pretty dang delicious if I don't say so myself.

The reason I came across the spiral slicer was researching raw living, or in other words how to begin a raw food diet, for a friend. I was so intrigued by the healthful possibilities of this gadget, that I just had to have one. One of my absolute favorite things to make with this is zucchini noodles (I DO love zucchini and it's so abundant right now) with home made basil pesto. Mmm, so good, and you can eat til you're absolutely satiated and feel none of that starchy bloat and guilt. It's lovely.

There are a three blade attachments that come with my particular model, which allow you to make wide, chip type spirals out of apples, potatoes, basically anything that will fit. It makes delightfully crisp hash brown type potatoes in the oven. My daughter LOVES for me to make her apple chips with it. I haven't even touched on all the possibilities. I think that a spiral slicer is a great addition to any cook's kitchen. It is available for purchase here: Spiral Slicer