Spiralize!

I have a spiralizer that just doesn't get much love. I've used it to make raw zucchini noodles for live pasta dishes, and I've made some beet noodles for a salad before. But most of the time, my white, plastic Paderno brand spiralizer just sits on a shelf in my kitchen closet. So I was thrilled when Book Publishing Company asked me to review Spiralize! by Beverly Lynn Bennett. I figured it'd give me fresh ideas for putting the old spiralizer to use — ideas beyond just raw pasta.

And it did! This thin book — part of the Alive Natural Health Guide series — is loaded with recipes for breakfasts, soups, salads, main dishes, and sweets made with spiralized zucchini, beets, carrots, turnips, sweet potato, and more.

I chose to try the Golden Vegetable Noodle Soup, made with spiralized squash noodles and chopped carrots, onions, celery, and garlic.

It's like a chicken noodle soup but without the chicken and with gluten-free squash standing in for the noodles. It's super low-calorie and yet hearty and filling. For the broth, I used some homemade veggie stock that I made from cooking down my veggie scraps. And it's thickened and seasoned with nooch, turmeric, thyme, poultry seasoning. I had this with some potato-hummus canapes on the side (a tester for another cookbook review).

So far, this is the only dish I've tried. But I'm super-impressed. I've got my eye on the Southwestern-Style Tofu Scramble (with spiralized sweet potato), Carrot Cake Muffins (with spiralized carrots), Raw Caramel Apple Delight (with spiralized apples drizzled with date syrup), Miso Soup with Daikon Ramen Noodles (the noodles are made from spiralized daikon radish!), and Raw Pad Thai (with carrot and zucchini noodles).