Are you looking for creative ways to get more vegetables in your diet? Are you eating Paleo or low carbohydrate, but missing eating your favorite pasta dishes? If you said yes to either of these questions then you may want to try “spiralizing” your vegetables. Spiralizing is a cooking technique used to transform many vegetables and fruits into long noodles using a spiralizing device. You can use this technique to enjoy healthier versions of your favorite pasta recipes or to add texture to salads, soups, rice bowls and more! You are only limited by your imagination, but we’ve also shared one of our favorite recipes below to get you started.
Vegetables and fruits that can be ”spiralized” include:
- Apple
- Beet
- Broccoli
- Butternut Squash
- Cabbage
- Carrot
- Celeriac
- Chayote
- Cucumber
- Daikon Radish
- Jicama
- Kohlrabi
- Onion
- Parsnip
- Pear
- Plantain
- Radish
- Rutabaga
- Sweet Potato
- Taro Root
- Turnip
- White Potato
- Zucchini
The spiralizer device comes in two forms and can be found online, at cooking stores or at some home retail stores. There are handheld versions of this device or stationary ones that sit on your countertop. The cost for a spiralizer ranges from about $8–20 for the handheld version (like the image on the left) or $25–50 for a stationary version with 3–4 interchangeable blades for different noodle shapes (like image on the right).
Roasted Butternut Squash Sweet Potato Noodles with Bacon, Crushed Pecans, and Spinach
This recipe is specific to the Inspiralizer ® by Inspiralized, so the blade below is specific to that device. If you have a different brand, use an equivalent blade for your device that makes linguine-style noodles.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total time: 55 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and spiralized with Blade C
- 2 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 4 strips of bacon
- 1/2 cup light almond milk, unsweetened
- 3/4 cup vegetable broth, low-sodium, divided
- 1 cup spinach, packed
- 1/4 cup pecans,crushed
Instructions
- Spiralize the sweet potatoes and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 405 degrees. Once preheated, add the cubed butternut squash to a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Dust lightly and evenly with the cinnamon. Mix together to combine and roast for 35 minutes.
- While the butternut squash is roasting, set a large skillet over medium heat. Add one tablespoon olive oil and the sweet potato noodles. Season with garlic powder. Cook for about 6-8 minutes or until sweet potato noodles cook through and are soft. Set aside.
- Place a large skillet over medium heat and add in the bacon strips. Cook the bacon until crispy and set aside on a paper-towel-lined plate.
- Once the squash is done roasting, add the cubes directly into a food processor. Add in the almond milk and half of the vegetable broth. Pulse until creamy.
- Place a large skillet over medium heat and add in the squash puree and the rest of the vegetable broth. Cook until the broth reduces and the puree is creamier. Add water or more vegetable broth, if too thick.
- Once the sauce is done, add in the spinach and sweet potato noodles and mix to combine thoroughly. Let cook until spinach wilts.
- Plate the sauced noodles into a bowl and crumble in the bacon. Top with crushed pecans and enjoy!
Recipe retrieved August 2015.
Source: “Get Started: Let’s Get Inspiralized.” Inspiralized. Inspiralized, LLC, n.d. Web. 18 Aug. 2015. <http://inspiralized.com/howto/>.
By Jessica, student Intern
