Category Archives: spiralizer

Spiralized patty pan squash

The temps here have cooled a bit and it seems a little less humid. Or it did until today when it rained. I was up just before the sun this morning and checked the weather. I noted rain on its way and I really wanted to get in a ride. So, I decided to go out then and there before breakfast and see how much I could get in.  For safety, I have a blinking light on the back of the bike, but it wasn’t really dark. No sun, though.

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This picture was taken just after I got home. I did 8 miles, which is about all I want to do before breakfast anyway. Right after I took this picture, it started raining!  Talk about good timing.

I’ve been a bachelorette for the  last couple days and keeping busy. I have the last few batches of soap to make. Then cutting them all:

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Here is a new soap in the mold. This is Rosemary Lemon.

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It has rosemary and litsea essential oils. Litsea is the lemon scent. Then I added finely ground rosemary.  We’ll see how this sells at the show next month to see if I keep it.

Now to the title of the post. Being the bachelorette and lots of stuff to do, I’m needing quick and easy meals. I would love to do lots of cooking, but not right now. Anyway, I bought those patty pan squash at the market and I wondered if I could spiralize one.  I chose the least flat one.

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I cut off the green stem and put it on the spiralizer:

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I used the smallest blade, but I’m thinking a bigger one would be fine. This is how it came out.

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Towards the end, the spirals started to become tiny pieces, which you can see on the right. It almost looked like vermicelli! I don’t know if you have had patty pan, but it has a light slightly sweet flavor and actually is good raw.  If I wanted to cook this, I would put it in the microwave for a minute or so. However, I had other plans.

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I got suckered into another one of these. No more LOL. I actually didn’t care for this one so much. However, it is fast. Only 5 minutes and dinner was ready.  I added the spiraled patty pan to this to bulk it up and let the heat of the pasta and broccoli warm up the squash:

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That was actually a good way to do it. The squash didn’t get soggy like it can if you cook it in water and it had just a little firm crunch to it.  Look at that, 2 veggies in one dish!

I have to show you this picture of a new flower. I didn’t want to wait until Friday’s blooming posts because it is just that cool.  This is a passion flower.

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Isn’t that amazing? The blooms don’t last very long, but they are stunning. It’s an annual climbing plant. For a long time, I didn’t think it was going to do anything, but it must have loved the heat and humidity because boom – flowers.

Paderno Spiralizer Review

Okay, here is a longer post on the spiralizer now that I have played with it more. If you go to Amazon, you will see 2 different Paderno spiralizers. The  Paderno 4-Blade (my link) is the newer version, which is the one I got. I have never tried a spiralzer before, so I can’t really tell if it is better than the 3-blade one. However, the reasons I upgraded were:

A. It stores compact
B. It has 4 blades (with an angel hair one).
C. Designed for less waste.
D. I had a gift certificate, so I spent more 😀

Here it is all compact:

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Everything is stored inside and everything is washable. That red label is where the blades are stored (which are uber sharp, btw).

It all unfolds thusly:

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It has suction feet to hold it in place, but I had trouble getting more than 3 of the feet to stick on my wood countertops, but I think that is because of their handmade nature. It sticks great to stovetop, though.

The blade slides in and out sideways in this model very easily:

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Just cut the ends of each piece of produce to be flat. Push the center of one end onto the little peg you see above (above the blade). Then slide the handle until it grabs the other end:

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Then just turn the handle. You don’t want to push the handle in. See that little lever sticking out at the bottom of the handle? That is what you use to guide the handle towards the blade.  It cuts just about like a knife through butter. Super, super easy – even with the hard sweet potato!

I did angel hair on this one:

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That is the little waste stub that was left over.

Here is a zucchini with the spaghetti blade:

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This was a small zuke and the noodle came out with more shreds. Also, if your veggie isn’t straight, cut it in half and spiral twice or it will get whonky. I just did this whole thing to have less waste.  Here is the waste end:

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You can save these for soups or whatever. Eat them or compost them.  My zoodles:

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I dipped these in boiling water for 2-3 minutes to cook. Served with grilled chicken and Alfredo sauce:

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The chipper blade will do spiral potatoes or fruit.  Here is John demostrating an apple. The apple was cored for this:

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See how his thumb is guiding the handle? That stablizes the machine and keeps you from breaking the handle.

Spirals!

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Remember that sweet potato I did the angel hair with?  I put it on a big cookie sheet, sprayed with cooking spray, a little salt and pepper and baked for about 12 minutes:

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Then following directions from Inspiralized.com – I mixed the cooked noodles (after they cooled a bit) with a beaten egg and used a ramekin with a can to press into disks:

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Then dropped them in a pan and cooked to crisp up on each side:

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Topped with pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese:

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Cover with a lid to melt the cheese. And serve:

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Little gluten free pizzas! The possibilities are endless here. You could use regular potatoes for these ‘buns’, carrots, butternut squash or any other starchy veggie (I think I am going to try parsnips).

It’s easy to clean. You need a brush to clean the blades and handle with hot soapy water. The sweet potato gave an orange tinge to the parts, but it scrubbed off. I imagine beets might stain if you leave the juice on it too long. 

This is a totally fun machine. I am really glad I decided to get it.  I certainly have been eating a lot more veggies and it doesn’t take up much space.

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It’s on the counter now because I am using it a lot, but could easily go into a cabinet and not take up much storage space. I don’t know if the 3-blade one collapses like this or not.

So, be prepared, you will see a lot of spiralized food on the blog in the future!

**This is totally my opinion only. I purchased the spiralizer myself and was not asked to review it. I just like it. The above link is an affiliate link for me, though.