Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Spiralizing your veggies can replace noodles
Spiralizing with spring flavors
Want to eat more veggies? Noodle around with spiralized sweet potato, squash, beets, carrots and more. Better yet, pair them with spring flavors for a tasty lunch, dinner or side dish.
“Instead of eating pasta, you can eat pasta made out of vegetables,” explained chef Johanna Outwin, who often demonstrates the technique.
“It’s something fun,” said the cooking coordinator at Kitchen Kapers Cooking School. “You’re able to play with your food.”
Find packaged veggie noodles in the produce section or start small at home.
“While a good [spiral vegetable slicer] is wonderful, it certainly is an investment,” admitted physician assistant Jessica DeLuise, founder of Eat Your Way to Wellness in Conshohocken. “Taking your vegetable peeler, you can make really beautiful ribbons and see if you like it first.”
She helps clients plan healthy meals like zucchini noodles with pea pesto.
“I am a big advocate for the simpler the better,” DeLuise said. “Healthy food does not have to be complicated or time consuming.”
Spiralizing “is the simplest thing to do,” agreed registered, licensed dietitian Judy Matusky, a food and nutrition blogger in Ardmore. “It’s just such a pretty presentation. It’s something different and light you can add to your plate.”
Try her veggie noodles with hummussesame dressing.
“You get the volume from the vegetables just as you would if you were using pasta with significantly lower calories,” she added.
Not only is it helpful for weight loss, but also “good for people who have a gluten issue,” said personal chef Lynn Lampe Lindquist of Cook on Call. “I think it’s something that fills a really great need.”
Celebrate spring with oodles of so-called zoodles. She pairs zucchini noodles with pine nuts, parsley, lemon and honey goat cheese.
“It gives you great texture with the pine nuts,” described Lindquist, also an instructor at Delaware County Community College and Valley Forge Flowers. “Usually, I don’t even cook my noodles. I serve it raw, so it’s a raw whole food.”
Back at Kitchen Kapers, Outwin suggested one more dish to noodle over: spiralized cucumber and cherry tomato salad.
“Everybody’s eating salad because summer’s coming,” she said. “You need to get into that bathing suit!”