Adventures with a Spiralizer
WHEN I first heard the word ‘courgetti’, I thought it must be a new name for the vegetable- loving cognoscenti that includes the likes of clean-eater Gwyneth Paltrow and a growing band of green bloggers and Instagramers.
Being a little behind the curve, it took me a while to figure out that it was simply ‘courgette spaghetti’ — courgetti (smart, eh?)
Of course, as is often the case in these health-conscious times, you can’t just make courgetti with a will to be healthy and a common-or-garden knife. You’ll need a julienne peeler (if your kitchenware rises to such a thing) or a spiralizer.
It took me a while to figure out what that was too, but I happened across Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley, the celebrity-consulting, food-loving sisters who have a website, a best-selling book and, now, their very own branded spiralizer.
And if you’re interested in the official definition, here it is: “A spiralizer is a must-have kitchen utensil for instantly transforming an array of vegetables into noodle-like spirals in minutes.”
I thought €40 was a small price to pay to become the proud owner of a piece of branded kitchen equipment that would leave me at the spiralizing-edge of the latest food fad.
A spiralizer, thankfully, is a mercifully uncomplicated piece of equipment. It can take a little rough and tumble and is easy to use, even if it has three super-sharp, take-the-finger-off-you blades.
The first thing I set about making was, you’ve guessed it, courgetti.
If, like me, you love spaghetti but it doesn’t love you back, courgetti is a truly magnificent alternative.
It takes seconds to turn your courgette into noodles. And it’s ridiculously good fun.
If you’re the kind of person who tries to peel an orange in one go (no comment), you’ll have hours of endless fun trying to make metre-long noodles out of courgettes, potatoes, peppers, radishes, beetroots, etc.
But there’s a serious side to this too.
Nutritionists and health experts don’t often agree but all of them will sing the virtues of getting more fruit and veg into your diet.
Government nutrition guidelines recommend we get at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, but studies show that Irish people get nowhere near that. We are more likely to eat two or three portions a day.
Now, there’s a growing body of scientific evidence to suggest that five a day isn’t nearly enough. The French talk about eating eight a day and, in Japan, the recommended intake is an impressive 13 a day.
We know that vegetables are full of disease-preventing vitamins, minerals and potassium (dubbed ‘the enemy of salt’), so why don’t we eat more of them?
Part of the problem, for me at least, is lack of time and lack of imagination.
Cubing and roasting a butternut squash is a noble activity but not when you arrive home, starving and querulous, at 7pm.
More often than not, I’ll opt for the quick and not-so-healthy fix.
In recent weeks, I’ve been trying to go for the quick, healthy spiralized fix. How about beetroot noodles with Feta? Delicious and made in minutes. It’s messy though; if there’s a knack, I haven’t mastered it yet.
Courgette spaghetti topped with puttanesca was whipped up in an instant (not counting the time to slowly reduce the sauce).
It was also light; the next day I didn’t have that spaghetti-stone in my stomach. If you’re watching calories, this is the way to go too.
A bowl of regular wheat noodles is 221 calories while a bowl of courgetti is just 41 calories. It has far more nutrients too.
Carrot, radish and seaweed salad was a step too far. And I did wonder why anyone would spiralize an apple.
Spiralizing does, however, make fruit and veg go further. One potato, for instance, will make enough noodles for two people.
And owning the kitchen utensil du jour does encourage you to check out the fresh produce at your local farmer’s market.
That’s good for local producers — and for your own carbon footprint.
Is there a downside? If there is, I haven’t found it. This is one food fad that is cheap, practical and truly useful for us meat-and-not-enough-veg folk.
