Recently, I got together with Williams-Sonoma to learn about the spiralizing and its health benefits. For this review, we got together and used the Paderno Spiralizer from Williams-Sonoma.
How Spiralizing Works
Spiralizing creates “faux noodles” out of vegetables. By substitute vegetable “noodles” for traditional pasta, you can make traditional dishes far more healthy. For instance, you can create long ribbons of cucumber, carrots, and radishes for salads and stir-fries, or use apple and carrot spirals for apple slaw.
The possibilities go way beyond that — casseroles, rice noodles, and even ethnic dishes are brightened with spiralized noodles.
Do Spiralized Noodles Taste Good?
That was my first question. Just as a bowl of plain pasta is nothing spectacular on its own, a bowl of spiralized vegetables is made to shine with the ingredients: Meat, cheese, seasonings, and a sauce, and you get some dishes that are even better than with pasta.
The texture of the vegetables is crunchier and “snappier” than the grain-based pasta, which I like to pair with a zippy, zesty dressing. Case in point: One of the best recipes I’ve ever tried is Zucchini Pad Thai, with a zingy peanut butter and lime dressing. The elements come together to be sweet, nutty, tangy and even a little spicy. Even as a pasta lover, I would say its made fresh and less “heavy” with the spiralized noodles.
Calorie for Calorie, Spiralizing Wins
The average 1/2 cup serving of pasta is about 110 calories (FatSecret).
But the average 1/2 cup serving of zucchini noodles is only 10 calories (CalorieCount).
Even if you keep the meat, cheese, seasonings, and sauce the same, for an identical size-serving, this 100-calorie savings per day would amount to a loss of 10.42 pounds per year! Just from substituting out your noodles with spiralized noodles!
Spiralizing is Also Cost-Effective
Spiralizers are surprisingly affordable.The Paderno Spiralizer is under $40, comes with three blades, and works amazingly well.
What’s more, one zucchini makes about two 1/2 cup servings. Considering the average zucchini costs less than $1, you could make the bulk of a healthy meal for a family of four for under $2. Just add sauce. That’s impressive — and a lot healthier than carb- and sugar-rich traditional pasta!
Bottom Line
Try spiralizing!
Thank you to Williams-Sonoma for providing the spiralizer for this post. The spiralizer was returned following the post.Â