cheap eats [zoodles]

Ahh zoodles. So many opportunities from such a simple process.

I made me and my sister this Mexican-ish meal in just a few quick minutes. I mixed a can of black beans, a can of corn, and a can of diced green chilies and tossed it with one big spiralized zucchini. Topped it off with mango and avocado and some baked plantains and we were both stuffed. So much better than tossing it all on white rice my friends.

I made the salad below using a spalsh of balsamic vinegar and olive oil as dressing, then added red onion, basil, and mint, and topped it off with grilled peaches and goat cheese. Basically any salad recipe is going to work here.

Zucchini are, of course, not the only thing you can cut up with this bad boy. I have done sweet potato spirals, which I then baked (half the pan with old bay, half the pan with cinnamon). I've done carrots a few times, but they're a little tougher because they're thin- with this spiralizer, you lose a 1/4 inch core down the middle of your veggie, which can be significant if your produce is thin to begin with. I always eat the middle, so it's not a waste, but it's also not cute ribbons. ANYWAY, you could make this asian peanut salad I did last year with a peeler muchhhh easier. I've also done my mom's cucumber and onion salad- cukes in ribbons, onions in spirals. It came out great and took about 2 minutes. Cray.





Next on my recipe list: some hot recipes. I like the consistency of these zoodles, so I would probably just warm them up, but you can also blanch them (drop into boiling water for one minute, then dunk in cold water to stop the cooking) in order to soften them a bit. I'm thinking a lemony, garlicky, wine-y shrimp dish would be good, and a red pepper and spinach dish is high on my list. I'll report back!