pesto and coconut zucc noodles

So…the topic of THIS spirally thingy came up when we were up North at a friend of the fam’s cottage a couple weekends ago.  While we were there, my mother-in-law mentioned it in conversation whilst (love that word, but hardly ever use it) on the dock chillin’ as pictured below..ahhhhhhhh – PURE BLISS!

It was seriously sooooo relaxing.  Totally awesome to spend loads of quality time with loved ones and then to have the opportunity to communally create some pretty amazing feasts in the evenings together.  We ate like Paleo kings and queens!  Workouts included swimming across the lake and back, kayaking, canoeing, aqua lily pad fun and of course, the inaugural adventure on the ‘newly popular’ paddle board (video coming soon…).  If you haven’t tried this yet…I strongly encourage you to give it a go!  I thoroughly enjoyed every single minute of it.  Even the near face-plant onto the dock right at the beginning!!!

Changing gears for a second (bear with me)…at the beginning of our 10 day, California Coast “expedition”, we were fortunate enough to meet and listen to some really incredible speakers at UCLA, throughout the 2-day 2011 Ancestral Health Symposium that we attended.  There was one presentation that really resonated and rang true to me at that present time.  Consequently, I have come to realize that I do in fact need more play in my life, after listening to Mark Sisson’ s presentation on ‘The Lost Art of Play’.  It was phenomenal in my eyes!

A huge ‘thank you’ to Mark for sharing his love of life with the audience.  Incorporating more play into my ‘everyday’ is def on the forefront for moi, having now listened to him share his infectious spirit and passion for ‘being in the moment’ and ‘detaching oneself from the outcome.’ (Okay…fully off topic now, but he seriously inspired me with his words of wisdom.  I am going to do a full/proper post on the importance of what he and others spoke of in a separate entry very soon!)  An amazing weekend we all had…filled with lots of PLAY!Alright…back the THIS spirally thingy!  Joannie (MIL), started telling my about it and it’s rave review that a friend of hers had excitedly conveyed to her earlier that week.  She went on to say that this cool device has the capacity to create these spirally noodles out of many different types of vegetables, such as: zucchini, yams, sweet potatoes etc…  At this point, I could kinda picture was she was talking about, but needed to see it in action to grasp it’s full beauty I think.  Nonetheless, I was super stoked to do a little researcheroo upon returning back to the city, to find out where I could pick-up something of the sort!?

A couple days later, after being back at home…I couldn’t stop thinking of the potential possibilities of such a damn clever sounding creation.  Soooooo, while not totally knowing the ‘exact brand’ that she was referring to, I decided to go on the computer and do some investigating for myself.  I read several reviews on various makes and then called up a couple local stores, in the neighborhood to see if they had something similar in stock!?  First one (Stack)…no dice!  Second one (Cook It!)…YES!  They had 2 different brands in-store.  The sun was a-shining, so I decided to take a wee stroll to hopefully (fingers crossed), find what I was looking for…which was of course…THIS spirally thingy!!!

Upon entering the shop, the owner greeted me and directed me towards the shelf, where they both sat.  She took both of them out of the package and laid them on the counter for me to have a closer peek.  It wasn’t even a contest!  The first one that she showed me was made of a flimsy plastic…I think something even fell off of it as she pulled it out of the box!  The second one was different.  A total beaut!!!  It was even grey and red!  Two of my favs (but that’s not why I bought it okay! Haha!)  I could just tell by looking at it, that it was well-made, durable and would stand the test of time.  I don’t splurge too often, but when I really want something I will not hesitate to get it.  It was the last one and was on-sale…bonus!  My days of over-thinking purchases and being wishy-washy on things are over.  I could tell right away that this new addition would be soooo helpful in making countless meals.  Without a second thought, I was over at the cash register buying up my new…well you know, sprially thingy – aka…the German-made, Westmark Spiromat!

BTW – I am sure there are several other wonderful spiral slicers out there too!  But, here are the photos of my ‘baby’ for your viewing pleasure! 😉  It has 3 different blade inserts, as shown below.

I have used this sweet little contraption twice now.  Both times I made zucchini ‘noodles’; the first being the ‘spaghetti’ style ones you see in the first 2 photos above (thick/thin) and the second time,  I tried the wide/flat style that is pictured in the third photo.  I am going to continue to experiment with different veggies, as the potential for more greatness is right at my fingertips.  Without further ramblings (sweet if you made it this far!), here are the 2 different versions that I have made to date…

Zucchini “Spaghetti” with Pesto Sauce (at top of page)

• 3 large zucchini – spiraled
• 1-2 carrots – peeled and shredded
• coconut oil
• dried chili pepper flakes (optional)
• sea salt and pepper

Prep:

• wash your zucchini thoroughly
• secure in your spiral slicer and turn handle to create flat/wide ‘ribbonish noodles’
• wash and peel your carrots
• use a ‘regular’ peeler to shred them and then combine them in with the zucchini ‘noodles’
• using coconut oil, sautee your zucchini on low heat on the stove-top (note – this doesn’t take long!  keep an eye on it, because no one likes mushy ‘noodles’)
• when you feel like the zucchini is almost cooked to your liking, add in a few shakes of dried chili pepper flakes
• mix it in thoroughly and continue to heat for a couple more minutes
• plate and sprinkle with some sea salt and ground pepper
• enjoy!

These 2 dishes are great grain-free ‘noodle’ recipes.  Zucc noodles are also a nice alternative to having spaghetti squash.  I choose to sautee the noodles in these sauce variations, but play around with whatever you like!  I probably wouldn’t get too carried away though with a heavy sauce – the simplicity of both dishes made for heightened flavours.  Next on the docket…spiral slicer + sweet potatoes and yuca!  Stay tuned…