I love my spiral slicer. So far, I’ve used it for making great side dishes or salads and a few main dishes. I was intrigued when I first came across this idea for a low-carb dessert that is made using a spiral slicer. What a brilliant idea – apple zoodle dessert! Great apple flavor and crunch, a hint of cinnamon, and topped with toasted coconut flakes.
Choosing The Apple
I used a Gala apple for making this dessert, but you can substitute whatever you like. Of course, it being a dessert you’ll probably want to use a sweeter apple, such as golden delicious, pink lady, red delicious or Fuji.
I was intrigued when I first came across this idea for a low-carb dessert that is made using a spiral slicer. What a brilliant idea – apple zoodle dessert!
I grew up on my mom’s creamy cucumber salad. I ate so much it’s a wonder that my hair isn’t green. My favorite part? The creamy dressing that’s left in the bottom of the bowl after you finish off the cucumbers. I’d drink that stuff right up. I still love my mom’s salad. I recently bought a spiralizer, so I figured that was a great opportunity to give it a whirl. In just seconds you get these different-looking cucumber noodles… or coodles… Hey, they’re fun! This is a wonderful variation on my favorite.
It’s Dill-icious
Although this creamy cucumber salad is best with fresh dill, I usually use dry unless I can pick some fresh from our garden. I rarely get fresh dill from our garden because our garden stinks. Sorry, there’s just no other way to say it. I also add a bit more dill than the recipe calls for since I really like the combination of dill and mayonnaise. It’s very similar to Ranch dressing in flavor. I also make a version of this salad without the ‘creamy’.
I have to admit, a spiral slicer is a rather fun kitchen gadget to have. You can take just about any recipe you would normally make with pasta and make it low-carb by substituting zoodles. Or rather, zucchini noodles. You can use the slicer for other things too. But I pretty much use it mostly for zoodles. These garlic butter zoodles with Brussels Sprouts are fantastic!
What? Good Brussels Sprouts?!
These garlic butter zoodles with Brussels sprouts are about as easy to make as you can get. And they taste fantastic. I cook the zucchini noodles to the point where they are soft, but still have some crunch. The butter and garlic add some needed flavor. Zucchini isn’t exactly packed with flavor… it’s good, but butter and garlic make it fantastic. And nothing beats crunchy Brussels sprouts. I love them. Topped with a bit of cheese and toasted sesame seeds, this makes for a great side dish.
You can get pretty creative with this dish just by swapping a few ingredients. Use toasted pine nuts or even peanuts instead of sesame seeds. Leave off the Parmesan cheese and add French-fried jalapenos for a kicked up dish, or just add a few (big) pinches of dried red pepper flake to the zucchini when you are cooking them.
Or just add cooked crumbled bacon. Now we’re talking good!
This absolutely fantastic pasta-free dish reminds me of one we made years ago, but with pasta. It has all the great flavors, but uses zoodles (zucchini noodles) instead. I recently picked up a zoodler (spiralizer… spiral slicer… I’ve been making up names for it as I go), and just love how they are such a great low-carb substitute for pasta. Parmesan chicken zoodles combine some of my favorite tastes in one bite. First, cream. Gotta have cream. Second, chicken thighs. I love chicken thighs. I prefer them over chicken breasts. Sure, thighs aren’t as lean so if you want, you can substitute chopped chicken breast instead.
Sun-Dried Tomatoes For The Win
Next up? Sun-dried tomato. Sun-dried tomatoes were not something I was exposed to growing up. They were a new flavor experience to me when I started cooking. I really like them. They have such a great texture and deep flavor. The oil they are packed in is absolutely great for cooking (so don’t ever toss it out!).
If you know me or follow this blog at all, you know I gotta have some kick. Some heat. It doesn’t have to be much, but a little something to offset the sweetness of the cream is necessary in this dish. Use a little or a lot.
Finally, zoodles. Thinly sliced zucchini. Cooked so they have just a bit of crunch. Almost like pasta, and essentially carb-free. Perfect!
Looking for the perfect spiral dessert? Try my apple zoodles!
I recently picked up a spiral slicer. Spiralizer, as I call it. You can take pretty much any large vegetable and turn it into something fun to eat. My favorite veggies to spiralize so far are cucumbers and zucchinis. Heck, I didn’t really even like zucchinis until now. Easy spiral zucchini salad made a believer out of me!
My Slicer
The slicer I bought has 3 different blades, making spiral cuts from angel hair-sized to large ribbon cuts. It’s very easy to use, just cut the ends off the vegetable you’re going to use so it fits into the slicer, insert it into the device, and get to cranking. In just seconds you convert anything into spiral cuts. You can easily convert whatever you are cutting into a single, very, very long strand. I don’t recommend this, although I’ve done it once or twice because it is rather fun. I made a 2 foot long cucumber angel hair the other day. It was cool!
Instead, though, for bite-sized pieces, I first make a cut about 1/2″ – 1″ deep lengthwise into the vegetable. This will ensure that you get great almost-full-moon shaped cuts, perfect for salads like this easy spiral zucchini salad.
Sometimes you just come across a recipe that really hits you as something you absolutely must make immediately. This spiralized Churchill Downs butterbean and radish salad was just that for me. I had to make it immediately. But I had to change it up a bit and spiralize the radishes because, well, I love spiral radishes. A little crunch and a hint of citrus and you have a great tasty salad.
Take It On A Picnic
This spiralized Churchill Downs butterbean (er, lima bean) and radish salad also travels really well. It’s the perfect salad for a pitch-in, and it’s something different. I bet you haven’t seen too many butterbean salads. I haven’t seen any that’s for sure. Maybe it’s the pitch-ins I go to…. People will definitely perk up when they see a big ole bowl of this salad, that’s for sure.
I used to live in Lima, Peru. Which isn’t how we pronounce lima beans. I’ve always found that to be sooooo confusing. I mean, there’s Lima, Ohio, right? Why isn’t it pronounced like Lima, Peru? Lima beans came from Peru. Who’s in charge of fixing this?
Spiralized Churchill Downs Butterbean and Radish Salad
Sometimes you just come across a recipe that really hits you as something you absolutely must make immediately. This Churchill Downs butterbean and radish salad was just that for me. I had to make it immediately. But I had to change it up a bit and spiralize the radishes because, well, I love spiral radishes. A little crunch and a hint of citrus and you have a great tasty salad.
These spiral sweet potatoes with pecan butter are a twist on a favorite Thanksgiving dish for us. It’s a bit sweet, a lot easy, and very tasty. You can assemble it ahead of time and cook it on-site in the oven or on a grill. I like cooking sides on the grill at Thanksgiving since it frees up the oven. The oven is always crammed full during the holidays.
A Few Thoughts
The sweet potatoes are cut into thin (but not too thin) spirals. They will cook faster than whole or sliced sweet potatoes, so keep an eye on them. Spiral sweet potatoes with pecan butter don’t take as long to cook as you might think. The crunchy sweet topping is absolutely fantastic. If your guests like their sides a bit on the sweet side don’t hesitate to double the topping.
If you don’t have a spiralizer you can cut the sweet potatoes into thin slices instead.
As an added bonus for us, I used pecans from my dad’s pecan trees. There’s something about his pecans that make them oh so much better than anything I’ve ever gotten from a store. Some years his trees don’t make many pecans, and some years… Yowsa! It’s like it’s raining pecans everywhere!
Place potato slices and onion rings on a large sheet of aluminum foil (you might need to divide the mixture between more than one piece of foil). Drizzle with oil.
Place another sheet of foil over potatoes and seal along edges.
Place on grill or in oven for 20-25 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.
In a small bowl, mix the butter, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Stir in pecans.
Open packets and top with pecan butter. Serve.
Notes
The packets can release a little hot steam when opening so use caution.
I don’t think either one of us expected it. We didn’t know that we’d love this spiralized potato salad with Green Goddess dressing as much as we did. Honestly, it’s been so long since I had Green Goddess salad dressing. I only vaguely recalled what it tasted like. I also wasn’t so sure about sweet potatoes in a potato salad. It’s not something I had considered before. I should have. It’s amazingly good.
Crunchy Cream Greatness
Well now I’m in love with both the Green Goddess dressing and the spiralized sweet potatoes. And everything else in this wonderful salad. Slightly crunchy, it has a great freshness to it. It’s also amazingly easy to make and is a different winner for picnics or family get-togethers. I’d make this again and again.
I like to make a cut down the sides of my potatoes before cutting them into spirals. Otherwise I end up some one really, really long piece of potato that is impossible to even fit into a salad bowl. If you’re making this spiralized potato salad for an outing, wait until you get to your destination before adding the dressing and garnish. My spiral Churchill Downs butterbean and radish salad is almost as awesome too. Give it a try!
Spiralize the potatoes and transfer to a microwave-safe bowl.
Add the water and a dash of salt. Toss to coat then microwave on high 4-5 minutes or until the potatoes just start to soften. You want them to still have a bit of a crunch.
A spiral slicer is a great fun toy, specially when it comes to radishes. I’ve made another radish salad, which I really love. I thought I’d try something different with the big bag of radishes I picked up at the farmer’s market last weekend and make a spiralized radish salad. Oregano is really what makes this salad fantastic. I used dry, but if you have fresh, substitute 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh oregano for the dried. Make sure to chop it pretty fine, not leaving any big pieces.
A Salad That Screams ‘Wow’
This salad holds up well in the fridge so you can easily make it the night before you need to serve it. Just toss it a bit before serving so that the dressing covers the radishes. Unlike many salads, this one holds it’s crunch thanks to, well, crunchy radishes of course! Since radishes are firm, that also means that spiralizing them is much easier. In fact, I think they’re rather fun. I’ve also found myself just snacking on spiral radishes. I keep them in the fridge until I’m ready to eat them.
If you’re not a fan of caraway seed you can leave it out and still enjoy a fantastic side dish.
I thought I’d try something different with the big bag of radishes I picked up at the farmer’s market last weekend and make a spiralized radish salad. Oregano is really what makes this salad fantastic.
It’s not like you have to have a spiralizer to make pretty salads, but it sure does help. And it’s fast and easy. This spiralized radish salad took only minutes to make. It tastes very much like a slaw, with a great radish crunch and a perfect citrus vinaigrette. Radishes hold up really great over time, unless traditional salads or slaws that start to look a little bit ‘sad’ after a day or too. And the radishes keep their crunchiness day after day, and that’s a big win too!
Spiral Radishes? Yes!
This was my first time spiralizing radishes. I was afraid it wasn’t going to work, but they came out perfectly. First, you have to start with big radishes. No wimpy long thin ones. Second, you need to make a shallow cut down each radish. If you don’t you’ll end up with one really long radish spiral that goes on and on and on. Then, just cut off the ends, insert into your spiralizer, and get to turning!
Make extra spiral radishes and keep them in your refrigerator. They make for excellent snacks and they’re much healthier than most things you’d find in a bag!
It’s not like you have to have a spiralizer to make pretty salads, but it sure does help. And it’s fast and easy. This spiralized radish salad took only minutes to make. It tastes very much like a slaw, with a great radish crunch and a perfect citrus vinaigrette.
1poundradishesthe larger, the better, spiralized (make a thin slice down the sides of the radishes first so that you don't get one long spiral radish) or sliced thin