Cranking them out

This may be a surprise to some of you, but after years of making raw foods (including zucchini "noodles"), I finally own a spiral slicer. Thanks to my loving husband (Happy Father's Day, by the way), I no longer have to cut each and every noodle by hand (actually, I think he got a little tired of me complaining about how long it takes).

So why haven't I purchased one sooner? Well, I just thought it was ridiculous to waste money and space on a gadget that only serves one purpose. Boy, was I mistaken.

Now, it's not a big deal to cut up one serving worth of veggie "noodles" for myself. However, when I want to serve a crowd, just the thought of the time it would take to make that many "noodles" by hand is quite daunting.

For instance, when I go to a potluck or a picnic, my first instinct is to bring a raw version of the traditional fare (you know how I encourage "rawifying" your favorites).

Lately, the first recipe that comes to mind is spaghetti salad, a simple dish consisting of spaghetti noodles, cucumber, green peppers, tomatoes, olive oil and a bottle of salad seasoning. I had thought about bringing my raw version to our neighborhood block party this weekend, but was dreading the zucchini prep (my raw equivalent to the noodles in this salad).

Although hesitant to cut all those "noodles" myself, I still picked up the ingredients for the salad. Luckily, Matthew had predicted this in advance, ordering this handy helper, which arrived just in time to make my masterpiece.

And, just in case you'd like to try it, too, here is the recipe:


"Zucchetti" Salad
3 zucchini, cut or spiralized into "noodles"
1 medium cucumber, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped**
2 Tbsp. olive oil
4-6 Tbsp. of your own salad seasoning*

In a large bowl, toss together the zucchini, cucumber, green pepper, tomato and olive oil. Mix in seasonings and adjust amount based on your taste. Enjoy or chill until ready to serve.

*To make your own version of the bottled salad seasoning, combine a mixture of nutritional yeast (the prepackaged stuff contains Romano cheese), sesame seeds, poppy seeds, paprika, celery seed, garlic, black pepper, red pepper and sea salt.

**Due to the tomato recall at the moment, I used diced cooked tomatoes this weekend in the recipe (forgive me). I just wanted to be safe, especially since I was going to be feeding this to others. If you are lucky enough to be growing your own tomatoes (I'm so jealous of those of you who are), please use fresh raw ones in this recipe.