Spiralized veggies: A different type of "pasta"

Somehow, one of my most exciting cooking tools got pushed back into the depths of my kitchen cabinet, only to be rescued this past weekend. I'm not sure how I managed to neglect my GEFU Spirelli Spiral Cutter for so long considering I bought it back in January (straight after writing my "rad innovation" post). Clearly, some cooking was in order.

This little device changed the way I'd previously thought about cooking with vegetables. Simple and effortless, you can take just about any firm vegetable of your liking (I used a zucchini-squash), place it into the spiralizer, and twist the vegetable around to produce long, stringy slices. Drop them into a pot of boiling water to cook and bam! You've got yourself a low-calorie alternative to pasta!

You really can't go wrong with how you choose to dress up your veggie pasta. You can get just as creative as you'd like with seasonings, sauces, and additional vegetable add-ins. I opted for mushrooms, and I must say, they made for a great choice.

There are a variety of spiralizers out there, but the GEFU Spirelli is less expensive than most spiralizers I've come across and works well too (I bought mine on Amazon for just around $30). If you choose to purchase one of your own, or decide simply to use a vegetable peeler or knife, check out the links provided below to get inspired and cook up your own veggie pasta!

Lemon Cucumber Noodles With Cumin

Garlic-Zucchini Pasta

Roasted Carrot Pasta with Beets

Raw Pad Thai

Zucchini Lasagna (this recipe doesn't involve a spiralizer- a knife is all you need!)

I don't know about you, but I'll definitely be giving one of these delicious recipes a try in the very near future!