Susan's Musings

I have to say, this is the one kitchen gadget that I have the most fun with! When I first got it, I grabbed every vegetable I had that could be sliced. Apples, cucumbers, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and zucchini.

The first thing I did was slice up some ribbon sliced apples and cucumbers. You could end up with one very long spiral cucumber. What I do is make a 1/2″ deep slice down the length of the cucumber, so when I used the slicer the cucumber slices weren’t too long. You can also cut them afterward, with a knife or scissors.

I actually prefer to use my Victorio Apple and Potato Peeler/Slicer when I’m peeling and slicing lots of apples, but for a quick slicing job I hand peel the applies and use the Paderno slicer because clean-up is so much easier. The slices are very thin compared to the 1/4″ slices from the Victorio.

Another great use is to make no tears diced onions. Spiral slice a whole onion using the large chipper blade (same as curly fries), throw the long curly onion in a zipper bag and freeze it. Next time you need some diced onions, grab the bag and start pressing it. This will break up the onions into small pieces.

I also made baked curly fries, using the largest chipper blade. I’m sorry I didn’t take photos, but the next time I make them I will. They come out a bit thin, but they are ohhh, sooooo good! You just have to be careful not to overcook them, turning them several times in the oven. I might even try soaking them in water first, or deep frying them.

I also want to try slicing onion straws with the small chipper blade.

I will be experimenting with the spiral slicer for a very long time. I will post recipes when I do.

It took me awhile to get to the zucchini because neither my husband nor I have ever bought a zucchini. I’ve never cooked zucchini, and I didn’t even know what a zucchini looked like. I mean, I had an idea. It resembles a cucumber, right?

When my husband stopped at Kroger to pick up a few things, he called to see if I needed anything. I asked him to pick up a zucchini. I wanted to try out my new vegetable spiralizer so I could make zucchini spaghetti. He didn’t sound too thrilled about that. Anyway, he kept me on the phone while he walked through the produce department looking for a zucchini. I told him it looks like a cucumber. I told him to get one that was straight and not too bent so it would fit the spiral slicer. He found what he thought was zucchini, but he didn’t see any labels on the produce shelf. So, he came home with, not a zucchini, but an English cucumber! It was long and skinny, different than a regular cucumber. Oh well, I’ll get the zucchini next time I go shopping.

Finally, when I went shopping a few days later, I picked up two small zucchinis, easily identified by the label in the produce section. I guess my husband wasn’t wearing his glasses that day. 😀

The spiral slicer leaves about a half-inch piece at the end of the zucchini, so leave the knobby ends on the zucchini when placing it on the spiral slicer so that you don’t waste any of the zucchini. After spiralizing two small zucchinis, I dropped the zucchini noodles into boiling water with a lot of salt for a couple of minutes to soften it a little. Some like it crunchy, but I wanted it to resemble the texture of spaghetti pasta. The dryer the noodles, the longer it will have to boil.

I then rinsed and drained it in a colander for about five minutes. This process shrunk the zucchini considerably, so two zucchinis only made one serving. That was okay because this was a test for me to try before serving it to my family. I would suggest buying two small or one large zucchini per person. I then rinsed the salt out of the zucchini and drained it again (without pressing it).

While I had regular spaghetti boiling for the rest of the family, and spaghetti sauce simmering in a pot, I heated up some olive oil in a skillet, added some minced garlic, and tossed the zoodles into the skillet for a couple of minutes. I served it in a bowl topped with spaghetti sauce.

At first, it reminded me of Chinese food. It didn’t taste like spaghetti pasta at all. But, as it turned out, I absolutely loved it! I couldn’t get enough. I went back to the kitchen, gathered all the zucchini scraps leftover from the spiral slicer. It leaves a core and the ends, plus the peelings. So, I chopped those up and sauteed them in oil and garlic. Next time, I will not peel the zucchini, the zucchini peels tasted great, too!

Clean-Up Is A Breeze!

When given a choice of whether to use my Paderno slicer or a mandolin, or food processor, I choose the Paderno when I can. The clean-up is so easy. Just make sure you clean it right away, before the vegetables dry up and clog the blades. Other than the blades, the slicer is all a smooth plastic that is easy to clean. I use a tooth brush to clean the blades, but the Paderno slicer is dishwasher safe, too.

Note: I bought the Paderno World Cuisine A4982799 Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer, and that is exactly what is pictured here. I noticed that there are now several cheaper versions of the slicer, and I cannot verify whether they are the actual Paderno or imitations. I can only recommend the Paderno Spiral Vegetable Slicer because that is what I have, and I love it!

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