We are about halfway through Summer. I know this because I’m already seeing “Back To School” fliers and in Los Angeles you can cook an egg on the sidewalk. As a rather pale human being, I spend a good chunk of my Summer indoors, hiding from the life-giving ball of fire in the sky. I also have a bad habit of skipping meals. What do these two things have in common? Quite simple: I’m not as healthy as I could, or should, be. For a man who’s closer to 30 than 13, it’s not cute. It also means I’ve wasted a good bit of my summer avoiding things, namely, the outdoors. In honor of that, this week we’ll be using the Epare Spiralizer in order to discover some healthy, easy to cook meals - And maybe find some love for the hottest part of the year.
To start off, the Epare Spiralizer is designed to work like a grinder, which is great because I’m kind of a clutz, and they make it easy. The finger holds are sturdy and the “teeth” of the holder make it so you’re not wasting too much food. All good things. Now, in order to eat like a Real Adult (™) I decided to focus, namely, on vegetables. It’s what the spiralizer was meant for, after all, and they’re also filled with vitamins and lack the high fructose corn syrup that my doctor said “will literally destroy you at the rate you consume it.”
My first experiment was from the Pinch of Yum blog: 15 minute spicy shrimp with pesto noodles. I was intrigued because I was promised pesto, shrimp, and spicy: three things that I adore. Upon reading it, I realized that the noodles were zoodles - zuchini noodles, for those lucky enough to not know what that is - and the pesto was not really pesto. The shrimp were, at least, real shrimp, so that was a relief. I realized a big part of eating healthy seemed to be lying to myself. Despite all that, and learning how to use a food processor properly, I’m happy to say that (despite zoodles being the worst word in the English language) this was a fantastic and healthy meal. A healthy crunch and some surprisingly complex flavors blended together nicely to create a meal that was neither impossible to make nor unpleasant to eat.
I found that eating this outside with a citronella candle made for a pretty pleasant July evening, even in Los Angeles with all the bugs running about. It also worked pretty well for my first ever willing picnic, which was a major success.
Feeling my groove, I decided to find something involving my favorite vegetable: Carrots. They’re easy to eat and I wanted to keep playing with the spiralizer. I followed Family Fresh Meal’s copycat Chick-Fil-A Carrot Raisin Salad Recipe. This one was a blast to do, and the only thing I did differently was spiralized my carrots instead of julienning them, which gave it a nice springy texture that was actually pretty fun to eat. The result was something fruity, healthy, and refreshing.
This was promptly eaten poolside during an impromptu barbecue my friends threw together. It was a pretty big hit, and was actually pretty fun and easy to make with the spiralizer. While this was a tiny experiment - Only one main meal and one side dish - I do find it easier and more fun to eat healthy with the spiralizer, and yes, I might have even found a way to enjoy the summer months.
Do you have any healthy eating tricks? Let us know on Twitter and Facebook! And make sure you get your own spiralizer here!