The Veggie Spiral Slicer Cookbook (19 page)
Read The Veggie Spiral Slicer Cookbook Online
Authors: Kelsey Kinser
5.
Bake in the oven until the oat crumbles turn a nice deep golden brown and the apples have released some of their juices and begin to bubble, about 45 minutes.
Tzimmes were a recent and welcoming discovery. To the uninitiated, they are more or less the Jewish version of overly sweet sweet potatoes. While tzimmes are normally a carrot dish, I like to mix mine with sweet potatoes to change it up a bit. Tzimmes (pronounced tsi-miss) are always sweetened and full of dried fruits. They are a Jewish tradition meant to symbolize a sweet and prosperous new year. The spiralizer saves the time of meticulously chopping and gets you on your way to enjoying a sweet new year or new week, or just a sweet new dish!
MAKES 8 SERVINGS
1 large sweet potato, spiralized on blade 3
1-1/2 pounds butternut squash, spiralized on blade 2
4 large carrots, spiralized on blade 3
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
zest of 1 orange
2 cups fresh-squeezed orange juice
2 large cinnamon sticks
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped prunes
1 cup raisins
1.
In a large skillet with a lid, place all of the noodles and the butter. Cook on medium heat for approximately 5 minutes or until the butter coats all of the noodles and some of the noodles begin to wilt.
2.
In a small bowl, mix the sugar, honey, orange zest, and juice. Add to the skillet and turn the heat up to medium-high. The liquid should start to simmer.
3.
Add the cinnamon sticks, cloves, salt, prunes, and raisins and cover, allowing to cook for 10 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.
4.
After 10 minutes, remove the cover and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes or until the noodles are softened completely and the sauce has thickened enough to coat them.
5.
Serve warm.
Pear Walnut and Chocolate Salad
This recipe, aside from being absolutely delicious, has the added bonus of homemade “magic shell” chocolate sauce. You will have some left over and it’s great on ice cream, or anything cold. “Magic shell” is that chocolate topping you find in grocery stores that is liquid in the bottle but hardens when it comes in contact with anything cold. It is then a delightful crunchy little treat! It’s similar to the German treat
ischoklad
, or “ice chocolate,” due to the fact that it melts in your mouth like ice. This recipe makes more than you need so you will have extra. And what goes better together than pears, chocolate, and walnuts? I can’t think of any reasons not to make this recipe.
MAKES 2 SERVINGS
For the salad:
1 large softened ripe pear, spiralized on blade 1
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
1/4 cup chocolate sauce
sprinkle of sea salt, to taste
For the chocolate sauce:
1/4 pound dark bitter chocolate, at least 70 percent cocoa, chopped up
2/3 cup coconut oil (refined is best but any will do), melted
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1.
Put the pears in a large bowl and place it in the freezer to hold while you make the chocolate sauce.
2.
Make the sauce. In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate and coconut oil. Microwave on high in 10-second increments, stirring with a fork after each time until the chocolate is completely melted and combined with the coconut oil. Drizzle in the corn syrup while stirring with the fork to combine. If at any point the chocolate sauce becomes too thick, pop it back in the microwave for another 10 seconds.
3.
Once the chocolate sauce is mixed and a nice, thin, pourable consistency, take the pears out of the freezer. Using your fork, gently drizzle a small amount of the chocolate sauce over the pears. Sprinkle with walnuts and a hint of sea salt. Allow the sauce to harden. If it does not within 30 seconds, place it in the freezer for 1 minute. Remove from the freezer and stir the salad, breaking up the chocolate pieces. Repeat 2 more times. Serve chilled.
This recipe calls for two somewhat unusual ingredients: sweetened chestnut puree and candied chestnuts. You can’t make the recipe without them, but you can make your own sweetened chestnut puree by blending candied chestnuts in your food processor until utterly and completely smooth. You can find candied chestnuts in larger grocery chains and high-end kitchenware stores, especially around the holidays. Pears and chestnuts are one of my favorite flavor pairings and they almost—almost—make me look forward to winter.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
1 cup heavy cream, chilled
7 tablespoons sweet chestnut puree, divided
2 ripe Bartlett pears, spiralized on blade 2
1/2 cup candied chestnuts, chopped
1.
Make the chestnut cream. Beat the heavy cream with a whisk until stiff peaks form. Place 3 tablespoons of the chestnut puree in a small bowl. Spoon a small amount of the whipped cream into the bowl of chestnut puree and beat these 2 ingredients together until the puree has broken up and mixed completely with the cream. Once your cream and puree are a smooth and soft texture,
gently
fold the flavored cream into the whipped cream until just incorporated.
2.
To serve, fill the bottoms of four fluted glasses or small mugs with a tablespoon of chestnut puree each. Evenly distribute the pear noodles among all the glasses and press them down to pack them in somewhat firmly. Top the noodles with the candied chestnuts and top the whole shebang off with the chestnut whipped cream.
3.
Serve chilled. These can be assembled up to 1 hour in advance.
This dish is either very familiar or completely foreign to you. Noodle kugels are a Jewish dessert casserole made from either egg or potato noodles cooked in custard. As creamy and decadent tasting as they are, I was never a huge fan—that is, until I tried swapping the egg noodles out for big juicy ribbons of apples. Now the dish has a light and natural-tasting sweetness to it. Top with a sprinkle of cinnamon or cinnamon sugar, and you can’t go wrong.
L’chaim!
MAKES 10 SERVINGS
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1 pound cottage cheese
1 (4-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
6 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for serving
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup golden raisins
3 tart green apples, spiralized on blade 1
1.
Preheat the oven to 375°F and spray a 9 × 13-inch casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2.
In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients except for the raisins and apples. Whisk to combine. Using a large spatula, gently fold in the raisins and apple noodles, taking care not to break up all of the apple noodles.
3.
Pour the mixture into the casserole dish and flatten the top, if necessary, with the spatula. Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until the top of the kugel is golden brown and the custard is no longer liquid. You do not want to see a bunch of cracks in the top of your custard; this means that you are overbaking it.
4.
Allow the custard to cook for 15 minutes before cutting it. Sprinkle with a topping of cinnamon or cinnamon sugar right before serving.
Parsnip cake is the next carrot cake. This is a wonderful way to face cold, gray winter mornings, or it can be a tasty fall harvest brunch dish. You want to use the darkest maple you find, as it packs in more maple flavor than the lighter varieties.
MAKES 10 TO 12 SERVINGS
For the cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugars
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 large eggs, beaten
1 cup applesauce, vegetable oil, or a blend of the two
4 large parsnips, spiralized on blade 3, then riced
For the maple glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup dark maple syrup, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons softened butter
1.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a glass 9 × 13-inch baking pan.
2.
Mix the flour, sugars, baking soda and powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl.
3.
In a small bowl, mix the eggs and applesauce/oil. Add this to the large bowl of dry ingredients.
4.
Fold in the riced parsnips and stir until just combined.
5.
Bake on the middle oven rack until a knife poked into the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Allow the cake to cool completely before glazing.
6.
While the cake is cooling, whisk the powdered sugar into the maple syrup in a small bowl. Beat the softened butter into the maple mix. Add more maple if you need to make the glaze a pourable consistency. If your glaze is too soft, allow it to sit for 10 minutes before stirring and if it is still too soft, add more powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time until you have a thick but pourable glaze.
7.
Coat the cake with a layer of the glaze and allow it to set before serving. Serve at room temperature.
There was a time a while ago that I was a devout raw foodist. The biggest take away from that time was the amazing amount of flavor and sheer simplicity made possible in the world of raw food desserts. If you are looking to avoid gluten, dairy, eggs, and processed foods, then this is definitely the way to go for you. Don’t be fooled, however—the amount of nuts definitely adds enough fat that you don’t want to eat this entire pie in one sitting. But the protein from the nuts is what makes this one of my favorite breakfasts. You want to make sure the dates used in the recipe are soft and sticky; if they are not; soak them in hot water for 15 minutes and drain.
MAKES 8 SERVINGS
For the crust:
10 medium medjool dates, pitted
2 cups raw almonds
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
For the filling:
1 cup cashews
1/2 cup agave nectar, plus more for optional drizzling
1 apple or pear, spiralized on blade 3
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
pinch of ground cinnamon
1.
In a food processor, grind the dates, almonds, and salt until a “dough” is formed. You want the almonds and dates to be chopped into a consistent size and for all of the ingredients to start binding together. Stop before it becomes almond butter. Move this mixture to a large bowl. Mix in the melted coconut oil by hand.