Spiralizing vegetables can be so much fun and need not be overlooked as something just for ‘low carb’ diets. If you are committed to increasing the number of vegetables that your child eats, then spiralizing vegetables can be a fantastic way of achieving this. Best of all, this can improve overall well-being as vegetables are full of fibre and vitamins which your body will love. Let’s bring a bit of creativity to the dinner table.
It all first started when I opened the fridge door and realised that I had very few ingredients to prepare dinner.
Rather than racing off to the shops I decided to make do with what I had. Fresh courgettes and carrots stared back at me so I thought, surely a bit of fun and creativity might not be such a bad idea.
I also wanted to experiment a little and see if I could ‘trick’ my daughter into eating green and carrot coloured noodles.
Naughty and shocking perhaps, but like every mum, I really wanted to get creative about encouraging her to eat vegetables. And okay, I didn’t exactly have a lot of choices but I was very pleased with the end result and you will be too.
Courgettes are perfect if you wish to try spiralizing vegetables for the first time.
For a natural burst of sweetness, throw in carrots and even your kids won’t be able to resist this colourful and simple recipe idea.
RECIPE
What you will need to spiralize vegetables:
2-3 courgettes
2 large carrots
1 tablespoon olive oil
DRESSING FOR CAZOODLES
1 teaspoon English mustard
1 teaspoon peanut butter
1 teaspoon maple syrup
Juice of 1/2 lemon
A generous glug of extra virgin olive oil
Fresh herbs (try parsley or chives)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
WHAT TO DO NEXT
Spiralize the courgettes and carrots with a spiralizer vegetable slicer. Next, toss the cazoodles in a little olive oil and cooked lightly over a saucepan set on medium heat for a few minutes.
You can serve cazoodles raw if you wish, but you may find that courgettes have delicate and bitter flavours that are softened once cooked very lightly.
Next, prepare a winning dressing. To draw out the natural sweetness of the carrots, I mixed the English mustard, peanut butter and maple syrup into a paste before adding freshly squeezed lemon juice and herbs. It sounds like an odd combination but worked really well served with pan-fried New Zealand lamb burgers and crusty bread.
The final step is to mix in olive oil to complete the dressing. Now serve with the cazoodles!
THE VERDICT
I seated my daughter at the table and served her the cazoodles. We all ate the meal together. She assumed that the spiralized vegetables were noodles and ate it without too much of a fuss.
I say not ‘too much’ as she did start to reach across more for the crusty bread than the cazoodles, but I am delighted that she enjoyed the meal and ate an incredibly good portion of the vegetables.
So my advice to parents of fussy eating toddlers like my daughter is, if you enjoy spiralizing or like the idea of it, mix in the spiralized vegetables with regular spaghetti. It will go down a treat!
Food is about feeling good and you will feel fabulous after this naturally enriched vitamin and fibre rich meal. Delicious!
This meal is also naturally wheat, gluten, dairy, milk, egg and soy-free.
For individualised advice for fussy eaters contact me here.
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