ROUSES_MarApr2019_Magazine-R

ZOODLES!

by Toni Tipton-Martin

You could say I’m a veggie noodle connoisseur. It all started back in the 1980s, when I was the nutrition writer for the Los Angeles Times , and the Saladacco, a newfangled kitchen gadget, turned up at the annual San Francisco Gourmet Products Show. The bright orange, hand-cranked spiral slicer cut vegetables and fruits into strands as handily as an ice cream churn turns egg custard into a frosty treat. The Saladacco made it easy for waistline watchers and the gluten-intolerant to enjoy favorite dishes while living a wheat-free or low-carbohydrate lifestyle. I was one of those dieters. I had not been diagnosed with celiac disease, the immune disorder that causes the body to react to the protein found in certain grains, namely wheat, barley and rye. I was, however, gluten “sensitive.” That meant some foods made me feel moody, bloated, headachy and tired; sometimes my joints ached and my thinking was foggy. I needed alternatives to pasta, grains and rice that would put lasagne, pasta bolognese, pad thai, chow mein and other dishes that I loved back on the menu. Spaghetti squash, with its naturally thin shreds, and spiral or thinly cut veggies came to the rescue. The Saladacco perfectly sliced soft and semi-soft summer squash (zucchini and yellow), chayote (mirliton), jicama and radish into long, slender noodles shaped like spaghetti or fettuccine; firm root vegetables like carrots, parsnips, beets, turnips, potatoes, celeriac and hard winter squash, not so much. Those gnarly

vegetables slipped and flipped inside the chamber that held the blade, despite the pronged vegetable holder attached to the lid, producing both flat ribbon-like sheets and thin noodles at the same time. As a remedy, I cut sweet potatoes, roots and hard winter squash by hand, the old-fashioned way — with a vegetable peeler into thin streamers, or with a knife into thin julienne strips or match- sticks — and I substituted spaghetti squash, which didn’t require peeling or preparation before cooking. (To julienne, peel firm vegetables, then cut crosswise into ¼ -inch thick slices. Cut each slice into 1/8-inch pieces. To prepare spaghetti squash, use a sharp knife to cut the hard shell in half lengthwise, scrape out the seeds, place it in a baking pan with enough salted water to come halfway up the sides, and bake until tender. Once the squash is cool enough to handle, simply fluff the soft interior with the tines of a fork. Season to taste with butter, salt and plenty of black pepper.) That was then. Today, my family of vegetarians, pesca- tarians, vegans and carb-watchers depends upon vege- table noodles to add flavor and texture to almost any dish; where we once adored rice, grits, couscous or pasta, veggie spirals now create nests for Italian pasta sauces, such as marinara or bolognese, or soak up the gravy in hearty dishes. For inspiration, I often turn to African American cookbook

66 MARCH•APRIL 2019