A medley of raw spiralized vegetable noodles served with pan fried smoked marinated tofu and a totally addictive spicy peanut dressing.
I have been creating so many cakes and desserts recently (for freelance clients) that I often find myself with as many as five different kinds of sweet options and nothing for lunch.
This is not as great as it might sound to some – there’s only so much cake one can eat without bouncing off the walls on a sugar high.
I often turn to my spiralizer in times like these – making a quick stir fry or zoodle dish to balance out the inevitable ‘tasting’ bites I take while baking. Or I did until my spiralizer literally fell apart during a (failed) sweet potato noodle experiment.
Thankfully, as if by magic, I received an email asking me to review the Oxo Tabletop spiralizer the very next day my previous device finally gave up the ghost.
Over the past three years I have tried every version of spiralizer going, from julienne peelers, to handheld ones, to tabletop versions. If you are at all serious about spiralizing vegetables I would suggest you skip straight to the tabletop version.
And having now tried three of those I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that the Oxo one is my favourite and my best.
The Oxo tabletop spiralizer races ahead the competition with a single – but significant – improvement. Rather than rely on small suction cups on each of the legs, the Oxo spiralizer has a large central suction cup that literally locks it to the tabletop – it won’t budge no matter how vigorously you use it.
It has three blades options – Spaghetti Cut, Fettuccine Cut, and Ribbon Cut – which store neatly away in a box when not in use. And unlike my previous two devices it has a really good grip on vegetables provided you follow a couple of essential spiralizing rules. Adhering to these will save you a lot of frustration and small ‘half moon’ shaped noodles!
Choose vegetables that are solid, not too soft fleshed, and at least 4cm in diameter and length. Cut the ends of the vegetable as flat and even as possible to ensure proper grip on the spiralizer.
You might need to cut some of the longer/larger vegetables in half – like butternut squash for example. I had great success getting long – very long! – noodles with this gadget, so long in fact that they had to be cut down to a more manageable size before serving.
This recipe was inspired by a Bon Appetit recipe which popped up on my Facebook feed – itself a loose interpretation of Indonesian Gado Gado.
The peanut dressing is pretty much all you will want to eat once you get a taste of it (why are peanut-based sauces so freaking addictive?). I used spiralized courgettes (zucchini), mouli (daikon), beetroot and cucumber but you could use any combination you like.
Gado Gado is usually served with boiled eggs but I wanted to keep this recipe vegan so I added pan fried smoked tofu. It was utterly delicious – and kind of made up for that slice of coffee cake I had for breakfast!
for review purposes. All opinions are my own.
Spiralized Vegetable Noodles with Smoked Tofu and Spicy Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
- 200 g (7oz) smoked tofu sliced thinly
- 3 spring onions scallions sliced into thin rounds
- 2 courgettes zucchini
- 1 mouli daikon, peeled
- 1 large beetroot peeled
- half large cucumber
- 1 tsbp black sesame seeds
- handful cashews
- handful fresh coriander cilantro leaves
- lime wedges to serve
- a little sesame oil to fry
- For the peanut sauce
- 3 heaping tablespoons smooth peanut butter
- 2 large garlic cloves sliced or minced
- 1 red chilli deseeded and finely diced
- small piece fresh ginger peeled and finely diced
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sriracha
- juice of half a lime
Instructions
- Spiralize the courgettes, mouli and beetroot using the spaghetti blade. Use the ribbon blade to spiralize the cucumber. Arrange the vegetable noodles in a large bowl.
- Heat a splash of sesame oil and pan fry the smoked tofu (I used Taifun Organic Smoked Tofu with Almonds & Sesame Seeds). Set aside.
- Dry fry the cashews in the same pan for a couple of minutes and roughly chop. Set aside.
- Add another tiny splash of oil and pan fry the garlic, chilli and ginger for a couple of minutes over low heat. Stir in the peanut butter and enough hot water to thin it out into a smooth sauce. Turn off the heat and whisk in the soy sauce, sriracha and lime juice. Transfer to a bowl.
- Arrange the spring onions, chopped cashews, tofu and coriander leaves over the noodles. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and serve with the hot sauce on the side. Once the sauce is mixed in with the noodles the vegetables will soften slightly and get infused with the wonderful flavours of the dressing. Serve with extra lime wedges on the side.
Ruth Harwood says
Haven't tried one yet but heard good things xx
Amanda Tanner says
Haven't tried one yet but love kitchen gadgets
Amanda Tanner says
Haven't tried one yet but love kitchen gadgets
Daisy Connor says
I've never tried but I've had ready-meal courgetti spaghetti before and I'd love to maker it myself at home!
Ray Dodds says
Never used a spiraliser looking forward to experimenting
Joanne Casey says
We've got a handheld spiralizer, its quite hard work but does the job, i'd much prefer a table top one. We so far have only spiralized courgettes and we love it! We have bolognaise with courgetti spaghetti
Paula Readings says
I have not yet, but looks fun.
Kat Glynn says
I have a handheld spiraliser, we make courgette and carrot spaghetti quite a lot 🙂
clairew137 says
Not yet but I would have fun trying a spiralizer.
Isis1981uk says
No, but I've heard Courgette is lovely!
Kellie Steed says
This looks so delicious! I love spiralized vegetables and have been meaning to buy a spiralizer for ages!
Helen Hodgson says
I've tried courgettes & carrots – really delicious. I bought a hand held Spiraliser
but it was very difficult to use and painful for my hands.
Simon C (sc_101) says
I haven't tried it yet, but I would love to give it a go — I think the spiralised veggies would be a huge hit with my kids.
helen tovell says
I haven't had the pleasure yet but think it would make food more appealing
Kelly Hirst says
I haven't spiralised yet but it looks really fun!
Kim M says
No but would love to try
Lucy Askew says
I love courgetti spaghetti, I have it with bolognaise sauce as a healthy alternative to pasta!
Giuliana Britti says
Never tried so winning this would be an excellent start 🙂
jenniwren12 says
I've never tried and spiralizer recipes but would love to
peter campbell says
have never tried but if I had the right tools I`d look forward to trying