I am so excited to have Kelsey Kinser on my blog today! Kelsey is a classically French-trained pastry chef and cookbook author who lives and works in New York City. After a couple years of working in fine dining restaurants in New York she left the United States to spend a year traveling through Europe learning how to cook regional specialties. When not working she likes to make and can jam and spend too much time on the internet. Her website, Cinnamon and cocoa kitchen., can be found here. Kelsey’s new book, The Veggie Spiral Slicer Cookbook, is of particular interest to me, as I’m in love with this plant-powered gadget! You can find a wide variety of spiral slicers in kitchen shops and online kitchen websites. They make slicing vegetables fun, easy, and beautiful.
What inspired you to write about using a spiral slicer in cooking?
The spiral slicer instantly inspired me to create a cookbook. I was unable to find a lot of recipes online and I could see the tremendous potential for adding delicious and healthy fruits and vegetables into my meals.
Why is it beneficial for eating more healthful meals?
Because you are almost effortlessly adding in all kinds of wonderful flavors, not to mention the vitamins found in different fruits and vegetables, it’s easier to eat a more balanced diet. So not only are you getting more of the foods we need to be eating, but you’re cutting out the foods we should all be eating less of (refined sugars, simple carbs, etc.).
What are you favorite ways to use a spiral slicer?
Personally I love the spiralizer for apple dishes. It’s gotten really hard for me to differentiate between what’s a breakfast meal and what’s a dessert, and I mean that in the best possible way! I make heaping bowls of apple and oat salads for both breakfast and dessert and they never fail to satisfy my hunger and ravenous sweet tooth.
Please share your favorite 100% plant-based recipe using a spiral slicer with us.
That would have to be my Great Winter Salad, which was a dish I used to make, painstakingly cutting by hand. The spiral slicer makes this come out in a dream. The hemp seeds give this a nice dash of protein and if you have this for breakfast you should be well full for hours.
1 pear, I prefer Bosc, but any pear that you enjoy is fine, spiralized using blade 3.
1 ripe persimmon, fuyu or hachiya cubed small
3-4 pitted dates, minced
1/4 cup goji berries
3 tablespoons hemp seeds
2 tablespoons agave
dash cinnamon, to taste
Instructions
In a bowl lightly toss together the pear noodles, cubed persimmon, minced dates, goji berries, and hemp seeds.
Drizzle the agave over the salad and mix until everything is coated with a light layer of honey. The pears will eventually begin to leak out some of their juices and this is fine. I use chopsticks to mix everything without being too rough but thats a purely personal quirk.
Sprinkle with a couple of dashes of cinnamon to your own taste and enjoy!
