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Zoodles


Mom2A&M

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I have a question, how do you dry them? I leave them salted on a strainer and then wait for at least 30 mins (usually a full hour), then rinse with water and leave them on a strainer again. I finally have to dab them with towel paper but I feel totally anti-green for wasting so much paper. I start having flashes of huge trucks destroying acres of forests. And then of course I have the super-hippie need to go hug a tree. It's too much stress, so lately I have simply been pat drying a whole bunch at a time (not one by one), thus saving tons of paper (and tons of trees). But my zoodles are mushy  :(

 

They're still delish -just mushy.

Any green ideas out there?

Much appreciated  :)

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Don't salt so long. Salting for that long, with as thin as the zoodles are, is what's making them mushy. Salt for 10-30 minutes, and rinse very well. When I made them last, I didn't dry them at all, just kept them in the strainer until end of food prep and cooked them up last. Sauteed in some ghee, took about 7 minutes. Yes, there was quite a bit of liquid in the bottom of the pan, but if you sauce them after you cook them, it shouldn't be a problem. :)

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I just salt them and let them sit on a clean kitchen towel for 10-20 minutes, then roll them up and wring them out. I never rinse them-just toss them in to some hot evoo and sauté....I especially like them with garlic, red onion and red peppers, and a sprinkle of crushed red pepper.

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When I don't have time to let them dry on their own I take a big clean kitchen towel and scoop the whole mess up out of the strainer with it and just squeeze until I feel satisfied and shake them back into the colander. Works like a charm.

Exactly what I do. In fact, I never try to dry them on their own because they need to be squeezed to get that great noodle texture.

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When I don't have time to let them dry on their own I take a big clean kitchen towel and scoop the whole mess up out of the strainer with it and just squeeze until I feel satisfied and shake them back into the colander. Works like a charm.

Exactly what I do. In fact, I never try to dry them on their own because they need to be squeezed to get that great noodle texture.

 

Of course it is exactly what you do because you are the one who told me to do it. ;) I did let them sit in the colander until they were dry once because I had the time and they still seemed fine to me.

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" Of course it is exactly what you do because you are the one who told me to do it. ;) I did let them sit in the colander until they were dry once because I had the time and they still seemed fine to me. "

Well now I am going to have to try the let them dry on their own thing. I bought some cheap flour sack towels JUST to squeeze the liquid out of my zoodles so my cute kitchen towels don't turn zoodle green. :0)

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How do you all cut your zoodles - do you all have a spiral cutter? I just have a (cheap) julienne peeler, and despite several attempts, my zoodles always end up clumpy and wet. Not terrible, but not like the beautiful photos either!

 

 

I have a spiralizer and I love it. I didn't have much luck with a veggie peeler but I'm also kind of challenged when it comes to things that are sharp near my fingers. After you cut them did you just try to eat them right away? As mentioned above, salting them in a colander, letting them sit for  30 minutes, rinsing, and then squeezing them in a towel and maybe sauteing them a little should make them more appetizing. 

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Yep! I followed the instructions in the Well Fed recipe (this one, or at least very close), so I've salted them every time. I'm wondering if they're so thin from my julienne peeler that there's just no helping it. I think this is the peeler I have.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Zyliss-30700-Julienne-Peeler/dp/B0018ICHH2/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1379107047&sr=1-2-fkmr0&keywords=xyliss+julienne+peeler

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Yep! I followed the instructions in the Well Fed recipe (this one, or at least very close), so I've salted them every time. I'm wondering if they're so thin from my julienne peeler that there's just no helping it. I think this is the peeler I have.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Zyliss-30700-Julienne-Peeler/dp/B0018ICHH2/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1379107047&sr=1-2-fkmr0&keywords=xyliss+julienne+peeler

I think it's your peeler.  I have a food processor and a mandolin, but I make my zoodles with my julienne peeler because it's quick and easy and the clean up is much less.

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  • 4 months later...

After I salt and drain my zoodles, I wrap them in a clean kitchen towel, stick in a bag and put in the fridge. Then the next day I change the now wet towel to a dry one, and then usually use the noodles later that evening. Changing the towel really helps when sautéing  - the zoodles become even more pasta-like.

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One, I'm glad to hear they keep in the fridge, as I currently make one batch at a time and can now up that. I always salt, let rest, then wring the crap out of them. I'm going to make some today and put some in the fridge with a towel to try that method.

 

Two, get a vegetable spiralizer. Totally worth the money. When I use it, I feel like I little kid with one of those playdough factory machines, lol. (I also use it on root vegetables to make hashbrowns, and it has a couple of other slice plates that come with it).

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I made zoodles with a julienne peeler for the first time this past week. I followed the instructions in Well Fed. They were delicious and wonderful, but I used 7 zucchini and it only made 2 servings! It also took forever to use the peeler on all those zucchini, like 30 minutes just to julienne them all. I'm planning on getting the spiralizer soon though!

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Believe it or not, there are NO spiralizers in my country! And Amazon won't do international deliveries (I was in Canada last month and I gave it a try... no luck). Next time I'm in the US (or a friend of mine goes to visit), it will be the first thing on my list!  :)

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For those that have the spiralizers - is there a specific model you recommend? There are a few on Amazon and all have some great, some awful reviews!

 

Vian, I know what you mean. A whole zucchini cooks down to almost nothing! Good for getting nutrition into people who don't like vegetables, but not so much if you're hungry for zoodles!

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