photoI received an email from a Taste Safari fan recently asking “if there was only one appliance that you would insist that every budding chef have in their kitchen, what would it be and why?”

Well, what a fun kitchen conundrum! There are, of course, a number of ‘essential’ kitchen appliances I would insist that no budding chef live without, but there is one that will always be my favourite. My spiral slicer.

There are some nights, more often than not, when all we want after a long day is to be curled up in front of the telly with a great movie and an easy dinner.

The slicer (apart from being loads of fun!) is the answer to easy meals. It creates long, thin, noodle-like curly strands of vegetable that can be used in salads and stir-frys, and I even managed to create some of the Chinese nests using courgettes! This is also a neat way to disguise vegetables for kids and certainly can take a carrot sensation to a whole new level!

For a simple stir fry for two, spiral slice 2 carrots and 1 courgette. Pick vegetables that are thicker and wider, as they will be easier to spiral. Now bring a pan of water to a rolling boil, add enough noodles for two people and cook for three minutes until just softened. Drain and set aside.

Set a frying pan to heat with a splash of oil. when hot, but not smoking, gently fry 2 tsps of finely chopped garlic. Add the spiraled vegetables and fry gently for 3-4 minutes until just softened. Throw in the noodles, add a splash of light soy sauce, a splash of sweet chilli sauce, salt for seasoning and a generous grinding of fresh black pepper and finish off with a handful of chopped coriander. Beautiful, simple, buttery noodles served up immediately in big cereal bowls just to add to the comfort factor: Blissful home life!!!
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