Australian Readers: Giveaway
Happy Monday! Did you get up to anything fun or exciting over the weekend? I had plenty of kitchen fun (again!) and hit the markets (which I’ll post about later).
Last week I spent some time with my favourite twinnies, my god daughters and their gorgeous mummy, my bestie Kel. I took the opportunity to make some of ‘my food’ for dinner to my greatest critics.
One of the recipes I made for us to enjoy for dinner was spaghetti with marinara and marinated mushies (yep it’s an old favourite).
For the spaghetti, I tested out 2 kitchen gadgets, complements of Robins Kitchen and if you are Australian based, you will have a chance to win one for yourself – or a family member as Christmas is coming! Details to follow.
First I tried out the Veggie Twister (RRP $39.99AUS)
It is a 3 piece gadget:
that can turn any long thing vegetables (ie zuchnini, carrots, cucumbers – but the instructions also note small radishes, small potatoes, onions and sweet potatoes) into spaghetti:
or spirals:
and was really easy to use.
You’ll need to cut your vegetable into less than 6cm lengths for it to fit in to the corkscrew.
Next up was the Chef Avenue 3 in 1 Turning Slicer (RRP $49.99AUS)
I’ve demonstated a similar model here before that I have left back at home in Saudi.
And I think there are a few different brands on the market, but I was really surprised and happy that Robins stock this style, so now you can walk into the store and purchase rather than having to order online.
The Chef Avenue has 3 different blades, 2 spaghetti and the spiral style.
Here you can see the middle piece is not ‘spriralised’. This helps to keep the pasta fresh for storage, so you don’t need to eat it straight away.
I used the smaller spaghetti blade to finish up the zuchinni for our dinner. The beauty of using raw zuchinni for your pasta is the texture is similar to al dente spaghetti and there really is no flavour either.
Then I changed to the spiral blade to make pear spirals
for my Rocket (Arugula), Pear & Pine Nut Parmesan salad that I served alongside the spaghetti (I’ll post the recipe tomorrow).
Usually I would have used my mandoline for this part, but wanted to test out the spirals and they worked out pretty well.
Not sure what else I’d use the spirals for but certainly love the spaghetti blades!
Zucchini Spaghetti with Spicy Marinara
Ingredients:
Spaghetti
3 large zucchinis – spiralised with the 3 in 1 Turning Slicer or Veggie Twister into spaghetti
Marinara
1 cup of cherry tomatoes
Remember these guys that mum found?
1 cup of chopped red capsicum
1/2 cup of packed fresh basil
1/2 cup of semi or sundried tomatoes (if packed in oil then rinse)
2 cloves of garlic
4 pitted dates
1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 t himalayan/sea salt
1/8 t cracked black pepper
1/8 t chilli flakes or to taste
dash of apple cider vinegar
Method: 1. place all ingredients in a processor fitted with the S blade and pulse until all ingredients are mixed but not pureed. You want to maintain some texture.
2. Strain the sauce with a mesh strainer – reserve the liquid for drinking later…I LOVE THIS JUICE!
3. Set aside until ready to serve with pasta
Marinated Mushrooms
Ingredients:
2 cups of sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup tamari/nama shoyu/wheat free soya sauce
1/4 cup of olive oil
dash of apple cider vinegar
1/2 t cracked black pepper
Method: place mushrooms into a large bowl and cover with the remainder of the ingredients.
It will at first appear that there won’t be enough marinade to cover the mushies, but as they being to reduce and eliminate water you will find the marinade will be ample. Set aside in the fridge for 1 hour.
When ready to serve, place zuchinni noodles on a plate, topped with marinara sauce and drained marinated mushrooms.
Giveaway Time!
Robins Kitchen have generously offered 1 of each of the Turning Slicer and Veggie Twister to 2 lucky Australian readers (That’s 1 gadget per winner.)
For your chance to go into the draw to win either a 3 in 1 Chef Avenue Turning Slicer or Veggie Twister just place a comment here on the blog, stating what would be the first creation you would make if you won!
This giveaway is only open to Australian readers this time around and the winner will be drawn randomly on Friday 16th December 12midnight and announced here Saturday 17th December.
Good luck!
Brisbanites! Here are two wonderful things to put in your calendars this weekend:
- Brisbane Raw Food Meetup is happening at Chermside on Saturday from 2pm. It’s the last one for the year, and the guest speakers are Dr Sandeep Gupta speaking about Ayurvedic Insights into a Raw & Living Foods Diet & Jenni Madison sharing with us “Mother Nature’s Magic” in the form of Coconut Oil (we all know how much I LOVE COCONUT!) Cost is $10 per person and you will need to go here to log in & RSVP. Raw fruits and vegetables will be provided as a delicious refreshment during the break.
- My friend and raw food darling at the Northey Street Organic Farm Markets at her stall Raw & Peace is serving up raw vegan fare at Cafe Checocho in West End Monday nights, starting 20th December, so now we have no excuse not to enjoy eating out. More info on Ames blog here .
Maybe I’ll see you at one or both of the above events!
I would love the gadgets! It would be such a good way to keep up the raw food intake! I would make the recipe you posted now. It looks awesome.
Okay, so I’m going to sound like the biggest [raw] teacher’s pet, but I honestly would make these recipes of yours
After living with a mum who is gluten and tomato intolerant (amongst other things), I never even had much of traditional spaghetti and tomato sauce. But I’d be happy if I never did, if I got to make zucchini pasta and sauve with dates and mushrooms instead!
P.S. It’s like you’ve seen into my soul (again) – I was thinking of asking my family for a spiralizer for Christmas, but had no idea where to look and it’s now a bit too late to organise. But it doesn’t look like they’re too out of budget, even if I don’t win this competition!
Your dinner was DELICIOUS Darling! I cant wait to try it myself! xxxxx
I have both of these! They are fabulous tools! Get in the competition Aussie readers!
My bestie got me the travel one last year as a present. Nice
Ooh, exciting! I’m Aussie based and would LOVE one of these gadgets. Would HAVE to make some king of butternut squash noodles, I tried them once and have been dreaming about them since! Yum…drool… xxx
Well I have searched the internet and I would love to try Kate Quinns recipe Chilli Con Calabacin, because I love hot stuff….so by winning one of the fantastic giveaways i can give it a whirl…..Good luck to me and everyone else in the draw…oh and Merry Christmas to you all as well…ho ho ho
Would love to try the spaghetti with zucchinis for a great twist on a classic dish! Looks great fun
Both gadgets looks awesome, I don’t think I could decide. I’d love either one (in fact, if I don’t win one I’m heading out to Robyn’s Kitchen on Sunday!).
I have really been trying to cut out gluten (not for medical reasons, merely wanting a lifestyle change) but I adore pasta. We aren’t raw, but we are incorporating raw meals into our diet and if there was anything that would make me indulge it would be for a big plate of spaghetti. We have been substituting a quinoa/rice pasta but they are expensive and I’d really love to try a vegetable alternative. A few months ago I tried to track down some spaghetti squash because the internet suggested it as a vegetable alternative, but they were nowhere to be found here in Brisbane.
Your Marinara looks incredible Robyn, I’d love to serve that over some vegetable pasta! Or perhaps with something creamy, Ames’ raw cashew cheese from Raw and Peace is divine!
Hi Robyn,
I haven’t commented before, and I’m sad to say I was motivated by the giveaway (more of a reader than a commenter
) but I thought I would tell you how much I appreciate your blog! I came across it through living raw magazine and loveeed reading your posts from 105 degrees. I’m just starting a degree in nutrition and would absolutely love to do one of the 105 degree courses as well. You’re a great inspiration! 
As a young aussie woman myself you’re awesome to relate to. Thanks 
Anyway regarding the Slicer/Twister the first meal I would make would have to be a creamy zucchini pasta with cashew cheese
I currently use a peeler to make “pasta” and they just don’t have the substance that spiral noodles do!
Keep doing what you’re doing
- Emma
Oh Emma thanks for saying hi!! Don’t worry I am not worried that it took a giveaway to blow your cover tee hee. Glad I can be some sort of an inspiration but I’m more excited for what you said re 105degrees. If at any time you do think about going, drop me an email, I’d love to answer any questions you have about it. Also Amber at http://almostveganblog.com/ is currently undertaking Level 2 (something I’d love to do in the future) and she is blogging about it, as well as one of my good friends is going there early next year. As far as I can tell, the academy is making leaps and bounds in how they structure their classes (as when I attended they were still only around 6 months old) so if you ever do happen to get there or start thinking about it, I would encourage it for sure. Good luck with the giveaway and with your exciting studies!
Aw thank you! The academy does look amazing. Once I start properly planning the next couple of years around my studies I’m sure I’ll have a few questions to ask
Have a great week.
Noodles Noodles and more Noodles the above recipe looks yummo so I would start there. My 2 year old son loves them it using one of these gadgets would save me heaps of prep time (I am currently using a knick to cut them) I really like the idea of the vege twister looks like it would be easy to use and clean and anything that helps feed my family health nourishing food is a winner in my mind !!! xx oo
Hi Robyn,
These gadgets are awesome, and look like they’d make raw noodle making a breeze compared to my current use of vegetable peeler! I would definitely make a daikon radish noodle salad with some sort of asian inspired miso, ginger, garlic, sesame dressing, topped with seaweed and sesame seeds
Yum!!!
Yum!! I’ve been lusting after a spiralizer for so long… I dream of making raw butternut squash noodles with homemade sundried tomato & basil pesto topped with pumpkin seed cheese mmmmmm…..
xx Kate
Hi Robyn,
I haven’t done much spiralising before, but if i won one i’d definitely play around with spiralised beetroot! it’d probably be a bit messy, but i love, love , love beetroot and the thought of it spiralised and brightening up my salads and meals sounds awesome!
fingers crossed
Melissa.
i can make raw veggie lo mein noodles!!! =)
it’s funny – i was just walking around the shops the other day looking for spiralizers. I’d love to try spiralise zucchini noodles and sneak into our dinner meals – he’s still wary of my green smoothies so i’m hoping veggie noodles might convert him!
Hi! I’m a Melbourne girl & would love to try making noodles with squash/pumpkin. I saw a recipe once that was cheesy & sounded delicious! This would get me moving on trying that out. And the sauce for your recipe above sounds delish as well!
If I won the vegie twister I would love to make your zucchini spaghetti and yummy spicy marinara sounds so good. Your salads sound delish as well which I could use that gadget for aswell.
i will be completely unoriginal and say that I will try your recipes. I tried some of your zuchini recipe at a get together at your dad’s gym in Lawnton and have been dreaming of it ever since. I have been meaning to buy one of these nifty little gadgets since then. Alas time had sped by and here I am still without….hopefully not for long
I am slowly introducing others to this way of eating and would love to show them all how easy it is.
Hi
What a great website – side note – thanks to Miss Organic for leading me to you. Thanks to you, Girl on Raw, for the great Xmas idea and opp.
Why would I love to win such a nifty, time saving, healthy machine?? Well, apart from the stated obvious, I look forward to getting away for Xmas with such a portable unit and FINALLY experimenting with raw food pastas (why I need a holiday to start this is as lame as stating a diet is best begun on a Monday 8am).
My son, 3, LOVES pasta for dinner, but he is always so bloated at bathtime (that big belly is SO divine, but it does look so uncomfortable as well) so I must, must try your zucchini pasta.
Connor made his very first tomato pasta sauce the other day (I am determined he will not be a handicapped male in the kitchen, so we are starting up a “Connor’s favourites’ recipe folder at 3.5 yrs of age!). We would get such a kick out of making our own healthy pasta together and experimenting with sauces.
Also he has cucumber at every dinner (no kidding) and I often wonder how he can eat it in the same form every day. What fun for it to come in thin rings/as a mound of ‘worms’/thick spirals etc. I may even be able to successfully slip some carrots and apple onto that gorgeous little boy’s plate!
Yeah, it would be great to win a really useful, motivational present, but regardless of our luck in the draw, we are pleased to now know of you. May health and joy dominate your days everyone. XX
Hi Robyn! The veggie twister would be so good for travelling!
I would make zucchini pasta with a delicious avocado pesto sauce.. YUM!!!!!
Love Erin xxxx
HI Robyn! The Veggie twister would be so good for travelling!
I would make good ol zucchini pasta, with a yummy raw avocado pesto sauce.. YUM!!!
Keep up the good work
Love erin x
aaah, I would totally be churning out a batch of zucchini pasta for my kids, love, love, love!!!!!
I would get right in the kitchen with my gadget-obsessed, veggie-suspicious five-year-old and spiralise every vegetable possible in the hope that it might get him interested in food beyond starch and fish.
I would use the Chef Avenue 3 in 1 Turning Slicer to help me create an Apple Tarte Tatin with King Island Dairy cream and apple puree, sprinkled with pure icing sugar.
I would make a salad with strings of delicious twirly beetroot despite the mess it makes on my hands when preparing it!
This looks amazing! I make zuchini pasta from time to time, but just with raw tomato sauce. I have to try with the mushrooms next time! Thanks for the idea