Hi y’all!  With all of the amazing produce from our local farmers market, I thought it was time to spice it up with the Hungry Southern Belle kitchen!  Not to mention which, this Hungry Southern Belle found an amazing new kitchen tool!!! Have you heard of the new whole/clean eating foodie craze called “spiralizing”?  No?  Well let me tell you something… this is one of my favorite new kitchen gadgets!  I purchased the Paderno Spiralizer at Williams-Sonoma for @ $35 with a coupon, but you can also find it other kitchen stores, amazon.com etc.  This new “fav” easily produces spiral cuts, shoestrings and vegetable “noodles” for adding new texture to pasta dishes, stir-fries and salads.  You can use the Spiralizer with just about any fruit or vegetable.  So far I’ve experimented with zucchini and sweet potatoes but have a whole list of other recipes I can’t wait to test out!  The Paderno model comes with three stainless-steel blades: a shredder blade for cutting long, spaghetti-like spiral strands; a chipper blade for long, thick spiral strands; and a straight blade for long, ribbon-like strands.  The beauty of this little magic machine is that a number of your favorite dishes can be turned into a healthier and “cleaner” version!  I could go on and on…

Back to my original post… I first tested out my new Spiralizer using zucchini as spaghetti noodles and serving with a ground turkey bolognese.   Mmmm.  I wanted to get more creative and decided to test out a recipe I found on another food blog for a sweet potato pad thai with sriracha peanut sauce. The original recipe is vegan friendly, gluten free and dairy free.  I chose to add grilled boneless, chicken thighs to each plate as we had another full weekend of workouts and needed some extra protein.  You could easily serve it without though.  This was a HUGE hit at our weekly family dinner.  I hope that you like it as much as we did!  Enjoy y’all!

Sweet Potato Pad Thai with Sriracha Sauce

Serves: 2

Instructions:

• Toss spiralized sweet potatoes and julienned carrots in large pan, add vegetable broth and season with salt and pepper.
• Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.

• Add red bell pepper and onions to pan and cook additional 5-7 minutes or until veggies are tender, similar to the texture of cooked pasta.
• Add edamame and peanuts to pan, stir to combine and cook 1 more minute then remove from heat.

• Meanwhile, add all items for sauce to bowl and whisk until smooth and creamy.
• Pour Sriracha mixture over cooked veggies and toss to coat evenly.
• Divide pad Thai between two bowls, top with cilantro, then serve!