Lightly Pickled Cucumber Salad + OXO Hand-held Spiralizer

I am not immune to kitchen trends. Over the years, I’ve succumbed in turn to the allure of no-knead bread, chia seed pudding, avocado toast (though I swear, I ate that one before it was cool), and even zucchini noodles (made with a julienne peeler).

One fad that I’ve somehow managed to resist up until now has been spiralizing. Though spiral slicers have been around for a while, they’ve recently become incredibly popular, owing to the fact that they allow you turn all manner of vegetable into contiguous strips that mimic the look and feel of noodles.

My primary reason for staying away from spiralizing has been the fact that it typically requires a specialized appliance to make it happen (and with just an 80 square foot kitchen to work with, I have to be careful about how much gear I bring in).

However, thanks to the new Hand-Held Spiralizer from OXO, even the smallest kitchen can be a spiralizing one. This tool is small in size but mighty when it comes to twisting soft vegetables into springy lengths.

For my first spiralizing session, I made a quick pickled cucumber salad to eat with a summery meal of corn on the cob and chicken sausages. I added some finely sliced red onion and let it mellow in the fridge for an hour before we ate.

My thinking is that this will be a useful tool for small batches of pickles, when I want something finely and neatly shredded and don’t want to pull the food processor out in order to make it happen. For those of you who have jumped aboard the spiralizing train, what’s your favorite thing to spiralize?

Disclosure: OXO sent me this spiralizer to try and write about. No additional compensation was provided. All opinions expressed are entirely my own. 

PrintLightly Pickled Cucumber Salad + OXO Hand-held Spiralizer

Ingredients

1 large slicing cucumber
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1/2 small red onion, finely sliced
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, optional

Instructions

Trim the end off the cucumber and fit it into the spiralizer. Twist the cucumber through the spiralizer until it has been transformed into a frenzy of cucumber springs.
Toss the cucumber slices with the salt and sugar and let sit for 15-20 minutes. Drain away any liquid that gathered in the bottom of the bowl.
Add the vinegar, oil, and red onion and toss to combine.
Just before serving, top with the toasted sesame seeds, if using. 3.1http://foodinjars.com/2015/08/lightly-pickled-cucumber-salad-oxo-hand-held-spiralizer/

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