We have had so much fun chatting with Ali Maffucci from the Inspiralized blog! She has taught us so much about spiralizing and shared her tips for picking out vegetables and choosing recipes for inspiralized vegetables! This is our last post with Ali. There is a more to learn and she has exciting news to share with us!
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For someone wanting to introduce vegetable noodles to their family or kids; is there one that is more appealing to newbies?
Ali: Using potatoes can be a great start, since you get that starchy consistency that we all associate with regular pasta. Otherwise, zucchini has the most pasta-like consistency, so I’d go with zucchini.
What is the most interesting produce item you have used in your recipes?
Ali: I’ve spiralized horseradish before – that was, interesting. It works, but there’s really no point to spiralize a horseradish – its better left in bloody marys!
Mmmm…bloody marys! It was so fun getting to know Ali and learning more about spiralizing and how to make recipes healthier with vegetable noodles!
Congratulations on your new cookbook & the Inspiralizer®! The cookbook is beautiful and we can’t wait to get our hands on your spiralizer and start cranking out zoodles! How did you choose the recipes for your cookbook? What made you decide to develop your own branded gadget for making veggie noodles? Where can our readers order these?
Ali: Thank you! Well, to choose the recipes, I started with the easy part – I picked my blog favorites. 80% of the recipes are brand spankin’ new, but I wanted to include my blog classics, because they are great starter recipes and also, such a part of my Inspiralized journey. Then, I just hit pen to paper and brainstormed. I wanted to have a good mix of cultures, difficulty levels, diet types, so I just had that all in mind and went to coffee shops every weekend and drafted my recipes. Cooking has always come very naturally to me, so writing the recipes was the easy part!
The Inspiralizer will be available, to start, solely on my website! As a new entrepreneur, I really want to focus on customer service and staying true to my brand, making sure there’s time to interact with my followers and readers, since they’ve been so loyal and supportive thus far.
My inspiration from the Inspiralizer started about two weeks into spiralizing, when I spiralized my first tough vegetable (I was just spiralizing zucchinis and cucumbers up until then.) I immediately had difficulty and found the experience less than pleasant. So, I hit the drawing board and throughout the past 10 or so months, I’ve been constantly perfecting a spiralizer that, to me, is easy-to-use and can spiralize all vegetables, without any troubles. I spiralize every single day, so it was important to me to have a product that was sturdy, reliable and could spiralize effortlessly. Plus, I started Inspiralized to encourage others to start spiralizing to commit to a healthy lifestyle. I was recommending a spiralizer that was, at the time, the best one on the market (worked the best, was the most versatile, the best quality.) However, I received so many e-mails from readers who were having a tough time spiralizing those heavier, tougher veggies (like butternut squash and sweet potato) and I took every one of those e-mails personally – I felt bad that they were frustrated, especially because I had inspired them to spiralize in the first place! Basically, I wanted a spiralizer that I could stand behind and be able to help troubleshoot if anyone (knock on wood!) has any issues. To truly start my own brand, how could I not have my own spiralizer? To order a copy of Ali's cookbook: "Inspiralized" click here.
There seem to be a lot of new gadgets on the market, what do you look for when choosing a one to spiralize vegetables?
Ali: It should sturdily and firmly secure to the countertop! Without that, it’s a pain to spiralize. Also, it’s blades should be sharp. But look no further, the Inspiralizer will be the best on the market! Click here to learn all about it!
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What a ton of great information! Ali also developed five all new spiralized recipes using Tuttorosso Tomatoes. Be sure to try them and don’t forget to let us know you think with a recipe rating! Get the recipes here. Don't forget to enter for your chance to win one of many great prizes in our Inspiralize the Spring giveaway!