Recipe Box, Swoodles with Spinach & Cashew Cream and Air Fryer Review
Do you know about Air Fryers? Santa brought us one for Christmas
This amazing kitchen appliance “fries” by circulating a little oil with hot air, sort of like a convection oven. It is supposed to make your favorite fried foods much healthier by eliminating 95% of the oil
HHjr & I have been experimenting, and found some yays 👍 and some nays 👎
Potatoes, were a yay! Boardwalk style fries, crisp on the outside, soft on the inside
The onion rings 👎 they looked pretty, but they were dry and had no flavor
We threw in some tater tots too, and they did fine 👍
You have to fry in batches, because the food will not cook properly if overloaded. Put it on foil or baking sheets in a 200 oven to hold until everything is done
The air fryer cooks raw onions, without breading, to a soft, delicious, treat, like caramelized onions 👍
Next time I’m going to cook them longer to see if they turn out like these Tasty Onion Straws below, which are super flavorful without any breading
I made a Parmesan topped grilled cheese that was okay, but like the onion rings, a little dry
But as you can see in the collage above, the bread toasted and the Parmesan turned golden
You can get the flavor of oven roasted vegetables in a short amount of time, but check them often so they don’t overcook
In the recipe for Creamy Spinach Sweet Potato Noodles with Cashew Sauce from a Pinch of Yum I decided to try cooking the swoodles in the Air Fryer
Tossed with 1 T olive oil, salt and pepper they are ready to go
I meant to just soften them, but before I knew it they crisped up and began to turn brown 😳 {silly me, it is called a fryer}
Okay, so plan B… cook your sweet potato noodles any way you like, boil, roast or fry, until they are cooked and softened or crispy, your preference
Sauté the spinach in a drizzle of olive oil and then toss in the swoodles to the pan with some Cashew Cream
Stir to thoroughly combine and heat through
This is one of the craziest dishes I’ve ever made! The soft spinach, semi crunchy swoodles and nutty cashew sauce…a unique combination for sure!
We had it with grilled chicken and felt like we were being extra healthy and good 😇
Cashew sauce is all the rage in vegan cooking and it’s so easy to make
Soak the nuts for several hours, then drain and put in blender with a clove of garlic, some fresh water and blend. That’s it!
Swoodles with Spinach and Cashew Cream
Ingredients
- 2 medium sweet potatoes cut into noodles {swoodles}
- 2 cups fresh spinach
- 1 cup cashews
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 tsp salt
- olive oil
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Soak cashews in water to cover for 2 hours. Drain. Put into a blender with garlic, 1/2 tsp salt, and 3/4 cup water. Purée and set aside.
- Boil, roast or fry sweet potato noodles until cooked and softened.
- Heat 1 T olive oil in skillet over medium high. Add spinach and sauté until limp.
- Season with salt and pepper. Add swoodles and a little cashew cream.
- Reduce heat and simmer to heat through. Add additional cashew cream as desired. Serve immediately.
Here are some other Spiralizer recipes you might want to try
Zucchini Noodles with Pesto, Pistachio and Pine Nuts
Spiralizers are widely available, I got mine from Amazon.com here
There are many brands of air fryers, ours is a Phillips Air Fryer.*
Please share your thoughts and recipe ideas for the air fryer if you’ve tried one!
*Note: This is not a sponsored post, I have no affiliation with Phillips, this is just my opinion based on my first experiences using this appliance. It’s very easy to clean, and I hope to master more recipes
______________________________________
I will be joining these fabulous parties and blogs
Celebrate and Decorate, It’s Overflowing, Rustic and Refined,
Between Naps on the Porch, Coastal Charm, Cooking and Crafting with J&J, Project Inspire, The Scoop, Something to Talk About, A Stroll Thru Life Inspire Me Monday
Crafty Staci, Tickle My Tastebuds, Wow Us Wednesday
Creative Ways, Favorite Things, Full Plate Thursday, Share Your Style, Work it Wednesday
RSS - Posts
love how you improvised and came up with such a winner!! Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! (accompaniment) 🙂
A new kitchen toy is always fun to play with Jenna! I haven’t heard of an air fryer before, eliminating the excess oil is a good thing for a healthy start to the new year. I need to bite the bullet and buy a spiralizer, I have a hand held one the works for smaller ribbons but takes a while. 🙂
Thanks for the info on air fryer! Didn’t know much about them. Your recipe sounds delicious. The cashew sauce is certainly easy enough! Happy Thursday, Jenna!
I will pass the cashew cream sauce on to my daughter. She is a pescatarian and this would be right up her ally. I need one of those gadgets to make zucchini ribbons! As usual, everything looks fabulous.
I was just wondering about those air fryers, good to know someone has tried one and the potatoes look great! I’m looking forward to playing with some more zoodles:@)
I guess I haven’t spent much time in the kitchen appliance sections of the stores lately– I’ve never heard of and air fryer, so thank you for educating me! Those fries look really good, and if it’s a healthier way to prepare “fried” foods, then why not? I can see how it would take some experimenting, like you’re doing. The easy to clean part is important…I remember the old fryers that were so greasy and difficult to clean…they just made a mess. Now, if I could just slow down to start cooking like I once did, I might try one of these.
Thanks for sharing!
Judy
I’m glad you posted about the air fryer. I’ve been wanting to try one. Sounds like some seasoning may need to be used to enhance the flavor since there is less oil used. I want to get a spiralizer too. My daughter has one and likes it a lot.
Hi Liz, I’m still learning how to use the air fryer, and not completely sold yet…the main disadvantage is that it is big and takes up a lot of room on the counter top, but so much easier to clean than a regular fryer and it’s easy to use. I’m going to try fried chicken next, and maybe some eggrolls, so I’ll keep you posted. You’ll love the spiralizer, so much fun to use! >
I would love to try an air fyer, wow, I could do so many great things. Thanks for sharing. Stopping by from #TickleMyTastebudsTuesdays
Thanks Karen, I’m still learning and experimenting, I want to try fried chicken next~ >
Interesting know about the air flyer. It is new to me, so I always enjoy seeing and reading about new products. You took quite the challenge trying all different foods. Thank you for linking up to Table it link party.