So you're the proud owner of a vegetable spiralizer. Congrats! Before you start getting all crazy and trying to do things like spiralize broccoli stems [1], you must master the basics. We turned to the founder of the blog Inspiralized [2], Ali Maffucci, to talk about the first thing newbies should attempt when christening their beloved spiralizer. Here's what she said: "To get comfortable with it, I think everyone should start with zucchini [3]. It's the easiest vegetable to spiralize and the most readily available."

Now that you've nailed the veggie, how about the technique? "I recommend just sautéing some zucchini noodles [4] with salt and pepper, olive oil, and a little lemon juice and garlic. Toss them around until you like the consistency and then try them," informs Ali. And if you really want to take things up a culinary notch, try one of Ali's famous recipes. "You should make bikini bolognese [5] if you eat meat, because it's a classic pasta dish that's usually really heavy. But if you have this dish, it's basically a lightened-up meat sauce using turkey instead of beef (and obviously zucchini noodles). It's a supereasy sauce to make; I love that one."