Tornado Potatoes by Tasty

When this recipe popped up on my Facebook feed, I just had to try it out. I am an Idaho girl by birth, so potatoes are one of my favorite foods. This link is complete with the recipe and a how-to video. Ours turned out great, but I will say, cutting the spuds turned out to be trickier than I originally expected and will either take some practice, or a spiral cutting machine (I found one on Amazon for $20... click here). I think this recipe would be great for carrots, squash and other veggies too.

Ingredients:
5 small white potatoes (or Yukon Gold)
4-6 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese, grated (the "powder" kind, not flakes or sticks)
½ teaspoon black pepper
1/2-1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2-1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
Parsley, chopped (for garnish)

PREPARATION 1. Preheat oven to 325ºF/160ºC. 2. Insert a skewer into the potato and gently push the skewer all the way through it. 3. Hold a sharp, thin knife at an angle and cut in the opposite direction you are turning the skewered potato. 4. Gently fan out the potato down the length of the skewer, until you have an even gap between the slices forming the spiral. 5. Melt the butter and brush it all over the potato. 6. In a medium bowl, combine parmesan cheese, black pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and salt. 7. Place the skewered potato over the bowl and shovel the mixture all over the potato until it is entirely coated. 8. Rest potatoes on a baking sheet so that it is hovering over the bottom of the sheet. 9. Bake for 25-30 (+) minutes, or until nicely browned and soft. 10. Garnish with additional parmesan and parsley. 11. Allow to cool for 5 minutes. 12. Serve warm and enjoy!

*Update: I got a spiral machine for Christmas (a little different and more expensive than the one I liked above), and it worked SO GREAT! So, so, so much easier than cutting by hand. If you get one like mine, just take the metal spike that comes with the machine to pierce the potato. Then, insert a bamboo stick (the machine didn't come with very many, so you might want to pick up another bag of bamboo sticks) into the hole you made in the potato. Thread one end of the stick into the hole above the cutting blade, and place the other end into the hole in the "holding arm" of the machine. Slide the potato towards the holding arm until the little "arms" pierce the bottom of the potato to hold it steady during cutting. Using the release lever, slide the handle of the cutter all the way forward until the potato makes contact with the cutting blade. Then, let go of the release lever and start turning the handle. Your potato should start to cut and spiral as you turn the handle. About a 1/4 inch or so of the bottom of the potato won't be able to go through the blade (the part of the potato that is being held by the "arms") and will need to be broken off and discarded.

Here's the link to the one I got: https://smile.amazon.com/RioRand-Manual-Stainless-Twisted-Vegetable/dp/B00QLHBGAE/ref=sr_1_8?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1516070028&sr=1-8&keywords=spiral+cutter

If you find that it's too well seasoned, drop the seasonings down to tsp instead of Tbl.