Having some tricked-out helpers in the kitchen can make a big difference from blah to ahhh. These are essential for me to make a lot of the healthy, delicious foods and especially raw dishes that I like to make.
Here’s my list in no particular order:
Mandoline Slicer
Helps to slice things really thinly and evenly, like cabbage, jicima, tomatoes, cucumbers. It has different setting for thickness and also julienne blades.
Grater
I use this a lot for things like carrots, beets, potatoes, celery root, jicima, radishes. It’s grate 😉 for adding fun texture to salads and raw foods.
Magic Bullet
I use it to make cashew cheese, sauces, dressings and dips like hummus. It’s quick and easy to clean.
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Vitamix
This is what I use to make puree’ soups like – carrot, broccoli, zucchini; mushroom gravy, nut milk and smoothies.
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Slow juicer
This juicer makes juice that can last for several days because it doesn’t force oxygen in it like a centrifugal juicer. I make a big batch, put it in airtight bottles and have it for days. It can juice things like kale that the fast juicers can’t get much juice out of and is usually a waste. This one is a Hurom brand.
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Paderno Spiralizer
This is great for making zucchini noodles, potato spirals, also for fun beet strings, carrots, jicima, apples. I mostly use it to make raw zucchini pasta with veggies and a cashew creme sauce of various flavors. This is the best spiralizer that I’ve found. I’ve done quite a bit of research on them.
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Bamboo cutting board
This is a great eco-friendly cutting board and a having a pretty good size board is nice, but also it’s light enough where I can hold it over a pot to scrape the veggies off of it. It does take a little bit of work at first. It needs to be oiled several times in the beginning and then periodically. It doesn’t get scarred from knifes as easily as wooden boards and won’t get little bits of plastic in the food like a plastic board. Plus wood and bamboo have been proven to host less bacteria than plastic even though they can’t go in the dishwasher. Mine is made by The Greener Chef.
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A good knife or two
I love my big ceramic chef’s knife. It is so sharp and I can get really precise with it. It cuts right through tomatoes too. I also love a serrated knife for cutting tomatoes and citrus fruits. Having a good knife can make a huge difference and makes things easier all around. It’s hard to enjoy food prep with a too small or too dull knife.
The Miracle Blade (II) knife is an excellent serated knife. I’ve had it for 17 years and it has never needed sharpening. It really is a miracle!
Ok I hope you will check these out for yourself and be inspired to have fun in the kitchen, making artistic healthy meals. I will be posting more recipes soon incorporating these tools.