Tools of the Trade

Since veganism was never in my plans, and cooking was most certainly not my strong suit, I was seriously lacking in the kitchen appliance and apparatus department.  If you are starting out with a vegan lifestyle, or even a healthier lifestyle, there are some pretty awesome little gadgets and gizmos that I love.  I have no idea how I lived so long without them, so what are they?  This is my list - I am sure it will be evolving as time goes on, but for now, this gives you some ideas and maybe some new things to get.  They have certainly helped spice up food preparation in my house.

Food Processor:  I have the Cuisinart DLC-8S 11-Cup Pro Custom 11 Food Processor.  I did not pay $150 or whatever Amazon has it listed for today.  I paid $89.99 for it.  That is about as much as I would pay for it.  Seriously.  It's nice, but it's touchy, so don't over pay for a super swanky food processor.   A food processor does make being vegan so much easier.  I use it nearly every single day for something or another.

High Powered Blender / Magic Bullet / Ninja Blender:   Hummus is okay when combined in the food processor.  It is edible and everything gets incorporated wonderfully, but throw it into a high powered blender for a minute afterwards, and wow...it makes it SO much better.  It makes it creamier, lighter, and so much better.  It's also a must for creamy soups (like this fabulous slow cooker butternut squash soup that is in my future).  I have a generic magic bullet thing that I got from a yard sale.  It takes longer because the cups are so much smaller than a big blender, but oh well....I deal with it because it was cheap, and I use it maybe once a week.

Vegetable Spiralizer:  "What is that,?" you say?  It is only THE most awesome kitchen gadget ever!  I seriously do not know how I lived 32 years without ever experiencing this awesome gadget!  I LOVE this thing.  I don't care what I'm making, I try my hardest to find some way to use this kick-butt fun product.  I have the Paderno World Cuisine A4982799 Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Cutter.  It is in the range of $25-35.  It's not expensive, but man, it's a super fun product.  In the week we've had this baby I have made zucchini spaghetti noodles, apple curls (those turn brown fast so have some lemon juice handy), carrot spirals, and my all time favorite sweet potato curls.  We LOVE this thing!   Here's mine last night - making some sweet potato curls - we fry them up in some grape seed oil, as a topping on our tacos.  Part of them is soft like cheese and part is crunchy, and they are sweet and a bit salty.  Just perfect on any type of wrap!

Mandolin Slicer:  You are going to want chips, or something crunchy.  Store bought chips are either full of crap or expensive as all get out.  When you can slice really thin veggies, you can make some rocking chips.  I don't know about you, but my skills with the knife leave a little something to be desired, so a mandolin slicer that can adjust thickness is just what I needed.  I have yet to perfect the right seasonings for my chips, but it's coming.  Until then, I will enjoy kale chips - and those don't require the use of a slicer.  :)   These are also pretty cheap gadgets - you can get them nearly anywhere and I've often seen them at yard sales, goodwill, and other second hand places.  You may even have one collecting dust in your cabinets.

Juicer:  This is totally not necessary, but I love mine.  I just got off a 30 day juice fast - dude...it was amazing!  Because it is easier to drink your daily servings of vegetables, I continue to juice for me and my family - in addition to feeding them an entirely plant based diet.  I love the juices - it's a great way to get in those veggies you don't necessarily care to eat (i.e. beets, cabbage, celery).  So for me, a juicer is a must.  I have the Breville JE98XL Juice Fountain Plus.  I like it.  It has it's pros and cons like anything - it works fine for what I need it for.  Another great thing about having a juicer - you drink the juice and re-use the pulp.  You can make veggie burgers, meatless balls, crackers, and even fruit leather out of the pulp! Nice!

And the rest of my list is just basic great ideas to have because you'll need them:

* A big ginormous cutting board.  Seriously, mine is huge to accomodate all of the slicing, dicing, chopping
* Knives - sharp knives of varying size
* Parchment Paper - my goodness, I've never used so much of this in my life as I have the last 2 weeks - nearly everything I make has to go on that stuff - I don't know why exactly, but it just seems like I'm using the heck out of it.
*  Lots of storage containers of various sizes - I have had to make my own mayo, guacamole, ranch dressing, sour cream, and I have a list of about 10 other "staples" I want to make.  Add in the fact that we use leftovers in this house, plus if I cut open a pineapple I have to put the rest of  it somewhere, and we use A LOT of storage containers.  My goodness....I'm even using all those stupid Chinese take-out containers we had stocked up from more than 2 years ago that I never thought I'd end up re-using.  I am rinsing out all the glass jars we happen to come across - it's crazy.  So yes - storage containers are a must.
*  A pretty big pot.  You're going to want to save yourself some effort.  When you make brown rice, just make a lot of brown rice.  When you are making hummus from dried (not canned) garbanzo beans, you're going to want to make a lot of those beans to save yourself the effort later.  Just make sure you have a decent sized pot.  You don't need a ginormous one that could make soup for the Army base, you just need a decent size one.