Oxo Good Grips Julienne Peeler
This is one of my favorite kitchen gadgets – the Oxo Good Grips Julienne Peeler. I have terrible knife skills and lack the patience to properly julienne. This peeler is easy to use and creates uniform small strips that are perfect for stir fry, salads, etc.
Highly recommended!
I got one of these little lunch Crock-Pots recently. I always bring my lunch to work and this makes it so much easier to enjoy what I brought without having to wait in line for the (often dirty) microwave at work. (Ew! I know!)
I am so glad that I have it. Plug it in when you get to work and by lunchtime your meal will be nicely reheated. It’s great for soups and stews, but I’ve also used it for pasta and stir fry with rice.
TofuXpress
The trick to really great tofu is pressing out all of the water before cooking and marinating. I used to stack a pan and a big can of tomatoes on my block of tofu, but it required constant supervision to make sure that the pan and can didn’t start sliding off the block of tofu and have the whole thing end up on the floor. Then someone told me about the Tofu Xpress. It’s a great contraption that allows you to put your tofu in the press in the morning, then store it in the refrigerator until you get home in the evening. The tofu will become a dense, firm block throughout the day and be fully ready for you to use.
I use the dry fry method to cook my tofu for most stir-fry type dishes. It comes out crispy and chewy, just like deep-fried but with no oil. Here are the instructions. How to Cook Tofu Like the Pros. The marinades are also very good.
Onion Goggles
I am extremely sensitive to onion fumes, so I don’t know why it took me so long to put these on my wish list. If you become a sniveling, weepy mess every time you have to chop onions, head over to Amazon to get yourself a pair right now. They really work and you won’t be sorry! My only problem with them is that they are so comfortable, I often put them on to chop the onions and forget that I am wearing them and I’ve been known to have them on for an hour or more before I realize it!
Fagor Pressure Cooker / Slow Cooker / Rice Cooker
I got this bad boy for Christmas last year and it has been so much fun to use (Thanks, Kathleen!). I’ve always been afraid of the “old-fashioned” stovetop pressure cookers, but this electric one is so foolproof and monitors its own temperature and pressure.
It’s so liberating to be able to cook beans, rice, potatoes in just a few minutes.
I highly recommend this cookbook to go along with it:
GREAT VEGETARIAN COOKING UNDER PRESSURE by Lorna Sass