Thursday, July 28, 2011

THEMATIC Thursdays: Equipment for the NERC Kitchen

If you're not eating breads, pasta or sugar, what sort of kitchen implements do you need for the sort of food you are eating as replacements?

The bottom line of the NERC (not-eating-refined-carbs) diet is eating actual, real food: fruits, veggies, legumes, protein of your choice. Knowing that, here's what I think you absolutely need:

-Cutting Boards: if you're not popping bread in the toaster or stirring spaghetti in a pot, you're going to be chopping up fruit and veggies...alot! Get several, of different sizes: two large, two medium, and two small is not too many boards.

-Knives: here is where people like to skimp, and justify their use of two or three unspectacular, dull cutters, because, well, they're just knives. You need a full, good, set of knives, including: grapefruit knives, paring knives, and serrated, small handle knives.

-Strawberry Huller/Cherry Pitter: Strawberries are plentiful in the U.S., at least. A huller saves time. A pitter is also a good thing to have around.

-Zester:  Alright, this is something I don't have yet, but it's probably a good idea. The ability to zest citrus rinds will add a lot to your cookery.

-Mandoline: Again, I don't have one yet--but the benefits of something that slices vegetables into fine strips is quite apparent to me.

-Sieves: Not colanders, but filters to push through any purees, and to remove excess water from various items...for instance, cucumbers that are especially watery inside, when making Tzatiki. Along these lines, a set of whisks of different sizes--and that stand-up to use--also would go a long way.

-A Wok: Not a bad investment; stir-fry is definitely a NERC meal. 

-Food Processor: yes, it's probably a good idea for making dips and sauces and certain kinds of no-bake crusts and stuffings. As well, a good blender is also important for those interesting smoothies you will concoct, one hopes.

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