Green Gear: The Food Processor
Green Gear is a series where we discuss different kitchen tools, how they can be used with Veg*n cooking, and some other helpful tips about them.
We bought our first Food Processor when we got married, a little over two years ago. It was an Oster model; I think it held 10 cups. We bought it with some wedding money.
After we got it, we quickly began to wonder how we had ever functioned without one. We used it so much, it rarely sat clean and dry on our counter for long, and more often than not would be rinsed in the sink only to be used again immediately.
We used it so much that after about 2 years, the handle broke and it had to be jury-rigged to function for the last 5 months. Then we got our new beautiful model (pictured):
The Cuisinart 14-Cup Food Processor
Food processors aren’t just for mincing garlic and chopping vegetables, you can use it to blend chickpeas to make hummus, make bread dough, salsa, tomato sauce, and a ton of other things. The more you use it, the more you’ll discover more uses.
The Cuisinart we bought was right around $200 (free shipping from Amazon!), but you can certainly get away with a cheaper model from Meijer or Lowe’s. Expect to spend $50-$100; I wouldn’t spend much less than that; It’s worth the investment!
Here’s a delicious recipe for Mel’s Hummus that you can make with a food processor. Add the ingredients below, in order, while the processor is running, until well blended.
Mel’s Hummus
- 2-3 cloves of minced garlic (do this first)
- 1 can of Chickpeas
- 1 large spoonful of Tahini (you can get this at the Clear Creek Co-Op)
- 1-2 large spoonfuls of Olive Oil
- 1-2 tbsp of lemon juice, to taste
- 1/2 tsp Cumin powder
- ~1 tsp of salt (to taste)
You can totally wing-ding the amounts here, it’s certainly not set in stone. Serve as a spread with pita bread / pita chips, celery sticks, carrot sticks, or crackers. It’s a great source of protein (thanks to the chickpeas) and has a nice salt/spicy flavor.