Food Processing Adventures

I like to cook, but I'm not that wild about cleaning up the mess, a common cooking dilemma that I imagine many people face. I finally took the plunge this summer and bought my first food processor. Well, actually I ended up buying two food processors. Yea, I know, bad planning.

When you first start looking at the different brands and models (and there are literally 100s) there is a tendency to start adding features that you must have. And when you do that, the price goes up and so does the size and cleaning chores. In the beginning you don't mind the cleaning since you are entering a whole new world of cooking.

But as time goes on, and the newness and adventurous spirit fade, the reality of cleaning that monster for a small chore becomes a real drag. Many recipes call for items that need to be cut, diced, sliced, or whatever. The problem is I can hand chop pretty fast and there's little if any clean up. When you have to drag out a 15 lb appliance that you need to hand wash 3-4 parts that are a challenge, it's much faster to chop it by hand.

And no, I don't use the dishwasher for either of my food processors. I also never put my cast iron pots and pans in the dishwasher. Blame it on my Grandmother who talk me how to cook. Some items are not meant for a dishwasher due to the nature of the beast, end of story.

So I was at one of the popular kitchen and home stores and saw a little mini food processor that would do 80% of the most common processor tasks. It was only $30 (not like my big bad boy at $225) and what attracted me the most is it broke down in 2 seconds and looked easy and quick to clean. No choice, I needed that mini food processor.

As it turns out it was a good decision for a couple of reasons. When I'm preparing a big meal for lots of folks and making things like bread or rolls from scratch, the big boy comes in real handy and is worth the time to clean. When I'm doing a quick small meal my mini is great since it's fast and easy to clean.

Another thing I learned fairly quickly is the blades on any size food processor are sharp. Not just kind of sharp, I mean if you look at it to long it will cut you sharp. Great care should always be used when handling any cutting blade. Whether you are cleaning out the contents into a bowl or washing, keep your eye on the blade and never forget how quickly they will cut you.

I leave my mini food processor out on the counter for quick access. I use it almost everyday for some small chore. When a blender is too much, and I just need to chop a few vegetables it's faster than the knife and cutting board. Every salad I make now has vegetables, breadcrumbs are always available, and chives are in everything. Cheese is quickly grated or cheese sauces are quick to make and kick up any vegetable dish a notch.

Creating a quick mix of your own variety of granola is only limited by items on hand. You will be amazed at how many uses you can find for your food processor when it's out and ready to go. Fresh vegetables are used more and rarely go bad since you didn't want to take the time to add them to a dish of any kind.

If you have your own herb and spice garden, you can spice up any meal with fresher flavor. The difference in creating your own spices from fresh raw herbs and spices is amazing and adds a unique touch to any meal. And don't forget the snazzy deserts that you can make with a food processor. We keep dark unsweetened chocolate in the fridge for toppings for ice cream and other deserts.

So if you have a big monster food processor that you rarely use, you might want to consider getting a mini model that you can keep handy and is easy to clean. Keep the big guy for big meals that require the heavy-duty capabilities but get the small one for everyday cooking.