Plant-Based Eating is a Breeze with 10 Kitchen Essentials

As I was preparing dinner last night, I was thinking about how invaluable many of my kitchen tools are for my vegan lifestyle. There are quite a few which I have been using “day in and day out” for many years, and I thought it might be helpful if I shared some of my favorites with you. You never know, you may want to add one or more of these items to your own plant-based kitchen. 

10 KITCHEN ESSENTIALS FOR VEGAN COOKING:
 
1. A Great Vegetable Knife 
Owning a great vegetable knife is key to preparing plant-based meals at home for obvious reasons (including the safety of your fingers). I like the style and shape of the knife shown in the photo above, but you can choose any vegetable knife which you are comfortable using. I have two favorite vegetable knives: one from a brand called Cutco, and the other from the Samurai company, NHS. My NHS knife looks exactly like the knife shown in the photo above, and I often refer to it as my “Samurai sword.”

 2. A Garlic Mincer 
Everyone needs a garlic mincer, don’t they? So many recipes call for minced garlic and I can’t imagine living without one of these gadgets. 

3. A Vegetable Scrub Brush
I don’t peel as many fruits and vegetables as I used to because I keep reading that many skins are nutrient dense. I always keep a few vegetable scrub brushes in my kitchen for the best possible cleaning of my produce. They’ll come in extremely handy this Fall with all the seasonal root vegetables I’ll be buying and preparing. As you can see from the photos above, there are many varieties of vegetable brushes, so it’s just a matter of preference as to which one you choose to buy. 

4. A Vegetable Steamer Basket Everyone should have some type of steamer basket in their kitchen so that simple meals could be made in a snap. Why does every meal have to be complicated? Sometimes there’s nothing better than some simple steamed vegetables with a side of brown rice or quinoa (my old standbys). 

5. A Rice Cooker 
A rice cooker is a great appliance to have for many reasons. First of all, it makes the perfect rice. Secondly, you can use it to cook other grains such as quinoa or bulgar. Thirdly, it is one less item sitting on the stove top when you are preparing many foods at once. I use the Aroma rice cooker shown in the photo above, although I’m sure that there are many other excellent brands. Mine has a steamer basket too, and is extremely easy to clean. I highly recommend that you consider purchasing one if you eat a lot of rice and grains. 

For 5 more Kitchen Essentials to make plant-based eating a breeze, go to: http://veganamericanprincess.com/10-kitchen-essentials-for-vegan-cooking/#sthash.C2rc4f7t.dpuf

Ellen Francis

Vegan American Princess

Voted #2 in Skinny Scoop's Top 25 Vegan Blogs of 2013

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