The New Food Processor

about 2 years ago

Brrmm brrrmm brmmm! I gunned its motor and slaughtered another onion! Okay... I pressed the pulse button, but I'm really into this! Swiss chard, cauliflower, radishes, tomato, brussel sprouts, they all fell! I terrorized the entire crisper drawer of my refrigerator.

When I was done, it looked like a massacre. I hope I'm not the only one who has this much fun with a new food processor.

Ugly looking, above, but it was a big experiment and I needed to learn to use it. I'm reluctant to bring appliances into my house unless I think I will really use them -- I just hate waste of any kind and making space for things.

A food processor had been on my mind for while. I'm a techie; I think about things. I considered a bread maker at one point but wouldn't that encourage me to eat more bread? So I had decided a food processor would encourage me to eat more vegetables -- healthy -- and I could make some things that I currently buy -- economical.

When I finally decided on the best size for my purposes (8 cup), I moved on to features, and then the post-Christmas sales started. If you have a big family, you would probably want a larger bowl size. And I chose a Cuisinart, partly for the name, because they have been selling them in North America since 1971.

There is a stunning variety of food processors. If you are in the market for one, search online for "How to Choose a Food Processor" and read reviews. You will find there are many features common to all of them and a few that aren't. Maybe you need an especially quiet model, or one with a continuous feed shoot, or you make cakes and think a self-scraper would be convenient, and doesn't a foldable one sound space saving? Those features aren't so common.

That's more presentable, above. In this first big experiment, I tested all of the food processor's features and I learned some important things: Always shred beets last or you will end up with pink cauliflower, and, unless, you want tomato sauce, slice the tomatoes by hand.

By then I had shredded a week's worth of ugly salads.

This is one of 2 discs that came with the food processor and they are almost identical except this one does a thinner cut and a finer shred than the other. You put the side you want to use, face up, on a post I will show you later. Above, that's the slicer part at the bottom and those are the shredders at the top.

Pretty, isn't it? Different vegetables lend themselves to different methods. Carrots, for instance, can be sliced or shredded. Brussel sprouts look lovely sliced in the salad, above. The manual gave some guidance on how to handle each vegetable.

Unless you want spinach juice, don't put it in the food processor. I sprinkled these spinach leaves on an early ugly salad.

After the first session, I started to use more restraint in my vegetable combinations. I also came up with some strategies; for instance, separating vegetables I was pre-cutting for cooking vs the ones I had pre-cut for salad. I now keep two containers in the refrigerator for a week's worth of vegetables. I'm not saying you have to do it this way but it really depends on your vegetable combinations. Really, I just prefer not to cook things like radishes!

Above, is the chopping blade. It came with that little piece of plastic that I have decided to keep and use as a guard.

With this blade, you can cut things a little or a lot, either by pulsing or letting it rip! Now while I mostly experimented on vegetables, I tried a few other things but I have yet to try nuts, cheese or meat. Read the manual for ideas. If you don't typically read manuals, I suggest you read the one that comes with a food processor. Tips like chilling your hard cheese before shredding, might save you from creating mush!

This was a banana

I can't describe how satisfying it is to liquify a banana. I don't know why; I have nothing against bananas. When a quick internet search suggested adding melted chocolate to it ...

... stirring them together and cooling it in the refrigerator for a flourless cake, I tried it. It just never stayed in the refrigerator long enough to become cake -- I tried twice! It was like chocolate banana pudding, only a healthier version than real pudding.

Slaughtering an avocado did nothing for me except make great guacamole.

In the picture, above, you can see the post that holds the discs. They sit on top of it while the cutter slips over it. You can see a little of the cutting blade in the photo mostly hidden by the avocado.

These were chickpeas. I added the other ingredients for hummus and let the food processor do the stirring. I can see how some people use one for making cakes and cookies. I found there is overlap between blenders, mixers, and food processors, so it helps to know what you want to do before figuring out which appliance to get.

I think the food processor is perfect and it will be great fun for awhile.