Who doesn’t want to save time in the kitchen? Whether you’re slicing, dicing, whipping, or puréeing, having the right equipment is key if you want to streamline food preparation time. Good tools also play a part in helping you maintain a healthy diet. Since you’re following the South Beach Diet, you already know that cooking with nonstick skillets, saucepans, and griddles is essential if you want to cut back on fat. To reduce prep time as well, we suggest taking advantage of these multi-purpose kitchen appliances and utensils. Here are some of our all-time favorites:
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Sharp
knives: Good sharp knives can really speed
up food prep. And you don’t have to spend a fortune buying a matching 12-piece
set, since you only really need four knives: a 3" or 4" paring knife
for peeling, mincing, and slicing; an 8" or 10" chef’s knife for
chopping, dicing, mincing, slicing, julienning, and boning; an 8" or
10" carving knife with a slender blade; and a serrated bread knife (which
you can also use for slicing tomatoes).
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Kitchen
scissors: If you’re always using your
household shears for kitchen tasks, now is the time to buy a dedicated pair.
You’ll find endless uses for them in your kitchen, from trimming the excess fat
from poultry and beef to snipping chives and the tough stems from kale.
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Y-shaped
peeler: With so many fancy peelers on the market,
this old-fashioned gadget (with just one moving part) often gets overlooked.
Because it easily follows the shape of any fruit or vegetable, it’s the fastest
way to peel apples and sweet potatoes or create zucchini ribbons; it can also
be used to shave cheese.
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Mini
food processor/blender:
This indispensable gadget has a bowl capacity of 1 1/2 to 3 cups. It doesn’t
take up much space on your counter and comes in handy for speedily chopping
herbs, garlic, and nuts. It’s also great for grinding flaxseed or chia seeds,
making whole-wheat bread crumbs, and shredding cheese.
- Slow-cooker: Sometimes quicker meal prep means slower cooking. With a slow cooker, you can get a dinner going early in the day and forget about it until it’s time to eat. Slow cookers are good for preparing overnight steel-cut oatmeal, large-batch soups, chilis, pulled pork or beef, and stews.
