Cooking Tool of the Month – Food Processor
Hello lovelies! I'm really excited to announce the March Cooking Tool of the Month, one of my favorite tools in the kitchen. The Food Processor!! You might be asking yourself, "I have a blender so why do I need a food processor as well?". Here's the thing. Blenders are great for things that are liquidy like beverages, dressings and soups. For things like hummus, bean pates, tofu quiche, and nut-based desserts the food processor does a better job. Not only that but it has all kinds of cool attachments that make slicing and grated a snap!
I'm about to board a big boat on the Taste of Health cruise (hope you can join me next year!) so Heather from www.HealthyEatingStartsHere.com is going to give you the rundown on how to use your food processor and share a delicious recipe with us. Thank you Heather for the wonderful guest post, video and recipe! Enjoy everyone!
Well, it's March and you know what that means – time to get to know and love a new cooking tool! This month, it's all about the food processor.
When I was little, my favorite type of salad was my mom's coleslaw. She would always shred the cabbage and grate the carrots in her food processor, and if I was lucky I'd get a few bits to nibble on before dinner. When I moved out and had to start cooking for myself, I still made coleslaw, but it would take me forever to chop up the cabbage as finely as I wanted it…
After getting a food processor, I can now make coleslaw as fast as my mom did, which makes it so much more fun! I make it a lot more often now, because it's not such a huge hassle. So coleslaw brings out two of the reasons I love my food processor – it saves time, and it saves me from grating carrots by hand, which for some reason just gets me all tense. My jaw clenches up, and it's just not a good scene.
Food processors do cost more than some of your basic kitchen tools, but they can do so many jobs, and they get things done so quickly. If that gets you eating more healthy food, and having more fun in the kitchen, then I think it's definitely worth the money! If your food processor comes with different blades, you can use it to puree, chop, grate, pulse and mix dough. If you didn't get all those blades when you bought yours, you can easily order extra blades online.
Throughout March, Christy will be bringing more recipes to show you all the things you can do with your food processors. Some of my favorites are coleslaw, bean dips like hummus, creamy soups like squash or sweet potato, smoothies and frozen fruit ice cream.
Asian Coleslaw Recipe with Avocado Dressing
Makes 3-4 servings
2 cups savoy or napa cabbage, shredded
2 carrots, grated
1 asian pear, grated
1 green onion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 avocado
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon tamari (soy sauce)
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
2 tablespoons sliced almonds (optional)
Preparation
Toss the cabbage, carrot, pear, green onion and cilantro together in a large salad bowl.
Puree the avocado, vinegar, tamari and ginger in the food processor until smooth. Toss the dressing with the vegetables, and serve topped with sliced almonds.
What are your favorites things to make in your food processor? Is there a kind of recipe you would like us to feature this month using the food processor?
Heather Nauta is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, showing you how to have fun while making simple, fast, incredibly delicious, nutritionally-balanced meals that leave you and your family satisfied and full of energy at www.HealthyVeganRecipes.net. She specializes in working with vegans and vegetarians who need a vegan diet plan that's healthy and nutritionally complete, with a focus on creating long term healthy eating habits at www.HealthyEatingStartsHere.com.
Friday, March 2, 2012 - 2:01 am
I need to use my food processor more often! I have cabbage in the fridge and today's post has inspired me to make a cole slaw. Thank you!
Friday, March 2, 2012 - 2:47 am
awesome
go cole slaw!!
Monday, March 5, 2012 - 6:09 am
Tried the Asian Cole Slaw: first my food processor blade would not cut the cabbage so my husband and I handcut the entire head. So maybe the proportions were off. I also added Ridiccio (sp?) and because I am allergic to apples, substituted seasoned rice vinegar which we use on all our salads. The sauce tasted great by itself but the overall taste after mixing was not as delightful as I expected. I think red cabbage instead of Ridiccio, right?
Monday, March 5, 2012 - 7:07 am
yeah, radicchio is a VERY strong flavor, it would easily take over the whole salad… and a full head of cabbage would be a bit too much for the amount of dressing here, and would throw the ratio of carrots and pear off. So you'd be eating mostly cabbage – which is fine, but not much variety in flavor. I also find savoy or napa cabbage is a softer flavor, so if you're using green or red cabbage you might want to pump up the flavor of the dressing with some lime juice in place of the vinegar and maybe a bit of toasted sesame oil, and I'd probably add an extra Tbsp tamari/soy sauce.
Friday, March 2, 2012 - 11:44 am
Thanks Heather. I typically only use the "S" blade but wowza – a good reminder of how fast things are chopped or grated!
Saturday, March 3, 2012 - 7:10 am
I know, it makes me so happy
Saturday, March 3, 2012 - 6:23 am
Help
I need a soy-free,gluten-free version of the vegan Asian Coleslaw Recipe with Avocado Dressing.
Saturday, March 3, 2012 - 7:10 am
Well, it already is gluten-free, but to leave out the soy just replace the tamari with a bit of sea salt. It won't have the same flavor, but will still be delicious! Or if you can have bragg's liquid aminos that might be nice too…
Saturday, March 3, 2012 - 2:38 pm
I use coconut aminos from Drug Emporium… tastes great!
Saturday, March 3, 2012 - 2:36 pm
This looks awesome!! Will make soon!!
Saturday, March 3, 2012 - 4:31 pm
Hi Heather – I just finished making/eating this. It was delicious. I don't like cilantro, so used parsley instead. I love my food processor and use it often. Thanks for guest-posting here. Linda
Saturday, March 3, 2012 - 4:33 pm
PS Thanks for recommending the Blissful Bites book on your website. I bought one that day & have been enjoying it. L
Monday, March 5, 2012 - 7:02 am
I'm glad you liked it Linda
And that you're enjoying the cookbook – Christy has some awesome stuff in there!
Sunday, March 4, 2012 - 10:33 am
Heather,
I am just about to make this yummy looking salad. Couldn't find an asian pear so I just bought a regular pear that isn't quite ripe yet.. hope it tastes similar.
One question though… how long do you think this salad will keep with the dressing on it?
Thank you.. you're awesome. Hope to be a full vegan one day!
Monday, March 5, 2012 - 6:57 am
Well, since the dressing is avocado-based, it won't last too long… I'd try to eat up the leftovers the next day. I hope you had fun with it!
Sunday, March 4, 2012 - 1:10 pm
I really wanted to like this recipe. I was really disappointed though.. it has very little flavour.. unfortunately I think this was a miss!
Monday, March 5, 2012 - 7:01 am
No worries, everyone has different tastes and not every recipe will work for each person
Thanks for trying it out, and if you want to boost the flavor, try using lime juice & zest in the dressing, along with a big squeeze of ginger juice (grate some ginger and squeeze it), some toasted sesame oil and maybe a bit of curry powder if you like curry. There are lots of different options you can make with the same basic recipe 
Wednesday, March 7, 2012 - 9:19 pm
wish I had thought of those additions. I agree.. curry powder, lemon juice and some ginger juice would have made a big difference!! Have to try that next time.
Friday, July 6, 2012 - 10:03 am
[...] Starts Here. She knows her blender, just like she knows her food processor (which we featured in March). Enjoy these [...]
Thursday, September 13, 2012 - 1:45 pm
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