There are a few kitchen tools that I find indispensable; A good chef’s knife (8-10 inches), a Vitamix, a food processor and a Japanese mandolin. While the first three are pretty awesome, nothing will turn your veggies into effortless, professional-looking works of art quite like the mandolin. The best part? It is CHEAP, easy to clean, stores super easily in a drawer, no muss no fuss.
There are 4 different blades that you can use:
- Flat- for things like sliced onions, fennel, paper thin squash, root veggie slices, cheese etc
- Wide Strips (1/3inch wide)- for zucchini noodles, carrots, cucumber, root veggie etc
- Thinner Strips (3-4mm wide)- a medium julienne, great for many veggies for salad, sandwiches, pickling etc
- Super Duper Baby Strip (1-2mm wide)- works only with very dense veggies like carrots, and other root veg
Whatever you do- do not use the silly plastic guard that is included (not pictured here as I promptly throw it out!), invest the $10 in a pair of nylon mesh gloves that will SAVE YOUR FINGERS :). See the video above for the full demo…I promise you will fall in love!
Check out some of our recipes use a mandolin:
- Mixed Mushroom Parcels with Sherry & Herbs
- Spicy Southwestern Kelp Noodles with Avocado & Toasted Seeds
- Pasta with Creamy Avocado Garlic Sauce
- Eggplant Tomato Bolognese with Quinoa Pasta & Zucchini
- Zucchini Alfredo “Pasta”
- Brussels Sprout Salad with Brown Butter Hazelnut Vinaigrette
- Shaved Root Vegetable Salad with Toasted Hazelnuts
- Zucchini Pasta with Sun Dried Tomato Cashew Sauce
