I chuckled a little last month when Emily from Mommin’ It Up kept tweeting me to let me know all of the things that DO NOT work well in a food processor. I suppose I take for granted the knowledge of what works well in a food processor and what doesn’t. So, this month I thought I would take some time and talk about what CAN be chopped in your food processor to save you time on your cooking day.
First Things First – Know Your Food Processor
Not all food processors are created equally. Some have just the rotary blade, others have various attachments and blades for processing more types of foods. Cortney has the Black & Decker FP1550S 10-Cup Food Processor. It is a great standard food processor. It works well for chopping things and doing it quickly. It is also GREAT for making baby food. Just throw in the food set it to chop and let it do it’s thing until the food is pureed. (Although, I am realizing it has the attachments that mine does I’ve just not ever seen Cortney use them though). Though some food processors don’t come with the attachments, so be sure you know what you are getting when you purchase one.
I have the Euro-Pro EP91 Quad-Blade Food Processor (which seems to be unavailable at Amazon.com right now) BUT the Cuisinart DLC-10S Pro Classic 7-Cup Food Processor is comparable. It comes with a selection of blades that make chopping and dicing much easier. When we are doing once a month cooking we tend to use my food processor for all of the vegetable cutting. It is just a lot easier that way. I can interchange the blades and get a cut carrot or a diced carrot. I can puree foods if needed or I can simply chop.
If you are looking for a complete review on food processors and what you should be looking for you can also check out more reviews HERE. You do not need to go out and buy a new food processor to do once a month cooking. However, if you are in the market to get one, you should consider spending a few extra dollars and buying one that has the interchangeable blades so that you can use it for multiple purposes.If you have a food processor but don’t have one with interchangeable blades, that is okay too. You can still use your food processor to chop many of the items on our cooking list.
Stay tuned throughout the week as we talk more about which foods work best in the food processor and which ones should be chopped by hand.