Essential tools for the healing kitchen
This week I share our indispensable items that allow food preparation to be a joy rather than a lug.
When you decide to move towards better health, whether with punchy momentum or at a slower but no less meaningful pace, the kitchen becomes a necessary place to spend time in.
Items to prepare and cook will become more significant when you use them frequently. So I’ve put together a non-exhaustive list of the tools I personally love and find supportive in healthy cooking.
Aside from our beloved blender and juicer, most of the kitchen items we have are relatively low tech. Wood, copper, cast iron, ceramic, stainless steel. A large number of things are also old, or have been passed down from family members or adopted from Tom’s commercial kitchens. I have a flexible thin edge metal spatula with a wooden handle that doesn’t compare to anything else. May it live forever! Many of our wooden spoons are burnt in places, but each one has a unique charm and lasting quality that something designed for obsolescence can’t possess.
This is by no means a full list, rather a selection of indispensable items that allow food preparation to be a joy rather than a lug. I’ll attempt to link my favourites and include direct links to makers where possible. Enjoy and please share any of your own favourite items in the comments for others to benefit from!
Prep equipment
- Powerful blender. Our Vitamix is used 3+ times a day. Soups, smoothies, nut milks, even black bean brownie mix at a push. You could say I’m brand loyal!
- Cold press juicer. Omega is a favourite brand among green juice enthusiasts as it has a masticating juicing mechanism, we have a similar mechanism with our juicer by Hurom.
- Suribachi. A Japanese mortar and pestle used for grinding nuts, seeds, herbs and spices into powder. The series of ridges scored into the pottery on the unglazed inside of the bowl make it unmatched for grinding up sesame seeds to make gomasio (a salty, sesame seed seasoning we make at home). Fun to use and looks beautiful on open shelves.
- Mortar & pestle. We use the suribachi for dry grinding, and a large, heavy mortar & pestle for when we’re adding liquid or grinding fresh herbs for say a green sauce. Go big when choosing a mortar, or risk everything spilling out over the sides…
Utensils & tools
- Microplane. Keep this guy out of the dishwasher…
- Lightweight metal mixing bowls. 3-4 of varying sizes. I like these ones, which are made in Dunedin, NZ.
- A large glass mixing bowl. The one we always turn to for baking.
- At least one large chef knife.
- 2-3 paring knives
- Large metal slotted spoon
- 4+ wooden spoons of various sizes and shapes
- A flexible metal spatula with a thin edge. The metal part should be thin but sturdy. The ultimate pancake flipper!
- A wooden spatula (can you tell I like spatulas?). My scrambled egg friend. There’s something satisfying about gently pulling the egg mix toward you with a flat edged wooden utensil. This one by New Zealand woodworker Courtney Petley is especially beautiful.
- Chopping boards. At least 3-4 wooden ones of various shapes, sizes and thickness. Our large recycled plastic board by LegaSea X kingi is also indispensable for preparing garlic, onions, beets and meat.
Cooking tools
- Cast iron pan. Medium size so one can handle and lift it easily. My favourite one have has a smooth wooden handle. Hard to find but worth it.
- Large dutch oven with lid - Le Creuset is our pick.
- A large stock pot with lid. The bigger the better when making broth. Ours is an 8 litre daddio from WMF.
- 3 heavy bottomed, stainless steel pots (with lids) of varying sizes.
- A sauté pan. It has a wide base (larger cooking surface), straight sides that are higher than your average pan and ideally, a lid. All of which means you can sear, braise, simmer and shallow fry in it. Our one is made of copper, however a normal stainless one works just fine. Could copper cookware be the best present ever for those who enjoy food, and cooking it?
- A small pot. Nice for when you need to heat or cook something small - leftovers, cup of broth, hot chocolate - and a large pot feels like overkill.
- 2-4 oven friendly dishes of various materials, sizes and depths. Tom isn’t a fan of cooking in glass/pyrex. He prefers ceramic heavy weight, Le Creuset type dishes or lightweight sheet pans like this. Having 2-3 of the sheet pans is helpful if you’re batch cooking.
Nice extras
Food processor.
Salad spinner. I feel like the world is divided on these things, am I right?
Citrus squeezer
A woven shallow basket with a low rim to hold onions, garlic, kumara (sweet potato), shallot. Good air flow keeps these items in good condition and looks good too.
