More Tools For Healthy Cooking

Every kitchen should have a few essential cooking tools to prep healthy meals. Here are a few of our favorites.

We shared our Top 5 Kitchen Tools before, but there are many more helpful ones out there. Here are a few more that I use daily, especially during the summer months.

blender

This is key for prepping healthy dishes like smoothies, dipping sauces, homemade marinades and salad dressings (which are better for you than the bottled ones). It chops and emulsifies to make thick and creamy frozen cocktails and sauces, too. Blenders come in all shapes and sizes; my favorite is the classic Waring brand. I’ve had mine for years, and it works as well as the day I bought it.

knife
8-inch Chef’s Knife

There’s nothing more frustrating than hacking through food with a dull knife. Every kitchen should have at least one good knife, and an 8-inch chef’s knife should cover all your slicing and chopping needs. I chop up and store fresh fruit and vegetables in the fridge for cooking and snacking -- to get the job done, I use this vegetable knife. These knives may seem a bit pricey, but take good care of them and they’ll last forever and are worth the investment.

Never used a professional-grade knife? Watch those fingers! Check out this Bobby Flay video, where he walks you through the basics.

mandoline
Hand-Held Mandoline

This is my newest favorite! Easier to clean and store than traditional mandolines, this handy version slices fruits and veggies for salads, stir-fries, or desserts easily. You can adjust the blade for the perfect slice thickness -- and you get even pieces every time. I love it for paper-thin pieces of onion or thicker slices of radishes, carrots, cucumbers and potatoes.

saladspinner
Salad Spinner

I always tell my clients to have some sort of salad with dinner to up their fresh veggies. It’s really important to wash lettuces and greens well (even the pre-washed, bagged kinds). Unfortunately, that can leave your greens wet and soggy. Instead of wasting paper towels, try a salad spinner, which spins all that water out in seconds.

halfsheetpan

Roasting gives veggies a totally different flavor than boiling or steaming. With all the fresh vegetables in season, I've been roasting broccoli, fennel, cauliflower, beets and summer squash. These pans are also terrific for baking double batches of cookies and brownies, too. Half sheet pans are 13 by 18 -- a few inches larger than a basic cookie sheet -- but should still be small enough to fit in your oven.

    Use your tools to prep these recipes:

Next Up

Healthy Dinners, No Cooking Required

You can't close out summer without going on a no-cook dinner spree. Here are five ways to not turn on the oven.

7 Alternative Sweeteners for Coffee, Cooking and More

If you're looking for alternatives to classic granulated sugar, options like date syrup, pomagranate molasses and more offer healthier ways to add sweetness to your recipes.

Healthy Cooking Tool: Hand Blender

One essential cooking tool for healthy home cooks: a hand blender. Do you own one?

Top 5 Kitchen Tools for Cooking Healthy

These days, it seems like there is a kitchen gadget for just about everything -- so which are must haves for making a healthy meal? Here are five gadgets I’d be lost without.

Healthy Microwave Cooking

We’re not talking about zapping frozen entrees. How about real ingredients and healthy meals straight out of the microwave oven!?

Ask the Experts: Favorite Cooking Tools

What do nutrition experts stock their kitchens with? Blenders, lemon zesters, ice cream scoops and crockpots -- find out what they use them for.

Healthy Cooking Method: Parchment Packet Cooking

This easy cooking method doesn't use a lot of fat to flavor food, plus everything's made in one packet so there's very little cleanup required. Learn how to cook in parchment.

5 Tools in My "Supermarket Healthy" Kitchen

While healthy home cooking doesn’t require special equipment, Melissa shares five of the most-used tools in her kitchen – all of which help her create easy, tasty and healthy meals.

Is It Healthy: Cooking Spray

Can the key to healthy cooking be found in an aerosol can? There are pluses and minuses to using cooking spray.

The Ultimate Healthy Cooking Playlist

Here are eight food-inspired songs that will inspire healthy cooking at home.