Part 3 (1/2)

We've all been there. You're blasting your Neil Diamond and getting into your cooking zone, but the d.a.m.n onion keeps getting away from you because the cutting board is sliding across the counter like Brian Boitano. Veganomicon to the rescue! Lay out a damp kitchen towel and place your cutting board on top of it; this will give you the traction you need to keep your workstation is place. Wet paper towels work for this, too.

Vegetable Peelers

The truly sadom.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.tic chef (or Isa's grandma) loves to peel vegetables with a paring knife. Even our copy editor says she does it with those two for one dollar knives she's had for eons. For everyone else, there are a plethora of peelers to choose from. We're partial to the Y-shaped rather than the old-fas.h.i.+oned straight variety, but do what makes you happy. Get the sharpest, st.u.r.diest one you can, with a large, comfortable handle. If you are only going to purchase one, make it the serrated kind. If you skipped the opening paragraph we'll say it again: it's a good idea to spend just a little extra on these, since nothing sucks more than a dull vegetable peeler (with a teeny, miserable handle) when you've got eight pounds of apples to skin.

Food Processor

Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles! Saver of time, conservator of energy! So easy! So convenient! How did I ever survive without you? Every well-equipped kitchen has a food processor in it. You can't live without one, right? Sort of. You can do without, but when you are staring at the latkes recipe with a tear in your eye, wondering how in the world you will fit shredding five pounds of potatoes into your busy day of video games and knitting circles, you need to get yourself a food processor. If you can't afford one right now, then get married simply so you can put this on your wedding registry.

Not only will the proper attachments shred and slice everything for you, but nothing can really replace a food processor in the kitchen when it comes to transforming tofu, vegetables, beans, and so on into smooth and silky purees. The quality is rather flexible when it comes to choosing a food processor, so go for whatever fits in your budget and literally fits on your countertop. Those combination blender/food processor gadgets are kinda small but work great.

Blender

Speaking of blenders, it's not absolutely necessary to have a standing one for the recipes in this book, but it's pretty awesome for the occasional peanut b.u.t.ter-banana smoothie or to puree soups and sauces.

Immersion Blender

This little gadget is worth every penny, which is not a lot of pennies since they're surprisingly inexpensive. Often in this book we give you two choices: you can wait for your stew or soup or whatever to cool a bit and then puree half of it in a blender or food processor, then add it back to the pot, or the much-more-appealing second choice-simply whip out your immersion blender and puree. If you want to dabble even further in immersion blender magic, look for ones that come with a selection of attachments for whisking and grinding spices or coffee.

Graters

Box graters are a kitchen staple that attack carrots, celery, and jicama with ease. We suppose that you could also grate vegetables with that food processor, but it seems more work than necessary to clean it if you're grating just one carrot to toss into a salad. The zester on those things is mostly useless, though, which is why we recommend you get yourself a microplane grater. Then finely shredded mounds of citrus zest and freshly grated nutmeg shall be yours!

Mandoline

Just a note about these-mandolines are ominous, human-powered contraptions that can transform a pile of carrots or pound of potatoes into slender, completely uniform shreds in mere minutes. They are also the kind of medieval instrument one might encounter should one have the terrifying experience of going to a Renaissance fair. With a mandoline it's possible to quickly grate, slice, shred, sliver (and julienne!) any firm vegetable or fruit into a plethora of perfect shapes that would take you hours of tedious work with a knife. Careful please, because they are armed with a deadly serious blade that does all that work for you. Absolutely not necessary for cooking, but something to consider should you want to live off of hash browns and shredded salads.

Enough prep work. It's time to move on to the fun stuff.

POTS AND PANS AND OTHER FOOD COOKING VEHICLES.

When we were starving artists we cooked with a found rusty wok and ate off of upside down Frisbees. Times have changed.

Skillets