Calorie Worthy

Monthly Feature
Hey there, my name is Andrea, I’m a personal chef and an avid diner outer. I’ll be appearing monthly to give you a top ten list of personal favorites, ranging from cooking to restaurants. This month’s list focuses on cooking in your very own kitchen using one of best inventions next to the Flowbee,(how hilarious were those infomercials?), the mini prep food processor!! (cue horns)

Top Ten Ways to use your mini prep food processor
We’ll do this David Letterman Style and count backwards…

10) Thickening Soup - stop yawning, the beginning of a top ten list isn’t suppose to be exciting. If you desire your soup to be a little thicker, simply pour about a ¼ of it into a mini prep processor, blend away and add that to your soup in the pot. Taa daa! Thicker soup!

9) Making a “crust” for Fish or Chicken- Throw a few handfuls of walnuts, pecans or almonds into the mini prep and you’ve got a fine mill of nuts, perfect for crusting that piece of fish or chicken.

8) Homemade Breadcrumbs- Now something you’ll come to learn about little miss Andrea is that I do not enjoy using processed products. If the box has ingredients that I cannot pronounce, forget it, I’m not eating it! Homemade breadcrumbs are super easy to make and way better for you than what you’ll purchase in a tin! Throw some bread in a toaster, butter the bread, tear apart into pieces to put into mini prep and add some seasonings. Pulse away you now you have your very own homemade breadcrumbs!

7)Finely Chopping Veggies- Raise your hand if you’re lazy! (I’d raise mine, but it’s too much effort) Well, for those of you who did raise your hand, or at least thought about raising your hand, finely chopping veggies can be an extremely taxing task. “Rough chop” those puppies and throw them into the mini prep…D-O-N-E. Donesville.

6) Fresh Salsa- Boil two Roma tomatoes with a Serrano pepper in 1 ¼ cup of water for about 20 minutes. Add the tomatoes, pepper, and water they boiled in into the mini prep along with a small wedge of onion and a little garlic with some salt. Process until smooth and it’s delicious!

5) Whipped Guacamole- Love this! 1 Avocado, 1 chopped Serrano pepper, little garlic paste, salt and 3 tablespoons of milk into the mini prep….so good, you have no idea.

4) Fresh Salad Dressing- My favorite and easiest dressing to make is to take 1 Shallot, 1 tablespoon of Dijon Mustard, 1 teaspoon Sugar, 1 tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar (the good kind, not the Safeway brand, folks) and some Olive Oil…this dressing is wonderful over any fresh greens and also good over green beans!

3) Olive Tapende- Get a mixture of olives, add to them some lemon juice, garlic and olive oil…that’s it, chop and blend them in the mini prep! It makes a great fancy looking appetizer over some crusty bread.

2) Hummus- I like traditional hummus. Drain and rinse a can of chickpeas, boil in 1 ½ cup water for 20 min. Drain, but reserve the liquid. Throw into mini prep. Add to that 2 tablespoons of Tahini, the juice of one lemon, 1 tsp of garlic paste, ½ tsp salt and about ¼ cup of the cooking liquid. Process that mixture for a bit, then add some olive oil and continue to process until smooth.

And the number one way to use your mini prep food processor is….(drum roll)

1) PESTO!! -Me. Loves. Pesto. Grab a bunch or a package of fresh Basil leaves, combine in mini prep with 1 garlic clove, handful of freshly grated Parmesan Cheese, 2 tablespoons of walnuts or pine nuts, whichever you’d prefer, squeeze of lemon, a little red pepper flakes, and some olive oil. You may also add some salt and pepper.

For a fancy trio, serve some pesto, hummus and olive tapende at your next party! Look who’s fancy now…all thanks to your mini prep food processor.

Peace out and Peace with your food.