5 Kitchen Tool Must Have's

The following list of tools comes to us from the South Beach Diet newsletter.

Here are five kitchen tools you should always have at the ready in your home!

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Sharp knives: Good sharp knives can really speed up food prep. And you don’t have to spend a fortune buying a matching 12-piece set, since you only really need four knives: a 3" or 4" paring knife for peeling, mincing, and slicing items; an 8" or 10" chef’s knife for chopping, dicing, mincing, and julienning, as well as for slicing meat, fish, and poultry; an 8" or 10" carving knife with a slender blade; and a serrated bread knife (which you can also use for slicing tomatoes).

Kitchen scissors: If you’re always using your household shears for kitchen tasks, now is the time to buy a dedicated pair. You’ll find endless uses for them in your kitchen, from trimming the excess fat from poultry and beef to snipping out the tough stems from kale.

Y-shaped peeler: With so many fancy peelers on the market, this old-fashioned gadget (with just one moving part) often gets overlooked. Because it easily follows the shape of any fruit or vegetable, it’s the fastest way to peel apples and sweet potatoes or create zucchini ribbons; it can also be used to shave cheese.

Mini food processor/blender: This indispensable gadget is available with a bowl capacity of 1 1/2 to 3 cups. It doesn’t take up much space on your counter and comes in handy for speedily chopping herbs, garlic, and nuts. It’s also great for grinding flaxseed for flax meal, making whole-wheat bread crumbs, and grating cheese.

Slow-cooker: Sometimes quicker cooking means slower cooking. With a slow cooker you can get a dinner going early in the day and forget about it until it’s time to eat. Slow cookers are good for preparing overnight steel-cut oatmeal, large-batch soups, chilies, and stews."