If my house were to burn down, there would be only two kitchen gadgets that I would try REALLY hard to salvage:
#1 High Speed Blender
#2 Stand Mixer
And then last week, I officially added a third.
#3 Immersion Blender
You see, ever since we climbed out of debt and learned to be content with less, I’ve become sort of a “stuff” minimalist. Having too much stuff makes me feel claustrophobic.
Don’t get me wrong, some kitchen gadgets are really cool. The idea of being able to multitask: making yogurt while drooling of others real foodie “creations” on Pinterest – it sounds like a dream!. Or even a bread maker to knead, shape and bake for me while we spend the day at the beach or strawberry picking and teaching the kids where foods from. But instead, I stay home and make my own yogurt with a heating pad and bake my own bread (with the help of #2 above).
And then, came the immersion blender.
I had never heard of an immersion blender (or stick blender) until my parents introduced me to it when we first moved to California. It was our first Christmas here that they gave us this Cuisinart immersion blender as a gift, since we kept borrowing theirs. It’s now used it all the time for homemade spaghetti sauce and tomato basil soup, but could be easily used for creamy cauliflower sauce, protein smoothies and homemade red salsa too.
However, since giving this new immersion blender with slicing and shredding blades by Cuisinart a run for its money in the kitchen this month, it still does it’s awesome stick-me-in-a-pot-and-blend thing, but it’s now my new go-to appliance for slicing and shredding too. Here’s why:
- With all the summer squash coming in the CSA boxes, I’ve considered a mandolin to sliced it really thin and use in dishes like this risotto (which was WAY good, by the way). However, mandolins are those gadgets that seem to serve just one purpose… and that just screams “stuff” to me.
- Our garden is slowly producing zucchini and I’ve been grating it for a zucchini carrot apple bread recipe that has earned eight thumbs up this past week (recipe coming soon!). Grating it by hand isn’t difficult, but I’m dreadfully scared of slicing off a few layers of skin as the end of the squash approaches. Plus in that particular recipe, I’m grating zucchini AND carrot AND apple, and it’s definitely time consuming when you’re making a double batch of muffins.
- The high capacity food processor in our house is very, very heavy and takes up two shelves in two different cabinets. Ultimately, this means that I don’t use it nearly as often as I could. This new immersion blender is super sleek and takes up half as much space. Plus it’s so light that the kids can pick it up!
- Unlike the other food processor, this immersion blender only comes with one blade. Face it up and it slices; face it downward and it shreds. Less parts means less mess, which means less washing. Which reminds me…
- It’s dishwasher safe! All of the parts (minus the handle that plugs in) can go in the dishwasher. Totally handy when you’re good at making big messes in the kitchen.
Need some inspiration to put that new immersion blender to good use? How about this list of 20+ real food summer soups! They’re affordable, seasonal, and incredibly easy to put together.
20+ Blended Summer Soup Recipes
- Carrot, Blood Orange and Ginger Soup via The Paleo Network
- Carrot and Celery Root Soup via The Nourishing Gourmet
- Carrot and Leek Soup via Nourished Kitchen
- Chilled Avocado and Cucumber Soup via The Nourishing Gourmet
- Cold and Creamy Pea, Avocado and Mint Buttermilk Soup via Farm Fresh Eats
- Cream of Garlic Soup via Kitchen Stewardship
- Creamy Asparagus Soup via My Humble Kitchen
- Creamy Zucchini and Potato Soup via The Nourishing Gourmet
- Curried Parsnip, Apple and Ginger Soup via The Paleo Network
- Curried Tomato Soup via The Nourishing Gourmet
- Garden Fresh Chilled Tomato Soup via Live Simply
- Gazpacho via Nourishing Joy
- Golden Beet Soup with Creamy Cashew Cream via With Food and Love
- Kansas City Style BBQ Sauce via My Humbled Kitchen
- Lots ‘O Broccoli Soup via The Nourishing Home
- Lovage Soup via Nourished Kitchen
- Mexican Chicken Soup with Chipotle & Lime via The Paleo Network
- Mixed Berry Fruit Soup via The Nourishing Gourmet
- Tangy Herbed Lettuce Soup via The Nourishing Gourmet
- White Gazpacho with Peppers and Cucumbers via The Nourishing Gourmet
- Zucchini Avocado and Lemon Soup via A Harmony Healing
What are your three must-have kitchen appliances?
Thanks for the shout-out on my broccoli soup recipe. I was late in seeing this, but am definitely sharing this post! 🙂
Doh! Coffee maker. Make that #4. Unless somehow I befriended someone in the aftermath who had a French press. 😉
My KitchenAid stand mixer, my Cuisinart food processor….(both going on 17 years old and going strong), and my blender.
Check, check and check!
I love my immersion blender, but one that slices and grates? Sign me up! I do use my food processor for that some, but it’s more inconvenient to lug out than the immersion blender. Speaking of which, what heavy duty food processor do you have? It sounds like it does more than mine, and that might be worth the extra space and effort.
Oh yes, this one is pretty cool. I have a Magimix. It’s neat too, but it is big and it is heavy and unfortunately, I find that preventing me from using it more than not. 🙁
Immersion Blenders are a life saver. I don’t currently own one but I can think of a lot of ways to use one.
Already subscribed 🙂
When I first moved into our home I was a kitchen gadget hoarder, but soon came to realize with a small kitchen, the more tasks it preformed the better. I remember when we were stationed in Germany I had an immersion blender that I got at Aldi over there and loved it, I never bought it home because of the plug but it would be awesome to have one again, it was very handy….especially for soups and gravy.
Thank you for the links to the inspiration soups….that Mexican Chicken Soup and Curried Tomato Soup look delicious…..my husband was just asking for soup this past weekend.
You’re most welcome Samantha! That list is as much for you as me. We’re needing some new soup inspiration too!!
I have been accumulating kitchen gadgets at a rapid pace. However what’s been neat is that every so often Aldi will have a small appliance at a good price. Great way to try things out, and I’ve never had an issue with quality. I bought a dehydrator for $25 – great way to see that I actually WOULD use it! My most recent is an immersion blender from them 😉
Whoa – great deal on the dehydrator! I use mine year round and LOVE it. Dried some dill and parsley from the CSA box last week and restocked the spice cabinet! 🙂