Ani's Raw Food Essentials (4 page)

MIXING BOWLS

Larger mixing bowls make it easier to toss ingredients without making a mess outside your bowl. I have an assortment of different-size mixing bowls in my kitchen and have found that it's useful to have at least three bowls of varying sizes handy.

MEASURING CUPS AND SPOONS

You'll need measuring cups and spoons to get the right proportions of ingredients into your recipes. There's a slight difference between wet and dry measuring cups that matter more when working with wheat flours. I use both wet and dry interchangeably. I have a 4-cup wet measuring cup with a handle and spout, plus the standard ¼-, 1/3 -, ½-, and 1-cup dry measuring cups.

SPIRALIZER

Some of the noodle recipes use a spiralizer to create thin angel hair-type vegetable noodles. You can slice noodle shapes with a knife until you get your hands on a spiral slicer, available online at
www.AniPhyo.com/store
.

MANDOLINE SLICER

A mandoline slicer helps slice vegetables very thinly, giving you consistent slices. You can slice the old-fashioned way, using a knife, too.

CITRUS JUICER

A citrus juicer helps extract more juice from your lemons and limes than if you squeezed them by hand.

VEGETABLE JUICER

Only a few recipes require vegetable pulp, left over from juicing carrots. You can always visit a juice bar to ask for pulp if you don't want to buy a juicer.

WHISK

A whisk is used to mix liquids evenly. You can also use a fork for a similar effect.

ICE-CREAM SCOOPER

An ice-cream scooper makes it easy to portion and shape batter for cookies and other sweets, as well as ice kream.

GRINDER

A grinder helps make a powdered meal out of nuts and seeds. Your Personal Blender will come with a grinder top. Your high-speed blender may have a dry container to use for grinding. Or, you can grind in your liquid high-speed blender container, though it will dull the blades over time. You can buy already ground almond and flax meal, too.

STRAINING SIEVE

A sieve makes it easy to strain solids out of your liquid. I prefer a metal sieve for seeds, soaked rice, and soaked quinoa, and a smaller plastic sieve for my kefir grains.

LEMON ZESTER

This tool makes fun, long, curly strands of citrus zest. You can zest a piece of fruit with a planer or grater.

COOKIE CUTTERS

Cookie cutters help form cookies and mini cakes. You can always use your hands, and kids can help make fun shapes, too.

COCKTAIL SHAKER

Cocktail shakers are fun to have, especially when making elixirs for dinner parties. You can use a jar with a tight lid to seal and shake, then a strainer, instead.