Kitchen Tools to Reduce Food Waste: The Vitamix

People who read blogs about food tend to want to cook more and waste less. We want to enjoy our experiences in the kitchen and reap better health from the time we invest in that space. Yet there are very few tools that make this possible without a steep learning curve and loads of spare time. Personally, nothing has given me more immediate and sustainable satisfaction in the kitchen than the Vitamix.

Do you ever feel ashamed when throwing away a gooey head of lettuce or yellowing bunch of kale that slowly wasted away in your crisper? I’ve been there. Plenty of times, really. SO MUCH GUILT. I start with lofty aspirations, time slips away, I find myself eating out. One thing leads to another, an apple rots, a carrot goes limp. These experiences compound and often produce a sad surrender to the unrelenting force of convenience. This was a pretty accurate snapshot of my home-cooking experience…until I tried the Vitamix

I know this probably seems dramatic, but aside from my car, the Vitamix is the single most life-impacting tool I own. To avoid sounding like an obsessive weirdo, I’ve had to learn to downplay my feelings about this little machine whenever I mention it to my friends. Since purchasing the Vitamix, I actually find myself ordering more produce and have become more daring with the types of vegetables I buy. Where my perception of raw produce had been deteriorating because of how much I threw away, fruits and veggies now occupy an irreplaceable role in my life. There’s something inexplicably satisfying about watching a pile of greens transform into a few frozen cubes of nutrient-dense smoothie fuel. Vitamix owners will likely find themselves rescuing at-risk produce, knowing that even vegetables on the edge taste the same when reduced to a liquid state.

In addition to eliminating waste, Vitamixers are also healthier people. The trick here is the ease with which users transform healthy ingredients into delicious food. If eating healthy is synonymous with the easy preparation of delicious meals and snacks, then using a Vitamix will undoubtedly yield a healthier person. Again, produce value increases as we begin to see a link between our health and the food we put into our bodies. Where a fresh basket of produce used to feel daunting, the recently converted tray of frozen soup-cubes is reminiscent of a pack of vitamins I’d pay good money for at GNC.

Finally, the Vitamix frees up time. Forget about all those intricate chopping techniques, the machine handles it with the ease and power of at least a couple horses. Gone are the days of laboriously cooking stew on the stove. Instead, just throw all ingredients into the Vitamix for five minutes and voilà, you’ve got piping hot soup ready to serve or freeze for next week’s lunch. Cleanup couldn’t be simpler: just add a drop of soap in water, let her fly on high for 30 seconds and there you have it. Dinner just went from two hours to ten minutes.

Making soup is definitely one of my favorite uses of the Vitamix, but I’ve found its culinary range to be nearly unlimited. Most of my days begin with a smoothie packed with pre-frozen cubes of liquefied veggies, sweetened by frozen bananas, dates or an apple. One of my new favorite snacks is homemade hummus, which can be created with a variety of bases including chickpeas, beans or even sweet potatoes. The machine also easily grinds nuts into butter, makes salad dressings in a minute, soups, salsas, and nice-cream for dessert. This healthy treat is made by pulsing frozen bananas, a little coconut cream, and any other mix of fruity toppings. It’s ice cream without the consequences. Mmmm…

There are a lot of blenders out there, of course. But several experiences have taught me that Vitamix is the best and well worth the investment. Having worked a stint in a Ford Fry kitchen, I learned how irreplaceable these machines are at the professional level. To put it simply, many of the best kitchens around the world rely on this brand. I’ve used other blenders and have found that their ability to break down ice or to properly emulsify ingredients comes up short in comparison with the Vitamix. I was shocked to learn that my parents, who use their Vitamix every day, are approaching 20 years with the same machine. This tool paid for itself many years ago by sparing the expense of at least a few lesser quality replacements blenders.

The Vitamix is the ultimate culinary tool, leading its users to positive experiences in the kitchen by freeing up valuable time and allowing the satisfaction of putting healthy produce to use.