Food Processors & OAMC: Part 2 – To Chop or Not to Chop?
We started a two-part series (I suppose it could end up being more if I get inspired) yesterday on food processors. Yesterday we talked about the difference in food processors. They are not all the same. Remember, you don’t have to have a food processor to do once-a-month cooking but it will help you save time on all of the chopping.
Again, it depends on the type of food processor that you have as to how much you can do, but as I go through I will try to address each item considering both scenarios. (Clicking on the pictures will give you detailed step-by-step instructions. If you move your mouse to the left or the right of the picture you will get a “previous” or “next” option. It makes it easy to move through them.)
Yes – These are GOOD in the food processor!
Potatoes, chopped
Potatoes can be put in the food processor for chopping. If you are just using the rotary blade you will not get the consistency that you would by hand chopping them. However, it will get done fast and easy. Just don’t over-process. Chopping them by hand will give you the most uniform shape. In March’s menu it calls for chopped potatoes to be boiled. To save time I am going to slice mine using the slicing blade and boil them that way. They should soften and be ready to use in about the same time. See pictures below for more step-by-step directions.
Carrots, chopped/diced/sliced
Either way, your food processor can be of assistance to you. And if you just have a rotary blade you are perfectly fine!
Celery, chopped/diced/sliced
Celery can be use in the food processor with or without the slicing blades. You must be careful not to process it for too long though, you don’t want to end up with celery puree!
Mushrooms, sliced
If you buy whole mushrooms and slice them yourself your food processor slicing blades can really be a help. Just the rotary blade will not, though.
Onions, chopped/diced
Onions are a MUST in the food processor, unless you really need a good cry. I don’t think I would ever get through all of the onion cutting for our OAMC days if it weren’t for my food processor! You can use the rotary blade and pulse a few times to get chopped onions. You can also use the slicing blade for sliced onions. Just note that they won’t be perfect hamburger slices. (mmm, hamburgers. . .I digress).
**:( This is the point in the evening that my camera had a catastrophe. In an attempt to be EXTRA careful not to break it/get it wet/drop it I was laying it “out of the way”. When I went to grab it the cord got caught on a kitchen counter knob knocking the camera out of my hands. Needless to say it went for “inpatient surgery” the next day and I am waiting to hear what the estimate will amount to. I will post pictures of the next few items when I am able again.
Garlic, minced
If you haven’t noticed there is A LOT of garlic in March’s menu! When you go to buy that many garlic heads you should have fun with the cashier and tell them you are warding away vampires. See what kind of look that gets you! :) Honestly, I rarely mince garlic. I use those nice little jars of minced garlic to save myself. If you have bought garlic heads you simply need to peal the cloves off and cut the skin off of them. Place them in the food processor with the rotary blade and pulse several times. Tada! Minced garlic!
Ham, cubed
This one is a little bit tricky. I am going to try just putting it with the rotary blade and chopping it that way. It is the easiest. Again, you have to make sure to just use the pulse button and not process it too long or it will end up more like ground ham then chopped ham.
Chicken, chopped
Yes, yes, yes!!!! (If you have cooked boneless chicken). I discovered this last month and thought I had hit a gold mine! This is the fastest and easiest way to get chopped chicken. Again, it is important to not over process it or you will end up with ground chicken. you can use the rotary blade or the shredding blade if you would prefer
No – these are better left to hand cutting!
Green Pepper, chopped/diced (February menu)
Green pepper is very watery and does not stand up well to the food processor. It looks more like something we would be making over in baby food (no we don’t really do that) than a chopped green pepper. The good old fashioned method of dicing it by hand will do quite nicely!
Green Onions, sliced
Not a vegetable I would put in the food processor. I suppose that you could use the slicer blade and get a nice slice out of it but it might be somewhat unpredictable. The green onions are so soft I would be worried about them turning to mush. I would just slice them by hand.
How? Peal the outer layer. Cut off the root end and the top green part. Slice.
Zucchini, quartered & sliced
I would start by quartering the zucchini (cut off the two ends). Then if you have a slicing blade you could slice the quarters that you have prepared. If you only have a rotary blade you will need to slice the zucchini by hand. Otherwise, you will end up with a zucchini puree.
Okay, I think that is it for the items on the March menu at least! Hope that some of you found this helpful! Is there anything that I missed? Do any of you have other food processor suggestions that you use on your OAM Cooking days?
I have the Cuisinart you mentioned in the first part and I ashamed to say that all I currently use it for is making salsa and pesto – oy!
I need to find the instruction manual on how to put the blades and gadgets on!
Oh my goodness, this was incredibly helpful. As someone who never really cooks, I never have any idea how to cut vegetables or anything. The pictures and step by step instructions were incredibly helpful!!!
Very helpful information. Using someone else’s list of trial-and-error results helps a lot. The things this type of appliance can do is amazing and it should be utilized more!
I’ve had the same “cheap” Hamilton Beach for over 25 years. Whenever I’ve broken a part I’ve just ordered a replacement online for a few $$ as opposed to buying a whole new one. Just another frugal way my food processor and computer combination have saved me money.
Tricia, you forgot to warn people about TOMATOES! They are not food processor-friendly!
Wait, am I the only one who didn’t know that?? Oops.
Unless, of course, that you are making salsa – then the food processor is good! Forgot about tomatoes as they aren’t on March’s menu, thanks for the reminder!
Don’t forget you can make homemade breadcrumbs in a food processor!
Yall are too sweet to post all this information. I know it helps a lot of people. I make pizza dough in my food processor. Which gives me an idea for whipping up a bunch and making individual pizzas to freeze for the kids to have snacks after school. Hmmm.. I may have to get back to you LOL
Thanks for this post – I just bought a food processor because I had a few recipes that called for it, but then I started wondering if I might be able to cut down prep time on a potato soup recipe I like using my food processor. I’m not good a chopping potatoes, so it takes a LONG time for me to do them – I’m glad to hear that I can just put them in my food processor.
[...] Ingredients that need CHOPPED (**indicates usually okay for food processor) [...]
[...] Ingredients that need CHOPPED (**indicates usually okay for food processor) [...]
[...] Ingredients that need CHOPPED (**indicates usually okay for food processor) [...]
[...] Ingredients that need CHOPPED (**indicates usually okay for food processor) [...]
[...] Ingredients that need CHOPPED (**indicates usually okay for food processor) [...]
[...] Ingredients that need CHOPPED (**indicates usually okay for food processor) [...]
[...] Ingredients that need CHOPPED (**indicates usually okay for food processor) [...]
I used my processor to chop onions and green peppers and got mush. When I tried the onions again, i used the pulse but it missed a lot of pieces of the onion. So i had to keep pulsing which resulted in over-chopped onions again. I just got this processor, but could it be possible that the blade is too dull?
I don’t ever do green peppers in my food processor because of the mush factor. As for onions, yes, the blade could be dull, but if this happens I usually just empty the bowl and then put the large chunks in to pulse again. Some food processors aren’t as good at chopping as others.
Speaking about food processors, pie crust is amazing done in a food processor. You pulse the dry ingredients, add butter(cold, in 6 chunks) or shortening… run a few seconds until pebbly, and then turn it on and pour the cold liquid down the chute. It will form a ball, and you take it out an it’s the perfect texture. Although not on the menu, it is in a food processor.