Kitchen Gadgets: Love and Lust

As I currently have fairly limited kitchen space, I can't just let any old gadget onto the kitchen worktop. The kitchen gadgets I love using at the moment have earned their place through their sheer versatility and functionality. What I look for in a gadget is something to save me time in the kitchen, make it a little bit easier for me to create healthy meals, and to encourage creativity and fun. In this post I've highlighted three gadgets that I currently love to use, and three gadgets that would undoubtedly feature in my dream kitchen.

Kitchen Gadgets: Love

NutriBullet

I finally got my hands on a NutriBullet last Christmas, after several months of lusting over photos of other people's colourful smoothies on instagram! The Nutribullet is essentially a high-powered blender. The best thing about this gadget is that you blend your smoothie in the cup you then drink it out of, meaning that the washing up takes literally seconds: so there's no excuse not to kick start your day with a healthy smoothie! A breakfast smoothie is a great way of making sure you've made a start on your 5 a day before you've even left the house. My NutriBlasts usually follow this recipe template: a couple of handfuls of greens (e.g. spinach), one or two pieces of fruit (one of which is usually a banana), a source of healthy fats (nut butter, avocado, milled flaxseeds) plus a superfood powder (I love Organic Burst for these).

The NutriBullet isn't just for smoothies though - I've recently made savoury recipes such as beetroot hummus and spinach pesto using it. This gadget is so versatile that I'm sure it will never be relegated to the back of the cupboard!

Spiralizer

The GEFU Spirelli Spiral Slicer

This is a really fun little gadget - it turns firm vegetables (courgettes, carrots, sweet potatoes) into noodle-like shapes! I like to spiralize courgettes to create courgetti (or zoodles as they're known in the US!) to create a lighter alternative to noodles. Spiralized carrots are a fantastic addition to salads, as they create a different texture to your standard grated carrot. You can do a similar thing with vegetables using a julienne peeler (or just a regular vegetable peeler) but a spiralizer gives a more professional finish and is easier to use. I eat a lot of vegetables, so it's nice to find a gadget that makes it so easy to get creative with vegetables and perhaps serve them in a way you've not had before.

I have a fairly basic spiralizer at the moment - the Gefu Spirelli - but would love to upgrade to an easier-to-use version at some point, as this one can be quite fiddly to use. I think the one Hemsley + Hemsley have released looks fantastic.


Slow Cooker

Tesco 3 Litre Slow Cooker

I'm a big fan of batch cooking. I love to eat good food, but I'm just too busy to cook from scratch every single day, so making a big batch of a one-pot dish on a Sunday is a great way to get me set up for the week ahead. What's so great about the slow cooker is you can throw all your ingredients in, carry on with your day, and come back 6 to 8 hours later and you have a fantastic meal ready, that anyone who didn't know better would think you'd spent hours slaving away over a hot stove to create.

Slow cookers are far more versatile than they look, and are capable of whipping up more than just casseroles. You can cook a whole chicken or joint of meat in it, use it to make stock, and even create cakes!

I have this Tesco slow cooker, which at £12 is undoubtedly the best value gadget I've ever bought. But if you want to splash some cash, you can also get fancier versions, that may have a larger capacity than 3 litres, and a timer so that you can set the slow cooker to turn itself off after a certain number of hours.

Kitchen Gadgets: Lust

Even though I already have quite a number of gadgets, I do still have a wish list for my dream kitchen. Below are some of the items I'm currently lusting after.

Le Creuset
Signature Round Casserole Dish

Le Creuset signature round casserole dish, cool mint

I know, I know, a casserole dish isn't strictly a gadget - but a Le Creuset casserole dish is an essential piece of kit for any kitchen that wants to be taken seriously. Le Creuset make beautiful, hand-crafted cast iron dishes. What I love about these is how versatile they are: you can start off the cooking of your dish on the hob, then put it in the oven to finish cooking, and then serve your dinner straight from the dish at the table. We had an orange Le Creuset dish in my kitchen when I was growing up so the brand is very nostalgic for me: which is part of the reason I'd love to get one for my kitchen now. I'm currently loving the elegance of the new Cool Mint Collection - isn't it just sublime?


Vitamix
Total Nutrition Centre

Vitamix Total Nutrition Centre

I watched a demo of the Vitamix at the BBC Good Food Eat Well Show recently, and quickly realised that these things are just amazing! The Total Nutrition Centre can make everything from frozen desserts to hot soups really quickly. It also works as your usual high-powered blender would, making it perfect for creating smoothies and dips, as well as things you may not usually consider making in a blender, such as nut butters and bread dough. Even though I already have a NutriBullet, it's the prospect of being able to come home after a day's hard graft and make a hot soup in minutes that makes the Vitamix really stand out for me.


Bialetti
Moka Express

Bialetti Moka Express (3 cup)

Bialetti make beautiful stove-top espresso makers that create fantastic coffee (provided of course, that you've put some top quality ground coffee in it!). There's something truly delightful about the way the room slowly fills with the heady aroma of coffee as it brews away. It's the old-fashioned way to brew coffee, but sometimes the tried and tested ways are the best.

Which kitchen gadgets could you not live without? And what gadget is currently topping your most wanted list?