The Laura Lea Balanced Cookbook. Laura Lea

Salad spinner: This is almost an optional

       piece, but it makes life so much easier, so

       I highly recommend it. This dries delicate

       lettuce leaves without damaging them,

       ensuring you never have a soggy salad.

      • Mesh strainer: I use this all the time for

       draining and rinsing beans and grains.

      • Pastry brush: This is the best way to spread

       butter or oil evenly over ingredients for

       roasting and grilling, or for greasing a dish

       or baking sheet.

      • Stainless-steel whisk

      • Wooden cutting board: Use this for

       vegetables and fruit.

      • Plastic cutting board: Use this for meat;

       bacteria can leach into wooden cutting

       boards. However, be sure to replace your

       plastic board if the cutting grooves become

       too deep and hard to clean.

      • Stainless-steel mixing bowl set

      A vegetable

       peeler and

       paring knife

       will make

       short work

       of prepping

       smaller

       vegetables.

      • Cheese grater

      • Parchment paper: I always use nonstick

       parchment paper, so assume that any

       parchment paper mentioned throughout the

       book is nonstick. Kirkland’s brand is my favorite.

      note: Not sure what these look like?

       Search online to see multiple options.

      INVESTMENT PIECES

      These items can be expensive, but I truly

       believe that they are worth the investment. I

       use them daily for smoothies, soups, sauces,

       salad dressings, and even making flour. The

       time you’ll save hand-chopping, whisking, or

       mixing is invaluable, and they will earn their

       cost back quickly when you save money on

       take-out and dining out. Ask for them for

       birthdays, look into gently used options, or cut

       out a few indulgent habits every month. If you

       can only start with one of the two, I suggest

       investing in the high-powered blender. Food

       processors don’t do well with liquid contents,

       whereas the blender can handle liquids and

       many solids as well—my Vitamix can make

       oat flour, pesto, and hummus. However, I do

       prefer to use my food processor for making

       veggie burgers, chopping nuts, grating

       vegetables, and making nut butters, when I do.

       Making nut butter is as simple as adding 1 to

       2 cups nuts of choice to your food processor

       and blending until they form a creamy

       consistency. You can add a few tablespoons

       of coconut oil to get things moving if needed.

      • High-powered blender (I have the Vitamix

       Standard original)

      • Food processor (at least 8 cup;

       I prefer Cuisinart)

      COOKING/BAKING

       BASIC EQUIPMENT

      • Small sauté pan (also called fry pan):

       8- to 10-inch*

      • Large sauté pan (with straight sides):

       4 to 6 quarts*

      • Small sauce pot: 2 quarts*

      • Medium sauce pot: 4 quarts*

      • Large stock pot: 8 to 12 quarts*

      • 12½-inch cast-iron skillet

      • Slow cooker

      • 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish

      • 8 x 8 x 2-inch baking dish

      • Cupcake and loaf tins: I suggest aluminized

       steel or green nonstick (see sidebar for

       more details).

      • 1 to 2 large solid baking sheets: This size has

       an inset of approximately 17 x 12 inches. I

       prefer to use aluminum or carbon steel.

      • 1 to 2 perforated/slotted baking sheets: I

       place these over a solid baking sheet to roast

       meat—this way the drippings don’t make a mess.

      • Slotted and solid wooden spoons

      • Indoor grill pan

      • “Turner” spatula (flat metal spatula for

       flipping pancakes and eggs)

      • 2 to 3 rubber spatulas

      • Stiff brush (for cleaning stuck-on food)

      • Metal tongs

      • Soup ladle

      COOKING/BAKING EQUIPMENT,

       OPTIONAL BUT RECOMMENDED

      • Rice cooker

      • Popsicle molds and sticks

      • Enameled cast-iron braising pot

       (Le Creuset has the best)

      • Meat thermometer

      *I recommend high-quality stainless-steel pots and pans, like All-Clad. They are nonreactive, cool down easily, and are very strong and

       corrosion-resistant. They don’t distribute heat as evenly as aluminum or copper, but you don’t need to worry about minerals leaching into

       your food. You can find copper lined with stainless-steel, which is a good option as well, but slightly more expensive.

      UNDERSTAND YOUR SKILLETS AND PANS

      Skillet versus sauté pan. A skillet or

       frying pan is shallow, with slanted sides

       that flare out. A sauté pan has taller,

       straight sides, with more surface area at

       the bottom. Throughout this cookbook,

       you will mainly “see” me using a stainless

       steel sauté pan, because it is cleaner

       (less sloshing over the side) and because

       I think it can do everything a skillet can

       do. However, if you already own a small

       and a large skillet, don’t feel that you