Best Value Food Processor #2: The Cuisinart Elemental

When a trip to the local kitchen appliance store manages to spin Mr. Divabetic’s life out of control in this year’s Divabetic Mystery podcast, Kill Me Madam, he relies on a food processor for help.

This handy kitchen gadget is used to finely chop pecans needed for the pie crust in his new dairy and gluten free Key Lime Pie recipe but what can it do for you?

Why do you need a food processor?

Food processors are great for blending, but what many people with diabetes don’t realize is that they’re ideal for coarser jobs, too. You can certainly use your food processor to make smooth, well-mixed hummus or other bean dips, but you can also use them to for simple prep tasks. It’s an extremely powerful knife that quickly chops and grinds different ingredients, from onions to to nuts to hard cheeses, in a matter of seconds.

Here’s one of Divabetic’s favorite food processors:

 

The Cuisinart Elemental 11 Cup Food Processor lets you quickly and easily prepare large portions of ingredients for meals with minimum effort. The generous 11 cup work bowl, make this food processor the ultimate timesaver for your favorite dishes, making quick work of everything from chopping nuts and puréeing soup to slicing tomatoes and shredding cheese. Another time saver – the rubberized touchpad with Pulse control is wipe-clean and the removable parts are dishwasher safe!

The Cuisinart Elemental 11 cup food processor allows you to quickly and easily prep larger portions of ingredients for bigger meals with minimum effort. With an 11 cup work bowl, 1 stainless steel blade and 2 discs, it’s the ultimate timesaver, making quick work of everything from chopping nuts and pureeing soup to slicing tomatoes and shredding cheese. The rubberized touchpad with pulse control offers the ease of use and versatility that makes this classic the favorite of creative home cooks! The removable parts are dishwasher safe too. 

Amazon Price: $149.00

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The power of pecans is true! When it comes to stabilizing blood sugar, polyunsaturated fats in tree nuts — such as pecans along with  almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, walnuts, and pistachios — are especially beneficial. They’re also loaded with fiber and protein to help with heart health. 

Gingerbread Men Prefer Blondes Mystery Podcast from 2019

Enjoy Divabetic’s 6th Annual Diabetes Mystery Podcast, Gingerbread Men Prefer Blondes. The mystery is set in the fictitiously decadent world-renowned Gingerbread Men Cookie Baking Competition in New York’s Central Park Zoo. Mr. Divabetic’s healthy culinary misadventures continue in this year’s escapade as he enters the competition with headless cookies and pureed kale hot cocoa for the judges to sample. As if this dreadful combination wasn’t bad enough to land him at the bottom of the throwdown, his mother, Mama Rose Marie, is accused of poisoning one of the celebrity judges! Things go from bad to worse when the snake phobic Mr. Divabetic hears about the giant python’s escape. Now, the happy healthcare host must decide to face his fear of snakes and recipe rejection or throw in his apron and risk getting caught up in another murder investigation.

Can Mr. Divabetic and his team of amateur sleuths hunt down the real killer and get Mama Rose Marie out of jail?

Will he be the next murder victim? Can he ever create an edible recipe?

The cast of Gingerbread Men Prefer Blondes features Mama Rose Marie, Best-Selling Author Tonya Kappes, the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach (Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE and MaryAnn Nicolay BA, DTR), The Happy Diabetic Chef Robert Lewis, Seveda Williams, Coach The Cure’s Trisha Artman, Jillian Walsh, Wendy Radford, Dave Jones, Lorraine Brooks and Max Szadek. Throughout this podcast we will be featuring music from the original Broadway cast recording of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes courtesy of SONY MUSIC.

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Divabetic’s ‘Wrapped In Red’ Holiday Gift Guide with Chef Jonathan Bardzik

Kelly Clarkson‘s fabulous holiday album, Wrapped In Red, is the inspiration behind this year’s annual Divabetic Gift Guide. We asked our contributors to share their favorite ‘red’ gift suggestions for people living with diabetes on the Divabetic blog and Diabetes Late Nite podcast.

Our friend, Storyteller, Cook and  Author Jonathan Bardzik surely knows a thing or two about the importance of cooking with fresh ingredients! He’s one of the hottest chefs in the Washington D.C. area, as his ‘farm to table’  cuisine has lit up farmers markets, including Mosaic Central Farm Markets, and even on the shelves at local bookstore.  

Jonathan shares his favorite kitchen appliance and cold weather recipe that’s sure to warm the heart of that special someone on your list who is living with diabetes and enjoys cooking! 

https://www.zwilling.com/us/staub-cast-iron-5.5-qt-round-cocotte-grenadine/1102687.html?cgid=our-brands_staub_cast-iron_coccottes-dutch-ovens#prefn1=color&prefn2=size&prefv1=Red&prefv2=5+to+6-qt&start=1

“My favorite kitchen appliance that makes a great holiday gift is a cast iron Staub Cocotte Dutch oven. I couldn’t get through the winter without it,” says Jonathan.  “Whether you’re braising a whole chicken, making a pot roast or stock for a soup it’s versatile and goes easily from stove top, to oven to the table. Grenadine – a dark red – is my favorite color. Diabetic friendly pot roast tip – I use lots of mushrooms and turnips. Turnips are like potatoes with more flavor and the richness of the beef balances any bitterness.”

“Chili powder is a “go to” in my kitchen for flavor.,” says Jonathan. “There are so many to choose from spicy cayenne to raisiny Ancho, sweet Guajillo, the sun dried flavor of Aleppo or the smoky flavor of Urfa pepper. So often when changing our diets we miss flavor and replace rich or sugary ingredients with salt. Before you reach for extra salt, try a chile powder to beef up the flavor of your dish.” (Note: chili powder is a blend of chiles, cumin, garlic powder and often salt. You’re just looking for dried, ground chiles here.)

Panang Curry Coconut Cream Of Tomato Soup
Photo credit: Matt Hocking

Panang Curry Coconut Cream Of Tomato Soup

“This soup recipe is a little sweet, a little spicy and ready in 15-20 minutes, and serves 4-6 guests,” says Jonathan. “What more could you want for a quick, delicious, cold weather soup?”

Ingredients:

1 tbs peanut or vegetable oil

2 tbs Panang or red Thai curry paste*

1/2 can coconut milk (about 7oz)

2 28 oz cans of San Marzano tomatoes

4 whole sprigs plus 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Rice wine vinegar

*You can find Panang curry paste at Asian markets or order it online. Red curry paste is usually part of the Asian food section in the international aisle at your grocery store.

Directions:

Warm oil in 3-4 qt saucepan over med heat. Add curry paste and cook about 1 min until fragrant. Add coconut milk and cook 2-3 min. Add tomatoes and cilantro sprigs. Simmer and reduce to desired consistency.

Purée soup in a food mill or with a blender or immersion blender. Season soup to taste with a splash of vinegar, salt and pepper.

Serve with chopped cilantro.

http://jonathanbardzik.com/

Jonathan Bardzik is the author of three incredible cookbooks: ‘Simple Summer’, ‘Seasons to Taste’, and ‘Fresh and Magical Vinaigrettes‘, all of which are chock full of delicious recipes that you can make for your own friends, family or that special someone all year round.

Enjoy December’s Diabetes Late Nite podcast featuring holiday music from Kelly Clarkson’s iconic ‘Wrapped In Red’ album courtesy of SONY Music. Guests include Poet Lorraine Brooks, Kathy Gold  RN, MSN, CDE, FAADE, Glucose Delivery Necklace Co-Creator Kris Maynard, Dr. Sara (Mandy) Reece, PharmD, CDE, BC=ADM, BCACP, FAADE, Maria Sakowitz, MS, RDN, LDN, CLT, and the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach. LISTEN NOW