Whenever I hear the word mandoline, I think of the instrument, not the kitchen tool. And when I mention the mandoline kitchen tool, my friends often stare at my blankly in confusion.
A mandoline is a lean, mean veggie slicing machine! I have the Progressive Folding Mandoline. It’s simple but easy to use, easy to clean and slices and shreds those tasty veggies!
Slice veggies, I do not.
I never owned a mandoline until after I went low carb and started cooking my own food. I was afraid it’d be something that would collect dust in the cabinets. But my fears were unfounded! Cue action shot of my shredding cabbage and carrots for colelsaw with my mandoline:
Action shot of me making coleslaw. This bad boy makes shredding cabbage & carrots quick!
So my mandoline comes with three slats that you can pop in to the mandoline base that lets you do extra thin, thin, medium and thick slices. This is great for say, slicing along the body of a zuchinni or eggplant to make eggplant mini pizzas or veggie lasagna noodles. Granted I got lazy and used a knife with the eggplant mini pizza recipe I posted, but a good reason to use a mandoline is because you will have evenly sliced pieces that will cook more consistently (versus some getting under or overcooked because they are thicker/thinner than their buddies).
The other sides of the slices have a ‘shred’ option, so you can have fine/coarse shredding. I used this for carrots (fine) and cabbage (coarse) for dishes like coleslaw. Quick way to have a sexy, consistent cut for salads, stews, etc.
I destroy all – wield me, wield the power!
The device will come with a hand held device that you can stick the veggie on, so you don’t have to get your hand near the blade. IT IS SHARP so don’t be silly, use the hand device to shovel the veggie down on the mandoline blade.
There are mandolines that have cheese shredder attachments (although I think you can use the one I have for that, too – I’ll have to give that a try!) and come in pretty colors (damn you, KitchenAid, for all your purple and magenta kitchen tools!).
What food to you like to prep with a mandoline?
Michael Gurski says
If you’re like me, you *hate* the holder that comes with your mandoline. If you’re like me, you’ve foolishly decided to do without said holder. If you’re like me, you’ve managed to avoid major damage from doing without the holder, while still needing a tetanus shot from the aftermath.
If you’re like me and hate the holder, do yourself a favor. Order a kevlar glove. They’re available on Amazon, and probably locally from better-stocked stores. You get the control of directly hand-holding food in the mandoline, but also avoid the “fun” of slicing part of a thumb or finger partially or wholly off when the food slips…
admin says
Oh my gosh, I’m sorry but your comment is SO FUNNY. I actually HATE holding the holder and totally sliced off skin (but DID avoid major damage and a tetanus shot!). After that I don’t know how you even go near a mandoline! Those bad boys are pretty dangerous. 🙂
I was looking at the kevlar gloves… that might definitely be on my Christmas wish list for the family. I hope your hand(s) have healed!!!
Michael Gurski says
I just chalked it up to experience. Any injury that doesn’t require the ED or stitches is one that won’t faze me at all. And it was totally my fault, making sweet potato fries, pre-keto. I took a nice chunk of skin from my thumb off, too, but I Iron Chefed my way through, bandaging and putting on a glove to finish the task!
Incidentally, any wound that can be closed with a bandage, you don’t need stitches, according to my step-dad, who’s a doctor. The tetanus shot was him & my mom over-reacting the next week when we visited! 🙂
Lindsay says
Whoa, I need to get in on this mandoline action. Those veggies you sliced looked pro!
P.S. Nice kitchen shot 🙂
admin says
They totally look pro – if /I/ can make a sliced veggie look that good, then it’s obvious this kitchen tool was worth it. Re: Photo, I’m pretty embarrassed by it but it was one of the better ones we had.