BAKING PARCHMENT. Avoid ‘non-stick’ liners and aluminium foil. Line baking tins and trays to stop food sticking using unbleached, metal-free baking parchment, which you can also use for wrapping leftovers. Look for muffin cases made of baking parchment for easy removal.
BAKING TINS, SHEETS AND TRAYS. For baking and roasting, use stainless steel, ceramic or lead-free, enamel-lined bakeware. Line all other bakeware with baking parchment to avoid toxic PTFE and PFOA.
CANTEENS. Use stainless-steel canteens for carrying water, smoothies and juices when you are on the go. Buy food-grade stainless steel so it doesn’t react, and double check that there is no plastic liner.
CHOPPING BOARDS. Avoid plastic and choose wood and bamboo, which are naturally antibacterial. After washing and drying, use a leftover halved lemon to deodorise them.
FLASKS. Stainless-steel vacuum flasks are perfect for keeping food hot or cold for transporting to work. Make sure there is no plastic liner.
FOOD PROCESSOR WITH A RANGE OF ATTACHMENTS. Grate a mountain of cauliflower or broccoli into rice, whip up cakes and blitz cabbage into slaw in no time. Use the small bowl insert for blending dips, pestos and dressings.
GLASSWARE. Toxic BPA found in the plastic used for some lunchboxes and food-storage pots can leak into food, so we use lidded glass bowls and dishes instead, for more liquid foods, and plastic containers lined with baking parchment for storing things like cookies, cakes and muffins. Save glass jars for storing dips, dressings and sauces and even soups, smoothies and juices. Heatproof jars are good for making noodle pots (see here) to take to work. Containers made of ovenproof glass can also go straight into the oven – an added benefit.
KITCHEN SCALES. We like compact digital scales for ease and accuracy.
KNIVES. One big, one small and one serrated for soft foods should be all you need. You’ll need a knife sharpener too – a blunt knife is not as safe and will slow you down.
POTS AND PANS. Use stainless-steel pots or pans and a ceramic frying pan to avoid toxic substances found in other types of modern cookware. Try the new generation of ‘green cookware’ instead. We highly recommend a 4-litre pot with a lid for making broth, stews and big batches of soup.
SPATULAS. Use a wooden one for cooking and a silicone one for scraping out bowls, blenders and food processors.
SPIRALIZER. This turns vegetables – such as carrots, courgettes, cucumbers, squash and celeriac – and apples into spaghetti-like noodles. A julienne peeler makes a good alternative, or you can try a standard vegetable peeler for different shapes.
Of the items listed below, the two we would recommend most are, number one, a high-powered blender and, number two, a slow cooker.
BLENDER. Use a high-speed blender to make light work of blending raw veg like kale and beetroot for smoothies and grinding nut milk and flours such as ground flax. Hand-held stick blenders are great for softer ingredients. Check the power of the blender suits your requirements before you invest in one. For smoothies, you can use a food processor for blending softer ingredients, though you might not get such a smooth finish. We indicate in the relevant recipes when to swap harder ingredients for softer ones if using a food processor.
DEHYDRATOR. This machine gently dries out food at a very low temperature. Very handy for dehydrating ‘activated’ nuts and seeds (see here) to make them ‘crispy’, for fruit and vegetable ‘crisps’ and for making raw crackers and granolas.
JUICER. The slow-grinding action of a masticating juicer (also known as a cold-press juicer) ensures that more of the goodness from your fruit and veg makes it into your juice. You can also use it to make nut milks and butters.
MANDOLIN. Great for finely slicing fruit and vegetables quickly, but not needed if you have a spiralizer.
MEASURING SPOONS. If you don’t have proper measuring spoons, the temptation is always to use an ordinary tablespoon from the cutlery drawer to measure ingredients. While this may work well enough for some recipes, most baking requires precise measurements. Check you are using the right-sized spoons: 1 teaspoon = 5ml, 1 tablespoon = 15ml. Look for stainless-steel measuring spoons that are hardwearing – starting with a ½ teaspoon measure, right up to a full tablespoon. Unless a recipe indicates otherwise, make sure your spoonfuls are level – don’t heap or compact them, especially when it comes to ingredients like coconut flour where a little goes a long way.
SALAD SPINNER. Important for making good salads – you don’t want soggy leaves!
SLOW COOKER. Throw in the ingredients for a stew, soup or bone broth in the morning and it’s then ready when you get home from work, or get it going the night before for a hot breakfast when you wake. An ovenproof casserole with a lid, for cooking stews or casseroles in the oven, makes a good alternative otherwise.
WATER FILTER. Tap water typically contains chloride, fluoride, traces of heavy metals, nitrates, pesticides and hormones. We recommend a water filter to remineralise your tap water, but a filter jug is a good starting point.