Vegan with a Vengeance

but for opening packages, cutting delicate things, etc. So you need three knives, really, a chef’s knife, a serrated knife, and a paring knife. But that’s it, for real this time.
    âœ— I used to have a wooden cutting board but the damned thing got wet and mildewy on me. Plus it was a pain to clean. Now I have one of those plastic cutting boards with a rubber grip bottom and it’s great. It doesn’t slide all over the place and I can just throw it in the sink and not worry about mold. Whatever you do, don’t use a glass cutting board: they look cool but they’ll just destroy your knives.
    âœ— Bowls for mixing! A set of stainless-steel bowls is a nice thing to have; you can drop them and they won’t break. Plus they’re cheap. I have a big heavy Pyrex bowl that I like to use for bread and hot things, but it’s a pain to clean (it doesn’t fit in the sink so well) and it’s heavy . I also have a bajillion little bowls and ramekins that I use but they’re totally not necessary.

    âœ— A big cast-iron frying pan will change your life. It adds great flavor plus iron to food and it gets hot and stays hot. New ones don’t cost a lot and you can buy used ones, too—if there’s rust on the pan, scrub it off with steel wool and then give the pan a light coating of oil and place it in a hot oven to season it. Never ever wash your cast-iron pans with soap, and don’t scrub ’em too hard, either! After a while, cooking oil will coat the pans and bake on, giving them a nonstickish kind of surface that also protects the iron from rust. When this happens the pans will become easy to clean; just soak ’em for a few minutes in hot water and clean them with a brush. Then dry them; if they stay wet they’ll rust.
    âœ— A nonstick skillet is a good thing to have, too, one that won’t dent easily and has a solid, well-attached handle. Remember not to use metal utensils with a nonstick surface! If you scratch it, it’ll start to flake off and then it’s useless; you’ll have to throw it out. So take care of it. Don’t get it super-hot, either; use a cast-iron skillet for that sort of thing.
    âœ— A metal spatula (for the cast-iron pan) and a wooden spatula (for the nonstick). I like those cheap metal spatulas with a thin, flexible paddle.
    âœ— Tongs are your best friend. I use them for flipping things and for grabbing things that are high up on shelves.
    âœ— It’s nice to have smaller pans for smaller things. I use a nonstick pan for toasting spices and melting chocolate. Try to purchase one that you can put in the oven as well (with a handle that won’t melt), which is great for frittatas.
    âœ— For years I had this thrift-store 6-quart pot that I used for everything, but some rice burned into it and it had a broken handle anyway, so I had to throw it out. Now I have a 4-quart pot and a giant 3-gallon pot. I hardly ever use the giant pot but, when I need it, I really need it, so it’s great to have.
    âœ— My sister gave me a cast-iron grill pan that she didn’t want, and that thing has revolutionized my life. I don’t know how I lived without it. And it’s not a terribly expensive item, either, so I don’t know why I didn’t have one. So awesome.
    âœ— A big spoon for stirring things and a ladle for soups.

    âœ— A box grater for shredding things and a microplane for shaving things, zesting lemons, etc.
    âœ— A nice peeler, preferably a Y-shaped serrated one for peeling veggies with thick skins.
    âœ— A whisk, for whisking!
    âœ— My rubber spatula melted when I left it too close to the stove. So I went and bought one of those silicon ones—problem solved. Great for getting all the batter out of the mixing bowls.
    âœ— A frying thermometer, not to be confused with a meat thermometer or a candy thermometer. A frying thermometer can measure temperatures up to 500°F (the other thermometers quit a hundred or two degrees lower than that), and should come with a clip or hook to let you hang the gizmo inside the pot.
    âœ— I buy baking sheets, muffin tins, etc., as I need them. A good rimmed cookie sheet is a must-have. Get a cheap 9 × 13-inch baking pan for roasting—stuff will burn and get stuck in it, so you don’t want to use your good one. I really like my Pyrex casserole, and my glass pie plate.
    âœ— I have a lot of baking accoutrements but the things I use