6 Weird Kitchen Tools That Take Healthy Cooking To The Next Level

While I'm a firm believer that you need little more than a good knife and a single pan to live a healthy lifestyle, sometimes the fun kitchen gadgets can be a huge asset, making cooking easier, better for you, and way more fun. As a cookbook author and healthy food writer and editor, I've gotten to test hundreds of trendy items—and after all that, these six have actually earned a place in my kitchen:

I've also been awed by a good air-fryer's ability to make truly crispy versions of my favorite fried foods (cauliflower bites, French fries). While I don't think fat is inherently bad and I love using lots of the better-for-you kinds in my recipes, frying can quickly heat oils to the point where they become rancid, and it usually means consuming large amounts of refined fats (versus whole food fats like avocado, or nuts)—plus, it makes a huge mess of your stove and clothing. Air fryers use a small amount of fat (which you want, since many vegetables contain fat-soluble vitamins) but keep the ratios reasonable while containing all the mess. My pick: The just-released Skinnytaste by Vremi Airfryer is compact enough for small apartments and PFOA-free ($89.99)

A huge reason I think it's worth it to buy an immersion blender these days, though, is the attachments that generally come standard—most are sold with a small container for blending sauces and dressings that can get lost in a larger blender and beaters for whipping aquafaba or organic cream or making cookies. You simply pop on a different attachment and voilà, it's the most multiuse item in your kitchen. My pick: The Smeg Hand Blender has all of the attachments you want, and its cute retro vibe is a welcome addition to any kitchen ($179.95)

I also love it to make gorgeous, tangled salads—because we eat with our eyes in addition to our mouths and noses, the beautiful spiraling colors make the raw vegetables even more appealing (this is an especially great trick for dinner parties). My pick: I've tried a million spiralizers, but I never actually liked spiralizing until I got the Inspiralizer Pro, which features an easy knob to change noodle sizes (rather than fiddling with awkward attachments) and rubber feet to keep it from moving on the counter ($34.95)

But because they're made of silicone and heatproof (you can even sous vide in them!), they take on even more uses. I'll pack leftover grains in them when they're still hot, spreading them out in the bag so they cool quickly before I stick them in the fridge. I'll put leftover solid or semisolid (think: chili) meals in them, then take them for lunch. I've even used them to quickly defrost meat, removing it from its plastic package and putting it in the Stasher bag before submerging it in hot water. My pick: I love all of my Stasher bags, but the 64.2-ounce "Storage" size is the most used in my kitchen ($19.37)

If I have avocados about to go bad, I'll scoop out their flesh and press it into an ice cube tray; when it's frozen and rehoused in a Stasher bag, it's a perfect size to pop into a smoothie. Herbs at the end of their lives are frozen in olive oil, becoming little flavor bombs; small amounts of leftover smoothie are put into cubes to be reused in later smoothies. My pick: I love these Ozera large ice cube trays, which are made of food-grade silicone, reasonably priced, and big enough to easily hold whatever I'm using them for ($9.99)

Finally, if you want to make your energy balls, a food processor is a must-have—it mashes any dried fruit and nut mixture to make a healthy snack in seconds. My pick: The Cuisinart 11-Cup food processor is the perfect size—not too big for my small apartment and not too small to make quick work of any of my vegetables ($129.99)