The food processor that I purchased with my Bosch mixer is very useful when I have large quantities of vegetables to grate or slice—for instance, baseball-bat-sized summer squash!
Frankly, I don’t get out the attachments every time I need to grate something. For most everyday jobs, I’m happy to use my regular grater and just do it by hand. It seems faster to do that than clean the food processor. However, when I’ve got several huge zucchinis (summer squash), the electric version is definitely a time-saver!
If the skin isn’t too hard, I just slice the squash into pieces that will fit through the plunger and push them through. Some have hard skins that should be trimmed off first.
What to do with all that grated squash? I bag them in freezer-strength ziplocs, about 2 cups per package as that seems a reasonable amount for the recipes I want to use it in. I lay them flat to freeze so they stack nicely.
My favorite use for them so far is as a substitute for all or part of the potatoes in potato pancakes. A thawed package of zucchini (water drained/squeezed out), a couple of small potatoes (grated), a raw egg, a bit of shredded cheese, enough flour to glue them together, and some salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly, then put in a sizzling frying pan with a bit of oil, butter, or lard. Each pancake can be about 1/3 cup, pressed fairly flat. Flip when lightly browned on the first side, then cook through and brown the second side.
Kid and grown-up approved!
