The box grater was always one of my least favorite kitchen tools— it's bulky, awkward to use without sliding around on the cutting board, rarely sharp enough for the task at hand, and cumbersome to clean. But my love for homemade mac n' cheese outweighed my distaste for my old silver box grater, so I made do. That is, until I found this updated box grater from Microplane. With the three most popular Microplane blades(coarse, ribbon, and fine) plus a slicer, I can use this tool for both grating piles of Gruyère and zesting nutmeg into my béchamel, or slicing vegetables and zesting lemon for a salad—I love the fact that I no longer have to pull out my smaller microplane zester and dirty two tools for one recipe. The rubber handle and feet mean that this grater is especially easy to handle, and the front panel slides out for easy access cleaning.
Microplane Box Grater, $34.95 at Amazon.com
