Hamilton beach makes a food processor. I bought one for our beach rental. It is pretty good and I have used it to make dough as well as all of the stuff I make with my cuisinart 12 cup that I have at home.

Thanks, 12:24! Yep, I do use the Vitamix for hummus, and it does work great. It's a little tough to get all of it out--we have the tall jar--so I don't love that, but it's excellent hummus.

Don't have a rec, but did you know that you can make hummus in your Vitamix? I do it all of the time and it's awesome.

Our Cuisinart mini-prep finally bit the dust and I'm looking for a replacement. I have an old Braun immersion/stick blender and a Vitamix (two speeds only), but need something that will chop/mash/puree. In other words, soups, sauces, nut butters, and smoothies are covered, but I need something that can make hummus or chop onions and other veggies and mash up stuff (we make the Mark Bittman bean burgers at least 2-3 times a week) and isn't massive but also not tiny (around 5-6 cups would be ideal).

I'd like to spend about $25-35. I know that if I pay more, I can get something better, but this is more for smaller jobs, and I just don't want to spend a ton on a Cuisinart right now, especially considering that we've not had great luck with Cuisinart products (coffee maker quit working after a year and the chopper actually caught fire).

Thanks!