Chopping, Slicing, Dicing, and Mincing....Basic How To

I have found that ever since I learned how to chop vegetables, I use them more frequently in my cooking. I went to a friend's house for dinner, and I was amazed that many people do not know how to quickly and efficiently chop their vegetables, which not only makes their use more of an inconvenience, but it also means that the vegetables are frequently the wrong size for cooking. If your veggies are different sizes, they will cook for different amounts of time, which could mean that some burn while others are still crisp. I have put together a how to guide with some of the most frequently used vegetables in cooking, to hopefully help you to make the most of your time and energy, and get your desired results in the kitchen.

How big do you want it?
Slicing usually produces the largest pieces, and is the quickest way to cut vegetables. After cleaning and preparing your veggies, it usually consists of one cut. It is often used for stir frys or slow cookers. Chopping is the next level of cutting, and involves cutting the slices into smaller pieces. Dicing is a smaller form of chopping, and mincing is an even smaller size piece.

Bell Peppers
I have seen some very interesting ways to chop up bell peppers. I used to use a small knife to go around the stem, and then cut up the pepper. I discovered that in restaurants, there is not as much time to dice up 100 bell peppers, so they use a much faster, more effective technique. First, slice the bell pepper in half, as shown below. grab the core with your hand and remove. Ta-da! So much faster and less dangerous than using a dagger. In restaurants, they will usually slice the top and bottom off to create a flat, uniform piece of bell pepper for easier chopping/slicing, but I find that to be very wasteful.

From this point, slice your bell pepper (usually 1/4" slices are a good size), and, if desired, slice across your slices to create a diced bell pepper. Cut skin side down, as to not dull the knife on the waxy side of the bell pepper. All done!

Ginger

Ginger has always been a tough one for me, because I have always used ground ginger in recipes. I have found that fresh ginger keeps for months, and has a much stronger flavor than dried ginger. Slice off as much of gnarly root as needed in thin slices. After you have sliced off a thin piece, use your knife to cut off the brown skin. Most recipes tell you to peel the ginger, but you do not want any of the tough skin in your cooking, and I have never been able to peel the ginger successfully. Slice the thin pieces, and then cut the opposite direction. Because ginger is so fibrous, it will be a bit tougher than the other veggies. Run your knife over the small pieces until you have minced the ginger. I usually find that one slice is about a tablespoon, but this will vary.

 
Onion
Onions are probably my favorite to teach how to cut, because I have always cut them with the ends on, and this method is significantly easier (very important when making french onion soup!). Slice the onion in half, so that you are cutting end to end as shown. Lay the onion flat, and cut off each top and bottom.

Peel the skin from the onion, and slice the onion in one direction. I usually recommend 1/4" slices. turn the onion 90 degrees on the cutting board, and slice in the opposite direction to dice the onion. If you find that you need more room to slice than what your hand allows, it may be helpful to flip the onion so that the part in your hand is on the board, and the cut edge it now the part that you are holding on to.

Garlic
Garlic is my absolute favorite food group! I love garlic in everything, and fresh is ALWAYS best. It can be a bit intimidating, however, to determine how to get the amazingness out of the paper ball that it originally comes in, though. Start with the head of garlic, and remove several cloves of garlic. Some recipes will call for full cloves, which should be peeled, and I like to smash them to release some flavor. Once you have removed the cloves, use the flat edge of the knife to smash the garlic. This will make the garlic very easy to peel.

After peeling, you can use the full clove, or make it smaller.slice the garlic as thinly as possible. Turn the garlic and slice in the opposite direction, which will give you a mince. The more surface area that is exposed with garlic, the stronger the flavor, so I always go for as tiny as possible. Run your knife over the pile of garlic several times to get a super fine mince, or use salt to smash it even more. If you decide to use salt, sprinkle a dash of salt on the pile of garlic, and use the flat part of the knife to spread the garlic into the cutting board. Do this a couple of times to create a garlic paste, which will give your food the most garlic possible :) .

By learning the fastest way to prepare your commonly used vegetables, you will be more likely to use them in all of your cooking, and less likely to have to go eat out. This is important to use your cash, and your time wisely, and I would recommend for everyone to practice these techniques. While making something with garlic. And bringing it for dinner. :) :) :)