Just can't get enough of chefs chopping at lightening speed on TV? Time for you to take a stab at it!
Unless you dedicate hours a day (for years) to chopping, you probably won't match the speed of the TV chefs, but you can drastically improve the safety of chopping at home and speed up your dinner preparation. Just make sure to start with a sharp knife!
In the Knife Skills series of videos, I'll walk you through how to slice, dice and chop a variety of types of produce. Along the way, I'll throw in tricks of the trade that make it possible for chefs to chop the way they do. Throughout, I'll go slowly so that you can see what is happening. To get faster, just practice, practice, practice. That's it!
We'll start with bell peppers. Why? Because that's what I was chopping for breakfast at a time when I had a willing videographer. It's all in continuing with the spirit of fitting healthy things into your day where you can. Anything that takes a lot of planning is unlikely to happen in most kitchens, right?
Knife Skills - Chopping Bell Peppers
The techniques in this video work for all bell peppers, banana peppers, gypsy peppers, California peppers, poblano pepper or any large, relatively rounded pepper that is MILD. For tips on dealing with smaller, SPICIER peppers, check out the video Jalapeño - How to remove seeds and finely chop at the end of the post Summer - The season for salsa .
Finally, no post would be complete without some nutrition facts!
Did you know that 1 serving of red bell pepper (1 cup chopped) has all of the vitamin A you need in a day, 300% of the vitamin C, 3g of fiber, 10% of your daily potassium needs, vitamin B6, folate and a smattering of minerals - all with 0 fat and only 40 calories?! Bonus - plant foods have no cholesterol and negligible sodium.
Photo credit: http://marycrimmins.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/bell-peppers.jpg
