Learn Something New - Chopping Onions

Hopefully all of you can just skip over this post because you all use, and know how to work with, onions. As with garlic, there's just no substitute for fresh onions. I do have dried onion, but I reserve it ONLY for those nights when I just don't want to hear my 6 year old whine about the onions in her meal. Normally I tell her to deal with it (I refuse to have a kid who doesn't grow up to love onions!), but there are "those days" where I'd just rather avoid the fight. However, she's finally gotten used to them and now says she actually likes them, as long as they're sauted. :)

First, cut off both ends. Then stand the onion up on one end, and cut it in half (from the top down towards the cutting board). Then peel the first few layers of skin and onion off of each half.

Place each half cut side down on the cutting board, and slice vertically.
Now, turn your knife the other way, and slice horizontally.


There you have it - perfectly chopped onions!


Now let's move on to finely dicing. The times you'll want to finely dice is when the onions aren't going to be cooked, like red onion in a salad or salsa, for example. I love raw onion, but I don't want to bite into a huge chunk.

You do it pretty much the same way we talked about before, but there are a few differences. Start by chopping off one of the ends of the onion. Then peel the outer layer of skin off. Leaving one end still attached is the trick to getting a really fine dice. It holds the onion together and gives you a lot more stability.

Next make 3-4 horizontal slices inward, towards the still-attached end, being careful not to cut all the way through.

Now slice 5-6 times vertically, in the opposite direction that you made your horizontal slices. Again, be careful not to cut through the still-attached end. The closer together that you slice, the smaller your dice will be.

Now turn your knife and slice downward in thin slices.

The finished product: