Cooking

Salad lovers are not afraid to chop

Do you have a melon that sits in the fridge for days on end until someone is brave enough to chop it up? I've a sneaking suspicion one of the barriers to enjoying more fruit and vegetables is our chopping skills. Could a little courage and confidence make a big difference?

I believe salad lovers have one thing in common – they're not afraid to chop. Embracing fresh produce with open arms, they know all it takes to assemble a salad or enjoy a melon is a few minutes with the knife and chopping board. You don’t have to posses chef-standard knife skills to overcome this barrier, just a little courage to start chopping. It’s much easier to share and enjoy fresh food when preparing them becomes second nature.

Four tips to boost your confidence

1. Pre-cut your melon into slices or wedges and store in the fridge. They make perfect instant snacks. Watch them disappear.

2. Create tomato and cucumber tapas. Quarter the tomatoes, slice the cucumber into sticks and serve with olive oil and a pinch of salt to bring out the flavour. 

3. Veggie chips? Chop a selection of veggies into "chips". Try capsicum, celery, carrot and cucumber to share around with friends. Serve with home-made hummus or your favourite dip.

4. Watermelon treats. Have you seen this video on ‘how to cut a watermelon’ making its way around Facebook and the web? It's a simple approach to chopping a watermelon ready to share and enjoy.

By mastering your chopping skills, serving fresh ingredients becomes effortless and exciting.

Discover more ideas to make salads easy!