Cooking vegetables is usually seen as being rather straightforward. You just chop them up and cook them until they’re soft, right? While vegetables are simple if you know what you’re doing, there are also several ways that cooking with vegetables can go wrong. One of the main things that people stumble on is chopping vegetables to the right size for whichever dish they’re cooking. Different cooking styles require different-sized vegetables. Here are some of the essentials of veg prep.
Dice for Frying
Frying has a short cooking time. You can’t fry foods for long periods without them burning. For this reason, if you are frying your vegetables you want to cut them into small chunks that will cook easily.
Small Chunks for Stews
If you are preparing stews or casserole dishes that will be simmering for a while and have a long cook time, chop your vegetables into small chunks. This means about 1-inch in length. This allows them to soften to the right consistency.
Medium Sized Chunks for Roasting
If you are going to roast a medley of vegetables, chop them into medium/large chunks. For example, chop an onion or pepper into four pieces and bake them like that.
