[upbeat music]
[knife tapping against wooden board]
[celery cracking open]
[knife tapping against wooden board]
- Hi, my name's Amy Chaplin.
I'm a chef and cookbook author
and today I'm gonna show you
how to chop every vegetable.
[basket weave rustling]
[vegetables rumbling on wooden counter]
[dramatic upbeat music]
Peanut, peanuts are actually legumes,
so really, they should
be boiled before eating
but we roast them.
This is how you open a peanut.
You crack down to crack open the end
and then you break it like that,
and then inside of two
cute little peanuts.
That's a peanut.
Brussels sprouts, Brussels
sprouts actually grow
like this and you can pluck them off
and they're actually much fresher
when you buy them like
this at the farmers market.
You take off the end and cut them in half.
If they're this small trim off the bottom
and roast them whole.
You could eat it raw with a mandolin.
So cut off the end,
take off any sort of tougher outer leaves
and then just shave it longways like this.
And that can be dressed raw,
delicious with olive oil,
sea salt, a bit of lemon.
Or you can cut the bottom off,
take off the sort of wilted outer leaves
and then peel each leaf
if you wanna as well.
That's another way to eat it raw
and they can be tossed
in a salad like that.
Peas, peas are a spring vegetable
and they're one of the
vegetables that you really need
to eat freshly picked.
They get starchy and lack sweetness
when they've been sitting
around for a while.
The way you shell a pea
is you don't need a knife
or anything else,
you just pop the end like that,
run your thumb along the edge
and then you reveal all the peas.
That's a pea.
Snap pea, a snap pea is like a pea except
that you can eat the whole
thing, they're delicious.
You can leave them whole,
steam, saute or you could
make them look fancy
by cutting it on an angle like that
and it looks really pretty.
Wakame, wakame is a sea vegetable
that you purchase dried.
You need to soak it and then drain it.
So what I'm gonna do is just cut it
into manageable size like this
and then I'm just gonna
slice down each side
of the stem
like that and take this out.
This can be used in stocks.
Cut it across.
Now it's ready to be marinated,
added to miso soup.
So you can add to wherever you like.
A little bit of seaweed goes a long way.
It's a fantastic flavoring
and full of nutritional properties.
Garlic, I like to prep
garlic by breaking apart all
of the different cloves.
Then I get my knife and
just a tap
and you don't really
need to do anything else.
Now you can decide how you wanna cut it.
Take off the end and then thinly slice it.
[knife tapping against wooden board]
like that, I leave them home
to roast with the skin on
and then you can have fun
squeezing it out to eat it
and it's a much mellower, softer flavor.
It's not as pungent at all.
The other way is to finally dice it
[knife tapping against wooden board]
and I just go like this in half sliced
and go like that.
[upbeat trumpet music]
Shallot, a shallot is a
member of the onion family.
It can also be used in place of onions.
A lot of people prefer it.
I would just cut off the root end
and then just score down the full length
of the shallot with a knife
and peel off the outer layer.
And then if I was to use it for something
where I'm just sauteing
it you can just dice it.
It's nice and easy,
a little bit more
manageable than a big onion.
You could also slice at lengthways.
[knife tapping against wooden board]
If you wanna just, say,
saute it with vegetables, similar shape.
Watercress, watercress grows in water.
It is delicious,
juicy and quite peppery.
I love it raw in salads the most.
I think it adds such a
delicious sort of punchy flavor.
And you can just pluck
off the leaves like that
and of course this is edible too,
it's juicy and delicious.
If you did wanna cook it,
chop it up like this
and just saute it.
It can be put in brothy
type soups or ramens.
It will just cook like
spinach in an instant
once it's exposed to heat.
Green beans, I prep them just
by taking off the stem end
and that's it.
Don't cut the other end
'cause it's really pretty,
has a nice little point to it.
If you wanted to saute,
cut it on a nice angle or you
can cut it in bigger pieces
if you wanna saute it a little longer.
If you've got an odd
mount left and not enough
to make a roasted dish you
can add it to a soup or stew
and you an cut it like this
and just add it when you're
cooking the celery, say,
in a soup.
Asparagus, it grows up through the earth
so it's really important to wash it well,
it can be gritty.
[ping]
What I would do to prep
asparagus is actually just break
off the tough end.
If you wanted to saute
it I would just cut it
on an angle and cook it like that.
If you wanted to roast
it I'd leave it whole.
You can also cut them
on a mandolin like this
and you could eat it raw.
This will actually turn
green when you cook it
but it's purply.
This is white asparagus,
much more rare and difficult to find
and this is just lovely
greed baby asparagus, really,
'cause it's nice and thin.
Fava bean, fava beans
are spring vegetables,
absolutely delicious and quite a luxury
because they require two
steps in preparation.
You don't need a knife.
You just open up each pod
and you can see these
lovely little beans inside.
This needs to be blanched
just briefly in boiling water
before you slip off the outer skin
and then you've got the
beautiful little fava bean,
which is absolutely delectable.
Scallion, they're a
member of the onion family
but they have a milder
flavor than a raw onion.
So they're delicious on
absolutely everything.
Take off the root end and
then just cut it really thinly
on an angle.
And you can go all the way.
I actually like the green part.
It looks really pretty, like that.
And this you can keep
in the fridge in a jar
and sprinkle over your
salads, your grains,
your soups, it makes
everything taste better.
Celery, this is how I'd prep a celery.
I'd break off each stem
that I need like this.
[celery cracking open]
The inner ones are much more tender
and the leaves can be used as well.
They're actually really good in stock.
If I was to add it to a salad,
cut the bottom off on an angle like this
and either cut it really thinly
[knife tapping against wooden board]
or shave it on a mandolin.
[celery grinding on mandolin]
If I was to put it in a
stew I would go like this,
take off the bottom,
take off this,
save all these bits they're
really good for a stock.
Then I would cut it
lengthways and for, say,
a soup I'd go like this.
[knife tapping against wooden board]
For a stew take off the bottom,
cut the larger piece in half
and then you can do some
nice shapes like that.
This just will give you more texture
and a different look, like that.
[dramatic upbeat music and drum roll]
Spinach, spinach is a very delicate green.
It can be eaten raw or cooked.
It takes very little to cook it.
In fact, if you just pour boiling water
over it you will cook it.
If you were to saute it
I would keep these stems
'cause they're nice but you
could cut them off if you like
and then cut them in half and use them
and then just roughly chop,
or leave whole.
You can totally leave this whole,
it shrinks down so much.
But if you just wanted
to roughly chop to stir
into a soup or a stew
at the end of cooking
or a risotto then roughly
chopped is good or torn.
Kombu, kombu is a sea vegetable.
What you find in Asian markets
is a much stiffer kombu
that you can roll and thinly slice
and it can be really cut in squares,
triangles or these long, thin strips.
For this one there's
no stem end that I need
to cut off so I'd probably just cut it
into even pieces like this and stack them.
And I could actually try
rolling this to get it
to be thin slices.
[knife grinding on wooden board]
Or you could just cut it
in cubes by stacking again.
So just keep stacking.
And then just like this,
you only want a little bit
'cause seaweed is strong tasting.
Okra, if you get small ones
you can leave them whole
like this and then all you need
to do is just cut off
the end where it's dry
and actually you can just cook these whole
with some juice.
They'll cook down and become
succulent and delicious.
If you're slicing it you
will come across this sort
of viscus juice that is inside
and it comes out more when cooking.
So you can saute onions, garlic,
ginger, whatever flavors
you want and then add this
and saute it and then add
other flavors as well.
It's also used in gumbo,
friends in the south
love to put it in gumbo.
It has like a pretty mild flavor alone
but it lends itself well
to spices, that's okra.
Nopales.
Okay, this is a cactus
with very spiky little bits on it
that you wanna be very careful handling.
If you hold it at the
bottom it's a bit safer
but you can wear kitchen
gloves or hold it with a towel
and you wanna take off these spiky bits.,
or you can use a peeler.
Cut it down the middle
and then cut it like this.
And it's bright green now but, yeah,
it turns a sort of more
a darker olivey green.
It's used in Mexican cooking.
It can be grilled, sauteed,
but it needs to be
cooked for quite a while
to get the sort of viscus juice
out and then dry out again.
Onion, there are different types.
This is the cipollini onion.
This is a yellow onion
and this is a white onion.
I like to cut an onion by
taking off the root first
and running the knife down the
length longways of the onion
and then peeling off the outer layer.
And then I cut it lengthways
and acrossways after that and then I like
to cut it like this because
it just falls apart nicely
and I like it for just about anything.
If you were to roast it you could leave it
in bigger chunks like this
or even whole actually with the skin on.
You can just put it in the
oven for a really long time.
This is like a classic way to just dice
but you just saw your
way towards the root,
don't go all the way.
And then do a few more
slices the other way,
not going all the way through, whoops.
And then you can dice and
it just falls into a dice.
[knife tapping against wooden board]
And then this obviously
can be used to saute
to start a soup, stew,
any dish like that.
Broccoli rabe, broccoli rabe is like
a delicate broccoli, really,
You've got these little florets
and delicious Rosaceae leaves,
so same member as broccoli, cauliflower.
And delicious sauteing it, roasted even.
You can roast it whole like
this on a pan with the leaves
and make it really crispy.
You can also grill that part.
The leaves shrivel up
a little bit grilling
and roasting but it's still really tasty.
So to steam it I would
just cut off the ends.
They can be a little bit woody and tough.
And then I would just cut in
a couple inch pieces like that
and then just steam it whole.
That's just delicious.
Leave it whole if you're roasting
and do this if you're
sauteing or steaming.
Endive, endives can also be purple.
[ping]
Endive is delicious in a salad.
In fact, I wouldn't really
recommend cooking it
or doing it any other way.
You can use it as a dipping
utensil as a crudite.
But to get the leaves off
you just cut the stem end
and then they just start falling off.
And you need to recut as
you go but here's one,
like that and then you can cut it again.
And these are lovely just whole.
I think they look beautiful
stacked on a plate
with a nice citrusy dressing,
they're really tasty.
If you wanted to slice it
thinly for a salad another way
to do it is take the end off,
cut it in half and then I just cut it like
[knife tapping against wooden board]
and then just break it up.
And you can dress it like that.
Radicchio, radicchio is
delicious both cooked and raw.
But more commonly you'll
find it raw in salads
where you can just peal off the leaves
and break them up by hand,
no need to cut them.
It doesn't look that great cut,
I don't think.
I think it's actually better
to break up the pieces like this.
The only reason I would cut
it is if I was cooking it.
Saute it with other greens,
it's a delicious bitter flavor.
So similar to a red cabbage,
take out the core and
then just cut acrossways
into any shape you want but
this is a kind of good way
to braise or saute.
These are other types of radicchio.
Castelfranco, sometimes
you see it as pink lettuce
but it's like a pink radicchio.
Then there's this one
here which is speckledy.
And this is Treviso that can
just be broken off like this
and used in your salad.
Any of these can be
cooked but they're really,
really beautiful and tasty
raw and also really juicy.
Bok Choy, bok choy is a delicious,
juicy green vegetable,
really mild flavored.
It's not strong like a
kale or collard green, say.
So to prepare it you'll always
need to take off the bottom
and then the leaves just fall off.
And the leaves cook a
lot faster than the stem
so separate them like this.
Just take off the leaves
and cut the stem a little bit thinner
than you would the leaves.
You can actually leave the leaves whole
but if they're big you might
wanna just cut them in half.
And then you can cut this
on an angle if you want,
a bit thinner so that if you're
sauteing you add this first
and then just stir the leaves through
and they're done when they're
wilted and a deep green color.
I loved it steamed personally
with a nice sesame dressing.
This also can be eaten raw,
it's really juicy, yum.
Cabbage, cabbage is also a
member of the cruciferous family
with broccoli and cauliflower.
I like to take off the tougher
leaves off the outside.
Then I cut off the end
just to make it flat
and then cut it in half.
And look how beautiful.
If I was to roast it I
would cut it in half again,
take out the core and
then cut it in like two
to three-inch pieces.
The other way to do it is to thinly slice
and just shave it like this.
And this is a nice quick
way to make a pickle
because all you have
to do is just put salt
and vinegar on here,
crush it up with your hands
and it turns a beautiful crimson color,
can keep in your fridge for a week.
Put it on tacos, grain bowls,
in sandwiches, whatever you like.
Chicory, chicory is a delicious,
slightly bitter, but really,
really tasty vegetable
that can be used in salads.
You find it in the fall usually
and it's really good
combined with radicchio,
some watercress if you want,
a bit of fruit,
pear maybe thinly sliced, cheese.
You can just break off
the leaves like this.
[chicory snapping off]
You can use them all.
Some are darker green.
The ones in the center are lighter green
and they're sort of more tender.
I usually just break it with my hands
and maybe get rid of the stem part
if you want it all really pretty,
sort of fragily pieces like that.
You can also cut it up and cook it.
It's really yummy in a soup,
like a bean soup sort
of used like escarole.
It's a very similar kind of flavor,
mildly sort of pungent
but not very strong,
especially when you
cook it, that's chicory.
Mustard greens, mustard
greens are very mustarady.
They are extremely strong when eaten raw
and a little bit goes a long way,
especially with these bigger leaves.
You wanna look for very tender,
younger leaves if you're gonna eat it raw.
Tear it off the stem 'cause
the stem's pretty strong
and then just tear them
into bite-size pieces.
It's really good with
some shaved pear or apple
or even other root vegetables
shaved really thin.
You just, you need the
contrast of the sweetness.
You can treat it the same
way as you would kale
or collard greens and I
don't really bother taking
out the stems if I'm cooking it.
Just take off the bottom
and then slice it
straight across the leaf.
If you've got an unwieldy
bunch just stack it.
It's not very fussy because
you're just gonna saute
and you're gonna keep cooking
until it's wilted down.
It does turn a bit brown
but it really will mellow out the flavor.
Collard greens, collard greens
are a dark leafy green vegetable.
I like to steam them, saute them,
sometimes marinade them and eat them raw,
but only when they're super fresh.
The way to prepare them is
to cut off their tough stems.
Just take off a couple of inches.
If you were to saute you might
like to cut them quite fine.
If you were to steam I usually
cut them in inch pieces.
You can take out the
stem but the nutrients
from the soil come up through
the stem into the leaf,
so it's actually a really nutritious part.
If you wanna take them off and, say,
juice them or cut them up and use them
in soup you can just do it
with your hands by tearing
[leaves tearing creakily]
down like that.
and then you can cut this
and just cut across the leaf.
[knife tapping against wooden board]
If I'm leaving in the
stem I would do like this.
And then if you wanna do a really fine,
like a chiffonade it's actually better
to stack them up like
this and then roll them.
[leaves creaking]
[knife tapping against wooden board]
And this could be marinaded
or lightly sauteed
or added to a soup at the end.
I think that's it.
Swiss chard, this is rainbow chard.
It can be cooked in a variety of ways,
similar to spinach and kale and collards.
You can do a few things,
eat the stems and cook them,
just cutting straight across is fine.
Or you can do this
[knife chaffing through leaf]
and take out the stem
and layer it up like this
which I can just fold a few times,
thinly slice like this.
[knife tapping against wooden board]
Or you could dice it a
little bit like just squares.
If you're steaming you can
also just steam the whole leaf.
If you're sauteing take the
stems out and cut them up.
You can cut them up
nice and fine like this.
If you cut it like this you saute it first
and then add the leaves
last when this is tender,
starts to get a bit soft.
But no reason to throw these out
because they're so beautiful
and colorful and delicious too.
[dramatic upbeat music]
Fennel, fennel is a juicy,
delicious vegetable with
an anise kind of flavor.
I love to shave it raw for a salad.
Cut off the stems,
save these for a stock or broth.
Take off the tougher sort of root end.
Cut it in half lengthways,
face it down.
Cut it in half again and
then take out the core.
You then shave it lengthways,
on a mandolin is really easy.
It's much harder to cut this as fine
and you can save some
of the fronds to garnish
or stir through,
just plucked off and just
put on top of the salad.
So you can use it all.
It tastes way better
than liquorish, I think.
Leek, Leeks are part of the onion family.
Anywhere you'd find an
onion you can use a leek.
So to cut a leek,
cut off the end.
You trim off the top part
that I'm not gonna use.
Slit it down the center of
one of these leaves like this
and not all the way through.
Just go like that.
And then with running water run the water
down through the leaves and
wash away all this dirt,
see all this dirt?
Cut it in half
[Knife grinding against wooden board]
and then you can leave it
in large chunks and slowly simmer leeks
with a bit of olive
oil and put a lid on it
so that it really steams and falls apart,
this delicious French dish.
Or you could cut it on an angle like this.
[knife tapping against wooden board]
If you were to eat it
raw just use the tender,
light green part and then
just slice it really,
really thin, just so that it's
not too strong oniony flavor.
[knife tapping against wooden board]
And then you can just separate it
and use it like you would a scallion.
Iceberg lettuce, iceberg lettuce
is 99% water so it's very,
very juicy and crisp if it's a good one.
[ping]
It doesn't have a lot of flavor
because it's just about all water.
So cut it in half.
Cut it in half again like that.
Then thinly sliced.
Wash the outside but you don't need
to pull apart the leaves and wash it.
There's no dirt or grit getting inside.
A little bit goes a long way.
Kale, this is lacinato kale.
[ping]
This kale is usually the most
reliable and not too tough.
So you just pinch off the leaves from here
and then just run your hand down.
Now, this kale can be
sliced really thinly again
and used raw or you can stir this
into a nice white bean soup so it wilts
at the end of cooking.
You don't really wanna cook this ahead.
It tastes better fresh.
If you are roasting use this one,
taking off the stems and breaking
it into bite-size pieces.
And then purple kale can
be a little tough sometimes
and I think it's better to cook it.
If you wanted to leave the
stems in you can just cut them
down the middle and then just cut across.
[knife tapping against wooden board]
If you wanna use your
stems get them together
and just cut straight across and use this
when you're cooking carrots
and celery for a soup.
[knife tapping against wooden board]
Like that.
Butternut squash, it's in season in fall
and there's a lot of different
things you can do with it.
One of the best things to do
with squash besides making soup
is to roast to.
You can leave the skin on
but mostly I take it off
and I like to put a towel down
because when you start
peeling it it bleeds
and gets very sticky and
slippery and you can slip
and cut yourself if you're
losing control of your peeler.
So peeling it just the
fell length like this.
[peeler scraping over squash]
And just do the bottom.
[peeler scraping over squash]
And then the top too.
[peeler scraping over squash]
The best way is to cut the neck off
like that and then cut this base in half
and take out the seeds.
Just scrape.
[spoon rustling against squash]
If you're just roasting it
you can really do any shape you like.
Just take off the base.
Then you might like to
have shapes like this.
Or you might like to have
larger cubed pieces like this.
Then for the neck part take off the end
and cut it down the middle.
Cut it in, like that,
and then do the same.
You just it the same size.
Kabocha squash, kabocha squash is one
of the most densest
and sweetest tasting squashes you can buy.
Their flesh is so good in soups,
stews or steaming because
it's so moist and creamy.
Their skins can be really, really tough.
So what I like to do is use an ax.
I think it's a good idea
to put a towel underneath
because it's gonna move.
[ax chopping with a bang]
And there's the inside of the kabocha.
You don't have to take
the seeds out actually
but if you wanna take them
out use a spoon like that
and just scoop it out.
Then you need to cut it up.
You can leave the skin on if
you're steaming or roasting.
And if you've got a really sharp knife,
now it's more manageable.
You can kind of do this
action to go through.,
and I think the nicest way to
cut it is in wedges like this.
That is a kabocha.
[dramatic upbeat music and drum roll]
Tomatillo, tomatillos are
a tomato family member
and they have a husk on
the outside that you need
to peel off before you use them.
You don't need a knife
actually because the best way
to prepare them is to boil them,
blanche them until they burst
or put them under a grill
until the skins char a little bit.
So this is what the inside
looks just like a tomato
and not great raw.
They're also very sticky
once you take off this husk.
So don't take it off until
you plan on using them.
It's just like a green tomato, raw,
still better cooked though.
Tomato.
[trumpet blowing]
Tomato.
[trumpet blowing]
Tomatoes are the best thing
when they're in season
and that season is pretty short.
When they're in season my favorite way
to cut them is to just
take out the stem end
and cut them in wedges like this.
[knife tapping against wooden board]
And then just olive oil,
salt and that's really it
because they taste so amazing.
Zucchini, zucchini is a
member of the squash family
and it's in season in summer.
You can cut them in chunks and roast them.
You can roll cut them and then steam it.
You can slice them in long,
thin strips like this and grill it.
The other way to prepare
a zucchini is to peel it
and create ribbons
[peeler scraping over zucchini]
and then you can make a
delicious pine nut dressing
with lemon, really yummy,
toss it over this and it's a really nice,
different textured way to eat it.
There's a lot of different
things you can do
with a humble zucchini.
Cucumber, cucumbers are very versatile.
They are absolutely delicious
just sliced as they come.
You can cut them on a
mandolin like this very thinly
and use that as a pickle.
It can be cut into large slices like this
and used as a crudite,
thinly sliced as a sandwich,
cut into rounds,
that's a cucumber.
Chayote, in Australia
we call these chokos.
[ping]
They are a squash family
member similar to a zucchini,
very mild tasting.
You can eat the skin.
You need to take out the seeds though.
We used to just eat it steamed
and we would just cut it like this.
[knife tapping against wooden board]
And you could also do that to roast.
It's a very mild taste sort of,
[crunchy chewing]
it's like a cucumber
and zucchini kind of mix
'cause it's crunchy like it's a cucumber
but very mild like a zucchini, yeah.
[crunchy chewing]
Pepper, peppers are a
large family of vegetables
and they can be used in
so many different ways.
To prep a bell pepper cut
it in half lengthways.
Take out the seeds and the membrane.
It's a little bit bitter.
You can just do it with your fingers
and then you can decide do
you want slices like this
to be eaten raw as a snack,
as a crudite or larger
pieces that you might like
to roast to then put on a
sandwich or add to a salad.
Jalapeno pepper, the best way,
I think, to cut this is to
just go around the seeds,
like this, just roll it.
The seeds are really spicy.
The flesh may or may not be spicy.
You really just have to
test it by going like this
just to see if it's burning your tongue.
So you can slice it up
like this in long strips
and then just dice it
and then you can use that
in a salsa like that.
And that's peppers.
Bitter melon, bitter melon is a member
of the watermelon family.
It can be eaten in a variety of ways.
You don't need to peel it.
You do need to take out the seeds though.
So I would cut it longways like this
and take out these seeds
by scraping with a spoon,
just like you would,
say, a squash.
Say you were to saute it you could cut it
on an angle like this.
[knife tapping against wooden board]
If you wanted to steam you
could do it a bit thicker
and let's see how it tastes raw?
[crunchy chewing]
Bitter, very bitter.
I'd say cook it.
Forget that raw bit.
Saute it, I think I'd do
first if I had to use it.
Anyone wanna try it?
[laughing]
Eggplant, eggplants need to
be cooked first and foremost
and cooked properly.
If you don't cook them
enough they're hard.
They should be soft and
succulent and really melt
in your mouth.
If they're not in season
I recommend cutting them
how you wanna cut them,
mixing them with salt
and set aside for an hour
to drain to get out a bitter taste
and then rinsing them really
well before you prepare them.
They are often sliced and pan fried.
You do need a lot of
oil to roast or fry them
'cause they are spongy and absorbent.
So if you were to do
that for a sandwich, say,
you would just slice it like this.
And after you've salted it and drained it,
if you need to do that,
you then pan fry them.
If I was gonna roast it I cut it
into sort of wedge shapes like this.
So there's a lot of different
ways to use eggplant,
but not raw,
you don't wanna eat it raw.
[relaxing upbeat music and drum roll]
Radish, radishes are delicious eaten raw
however you can roast them or saute them.
So I love to shave them
by plucking off the end.
Leave at least some of the
greens when you're shaving them
because you have a handle then to use.
[radish grinding on mandolin]
And you can shave them like that.
If you want you can cut
them into little wedges
like this and steam them,
which a lot of people don't think to do.
And they look really pretty.
Turmeric, turmeric is now very famous.
It is full of nutritional benefits
and there's so many reasons
to add it to your diet.
It comes dried as a powder
but fresh is the way to go.
You need to peel it.
[peeler grinding on tumeric]
Then you would cut it
lengthways like this,
stack it up just like ginger,
and thinly slice and then dice.
[knife tapping against wooden board]
If you wanna cook it
I would suggest dicing
it finely like that, that's turmeric.
Ginger, it is delicious
and very medicinal.
It's fantastic if you have
a cold or a sore throat.
The best way to prepare it is
to break off a manageable
piece and peel it first.
But the least wasteful way
is to peel it with a spoon
because you really just
take off just what you need
with the skin.
You can slice it or you can grate it.
[ginger grinding against grater]
Like that, or you can cut it
into little tiny minced pieces.
And then if you really
wanna add more ginger flavor
at the end of cooking
just squeeze in the juice.
Beetroot.
[trumpet blowing]
This is a beet.
There are a lot of different
things you can do with a beet.
You can boil them whole
which is a fantastic way to marinade them.
Without even washing
it you can just put it
in a pot of boiling water
and then once it's cooked
through to the center you
just peel off the skin
under running water.
Then you an chop that up,
marinade it with oil and vinegar
and it is my favorite way to eat it.
You can also eat them raw
but they need to be peeled
and you can shave them nice and thin.
[beetroot grinding on mandolin]
Or you can use a box
grater and just grate it
and use that as a salad.
Carrot, they're really good
when they're freshly dug
and you really shouldn't
do anything to them,
you should just eat
them straight like that
'cause they taste so sweet and delicious.
Roasted is a really
nice way to do a carrot.
And to do that with
this size carrot cut it
down the middle like that and
then you can just place it
on a roasting pan facedown
because you get a nice golden edge on it.
The other thing I like to do
with a carrot is shave it with a peeler
and create ribbons with is also a nice way
to add it to a salad
rather than grating it.
You can take off the
outer skin if you want
or you can just scrub it.
And then you could use
the inner core in a soup.
And yeah, don't waste this either,
juice it if you juice or chop it up
for your base of your soup.
[knife tapping against wooden board]
Carrots.
Parsnip, I think the best
way to cook it is to peel it
which I don't always say but
the skin can be a little bitter
and turning it into a pureed
vegetable soup or roasted,
I think is the best way to do it.
Peel it first.
You could do like a roll cut
for roasting is kind of nice.
[knife tapping against wooden board]
Or you could cut it in
long strips like this
and roast it like that.
You could also cut it like a carrot.
Turnip, turnip can be
used in all the ways you
would a parsnip, a carrot,
even a potato.
Although it has a little
bit more of a pungent flavor
and a lot of people don't love it.
It does need to be peeled.
[peeler grinding on turnip]
I would take off the end,
cut it in half and then
I would cut it like this
into sort of wedges and
then into odd shapes.
Or you could cut it
into sort of wedge-type pieces like that.
That's a turnip.
Potato, they are probably
mostly used for mashing
or roasting and stuffing.
You have also sweet potatoes,
colored little baby potatoes.
This is purple inside.
This one is pink-skinned but white inside.
You usually peel a potato.
If you're gonna mash it boil them first.
Or roast a sweet potato whole
and scoop out the flesh.
Cut it and dice it.
[knife tapping against wooden board]
Cut like that and boiled.
Add rosemary or other herbs.
This is what a sweet
potato looks like inside.
That's a potato.
Taro, taro root is a
starchy root vegetable.
This is what it looks like on the inside.
It needs to be peeled
and then thinly shaved
before it's fried into chips.
It can be made into fritters.
It can be cooked with
coconut milk and mashed.
So to peel it you can
use a peeler like this.
[peeler grinding against taro]
But it gets stuck in your
peeler because it's so fibrous.
So cutting as little of
the flesh as possible.
Chop it up and boil it to then mash it.
But if you were just chopping it
up it doesn't really matter the shape,
you could just go like this.
[knife tapping against wooden board]
That's taro root.
Rutabaga, rutabagas which are
also called swedes in England
[ping]
are an unusual vegetable.
They sort of get stronger
and a bit spicier tasting
if that makes any sense,
or sort of more pungent as they age.
And they're often mislabeled as turnips
or golden turnips,
don't be fooled.
They are a starchy root
vegetable so they can be made
into a pureed vegetable soup.
I actually love to steam them
when they're freshly
harvested and then blend
with cauliflower and use
it as a topping instead
of potato for like a Shepherd's Pie.
But you can just cut them like this
when you're cooking them in a soup.
Add them to sauteed onions and garlic,
any flavors you want and
then add the rutabaga,
water, cook till tender and blend.
That's a rutabaga.
Daikon, daikon is a member
of the radish family
but it's a lot milder.
You can quick-pickle
daikon by peeling it first.
[peeler grinding on daikon]
Cut it
in half
and shave it on a mandolin
or just thinly slice it
and it makes a really
delicious pickle just
with vinegar and salt.
You could just slice it in long,
thin strips and use it
to dip into a humus dip
or any kind of dip like this.
It's really delicious, juicy.
It's really, really delicious.
Jicama, you wanna choose
one that's very firm
and unblemished if possible.
I love eating it raw and to
do that I need to peel it.
Cut it in half first.
[knife tapping against wooden board]
So you just cut slices like this.
If you wanna cut for a salad
or a slaw I just stack it like
that and then do like a
Jullien cut like this.
Yeah, that raw,
that's how I like it.
Lotus root, lotus root grows in water.
It can be dried and purchased that way
and then you can soak it and
use it in stews and things.
First of all I'll show you
what it looks like inside, it's beautiful.
It's got all these beautiful holes.
And then I would peel the outside,
cut it really thinly and
steam it or simmer it.
Often you cut it a bit thicker
and put it in a pan like this
and salt and season it a little bit,
little bit of water and then
cook it until it's soft.
It makes your stews look really beautiful.
[dramatic upbeat music and drum roll]
Artichoke, artichokes are quite special
because a lot of preparation is involved
in getting this gnarly vegetable
down into an edible thing.
[ping]
One way that's very quick and easy is
to cut off the end like that,
cut off this end and steam
it until it's tender.
If you wanna go further you really
have to break off a lot of leaves,
down to the more tender leaves.
Peel the stem.
Then you can cut it in
half and take out the choke
and all that fluffy
inside you wanna get out.
And then you can quarter
this and roast it like this,
braise it like this or
thinly slice it and saute it.
You can also,
if you get right down to
the heart you can shave it
and eat it raw.
That's an artichoke.
Cauliflower, cauliflower is part
of the broccoli cruciferous family.
The best way to prepare it is
to cut off the leaves like that
and you can just go around.
And then you wanna cut off
each floret too like that.
You can just go around and cut them off.
If you turn it into
cauliflower rice break it up
into smaller florets or cut it
and then put it in a food processor
and grind it until it's light and fluffy.
Don't overdo it 'cause it'll just end
up mushy, that's cauliflower.
Romanesco, romanesco is
a variety of cauliflower
and has basically the same flavor.
It's much harder to cut into florets,
however, you can do it
but they join quite close
together at the top.
I do the same thing I do with cauliflower
and take off the leaves and the stem.
I would just cut it into wedges.
This is what it looks like inside,
so it's not green all the way through.
And just cut it like this
and roast pieces like that.
That is romanesco.
Broccoli, this is how
I like to prepare it,
cutting off the florets like
this and I just go around
and just cut them all off.
And then when you get to the
center they're a bit smaller
but that's okay,
you can just cut it like that.
Then each one you can just
cut through the center
and cut them into whatever size you like.
So that's the florets.
And then the way to use
the stem is you need
to cut off the sides or the
skin and it's hard to do
with a peeler.
And you kind of need to take
off 'cause it's very tough.
So you can see it's kind
of woody and fibrous.
And the inside is delicious
cause it's very tender
and it can be also just steamed or sauteed
and cut into any size that you'd like.
And you could actually eat this raw,
it's really delicious.
[knife tapping against wooden board]
And that's broccoli.
I hope this video inspires
you to eat more vegetables
because no matter what diet you eat,
more vegetables is always a good idea.
Head to the farmers
market and check out some
of the things you would here
today and happy cooking.
