Killer Salad Recipes

Ok, every chef needs a good chef’s knife. He or she will be able to do everything with that thing – from boning a chicken to squashing garlic. But really: have you ever tried slicing a tomato just like that, using a regular knife?

Sure, it can be done. But there’s a better way. For starters, get rid of the smooth knife and get a serrated one. The finer the jaggies, the better. In fact: why not get the cheese knife out?

Cut the tomato in half and then start slicing. I sometimes make a deep slit (almost but not quite all the way down) across first, just so I don’t have to cut the slices into smaller chunks later. But if you want nice, clean, thin slices, there’s no better way than to use the cheese knife, just use a slight sawing motion and slice away at the half-tomato.

If you’re having trouble cutting up the very last bit, you’ll need to think ahead. Decide on which part of the tomato you’re gonna slice last. It can be the very end of the tomato – or in fact the middle section. The latter option is shown in the picture below. Make a couple of slits where your last cuts are going to end up, but take care not to cut all the way down.

Next, turn the tomato so you can slice away at it some more, and leave the pre-cut slits for last. You’ll find that it won’t buckle and warp as much, in comparison to a “plain” tomato. Try and experiment to find out what you prefer: leave the middle bit or the end bit for last.

Happy chopping.

P.S.: you can finely slice and chop an onion in roughly the same way, although you’ll probably need a heavier knife for that.