I love to cook. During the pandemic, I found my love for cooking when my family members took turns making dinner throughout the week. I also discovered my passion for cooking went hand-in-hand with my health and fitness journey. I could cook healthy meals in the right portions, whatever I wanted, that tasted delicious and satisfied me. From my journey through cooking, I have made some strong opinions on fruits and veggies that I love to chop. Here are my top ten fruits and veggies from ten to one, ten being my least favorite to chop and one being my favorite to chop:
10.) Cantaloupe
Cantaloupe is such a beautiful melon. It is such an easy cut. There are plenty of cutting methods for this melon: pieces, rainbows, stickers, or anything you want! One downside is the de-seeding, but it’s not too much of a hassle.
9.) Carrots
Full-size carrots are just wonderful to chop — the crunch and sound they make when chopping is like ASMR. I like to chop carrots into coins because the motion is very therapeutic, but I can also do sticks or dice.
8.) Zucchini or Summer Squash
These are great! With no peeling necessary and such a soft texture to cut through, a duller knife is not the worst thing in the world. Depending on the size, there is much variety: coins, sticks, dice, and even planks!
7.) Celery
Celery is such a polarizing vegetable, but I love it. To eat it, yes, but to chop it, most definitely! The most satisfying way to chop celery is to dice it very small. The sound of cutting vertically down the stalk, and the crunch of the dicing, is one of the best sounds I’ve ever heard.
6.) Apples
This fruit is excellent to cut with an easy-to-handle small knife. I’ve cut my apples since I was in middle school. It is so satisfying; the handheld size allows for accurate cuts, which can be sliced, diced for pastries, or my favorite apple “fries” (sticks). The texture is just so conducive to cutting, and the smell is divine!
5.) Onions
I hate crying, let’s start with that upfront so you know I’m not insane. But the feeling of accomplishment I get when I cut an onion is overwhelmingly fantastic. I think it’s fun to cut onion rings, half-moons for burgers, soups, etc., or dice onions for sauces!
4.) Potatoes
I love cutting a potato; it’s very easy, and the motions are straightforward. Cutting french fries is a fun time because it is satisfying to cut. Cubing for mashed potatoes or potato salad is also easy and fun.
3.) Mini Cucumbers
There is just something about cutting up mini cucumbers into small dice for pasta salad, or cutting cute little cucumber coins for a snack at work…it’s a great food to chop! The mini cucumbers are better than larger variants of cucumbers because the seeds of a mini-cucumber are so small that they do not get in the way of the chopping.
2.) Oranges
Oranges are such a vibrant fruit, have such a glorious smell, and are such an easy fruit to slice through! Although it can get a bit spritzy, the orange is so nice to cut into slices for cooking as a garnish or into wedges for snacking! Make sure you keep a paper towel handy because sometimes cutting oranges gets messy if there are lots of juices!
1.) Watermelon
Watermelon is a big fruit, but this has always been my favorite thing to chop! The crunch, the smell, the slicing, it’s all wonderful. My favorite way to cut it is into sticks with a small section of rind left to hold onto it, the traditional cubes, or even triangles!
It should go unsaid, but make sure you use your knives safely and in the proper fashion, and make sure to watch out for those fingertips! Always wash your fruit and veggies before you cut them to store or cook them, and make sure you buy fresh produce to use!