Here's How You Should Be Chopping Vegetables For Your Tuna Salad
Probably the easiest thing you can fix for a meal is some homemade tuna salad. You can keep it super simple by mixing together some tuna and mayo. Maybe add some salt and pepper, then scoop it on some bread. Easy! But after one bite, you want to gag, because it's all mush and no crunch. The texture is like chunky baby food.
Even if you can get that sandwich down, the bland texture will keep you from truly enjoying it. How food feels in your mouth is just as important as taste. According to Epicurious, we all have our own ideas of what different foods taste like because of our previous experiences. So, it's disorienting when reality doesn't match expectations, like with the aforementioned tuna salad of sadness.
Add some onion or celery to your tuna salad to get the crunch you crave. But be careful how you chop the vegetables. This is a mistake anyone can make with tuna salad. If the veggies are too big, you might as well turn it into tuna chopped salad with lettuce tossed in. If the veggies are too small, you might not taste them and miss out on that satisfying crispness. How do you get those veggies chopped just right?
Finely chop vegetables for an even and flavorful bite
Getting perfectly chopped vegetables starts with using the correct knife. According to the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, using the proper knife will give you a better cut and won't slip out of your hands, which means less risk of injury. Make sure your knife is sharp — you want to feel like you're slicing through butter ... not a tree.
Take your time when cutting vegetables. Rushing this process will lead to either chunky vegetables or sliced fingers. If you're chopping an onion, The Spruce Eats recommends trimming the ends first, then cutting the onion in half. With the rounded side up, cut across the onion in small sections. Stack the half-moon sections then cut downwards into cubes. Give the cubes a quick dice or two, and violà — chopped onion.
A food processor is a quicker way to chop vegetables and is the perfect kitchen tool if you're not comfortable using a knife. The most cutting you'll have to do is slicing your produce down to fit the machine. The food processor earns bonus points for being a great way to keep that pungent onion smell under control. No more crying while chopping — or over crunchless tuna salad!