How to dice an onion...

I'm going to show you how I do a small dice on an onion.  Unless I'll be cooking them down,  I always do a small dice.  No one wants to bite into a big hunk of raw onion.  At least I don't.

You know that dirty little root end with the stringy, dry roots?

I cut the dry roots off, just enough so they don't get dirt on my cutting

board with my clean onion.  I got a little aggressive on this one, but I'm

hoping you can see what I mean.  I want the root end in tact enough

that it holds the onion together when I cut.

Cut your onion in half from root to opposite end.

Pull off the outer peel and put in a pile.  Don't throw away.

Save it for stock/broth. You can save the paper peels to

color your hard boiled eggs so you can tell them apart from raw.

Lay one onion half on its side like this

Coming from the side, carefully cut horizontal slits in the onion.

The knife is essentially coming toward your hand, so be careful.

Depending on onion size, I usually make three or four horizontal cuts. 

(to the onion, that is, not my hand)

Now, come from the top and make several cuts going from the root

to the end.  You're not going to cut all the way to the root.  

You're staying about 1/4-1/2" away.

You'll want to start with your knife point going down

so you don't slip and cut yourself.  Fingers out of the way.

Make several slits.  I usually make mine less than 1/4" wide.

Then start cutting through the onion perpendicular to the cuts you just made.

See how my fingers are basically digging into the onion?  This is so the tips

of my fingers aren't anywhere near the blade of the knife.

See?  Nice, (fairly) uniform pieces.  Julia Child would be so proud!

Stop when you get about 1/2" to the end (by the root)

When you get close to the root, you'll have this odd little piece left.

Flop it on its side as shown below.

You could throw that in your stock bag if you want, but I'm going

to show you how to use it to its maximum potential.

Start by dicing up the little part on the rounded side.  

Get as close as you can to the root without being a danger to yourself.

Turn it and get both of those little sides sticking out, again getting

close to the root.  We don't want to waste anything.

Now, I know this is an absolute horrible picture, but I think 

you get the idea of what you'll be left with.

Take that little piece and throw it in a baggie with your other scraps.

Throw it in the freezer and save it for the next time you make stock or broth!

Add in onions peels, carrot ends, celery ends/leaves each time you cut veggies!

Notes:

See, we used the WHOLE onion...no waste.
Okay, maybe those tiny little roots, but what were we gonna do with those anyway? 

Plant them?  Wait a minute....hmmmmmm!  LOL!

Now, I am not claiming I am doing this correctly or that I'm some chef-like momma.  I'm not.  I'm just showing you the way I do it.  While I'm sure it's not technically correct, maybe it will  help you do things a little easier in your kitchen.

When I need just a little bit of onion, I cut up the whole thing anyway, then put in a storage container in the fridge.  The next time I'm cooking, I just grab what I need and throw it in!  Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

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