A lot of people just stop meal prepping because of all the chopping. Nobody wants to spend their Sunday afternoon, you know, their relaxing weekend time, dicing onions and peppers for two hours.
It’s not the cooking that takes forever; it’s all the chopping and dicing beforehand.
If that vegetable chopper is just sitting in your cabinet somewhere, you’ve got yourself a real time machine. I mean, I use mine to take what would be an hour of chopping and knock it down to around eight minutes.
That’s not the real secret, it’s not just about how fast you go either. It’s all the same, that’s what it is. When you cut all your peppers and onions to be roughly the same size, your salads just taste better, and your frittatas will cook more evenly.
“You can get these five meal prep basics ready in less than ten minutes with a chopper.” Okay.
The “1-Minute” Pico de Gallo
Store-bought salsa tastes like cooked tomatoes, it’s just got that unmistakable flavor. Fresh pico de gallo really makes a difference, but trying to dice all those tomatoes by hand is just awful.
Get ready: Grab the little dicing blade.
Okay, so for this, you’ll want to cut your onions into quarters. Do the same with your tomatoes, but make sure you scoop out those watery seeds beforehand. And don’t forget to quarter your jalapeños too. Just push them through the grid.
Just mix it with some lime juice, salt, and cilantro. It makes these neat, small squares that are great for scooping up with chips or putting on a chicken bowl. They just stay put, which is nice.
The Confetti Quinoa Salad
There are two of them. This is the best office lunch. It’ll be good in the fridge for four days before it gets all soggy.
Okay, to get started, just put in that tiny dicing blade.
First, chop up the cucumbers, then the red bell peppers, the red onions, and finally, the carrots. Since the pieces are so tiny, like confetti, they blend right into the quinoa really well.
Why this works: When you cut veggies yourself, you usually end up with bigger pieces. The chopper cuts them to about the same size as quinoa, which means you get that perfect grain-to-crunch mix with each bite.
Here’s the thing, it’s not really about the tools themselves; it’s about how we use them and the way they shape what we do.
Freezer-Ready Omelet Bags
If you’re craving a warm breakfast before work, just prep all the omelet fillings in bulk ahead of time.
Okay, to get started, make sure you’re using the big dicing blade.
First, you’ll want to take care of the mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, and ham. Scoop out about half a cup of this mix, put it in Ziploc bags, and then pop those in the freezer.
So, why does this method work so well? Simple. In the morning, all you do is empty a bag into the pan. The chopper made them all the same size so they cook up in just two minutes.
The Chunky Greek Village Salad (Horiatiki)
A real Greek salad doesn’t have lettuce in it at all. It uses pieces of sturdy vegetables.
Okay, for this, you’ll want to grab the big dicing blade.
Okay, so here’s how you do it: just take those cucumbers (leave the skin on!), green peppers, and those firm roma tomatoes, and run them through the big grater. Just mix it with some feta cubes, olives, oregano, and olive oil.
It really works because this salad is all about that satisfying crunch. The big blade helps the veggies stay crisp in the fridge for three days.
Classic Chicken Salad Base
Five. A good chicken salad really comes down to the texture, and what makes it special is that crisp bite from the celery and onions, not some mushy mess.
To start, just use the little dicing blade.
Here’s the trick: grab your celery, sweet onions, and hey, even some pickles. Just chop them all up. Just toss the crunchy stuff with your shredded rotisserie chicken and mayo.
Here’s a good reason this works: you get that deli-style crunch that’s spread out nicely. It’s not like you bite into a huge piece of onion in one spot and then nothing in another.
Just one rule for storage
The chopper really gets through those cell walls quicker than if you used a knife. This makes more liquid come out.
If you’re going to use these later in the week, just pop a folded paper towel into the bottom of your glass container. It soaks up the extra wetness and will keep your Confetti Salad nice and crisp until Friday.
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