Cut Thick Veggies With Ease Using A Little Rock And Roll Action

Whether you're using a special technique to cut veggies for a kebab or slicing cauliflower "steaks" to christen the grill one last time before the cold sets in, proper knife skills can — sometimes quite literally — be a lifesaver. Honed knife skills not only allow you to make consistent cuts for evenly cooked food, they also help prevent serious injury. This is especially important when cutting thick, tough vegetables like butternut or acorn squash, sweet potatoes, or even particularly large russet potatoes.

Not only are these fibrous veggies harder to slice, most of them are also fairly large and round, causing them to roll precariously across the cutting board. Even a knife prepped with the absolute best knife sharpener for home chefs might have trouble scoring the shell of a butternut squash.

Fortunately, there's a simple technique you can use to slice through thick, unyielding vegetables faster and more safely. After thoroughly washing your produce, lay it lengthwise on your cutting board, and press the knife straight down into the peel. Stop about an inch or so in, when the veggie begins to resist being cut. Then, keeping the knife still, roll the vegetable away from you, then back toward you, taking it back and forth. This will help your knife slice smoothly through the flesh. If you reach the edge of your cutting board while rolling, rock the veggie back toward you to finish the cut, carefully keeping your knife stable as you do so.

The most important part of executing this technique safely is keeping your knife in the right position as you roll. Be careful not to lift it away from the veggie you're slicing, or move it back and forth while cutting. Additionally, be sure to grip your veggie a few inches away from the blade, keeping your thumb tucked close to your hand to ensure it doesn't slip under the knife. Slowly but firmly press your knife down as you roll to complete each cut.

While you can use this technique on its own to slice everything from the main ingredient in your favorite roasted butternut squash soup to turnips and particularly thick parsnips, you may need to use it in combination with other cutting methods for certain veggies. In particular, acorn squash is notoriously difficult to cut because of its odd shape and ultra-tough shell. To make it easier to break down, try using the rock 'n roll method to slice off the stem ends to create a stable base. After that, you should be able to cut it in half from top to bottom fairly easily.

You can use this same thought process to combine cutting techniques on other vegetables, as well. While you don't need to remove the peel from certain veggies, like sweet potatoes, it's much easier to take a veggie peeler to butternut squash and turnips after slicing them in half, as they'll be more stable.