Preparing Salad Vegetables
Radishes
Radish just need to be wiped, topped and tailed, their little stalks and rough ends removed.
Spring Onions
Spring onions should be topped and tailed, the outer layer of skin taken off,and washed before eating.
Celery
Celery sticks should be snapped apart a little way up from where they all join the stumpy root, the root discarded and then the stalks should be
topped and tailed, i.e. about half an inch removed from each end of each
stick.
Rinse in water to remove any dirt before they are eaten.
Cucumbers
Bear in mind that most cucumbers are shrink wrapped in a tough plastic covering which will have
to be discarded first.
There is no need to remove the skin from cucumber unless it gives you indigestion.
Take a small piece off one end if you will only be eating part of it, wipe it with a piece of moist kitchen towel to remove
any dust, then slice as necessary.
Tomatoes
There is no need to remove the skin from tomatoes if you are using them in salad, just pull off the spiders (the spiky stalk from the dimpled end, wipe
and slice.
Peppers
Lay two sheets of either newspaper or scrap Braille magazine on to your draining board or worktop so that they are
over-lapping, and, use a small knife to remove a ring of pepper from the stalk end.
When you lift it away you will feel that most of the tiny, flat, hard
seeds are situated all around the centre of it, and just inside the top rim of
the hollow pepper.
There will still be a few seeds left inside, but if you tap it sharply over the paper most of
them will drop out.
To make absolutely sure, just run your fingers up and down the inside to dislodge any that still remain.
Rinse the pepper in cold water then don’t struggle to chop it, simply break it into small pieces ready to add to your
recipe.
If you are going to stuff them and bake them in the oven use large peppers, remove the stalk and seeds,
but leave them whole, fill them and stand in a large roasting tin to bake.