Turns Out, It Does Matter How You Slice It
There are many ways to eat an avocado, a pomegranate, or a butternut squash. But we would argue that some ways are better than others, whether it reduces food waste or enhances your eating experience. Many of us are too quick to toss a part of something if we're unsure if we're supposed to eat it, but that part that you just so unceremoniously threw in the garbage is often the most nutritious and flavorful. Were you today years old when you found out the right way to eat these 20 foods? It's never too late to change your ways.
1. Cheese
Many people automatically cut off the rinds of cheese, but the majority of them are edible and are actually where a lot of the cheese's flavor lies. As a general rule, if the rind doesn't come off easily, it's meant to be eaten.
2. Kiwis
Don't waste your time peeling or scooping out the flesh of a kiwi. You can eat it just like an apple, skin and all. It has a slight tartness that contrasts nicely against the sweet innards, and it's also where a lot of the fiber lies. What's more, you don't waste a single part of the fruit.
3. Mangoes
Mangoes are a tricky fruit to tackle because of their weirdly-shaped pits, but the richly sweet flesh of a reward is oh-so worth it. You don't want to try to peel the skin off, as that will waste a lot of the juicy innards and a lot of time. Cut it horizontally, then twist and pull the two halves apart, and proceed to eat it like a lollipop.
4. Pomegranates
Pomegranates are another tricky fruit to reap the rewards of because of all that inedible white pith. The best way to get to those super seeds is to cut them in half horizontally, stretch them apart a little to loosen the seeds, then hold them cut-side-down over a large bowl and beat them with the back of a wooden spoon. All the seeds should just rain out.
5. Butternut Squash
The main thing preventing us from cooking butternut squash most days is the sheer time it takes to peel. We only recently learned you can actually eat the skin. Yup, just cube that baby up, removing nothing but the seeds, and you'll waste less and get a lot of extra nutrients as a bonus.
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6. Strawberries
It's not every day you have good, sweet strawberries in the house. When you do, don't waste a third of it cutting off the green tops. Stab it through the middle, bottom-up with a straw, and the top, along with the tough center, will come right off.
7. Watermelon
To properly eat a watermelon, cut it in half vertically, make three, evenly spaced slits on the sides, turn it over and make cross-hatches in the flesh, turn it over and pop out those cubes like an ice cube tray. Then, don't toss out the rind: it's edible! Pickle it or blend it into a smoothie.
8. Fish
It pains us when we see people peel away and discard fish skins. When cooked either on a barbecue or pan-fried, those skins get crispy and super flavorful. Not to mention, they're full of nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, protein, and vitamin E.
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9. Pineapple
People eat pineapple wrong because they always throw out the core. If that pineapple is ripe enough, however, you can easily eat the core. If it's too tough to eat, you can boil it into an antioxidant-rich and delicious tea.
10. Avocados
Most people cut avocados in half and scoop out the flesh, but that method causes you to discard a lot of the darker green bits near the skin. The optimal way is to cut it in half lengthwise and peel it like a banana.
11. Broccoli
Most people just eat the crowns of the broccoli, but there's absolutely no reason not to eat the stalks as well. Cut them up and use them in a stir-fry or just steam them along with the rest of the vegetable.
12. Garlic
Most people chop their garlic and immediately cook with it, but it actually retains more nutrients if you let it sit for 10 minutes before cooking. For more garlic flavor, never buy the pre-minced variety, and don't add it into the pan right away (it will burn).
13. Bread
Please do us a favor and never ever refrigerate your bread again. We understand the desire to keep your bread from going bad, but the fridge just makes it stale. If you need to prolong its life, freeze it.
14. Steak
Steak is one of those things that is so simple to cook, but also very easy to mess up. One of the ways you're messing it up is by slicing into it right when it comes off the heat. It will retain more of its delicious juice if you let it sit for five minutes beforehand.
15. Chicken
There are a couple of ways you're eating chicken wrong. First, you shouldn't cook it directly out of the fridge, but let it sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes so it'll cook more evenly and stay moist. The second and more controversial thing you're doing wrong is not eating the bones, which are, in fact, edible and contain a lot of nutrients, as long as you chew them very well.
16. Bananas
You know you're eating bananas wrong when you're not peeling them like monkeys do (they're the banana experts, after all). We tend to peel them from the top where the stem is, but you should be peeling them from the bottom where the woody part is to avoid all those stringy bits.
17. Plantains
Unless plantains are part of your culture's cuisine, chances are you're not eating them at the right level of ripeness. It's when they look so dark you think they might be rotten that they're at their sweetest. That being said, you can use them at all their various levels of ripeness, the green ones being more suited to savory applications like fries.
18. Kale
It may sound ridiculous to you, but you really should be massaging your kale before eating it. It tenderizes it so you're not gnawing on impossibly fibrous leaves like a panda eating bamboo.
19. Nut Butter
Some people don't seem to know that if you're buying 100 percent nut butter, you must mix the oil in before consuming as the oil naturally separates from the butter without the added emulsifiers. It's a lot easier to do this if you store your nut butters upside down.
20. Butter
We've all had the impossible task of trying to spread cold butter onto room-temperature bread after we forget to take some out and let it soften. The best way to deal with this problem is to grate the cold butter using a microplane.
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