How to shred vegetables?

We often use shredded vegetables in various recipes. Especially the healthy and nutritious recipes contain shredded vegetables. Knowing how to shred vegetables properly is the key to some delicacies. When it comes to carrots, cabbage, or zucchini, it is easy to use a box grater or a flat grater to make fine strips of those vegetables. When it comes to leafy vegetables, you can easily use a knife and shred them into delicate and thin layers. This article will discuss the process of shredding all kinds of vegetables. 

1. How do shred vegetables like carrots, cabbages, and nonleafy veggies?

If you follow the below-mentioned steps, it is going to be a lot easier for you to shred all kinds of root vegetables like potatoes, carrots, beets, etc. The same process applies to vegetables like cucumber, zucchini, squash, and so on. 

You have to wash the vegetables very well in the first place. If you need to peel them, you can do that before starting the shredding process or you can just leave them as it is. Veggies like carrots, radishes, or beet are needed to be peeled before shredding but you can leave this part in the case of zucchini or cucumber. Get a vegetable peeler and peel them off. When this part is done, place the vegetables on the shredding surface of the grater you are using and start moving from the top of the surface and keep doing that until the entire vegetable turns into thin layers. 

2. How to shred vegetables like leafy greens and kale?

Usually, leafy greens do not necessarily need a grater to be shredded. If the lettuce you buy is tightly packed, you can go for a grater but other than that the loose leaves do not need that. The same procedure applies to any other leafy greens and veggies like napa cabbage, turnip greens, Savoy cabbage, escarole, and so on. 

Firstly, you have to discard the tough part like the outer leaves of the vegetables. Next, chop off the stem and wash the remaining portion thoroughly. Now place or stack the veggies on a chopping board and slice them finely into ⅛ inch or smaller than that. It is better to use a chef’s knife or a cleaver knife to shred the veggies finely. 

3. How to shred vegetables? what are the tools?

You can use either of the types but let us inform you about the different advantages of the types. Box graters are more advantageous than plane graters. However, plane graters take up less space in your kitchen.

Plane grater: There is only one shredding surface in a plane grater. One surface contains large holes small holes or maybe both. 
Box graters: Box graters tend to have a slicing surface, a grating surface with large holes, and a shredding surface with small holes. This is an inexpensive kitchen tool with many advantages.

4. How to shred vegetables with a food processor?

A food processor is another tool to shred vegetables. There is always a shredding blade within a food processor. But it is better if you follow the instructions given by the manufacturer. The major problem that we find in the food processors is that they chop the veggies into small and uneven pieces whereas, shredded vegetables should be long, narrow, and more uniform.

Summary;

Knowing how to shred vegetables properly is the key to some delicacies. When it comes to carrots, cabbage, or zucchini, it is easy to use a box grater or a flat grater to make fine strips of those vegetables. When it comes to leafy vegetables, you can easily use a knife and shred them into delicate and thin layers. You have to wash the vegetables very well in the first place. If you need to peel them, you can do that before starting the shredding process or you can just leave them as it is.

When this part is done, place the vegetables on the shredding surface of the grater you are using and start moving from the top of the surface and keep doing that until the entire vegetable turns into thin layers. The leafy greens do not necessarily need a grater to be shredded. Just place or stack the veggies on a chopping board and slice them finely into ⅛ inch or smaller than that. It is better to use a chef’s knife or a cleaver knife to shred the veggies finely. 

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