Kitchen Hacks: Slicing Cherry Tomatoes and Pitting Cherries
Shandra Martinez
| 3 min read
Want to pit some juicy cherries or slice cherry tomatoes without the fuss? Check out these kitchen hack videos.
Kitchen Hack 1: Pitting Cherries
Eating delicious, fresh cherries is such a sweet treat. These little ruby-colored jewels of the fruit family are as healthy as they are pretty. They are packed with vitamins and fiber. Cherries are also seen as a star because they are rich in antioxidants and help promote heart health.
Beyond their big health benefits in a tiny package, cherries are also great as a fresh snack or pitted and used in everything from smoothies to desserts. You’ll get a blast of flavor and health perks from just a handful at a time.
But unlike other little fruits, cherries have hard pits that can be a real nuisance. Pitting them can be time-consuming – and messy. If you’re looking for a fast and easy way to pit them, follow our kitchen hack as shown in the video:
- Give the cherries a quick rinse in cool water.
- Drain them.
- Find a reusable straw (these are a little sturdier than a regular straw and made of dishwasher-safe plastic).
- Hold a cherry over a bowl. Pressing the straw against the middle of the cherry, push the straw through the fruit in one quick motion.
- The pit will drop out into the bowl, and the pitless cherry can be placed in another container.
Hack #2: Slicing Cherry Tomatoes
For tomato lovers, cherry tomatoes are big flavors in tiny packages. These little gems are great to eat no matter what the season. Sure, the fresh-picked ones straight from the summer garden or farmers market are bursting with sun-ripened deliciousness, but even store-bought cherry tomatoes in the middle of winter can taste pretty good.
Whether you love them as a snack right out of the carton or you like them cut up in green salads or pasta creations, keeping cherry tomatoes on hand year-round is a great way to help you keep your meals healthy. These little wonders are packed with good nutrients like vitamins B, E, and potassium. Their red color also means they are a great source of lycopene, an antioxidant that works hard to protect your body’s cells.
But slicing any tomato can be a little messy, and cherry tomatoes’ small size can make this prep work time-consuming. Here’s our kitchen hack for making quick work of slicing a batch of cherry tomatoes:
- Take two flat, plastic lids from storage containers. They should be about the size of your hand.
- Lay one lid on your kitchen counter.
- Place a handful of cherry tomatoes on top of that lid.
- Take the second lid and place it on top of the tomatoes, sandwiching the tomatoes between the two lids.
- Pressing down firmly on that top lid with one hand, use a long-bladed sharp knife to cut through the tomato layer, slicing them in half.
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Photo credit: Getty Images
