Onions are healthy, full of flavor and easy to use in your meals when you have the right techniques. Chef Nancy Waldeck of Thomas F. Chapman Family Cancer Wellness at Piedmont recommends the following tips for quickly chopping an onion at home.

"Onions like this red one are full of quercetin, which is a powerful anti-inflammatory," she says.

• Cut off the bottom stem end. This allows the onion to sit flat on the board and not roll away while you're chopping it.
• Stand the onion on the flat end and slice it vertically down the middle, leaving the top stem end intact. Peel the outer paper from the onion. Set one half aside.
• Place the onion flat side down on your cutting board and make vertical slices through the onion, but without slicing through the top stem (this holds the onion together as you chop it).
• Take your knife and cut through the cuts you just made in a perpendicular direction.
• Now you're ready to use your onion in any dish you choose. Enjoy!

For healthy recipes to put those onions to good use, click here. For more quick tips like this one, click here.

Need to make an appointment with a Piedmont physician? Save time, book online.