Don’t the professional chefs know how to make a plate pretty? Quite often, when we’re in a one of our local haunts, our plates arrive with little haystacks of julienned vegetables garnishing the dish. Those tiny matchstick-sized pieces dress the food and taste delicious too.

I always thought julienning vegetables too much trouble to try, until I ran across this video. Who knew slicing vegetables into teeny, tiny rectangles could be so easy, or so fun? Take a look.

Looks super easy, doesn’t it? Zip, cut, cut, cut, and voila! Beautiful piles of julienned carrots, zucchinis, what-have-you. These were what I had handy today, but imagine the color of red, orange and green bell peppers, or the crunch and flavor of a jicama, a rutabaga or a turnip?

My first thought on viewing that video was, yeah, I need to get one of those mandolins. But then folks in the comments section mentioned cutting their fingers, so yuk, I’d have to get the glove too! Where would I store the new gadget and its companion glove? Then, slap-the-forehead-moment: I have a mandolin slicer on my grater. Would it work?

Not so much. The blade made a mess of my zucchini. Wait! Wait! My food processor has a mandolin blade I almost never use. Let’s try that.

Yes, that slices the zucchini nicely. Now all I have to do is make the match sticks.

Nice, huh? Pretty easy to pile those wedges up the way the chef did in the video and quickly make matchstick size pieces.

This could come in handy next time we have a dinner party. Um, but when am I going to need that many match stick vegetables for just the two of us? Wouldn’t it be fun to julienne vegetables now and then for us, or for a small party? What if I just cut the vegetables up by hand? How long will it take?

Too long, if I slice them on the round, as I did at first. All I could get from these were little one-inch matchsticks. Quickly wising up, I sliced the zuke on the straight and soon had a nice pile of julienned zucchini almost as even as the ones from the food processor.

Next time, I’ll remember to slice them on the diagonal, so I get those pretty ends and don’t end up with some all white pieces and some with a long, green side. Both methods work well for julienning carrots and broccoli stems too.

It took less than two minutes for a little stack of carrots or broccoli. Have to say, I’m relieved. Now I have a new trick up my sleeve for adding a little extra punch to my serving plates, and I don’t have to find room in my kitchen for that mandolin that looked so appealing in the video. Got it covered already. Whew!

Whether it’s a new gadget or a bold new idea, sometimes it pays to take a breath and step away before committing, doesn’t it? Get a little perspective. Look at what you have, or are doing, that already works.

For lunch today I prettied up my veggie pasta bowl with a stack of the julienned zucchini and some fresh thyme leaves from my windowsill garden. Total yum.

But what to do with all those vegetables I cut into little strips while I experimented with this idea?

Snap! Coleslaw. I’ll just grate up the rest of those broccoli stems and make a nice coleslaw to go with our supper tonight. I’m thinking black bean, red pepper and cheese quesadillas on organic, stone ground tortillas with a side of coleslaw in a light vinaigrette. Quick and easy supper. Sound good?

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This post is shared at Real Food Fridays #144 – Sharing a Healthier Lifestyle.