I have been thinking for a while about doing some posts on kitchen techniques, like how to roast eggplant or cut an onion. Before I could get around to it, though, the folks over at The Kitchn beat me to it in a 2010 round-up post of 20 basic cooking techniques including some elusive gems basic knife skills and cooking dried lentils. After reading a few of their posts,  I decided that I don't need to recreate the wheel. Instead, I've collected my favorite "how-to" posts from other blogs to share. Each post has step-by-step photos to help you through the process.

Shopping for produce...
Shop for Avocados from World's Healthiest Foods
from Vancouver Sun
from About.com



Prepping and cooking...
Boil Artichokes from Gourmet Sleuth
Chop an Onion from VeganYumYum
Cook Dried Beans from Vegan Coach
Dice a Tomato from The Pioneer Woman
Make Calzones from Pizza Dough from Cookthink (substitute vegan fillings!)
Make Substitutions for Low/No Fat Cooking from FatFreeVegan.com
Roast Garlic from SimplyRecipes
Slice a Mango from VeganYumYum





And when you're done... 
Clean a Cast Iron Skillet from The Kitchn
Remove Garlic Smells from Hands from Good Housekeeping

I hope these tips and tricks come in handy in your kitchen. If you use one of these techniques or have one of your own to share, leave a comment and tell me about it!