If you want to dramatically improve your cooking skills and the presentation of finished dishes, learn to dice a carrot. There is huge difference in appearance between a stew with random chunks of cut up carrots of varying sizes and shapes and one with perfectly uniform dice, and a consistent size cut will also help your food cook more evenly. It's not hard--it just takes a little practice and a good sharp knife.

Celery and onion are easier to dice, especially since they are not as dense as a carrot. What makes carrots tricky is that they are inherently odd-shaped. To dice it, you need to force it into a uniform shape first. We've put together step-by-step photos of how we dice carrots.

First, trim the ends and cut the carrot in half. The thinner end is usually more cylindrical and it's easiest to cut separately. Put the thicker top half on the cutting board and put your knife lengthwise on one side of the carrot and orient it in a straight line from the thinner end up toward to top. Cut this edge off. The goal is to flatten the edges.