Technique: Bell Pepper Prep

Most times, when you need to use a bell pepper, you want strips (like for fajitas) or diced (like for other dishes). Rarely do you want the bell pepper to retain any form of its shape following preparation.

So, how do you handle this weirdly-shaped vegetable and those damn seeds?

Cut-off the side (or "cheek") of the pepper.

There are four sides - each will be flat and ready to work. 

AND, there will be no seeds to mess with.

Once the cheek of the pepper is removed, 

you can then slice it into strips - easy

Or dice it 

(slice into strips first, and then dice those strips)

Note

This also works for other vegetables - especially when you want diced tomatoes for taco night.