My No. 1 Tool for Making (and Eating) More Salads Is Nearly 45% Off Right Now

When it's 107 degrees out, like it is right now in Texas, cooking over the stove is a no-go in my home. The air conditioner is working too hard already, and besides, I want foods that cool me down, not heat me up. Of course, one of my favorite dishes to eat all summer long is salads. There's just one problem: Cutting all of that produce can get tedious.

So after several weeks of my partner and I complaining to each other about how much work it is, we made a purchase. I'm glad we did: After adding this now-43% off OXO mandoline to our kitchen, cooking has never been so simple.

OXO Good Grips Chef's Mandoline Slicer 2.0

One of the main reasons I was attracted to this mandoline was that it only has two pieces—the mandoline itself and a food holder. Many other mandolines have interchangeable blades that could fill a whole cupboard. Instead, this tool can slice in four different styles but doesn't require extra pieces to achieve it. You just have to flip the blades around and suddenly you can cut straight, crinkle cut or in french fry mode. Or you can just leave it on julienne the whole time.

Beyond four different cut styles, there is a vast range of thickness levels, and you can easily toggle between them within 1/16th of an inch. All you have to do is move the indicator switch on the side of the machine, which clearly shows you how thick or thin you're currently cutting.

One thing that I love about this mandoline is how sturdy it is. I've used others in the past and they can be a bit wobbly, but this one has a nice nonslip kickstand that makes it rest perfectly on my kitchen counter, so I don't accidentally cut myself on the razor-sharp stainless steel blades (which are razor-sharp, by the way).

In addition to being stable, there is also a spring-loaded food holder that you can put ingredients into to help keep your hands farther away from the blades. It has a soft, comfortable grip, and while I don't use it all the time, it is nice to have for smaller ingredients like say, garlic.

All in all, this mandoline has made shredding lettuce, julienning carrots, and slicing radishes for salads like this quinoa salad or shrimp cobb salad a fun, easy task. It's no longer a chore. And for $57, that's a small price to pay, in my opinion.

At the time of publishing, the price was $57.