You Need a Mandoline, But Also a Cut-Proof Glove

A mandoline is an incredibly useful kitchen tool. You can use it to slice vegetables much more thinly and evenly than you could by hand, and often much quicker. It's miraculously efficient, and wildly versatile. You can use it to cut waffle fries, thinly slice root vegetables for a beautiful tian, or make a gorgeous sweet potato pave. Using a mandolinea quick way to make vegetables very elegant, and very uniform, which also means that they'll cook more evenly.

But mandolines, particularly the large metal contraptions that we worked on in culinary school, are also mildly terrifying because of how wickedly sharp and efficient they are. They can thinly slice a potato or a carrot, sure, but they can also thinly slice off a part of your finger without any qualms. Even though the mandoline I have at home is technically safe, the score is something like Mandoline: Two, Margaret's Thumb: Zero.

At least, that's how it used to be—until I discovered the magic of cut-proof gloves.

These clever, stretchy gloves fit more like a thin winter glove than an oven mitt, which allows you to easily maneuver whatever you're sliding through the blade of the mandoline, yet it protects your fingers from being cut by that ultra-sharp mandoline blade. Perhaps most importantly, using the glove gives me the confidence to apply the steady pressure necessary to get even slices on the mandoline, because I'm no longer afraid that my hand will get caught in the blade.

Sure, some mandoline users are confident enough to go without, or to use a side towel to protect their hand. Good for them! I'm not one of them, and I never will be. So the glove it is. They're handy for other finicky operations too, like shucking oysters or grating cheese without accidentally also grating your knuckles. You can make this refreshing and quick cucumber salad in a snap, or shave baby portobellos for a mushroom and pecorino salad. The mandoline will go into your regular rotation, if you're not afraid to use it.

No matter how beautiful your tian is, it's still best not to have to shed literal blood for it. The mandoline and cut proof glove combination is a sound investment in actually being able to use a tool without risking a visit to urgent care.

OXO Good Grips Hand-Held Mandoline Slicer, $15 at amazon.com

Dowellife Cut Resistant Gloves, $9 at amazon.com