Properly chopping an onion makes cooking almost any recipe much easier.

Make sure your knives are sharp. A dull knife makes it more likely that you will accidentally cut yourself while chopping. Cutting with a full knife also increases the damage to the onion's cell walls, which means more of those eye-irritants will be released into the air.

For round fruits and vegetables, like onions, cut off an end to create a flat surface and place it face down on the cutting board. This will stabilize the onion and make chopping safer and easier.

To reduce the chance you'll cry while cutting onions, try these tips:

• Use a sharp knife.

• Run the onion under cold water after cutting it in half, but before making any other cuts.

• Chill your onion for 30-minutes before you cut it.

• Wear goggles.

• Use a fan to blow the chemicals that come up from the cut onion away from your eyes.