"Cubed" or "chopped" versus "chopped small" in this recipe is specified by the size of blade I used in my vegetable chopper. The larger blade was for the potatoes and celery and the smaller blade was for everything else. I cut my food prep time in half (pun fully intended...) by using my beloved Vidalia Chop Wizard. Seriously. I can't survive in the kitchen without it. More details below: