Para la ensalada, mi abuela usa un pelador para la zanahoria y un rallador para el queso.

More or less, yes: para is marking purpose or intended use each time.

• Para la ensalada = for the salad
• un pelador para la zanahoria = a peeler for the carrot
• un rallador para el queso = a grater for the cheese

In natural English, the last two are often better understood as:

• a peeler to peel the carrot
• a grater to grate the cheese

So Spanish is using para + noun where English often prefers for + noun or to + verb, depending on what sounds most natural.

No, that would change the meaning.

• para la ensalada = for the salad, meaning for preparing/making the salad
• en la ensalada = in the salad, meaning inside the salad

So:

• Para la ensalada, mi abuela usa... = For the salad, my grandmother uses...
• En la ensalada, mi abuela usa... would suggest something like In the salad, my grandmother uses..., which is a different idea.

Spanish often uses the definite article with ingredients, foods, and things spoken of in a general or material sense.

So:

• la zanahoria = carrot / the carrot
• el queso = cheese / the cheese

In English, we often drop the article:

• for carrot
• for cheese

But in Spanish, that usually sounds incomplete here. The article makes the phrase sound natural and grammatical.

Yes, las zanahorias could also be possible, depending on what you want to emphasize.

• la zanahoria can sound generic, like carrot as an ingredient
• las zanahorias would focus more on actual carrots as individual items

So both can work in the right context:

• un pelador para la zanahoria = a peeler for carrot / for the carrot ingredient
• un pelador para las zanahorias = a peeler for the carrots

The singular generic use is very common in Spanish.

Because pelador and rallador are singular countable nouns, and in Spanish they normally need a determiner such as:

• un / una
• el / la
• mi / tu / su
• este / ese, etc.

So:

• usa un pelador
• usa un rallador

sounds correct, while leaving out the article would normally sound ungrammatical in standard Spanish.

Also, the article is repeated because these are two separate tools:

• un pelador
• y un rallador

Yes. Both are nouns formed from verbs:

• pelar = to peel
  → pelador = peeler
• rallar = to grate
  → rallador = grater

The ending -dor often forms nouns meaning a tool or something/someone that does the action.

A few similar examples:

• abrir → abridor = opener
• colar → colador = strainer
• secar → secador = dryer / hairdryer

So once you learn this pattern, it becomes easier to guess the meaning of many tool words.

Spanish usually does not use subject pronouns unless they are needed for emphasis, contrast, or clarity.

Since the subject is already named as mi abuela, adding ella would usually be unnecessary:

• Mi abuela usa... = normal
• Ella usa... = possible if the subject is already understood
• Mi abuela, ella usa... = more marked or emphatic, not the neutral version

So this sentence is following the normal Spanish pattern.

It is being used as an introductory phrase to set the context: as for the salad / for the salad.

Spanish word order is flexible, so the writer or speaker can move elements forward for emphasis or topic-setting.

Compare:

• Para la ensalada, mi abuela usa...
  This highlights the salad first.
• Mi abuela usa... para la ensalada.
  This is also possible, but the focus feels a little different.

Putting Para la ensalada first is very natural when you want to establish what you are talking about before giving the details.

Because Para la ensalada is an introductory phrase placed before the main clause.

The comma helps separate:

• the setting/context: Para la ensalada
• from the main statement: mi abuela usa...

In short, the comma reflects the pause and structure of the sentence. You will often see this with fronted phrases in Spanish.

Usa is the present tense of usar.

Here, it most naturally expresses a habitual or general action:

• My grandmother uses...
• My grandmother typically uses...

So it does not necessarily mean she is using those tools at this exact moment. It is more like a general fact or routine.

Yes, absolutely.

You could say:

• Para la ensalada, mi abuela usa un pelador para pelar la zanahoria y un rallador para rallar el queso.

That version is more explicit because it states the actions directly:

• pelar = to peel
• rallar = to grate

The original sentence is shorter and more natural in everyday speech because the tool already strongly suggests the action. So both are correct, but the original is more economical.