How to Cook Vegetables Requires Knowing How to Buy Vegetables for Sweet Pea Recipe
Learn how to cook vegetables, how to buy vegetables and how to store vegetables correctly because they are becoming an increasingly part of our diet. Plus the delicious taste that they add to our meals, they are a good source of vitamins, minerals and fiber for our diet. Most vegetables are low in calories and can be enjoyed year round fresh, canned, frozen or dried.
Learn How to Cook Vegetables with Easy Recipes
Almost all vegetables are good for us to eat in the fresh state. Wash them thoroughly and cut into pieces; refrigerated these make a great low calorie snack for any time of the day. If you are going to cook them, learn how to cook vegetables to preserve as many nutrients as possible. Whatever the method of cooking vegetables that you choose, keep cooking to a minimum. When boiling vegetables, use as little water as possible and save the nutrient rich liquid to use in stocks and sauces.
How to Buy Vegetables
Buy fresh vegetables in their season. Most vegetables today are in the markets all year round. Modern agriculture has greatly extended the season for most vegetables, but many of these lack the flavor and freshness as when purchased in their season.
Vegetables should be in good condition when purchasing. Whether you are planning to eat them raw or if you are learning how to cook vegetables, they need to be fresh, firm and ripe. Do not buy vegetables that are old, withered, moldy or bruised, under ripe or over ripe. If you are offered a savings to purchase such quality, you may in the end pay more by having to discard your vegetables.
Head vegetables should be solid with only a few leaves to be discarded. Cauliflower should be white, firm and have no blemishes. Leafy vegetables should be crisp. Sweet peas and beans should have crisp pods. Get to know your vegetables and buy vegetables that are of medium size and have a normal shape.
SWEET PEA RECIPE
Sauté onions in butter for 5 minutes; do not brown. Add other ingredients and cook over low heat for 20 minutes; serve hot. Buying more vegetables than you can immediately use will end up costing you money. They deteriorate very quickly and are best cooked as soon as they are picked from the fields. Winter vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes and winter onions can be purchased in larger amounts if you have a place to store them that is cool, dry and ventilated. How to Store Vegetables
Winter vegetables should be in good condition when purchasing. They should be firm and uninjured. Most of them keep well if piled up, however members of the squash family keep better if they are spread out so as not to touch each other. Squash and sweet potatoes require a warmer climate for storage than do the other vegetables. None of the vegetables keep in too much warmth as in a room with a furnace.
Fresh summer vegetables should be refrigerated immediately if not being cooked. If you are learning how to cook vegetables, peas and corn especially should be cooked as soon as possible because they lose their sweetness rapidly. According to many instructions, greens and crisp vegetables should be washed before placing in a closed container in the refrigerator. I place my leafy vegetables immediately in the refrigerator. I buy in fairly large quantities so I wash with very cold water as I need to for use. I have found that if wash lettuce, etc. and do not dry completely, they do not hold up very long; maybe a couple of days.
Prepare for Cooking
The first step when learning how to cook vegetables is to wash all vegetables thoroughly before cooking. Even if they look clean be sure to wash. A vegetable brush is very handy and a necessity for cleaning vegetables.
Dry whole winter vegetables may be improved in flavor by soaking for a few hours before cooking. Vegetables that are pared before soaking lose some of the soluble food materials. Scrape thin skinned vegetables; pare thick skinned vegetables or remove the skin after cooking.
Many vegetables, particularly of the bud, head and fruit groups should be immersed in cold salt water for 30 minutes. This will make the fiber fresher and drive out any insects that have taken refuge in the crevices. Leaf lettuces should be washed several times in cold clean water. The leaves should be lifted out of the water rather than pouring the water off the leaves.
If learning how to cook vegetables, baking is the best way to preserve vitamins and minerals. Dry baking in the oven in their skins used for potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, turnips, carrots, onions and parsnips is very simple. They are baked until just tender enough to pierce with a sharp fork. You can also bake whole vegetables like potatoes with meat, gravy or fat, preserving the minerals under the skin.
Au Gratin and scallop recipes are also forms of baking when cheese, crumbs and sometimes cream are added to the recipe. If fresh vegetables are used in these recipes, they will retain their nutrition value. If precooked vegetables are use, of course it will depend on that cooking method as to whether the vegetables will have any nutritional value to begin with. Only baking in the vegetable jacket will ensure the preservation of the vitamins and minerals.
A good way to learn how to cook vegetables that can stand a high temperature for a longer period of time is steaming vegetables. This method is for vegetables like carrots, beets, parsnips, sweet potatoes and wax beans. The vitamins and minerals extracted from the vegetables will remain with the vegetables and served with them since there will be no excess liquid to be discarded.
Waterless cooking is any method of cooking fresh vegetables without added water. The water in the vegetables does the cooking. A thick kettle, pot or skillet with a tight fitting lid is the necessary equipment for the cooking. Use very low heat; the vegetables will cook quickly because none of the heat or steam escapes. No minerals are lost and the vitamin loss is as low as in baking.
The boiling method is the most frequently used method for cooking vegetables and does the most damage to the nutritional value. Most of the mineral salts occurring in vegetables are easily dissolved in water and the loss of vitamins takes place in several ways. They can be destroyed by overheating, by prolonged exposure to the air and by dissolving out in the cooking water. By draining and discarding the boiling water from the vegetables, food values go down the drain with the water. All the effort placed on buying nutritional vegetables is a waste of time.
In any case, only the smallest amount of water should be used in cooking vegetables is what you should know if you are just learning how to cook vegetables. The water should be boiling when the vegetables are dropped in. When vegetables are heated to boiling, reduce heat and cook only until tender.
Learn how to cook vegetables by boiling them properly; methods must be selected by the color of the vegetables.
Green vegetables are best cooked in an uncovered kettle in water that is slightly alkaline to retain the color. A bit of baking soda the size of a pin can be used to intensify the color. This is not recommended for continual use unless it is in a part of the country where the drinking water is always slightly acid. It will reduce the vitamin content and break down the texture. Cook vegetables only until tender because the green vegetables will turn brownish, ruin the flavor and the nutritional value of vegetables will be lost.
Fresh white vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower and onion are strong flavored because of their oils. Hard water changes these oils turning the vegetables to yellow or brown. Add one teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar to prevent this from taking place. Add just enough water to cover vegetables and bring to a rapid boil before dropping vegetables in the water. Cook just until tender. Use the water with the rich nutrients in a soup.
Learn how to cook vegetables to preserve the red color in vegetables. This is produced by acid and needs to be kept that way. Tomatoes have some acid on their own to keep the color, but beets and red cabbage need a teaspoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to maintain the color. Cook in a small amount of water in a covered container.
TOMATO RECIPE with asparagus
Cook bacon until crisp and crumble.
Add the onion to the bacon drippings and cook until tender. Add vinegar, water, sugar, seasonings and bacon into the onions. Bring mixture to a boil; add asparagus, cover and cook leaving asparagus still crispy. Toss in the tomato chunks and heat thoroughly about 3 to 4 minutes. Serve hot. Yellow vegetables are among the most valuable and stable. Yellow vegetables are actually the foundation for vitamin A. Not much can be done to the vitamin A but other vitamins and minerals can be destroyed if handled incorrectly. Cook covered in a very small amount of water.
Other good methods of how to cook vegetables include grilling, broiling, sautéing and pan frying. Depending on your taste buds, many herbs and spices can be added to these vegetables turning out delicious flavor.
Return to Home Page from How to Cook Vegetables New! CommentsHave your say about what you just read! Leave me a comment in the box below.© Copyright 2009-2012 painlesscooking.com
|
