- Vegetables are loaded with vitamins and minerals that make our bodies function properly. How do I get my family and guests to eat them?
- “Make them look and taste so good” that they want to eat them. If they are served attractively, they will want to try them and if they taste good, they will want more.
- How do I make them look good, taste good and supply the vitamins and minerals?
- Simple. Cook them so that they retain as much of the natural color, crispness, flavor and nutrients.
- How do I retain the color?
- Nature provides an abundance of vegetables in a wide array of colors. A lot of those rich colors can be retained if we cook them just enough to get the desired texture.
Some vegetables loose color or become discolored if they are cooked for too long. When you determine just how long it takes to get the right combination of color and texture, write it down and keep it for your records.
Add vegetables to boiling water and resume the boiling this helps to shorten the cooking time.
Uncover green and white vegetables at least for the last half of cooking (after the water resumes boiling). This allows the substances responsible for the unwanted brown color to escape in the steam.
- How do I retain the texture and keep vegetables from becoming mushy?
- Again, cook just long enough to retain much of the crispness and cut vegetables as little as possible.
Unnecessary cutting in some vegetables like green beans break down the cell structure.
Most important select fresh vegetables that are crisp and firm at the time of purchase.
Serve vegetables as soon as possible after cooking. Some vegetables continue to cook when they are removed from the heat source and water.
- How do I make them taste good?
- Retain and enhance the natural flavor.
Cook in just enough water to bring to doneness. Some vegetables loose flavor in the water, others like turnips and cabbage have a strong flavor.
As with the substances responsible for the brown coloring above these substances that cause the strong flavor, escape in the steam if the vegetables are uncovered at least during the latter half of the cooking process.
Covering them during the whole cooking process retains the strong flavor.
Some vegetables with high water content such as spinach and cabbage can be cooked with just the amount of water clinging to their leaves after washing.
Steaming, stir frying and baking in the skin retain most of the flavor.
- How do I make sure that the nutrients are not lost in cooking?
- Most of the strategies used for retaining flavor also retain nutrients such as:
Cooking in little water, baking, steaming and stir frying.
Many vitamins and minerals are soluble in water and will be lost if peeled and cut vegetables are left to soak in water before cooking.
Soaking vegetables such as potato in water for long periods at a time is done at times intentionally to reduce the potassium.
- How do I make vegetables inviting to eat?
A Add some surprises, vary the recipes don’t make them so predictable;
Mix color;
Experiment with seasoning; try ginger, curry etc., add nuts.
Ionie Ponde, MS, RD, LDN
B Food SavvyB Food Savvy 