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Cooking With Vegetables - Different
Cooking Methods
There are many different ways to cook vegetables
including roasting, baking, boiling, steaming,
blanching, deep frying, stir frying, sweating,
grilling and marinating. If you are unsure how to
cook with vegetables you will find the following
information and guidance very helpful. Different
cooking methods can make a distinct difference to
the taste of vegetables and often, strong flavored
vegetables such as onions, taste milder if they are
cooked as opposed to being left in their raw natural
state. The cooking process softens the vegetable so
it depends on the type of recipe of vegetables that
you are making as to if and how you cook it. For
example, peppers are excellent in salads when sliced
and eaten raw. However, they are also excellent when
using a cooking method such as stir frying.
Cooking With Vegetables - Over
Cooking Can Lose Nutrients
There are many different ways of cooking vegetables
and each method should be considered carefully as it
is a fact that a lot of nutrients, vitamins and
minerals are lost during the cooking process. For
example, when boiling vegetables, a lot of the
essential vitamins are retained by the cooking water in
which the vegetable is being boiled. If this cooking water can
be used to make an accompanying sauce the this will
help to save some of the healthy nutrients.
Different cooking methods can increase or decrease
the amount of calories, fat and carbs that the
vegetable will provide as the end result, therefore,
it is good to consider a healthy way to cook
vegetables such as boiling them.
Cooking With Vegetables - Try Cooking
The Skin When Possible
If you are wondering how to
prepare vegetables for cooking, the following tips
and information will help:
Always try to leave the skin
where possible as opposed to peeling it off, this is
because the vegetable's skin contains the richest
source of goodness, essential vitamins and nutrients
that benefit our health. Try buying fresh vegetable
to cook as they will contain the highest amount of
benefits and nutritional value. Home grown, fresh or
fresh frozen vegetables are the best source of
nutrients. |
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Facts about Cooking With Vegetables
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Essential
vitamins and nutrients are lost through over cooking
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There are
many different ways of cooking including
roasting, baking,
boiling, steaming, blanching, deep frying, stir
frying, sweating, grilling and marinating
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The skin of
a vegetable and the layer directly underneath the
skin contains the highest amount of essential
vitamins and nutrients
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Home grown,
fresh or fresh frozen vegetables are the healthiest
type
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Cooking With Vegetables
- Cooking / Boiling Vegetables
Boiling is a very
common cooking technique and a healthy way to cook
vegetables. It is very important not to over boil the
vegetables for too long or to leave them on an
unnecessarily high cooking temperature as this increases
the loss of vitamins and nutrients that are essential to
our health. These
essential nutrients are actually lost through the
cooking water
in which the vegetables are boiled. Therefore, turn the
heat down a little and remember that vegetables do not
actually take very long to cook when they are boiled.
Cooking With Vegetables -
Instructions for Blanching Vegetables and Refreshing
Blanching is a cooking method that
is used to cook a vegetable a little more - often when
they are going to be used in salads, stir frys or to
cook roast vegetables. The following information
provides refreshing and blanching instructions:
To blanch vegetables:
Refreshing vegetables prevents the blanched vegetable
from cooking further. To refresh vegetables, follow the
instructions below:
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Cooking With Vegetables - Cooking / Sweating
Vegetables
Another way of cooking is
a method called sweating. This is usually a preliminary
cooking method where the vegetable is cooked very
gently in a little oil.
Cooking With Vegetables - How to Steam
Vegetables
Steaming is a very easy
way of cooking, all you
have to do is set the steamer over a pan of simmering
water, allowing the water to simmer rapidly. Ensure the
steamer is covered throughout the steaming process. This
way of cooking should leave the vegetables tender when they are ready to eat.
Cooking With Vegetables -
How to Saut� and Shallow Fry Vegetables
The cooking method for saut�ing and
shallow frying vegetables
is to pour a little oil or to place a knob of butter
into a frying pan and place over the heat. Once the oil
becomes hot or the butter has melted the cooking process
can being, add the vegetables
and cook them or a fry them on a moderate heat, stirring
regularly.
Cooking With Vegetables -
How to Stir-fry Vegetables
A vegetable stir-fry is one of the quickest and most
healthiest vegetable recipes to cook, as well as tasting
absolutely delicious! Heat a little oil in a wok and
place over the heat. Wait for temperature of the oil to
increase a little before adding the vegetables for
cooking. If you
are preparing the vegetables yourself, try to cut them
evenly so that they all cook at the same speed. The
vegetables do not need to be stir fryed for too long and
you should begin to notice a significant difference
after just a few minutes of stir frying - They will
start cooking almost immediately. The vegetables
shouldn't be too soft when you eat them, with stir frys
the vegetables are not to be over-cooked and will
usually be a little crunchy. It is important not to
overcook food as this will result in essential
vitamins, nutrient and minerals being lost. The less
time the vegetables are left cooking or stir fryed for, the richer the
vitamin and nutrient content will remain - therefore
being more beneficial to our health. Stir frys are a
very healthy way of cooking.
Cooking With Vegetables -
How to Cook Roast Vegetables
Many varieties can be baked or roasted and
this cooking method provide a delicious and unique
tasting vegetable. Potatoes are a very popular roasting
vegetable. This method may not be as healthy and
beneficial to our health as other cooking methods due to
the amount of oil absorbed during the
roasting process. Pour approximately 1 tablespoon of oil
into a roasting or baking tray and place in a preheated
oven, add the vegetables to the tray once the oil has
become hot. You can roast lots of types of vegetables
including carrots, onions, sweet potato, yams, swede,
squash, courgettes (zucchini) and peppers. There are
many other varieties to consider when selecting
a vegetable for cooking or roasting. For most people,
the roasted
vegetable has a preferable taste as it is often a
little sweeter and tastier.
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Growing Your Own - Benefits, Health and Nutrition
Gradually humans began trying and
tasting these healthy, unusual, vibrant and colorful vegetables
from exotic and oriental countries. All of which provide
us with essential health benefits, vitamins and nutrients, and help to
maintain and improve nutrition, health, well-being and
lifestyle.
Many people grow their own veg so
that they can experience the most health benefits and
nutritional benefits from the freshest and most
healthiest produce at a low cost. It takes considerable time
and care throughout the seasons to grown healthy,
nutritional veggies. It is not an easy task
but
home-grown veggies taste lovely and contain the most
vitamins and nutrients which is essential for good
health. |
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Health
experts and nutritionists believe that a well-balanced
diet that includes at least five portions of fruit and
vegetables per day will help to considerably improve our
lifestyles and ultimately extend our lives |
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