Principles In

Preparing
Vegetables
Group 5
Healthy Vegetable Preparation
• The nutritional content of vegetables, as well as their taste and
texture, is affected by how you handle them, and especially by how you
cook them. Here are some general rules to keep in mind,vegetables are
exposed to light and air; therefore, don’t wash, chop, or slice vegetables
until you are ready to use them.
• While vegetables should always be washed before you cook or serve
them raw, long soaking is not recommended, as it can leach out water-
soluble vitamins. You can quickly but thoroughly rinse vegetables under
cold running water, or dunk them in several changes of water in a basin.
Use a soft brush to remove dirt that clings; lukewarm water also helps to
release sand and grit from leafy vegetables
PRINCIPLES
Peeling and Chopping
Vegetables
• Remember that many nutrients are concentrated just beneath the skin. If
possible, do not peel vegetables such as potatoes and beets; or, cook
them in their skins and peel them after cooking, when their thin skins
will slip off. (Even if you don’t eat the skin, leaving it intact during
cooking helps preserve nutrients.)
• In general, most vegetables should be cooked until they are barely
tender or crisp-tender. Only then will they retain most of their
nutrients, bright colors, and fresh flavors. Of course, this rule does not
apply to every vegetable: Potatoes, for instance, need to be cooked until
tender, or they will be inedible.
Roasting/Baking Vegetables

• Because roasting and baking are dry-heat methods, they can

be used successfully for vegetables with a thick skin that will
retain the vegetable’s internal moisture. Examples of this are
baked potatoes or winter squash. Other vegetables need oil,
moisture, or a combination to keep them from drying out as
they cook. Very wet vegetables, such as tomatoes, are
sometimes roasted in order to partially dehydrate them, thus
concentrating their flavors.
Grilling/Broiling Vegetables

• This high-temperature, dry-heat method cooks

vegetables quickly and preserves their flavor and
texture; but it also requires oil to prevent them from
burning. Use a pastry brush or an oil spray for a
light and even coating of oil.
Sautéing/Stir-frying Vegetables
• Although traditional sautéing and stir-frying require a good
deal of oil, you can adapt these techniques to make them
more healthful: Cook the vegetables in a nonstick skillet with
a bit of oil and some water or broth. The broth and the
natural moisture from the vegetables will pan-steam the
food.
• Then, as the moisture evaporates, the small amount of oil
that’s left (and is now coating the vegetables), will help the
vegetables brown a bit.
Boiling Vegetables

• Of the various cooking methods, boiling takes the severest toll on

vegetable nutrients, causing most of the vitamin C and other water-
soluble vitamins to leach into the cooking liquid. The heat can also
destroy vitamin C, and if thiamin is present, it converts this B vitamin
into a form that the body cannot utilize. So except where boiling is
unavoidable (huge quantities of corn on the cob, for example), boiling is
not recommended.
Steaming Vegetables
• For simple vegetable side dishes, steaming is one of the best methods
available. It is quick and keeps nutrient loss to a minimum. If you eat a
lot of vegetables, it would be wise to buy a Chinese-style bamboo steamer.
It is larger than most steamer inserts and will fit over most large
saucepans or skillets (as well as woks).
Microwaving Vegetables

• Microwaving, like steaming, is a good, nutrient-preserving cooking

method. Consult your microwave oven manual for vegetable-specific
information.
Braising/Stewing Vegetables

• In these wet-heat methods, vegetables are cooked in a flavorful liquid

with little to no fat. In the case of stews and soups, the cooking liquid gets
eaten as part of the dish, thus preserving a maximum amount of the
vegetable's nutrients. For braised vegetables, the cooking liquid can be
flavorful enough to serve along with the vegetable, as a sauce.
Pan-steaming Vegetables
• This is a method very similar to healthful sautéing or stir-frying. If you
cook vegetables in just a small amount of water or broth (not necessarily
with oil) in a tightly closed pot, the added liquid will come to a boil and
start to cook the vegetables. The vegetables will then give up their own
liquid. The two liquids together will turn into steam and cook the
vegetables. This works best for relatively soft vegetables (such as onions)
or harder vegetables that have been thinly sliced or shredded. For leafy
vegetables, such as spinach and other greens, the only additional
moisture needed to cook them is the water clinging to their leaves after
they have been washed.
Characteristics of
a Quality
Vegetable
Thawing Frozen
Vegetables
Thawing
• to lose stiffness, numbness, or
impermeability by being warmed: left
the frozen turkey out until it thawed;
thawed out by sitting next to the stove. -
to become warm enough for snow and ice
to melt.
• Frozen vegetables thaw best by direct cooking. The time-honored
guidelines for thawing meats and seafood get tossed out the window when
you’re thawing vegetables. You’ll need to pursue different methods better
suited to preserving the delicate cell walls of frozen vegetables.
Different Methods
of Thawing
Vegetables
Market Form of
Vegetables
Factors in Selection
of Vegetables Used
for Culinary Arts