Buy books from Amazon
| All Info About Vegetarianism A member of the All Info About network of free information sites |
 |
Cooking methods for vegetables
Boiling
Most vegetables can be served in this way.
Cook them in a covered pan in just enough boiling water to cover all the vegetables.
The time varies according to type and age, from a few minutes for young greens which have been shredded, to 1 hour or longer for some older root vegetables, unless sliced or cut small.
If I'm in a hurry I always cut my vegetables into very small cubes or thin slices.
Potatoes, peas, beans and young or diced roots take about 20 minutes.
At one time it was considered acceptable to add a couple of teaspoons of salt to the water in which you cooked your vegetables, nowadays I'm inclined to say leave it out altogether. We obtain so much salt from hidden sources that we may as well reduce it in places where we can choose to. I've never been able to tell the difference in veggies cooked in salt or not anyway.
Steaming
This is suitable for root vegetables: allow about half as long again as for boiling.
This is good way of cooking cut-up celery, onions, carrots and turnips, separately or mixed.
The best way to steam them is in a bought steamer which can be found quite cheaply in most electrical stores. If you don't have one you can cook them till tender in a covered pan or casserole with a little vegetable stock and a knob of margarine.
Tip: Check that your veggies are cooked by slipping a sharp knife into the largest vegetable or stem. If it goes in easily then they're cooked, if not leave them a little longer. Some vegetables are traditionally served 'al dente' (with a little bite to them) but this is a personal preference, and mine is to serve most of them fairly soft as my family complain otherwise that they're not cooked!
Baking/Roasting
Place a shallow roasting tin in the oven with a little cooking oil of your choice until it's piping hot. Remove from oven and add your vegetables such as potatoes, marrows, onions and parsnips.
Use a fish slice or large spoon to turn the vegetables in the fat until they're coated all over and replace in the oven. Depending on the size of the chunks, they will take 30 mins to 1 hour to cook.