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Vegetables - Preparation and Cooking

In these days of convenience foods, takeways and eating out, there are a generation of people growing up who've never even seen peas in a shell. Not only that but they don't know how to prepare and cook even the most common vegetables.

In fact I well remember the first time I bought a courgette to use in a recipe and had to ring my friend (a great cook) to ask her what I should do with it. I had no idea whether I should peel it, cut it into chunks or slices, boil or fry it.

For vegetarians or potential vegetarians, it is essential that we know how to cook and prepare them for maximum taste and goodness, so for anyone who isn't sure how a particular vegetable should be cooked, then I have made these pages to help you.

All vegetables should be cooked when they are as fresh as possible, because their flavour, appearance and food value are at the best. If you must store them make sure you keep roots (potatoes, swede, parsnip, carrots ect) in a vegetable rack; green vegetables should, if possible, be kept in the special refrigerator compartment (usually a drawer at the bottom of the main section), having washed them first.

Prepare vegetables shortly before cooking, because leaving them for ages in water will not only cause some vitamins and minerals to leach out into the water, but some will also absorb the water and become mushy.

The following are the main methods of cooking vegetables.

Boiling

Steaming

Baking/Roasting

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