HEALTHY WAYS TO COOK VEGETABLES
The best way to cook vegetables is to bake them. Boiling is
good if every water is used and none of the liquid is thrown away. Waterless
cooking, casserole baking, and low pressure steam cooking are also good.
When boiling vegetables, put them in just enough boiling
water to cook them and don’t overcook them. If there is any water left, save it
to add to your soups or broths. The vegetable must boil or simmer continuously
after placing them in the water; otherwise they will become water-soaked.
Add sea salt sparingly just before the vegetable are
entirely done; if salt is added as they are beginning to cook, it has tendency
to toughen them. Cook vegetables only until they are tender; prolonged cooking
destroys the life-giving properties. Do not add fat to the vegetables while
they are cooking; add your seasoning just before they are done, and serve them
at once.
Never peel or remove the eyes of Irish potatoes before
cooking; the life of the potato is in the eyes and the peel. Do not peel any
vegetable that can be used without peeling. Carrots, parsnips, salsify
(vegetable oyster or oyster plant), rutabagas, and others may be scraped
lightly, so as not to lose the minerals that are found just under their skins.
Green vegetables are very desirable during the winter
months; if you think them expensive remember that they are far cheaper than the
cost of an illness, and when properly prepared they are real medicine.
Canned or frozen vegetables, even if you get a good brand,
are not as good as properly prepared fresh vegetables. But they are better than
fresh vegetables that are poorly prepared.
To obtain protein with your vegetables, serve one of the
many new meat analogs now on the market, or any nuts you like best. Nuts
require thorough mastication, however, and they should be chewed to a creamy
consistency in order to get the most good out of them. The meat substitutes
that contains nuts are better for most people, because the nuts used in them
have been ground.
Vegetables can be seasoned with soy mayonnaise that has been
made without the lemon if desired. Either dilute the mayonnaise with cold water
to the consistency of cream, or use it as is. Either rich soybean milk or one
of the nut milks is good when added to hot vegetables; heat the vegetables for
only a few minutes after the milk has been added, and serve at once. Good
soybean milk can now be purchased; thus you can always have it on hand.
All the non-starchy vegetables, such as carrots, cabbage,
cucumber, radishes, and parsley, should be eaten raw if they agree with you.
How to cook spinach or any soft greens
