What is the best way to prepare vegetables so that they retain their pertinent vitamins and minerals.
I was told that over cooking them, especially when done in the microwave, esentially devaulues any nutrient properties that the vegetables carry.
If this is true, what is the best way to keep them chalked up with nutritional values (i.e. what temp and how long, what to add, etc etc)?
Eat em raw will give you the most nutrients, but some veggie just beg to be cooked.
I have read that lightly steaming the veggies is the best way to keep their nutrition in of the cooking processes. But take that with a grain of salt.
I remember ages ago I was reading a veggie cook book and the person said not to wash spinach too much or you will loose some of the nutrients down the drain. Well if any of you have not washed your spinach thoroughly, what you get is crunchy spinach and that is what I got. I guess this writer was talking about all of the “nutrients” you washed down the drain would really be dirt. I now wash my spinach leaf by leaf. That way I will be able to eat it.
So what I am trying to get at is although steaming may be the best way to keep the nutrients in, what you have to keep in mind is that some people don’t like the taste of certain vegetables when they are steamed. So do what also tastes good and not to worry about what nutrients are lost in the process cause there are enough left over to give you the nutrients needed.
Steam 'em. Cook most of them until they’re “crisp/tender”. Cooking most veggies in water just puts all the flavor into the water (IMHO), so unless you’re making broth, steaming is the way to go.
For root veggies, like beets and potatoes (of course), baking makes them sweeter.
Steaming vegetables is usually the best way to preserve both their flavor and nutrition. Immersion in boiling water tends to leach out minerals and vitamins. Some vegetables actually benefit from cooking. Carrots are more digestible after being cooked.
Another less recognized aspect of cooking is that, regardless of nutrient loss, if the fare is rendered more palatable it will tend to be eaten more readily. This is important to remember when attempting to get children to eat their vegetables. Similarly, using an unhealthy cheese sauce on otherwise unpalatable broccoli may be totally worthwhile if that is what gets your child to consume it.
A classic example of nutrition versus flavor is the white bread versus wheat bread controversy. While the bran of wheat bread provides more dietary fiber, white bread is able to deliver more nutrition via its more finely milled grain. There are many tradeoffs to consider as you prepare your foodstuffs.
Please read the marvelous tome, “On Food and Cooking” by Harold Magee. It is a superb treatise on the biochemical aspects of food preparation. One reading will forever change the way that you look at food and its preparation.
Question marks after interrogatives are your friends.
Another good alternative–and easy–is to quickly saute* them. (*French for stir fry.)
Depends on the veggie but it’s usually very fast. With a nonstick pan you control how cooked they get as well as limit the amount of oil, butter, whatever. It’s also easy to bobbit in some flavorings, all in the same pan.
Examples:
*barely soften a little chopped garlic in a titch of olive oil, add fresh spinach and swirl around for a few minutes.
Basically wing it; use what you like. The veggies stay brightly colored, crisp/tender and it’s not only easy–you only have one pan to wash.
Another idea to try.
Veb
Put 'em on your hamburgers! 
Actually, it’s French for “hop”, from how a good chef can make the contents of pan jump around without using a spatula.
But we’ll agree on “stir fry”, as arguing with moderators may be hazardous to your post count.
Agreeing with Veb on the quick saute/stir-fry approach. In Chinese cooking theory, one wants to add heat to the food as well, to improve “digestive fire”, especially in colder climates. The key is to cook them quickly. For stir-fry, you cook the different components of a dish in sequence. A wok helps in the process by dispersing the high heat more evenly than a traditional large flat pan.
Vegetables and meat (or in my case, tofu) are heated separately according to their optimal cooking times. Cook, empty the wok, and cook the next items. After everything is softened a bit, throw it all back in the wok for a final mix. It might sound complicated, but the fast cooking times make it a pretty quick procedure, if you’ve got everything chopped up and ready to go. And the separate cooking keeps everything from getting mushy.
Blanching is another way to help retain nutrients. Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil, and then immerse the vegebobbles in the pot for 1-5 minutes, depending on the toughness of the veg. Do a test on each veg until you’re familiar with the times. Scoop them out quickly, with a strainer, and dump them in a pot of ice cold water, which stops the cooking , giving a nice crunchy texture and enhancing flavor.
I love me vegetables, and eat a lot of raw ones too, but many benefit by a quick cooking. Hope this helps.
Corn is one vegetable that requires full immersion cooking (unless you are grilling it in the husk).
The best method is to have a large, covered pot of unsalted water at a full boil. Have all of the corn husked beforehand and then add it to the water as soon as it comes to a boil. Immediately turn off the heat, cover the pot and allow the corn to cook for one to three minutes depending upon quantity.
Top with melted butter and fresh cracked pepper. Bliss!
Incidentally, when cooking any of the brassica family of vegetables (i.e., cauliflower, broccoli, Brussles sprouts, cabbage, etc.) be sure to leave the pot uncovered for the entire duration of cooking and use unsalted water. Covering the pot can allow the sulphur content to concentrate and contribute to an off flavor much despised by most diners.
Again, as with brewing coffee or tea, please be sure to use fresh, cold water that has only recently come to a boil. Water that has boiled for a while loses its oxygen content and will not provide anywhere near the same quality of results.
Hey, Zenster, I’m curious about your unsalted water recommendation. I’ve worked for many seasoned chefs, and they always use salted water. I’ve always wondered about that. Can you elucidate on what salted water does in cooking? I’d be grateful and glad to have it clarified.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Zenster *
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I was being facetious, Zenster, though to be honest I don’t remember learning the exact the real translation of the French term. Interesting to know; thanks!
No big deal but I was just shootin’ the breeze as another poster. Disagree as much as you want! (Especially since you knew the correct info and I didn’t–if we must get picky about details.)
Veb
Who might have to reconsider using smilies
Well I’m not Zenster, but I will say it makes sense for corn. Salted water makes things salty to a degree during cooking. That way they are more flavorful. Also salted water raises the boiling point of water, but that shouldn’t have much of an effect in my opinion. Anyway, since corn isn’t usually salted, so you don’t want to boil it in salted water.
I like the corn to have the sweetest flavor possible. (Look for straight rows of small kernels.) The salt I want comes from the butter I melt onto it. The cracked black pepper is simply the bee’s knees. I believe that there is some tightening of the kernal’s skin when exposed to salt (dehydration or what-have-you).
With the cruciferous vegetables, this is relatively important. I would tend to think that the alkaloids in these plants might be precipitated by the salt in the water or something of that sort.
With most starchy vegetables salting the cooking water is critical. Once cooked, the pleasant flavor of salt cannot be infused into the vegetable correctly.
KERNEL… I changed it, really I did!