| |
| |
|
Cooking Tips Information |
|
|
|
Eat your Veggies! Simple Cooking Methods
Vegetables add colour, taste, texture and bulk to our daily diet. There are dozens of different vegetables that can be prepared in literally hundreds of ways. So what's best? There is no best. The thing to do is to eat your vegetables, lots of them, everyday in a wide variety of ways and stop worrying about the preparation methods. Variety is the key... Raw Many vegetables taste fabulous just the way they are straight out of the garden. Lettuce, tomato, celery, cabbage, onion, radish, carrot are obvious choices here. But they are just as likely to find themselves next to chopped up broccoli, cauliflower, peas, beans and zucchini on a starter platter with dips. Wash 'em, chop 'em and eat 'em. Oh, yeah, you could also make a salad! Steamed Steaming heats the vegetable and softens it's texture. It's gentler than boiling and allows the vegetable to maintain it's colour if not overdone. Use a stainless steel steamer that will fit into most good size sauce pans. Make sure you use a pan with a tight fitting lid. There should be enough water to just touch the bottom of the steamer. Water should be simmering the whole time the vegetables are being cooked. Boiling Boiling vegetables is really going out of fashion, but it's a legitimate preparation method! The big concern is loss of nutrients. All cooking methods result in the loss of some goodness from the vegetables. If boiling, try to find a way to use the water the vegetables have been boiled in (i.e. to make a gravy or sauce) to bring those nutrients back to the table. Vegetables should be barely covered with water. Bring the water to a boil (covered) then slow to a simmer until vegetables are tender. Microwave Very popular for vegetables as it retains colour, flavour and nutrients. Trial and error will be your guide with microwaving as there are plenty of variables involved. However, a few guidelines will help...The more food you put into the oven, the longer it will take to cook. Underestimate your cooking time rather than overestimate. Undercooked food can be cooked some more. Over-cooked food is ruined. Food straight from the fridge will take longer to cook than that at room temperature. All food continues to cook after it has been removed from the microwave oven. It is part of the cooking process and should be taken into account to prevent over-cooking. Stir Fry Very rapid method of quick frying vegetables, meat (optional) and sauces in one pan to make a meal. Primarily associated with Asian cooking. The key to doing this well is preparation. All items to be cooked should be chopped to a size that will allow them to cook quickly in the wok. It is also important that the wok is heated to a high, consistent temperature throughout. Vegetables maintain their colour and crispness with this sort of cooking (if not overdone). Baking Brilliant! Especially for those 'root' vegetables like potatoes, turnip, carrot and beetroot. Chop into similar size pieces, brush lightly with olive oil and put in a hot oven to roast. Size of the pieces will determine the cooking time but expect at least 40 minutes. Outside is chewy, inside is moist and fluffy. Dress with sour cream and chives. Yum! Barbeque Does anything scream summer like the word barbeque? Love a barbeque. This is primarily open flame cooking, so could apply to a campfire as well. Cooking outside just changes everything about food. You'll need foil, fire and fresh veggies. Grease your foil, chop your veggies and put the closed packages on the grill. Be adventurous, it's really hard to mess this up! Judy Williams (http://www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com) splits her time between being a media executive and an earth mother goddess. No Dig Vegetable Gardens represents a clean, green way to grow your own food. The site covers all aspects of growing, cooking and preserving your harvest.
MORE RESOURCES:
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Kid Birthday Cake Idea Collection - Cake Decorating Without Fear Our kid birthday cake idea collection makes cake decorating fun and fearless. You don't have to be a pastry chef to create a professional quality cake for your child's birthday or other special event. Food Poisoning--An Overview What is Food Poisoning?Food poisoning results when you eat food contaminated with bacteria or other pathogens such as parasites or viruses. Your symptoms may range from upset stomach to diarrhea, fever, vomiting, abdominal cramps and dehydration. The Perfect Omelet(te), How to Cook It Omelet(te)sThey're easy to cook, right?We'll see.The first thing to remember is that you need the right size of frying pan. Preparing Lobster Tails Lobster, once the food of poor farmers, is now considered a special treat for many. Although some people prefer the meaty claws, I think that lobster tails are the best tasting part of this delicious creature. Easy Herb Butters Since herbs are plentiful this time of year, why not use them to make a variety of simple herb butters? You can even freeze the butters to enjoy in the cooler fall months ahead.Use these tasty butters on everything from grilled steaks, fish, and chicken, to cooked vegetables. What You Need in a Gourmet Kitchen The best way to decide what you need in your kitchen is to first decide what it is you are going to be cooking in there. The best suggestion I ever heard on this matter is to find five dishes you really love. Storing Fats and Oils The human body requires the intake of six types of substances for survival: Fats, carbohydrates, proteins, water, vitamins, and minerals. Certain fatty acids are essential to our health and fats and oils are important components of our food and their preparation. What is a Serving Size? Have you ever wondered how much a serving really is. Well, pull out your box of Raisin Bran, grab the milk a bowl and a spoon. Slimming Secrets From The Kitchen To get the svelte figure, start in the kitchen. Slimming down is about taking in less calories, while you burn more calories through exercise. To Fry Or Not To Fry? Here's a little known factoid - did you know that KFC changed its image by retiring the slogan Kentucky FRIED Chicken. Instead, they became known as serving up Kitchen Fresh Chicken. How to Peel Almost Anything The great English cook Prue Leith once famously remarked "life's too short to stuff a mushroom". I feel pretty much the same way about peeling a grape. Foods That Freeze Well "Can I freeze it?" is a question often asked in our homes, and for good reason. Probably most of us, at some point or another, have attempted to freeze a particular food only to find out that it did not freeze well and either spoiled or became inedible. 6 Steps to Grill the Perfect Steak There's nothing better than a nicely grilled juicy steak.But how come I can't duplicate that restaurant, expensive, juicy, melt-in-your mouth, perfectly grilled steak?Well, I found out how to grill steak perfectly - and here's how you can too. Garlic: A Quick Guide Garlic, there's nothing like the smell of garlic. It's great in soups and sauces, roasted with meats or on it's own, and it's wonderful mixed with butter and slathered on bread and then baked. Wok this Way! (Part 3 of 5) Seasoning Your New Wok Seasoning is the most important thing you can do to your wok. Only carbon steel and iron woks need to be seasoned. Two for One Dinners: Ham If you find leftovers boring, uninviting or downright "yuck," then here are some ideas to put the "zing" back into mealtime. With a little creativity your home-cooked meal can easily become a delicious meal another night. 10 Simple Ways To Safely Store Food Storing foods can present its own set of problems. And different types of foods have different storage requirements to prevent bacteria from setting in. Do a Dry Rub First The debate on ribs has ended in my home. After years of toil I have finally capitulated and agreed to make ribs the fool proof way every time. Bacteria and Food-borne Diseases Types of BacteriaBacteria are all around us, in the air, water, ground, on our skin and in our bodies. They are classified in a variety of ways, but for our purpose we can categorize them in a more basic way. Substitutions for Commonly Called for Ingredients What should you do if you are in the middle of a recipe and realize you are out of an ingredient? You could send your child to the local convenience store for cream cheese and end up having to serve your caviar with Velveeta because to a 13 year old they are both soft cheeses. This really happened when my Mother sent me for cream cheese.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 Indexadvertisements.com |
