Rosalee Brown

It is established that vegetables are an important part of our daily nutritional requirement. We should strive to maintain an adequate amount of vegetables in our diet, more than three servings each day. Our vegetables should include a wide variety of flavours and pigmentation and should be both raw and uncooked.

Many persons who fail to achieve their required daily vegetable intake blame it on the bland taste, stating that this makes them difficult to swallow. In the next two articles, we will look at choosing and preparing vegetables to make them more palatable.

Sweet, pleasant taste

Younger vegetables and those which are freshly harvested have a high sugar content, which gives them their characteristic sweet, pleasant taste. As these vegetables mature or sit in the refrigerator or other forms of storage, chemical reactions take place, which affects their sugar content. Those persons who have ever reaped, produce or tasted freshly-harvested vegetables compared to those that reach the market days after harvest, can attest to the difference in flavour.

The cooking process affects the flavour of vegetables, by enhancing it in some vegetables and destroying it in others. Cooking also can affect the colour of various vegetables as well as their nutritional quality.

Cooking vegetables affect their texture by affecting the fibre and starch content. The method of cooking used and the level of moisture the method permits, can add to the softening of the fibre or starch components.

The fibre content of vegetables varies according to their age and type. Ingredients used in the cooking process can also affect the vegetable fibre. If acidic foods such as tomato products, vinegar and lime are added to vegetables, they take a longer time to cook. Sugar causes the vegetable to become firmer during cooking and alkalis such as baking soda on green vegetables can heighten the colour, but destroy vitamins and make the vegetables mushy.

The starch content benefits from added moisture to soften the granules during cooking. Some vegetables, however, such as pumpkin, have high enough moisture content and so could be cooked in dry heat such as baking.

In general, vegetables should not be overcooked; they should be cooked close to serving time, as they are more palatable when crisp. Note however that the heat they acquire from the cooking process can prolong cooking long after they are removed from the fire. Do not cook tough and soft vegetables together to prevent overcooking of the more tender ones.

The flavour of vegetables can be controlled by cooking in small amounts of boiling water for a short time, adding a small amount of salt to season the water or flavour with herbs such as ginger.

If the basic rules of choosing vegetables and controlling the texture of vegetables are observed, acceptance can be enhanced.

Next week we will look at preserving colour and nutrients in vegetables during cooking.

Tips

When shopping for vegetables, good quality can usually be found in the large markets where a fresh supply comes in frequently or in other outlets where the turnover is great.

For leafy vegetables look for young leaves and stalk that snap easily, the same applies to string beans and okra.

Vegetables that seem very large for their type are sometimes not as flavourful (large stalks, etceteras).

Very large fibrous vegetables such as carrots, beets, turnips etceteras, can be too fibrous or woody.

For those such as chocho, choose small younger varieties.

For others such as pumpkin, look at a portion and choose according to the purpose. Some are nicely coloured, but high in water and may not be suitable for boiling as a side dish.

Rosalee M. Brown is a registered dietitian/nutritionist who operates Integrated Nutrition and Health Services; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.