Most of the fresh vegetables should be put into boiling salted water to cook, the amount of water used varying with the amount present in the vegetable to be cooked. Tomatoes do not require the addition of any water, and spinach may be cooked with the water left on the leaves after washing. Green vegetables should boil rapidly during the cooking, but for potatoes the boiling should be gentle, that the vegetable may not be broken. To prevent them from being watery, the boiling should be uninterrupted. All vegetables should be well cooked, but they should remain firm, except for soups. They should be thoroughly drained, and such vegetables as spinach, cabbage, and turnips should be pressed lightly to remove part of the water. Peas and beans cannot be cooked tender in hard water, hence the salt should be added during the last part of the cooking. A very small amount of soda may be added to the water in which the beans and peas are cooked to soften the water. Vegetables are cooked to soften the cellulose, to cause the starch granules to swell and burst, to coagulate the protein, and to develop flavor.

Parts Of Plants Used For Food

Seeds - Peas, beans.

Roots - Beets, carrots, turnips, parsnips, radishes, sweet potatoes, salsify. Tubers - White potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes. Bulbs - Onions, garlic, shallots. Stems - Asparagus, celery, chives, rhubarb. Leaves - Cabbage, lettuce, Brussels sprouts, beet greens, water cress, spinach. Flowers - Cauliflower. Fruit - Wheat and the grains, cucumbers, tomatoes, egg plant, squash. Fungi - Mushrooms, puff balls.

How To Prepare Vegetables For Cooking

Vegetables should be thoroughly cleaned before being cooked. A small scrubbing brush will help to clean potatoes thoroughly and quickly. If vegetables are wilted, they should be soaked in cold water before cooking. Vegetables that are to be eaten raw, as lettuce and celery, must be cleaned with great care, as the dirt which adheres to them may contain disease-producing bacteria. Radishes and other small vegetables may be dipped quickly into boiling water to destroy bacteria and then into ice water to make them crisp. Cabbages, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts should be soaked, heads down, in cold water containing salt or a little vinegar, which will drive out insects that may be present in them.