Vegetables: Selection, Storage, and Serving

Vegetables are usually recommended in a diet but you need to know more about how they should be selected, properly stored, and served. Vegetables are an important source of dietary fiber that does not contain cholesterol, is low in calories, sodium, and fat.

Vegetables may help prevent some diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Spinach, green peppers, and broccoli are sources of antioxidants and help protect tissues by slowing down oxidation. Carrots are rich in vitamin A, asparagus in vitamin C, chicory is a source of vitamin B-6, magnesium, calcium, and riboflavin.

Buy only high quality vegetables and try to enhance their flavour and preserve their nutrients. When selecting them, look for vegetables with blemish-free surfaces and characteristic shapes. Choose only the vegetables you plan to eat during the next few days. If you keep them longer they can lose taste or nutrient levels.

Avoid vegetables with wilted or damaged leaves. Choose in-season vegetables if possible because they taste better, or packed vegetables. Frozen vegetables contain nutrients and have low amounts of sodium. It`s good to choose canned vegetables without added salt.

Selecting the best vegetable products isn`t enough. They must also be properly stored. Don`t wash them before storage. Throw away the vegetables that smell bad or were kept for too long.

The vegetables must be stored according to their type. The root vegetables must be placed in a cool, dark place while the others may be kept in the refrigerator crisper drawer.

Vegetables may lose some nutrients because of the long exposure to high temperature. That’s why it`s good to choose quick-cooking methods such as steaming, microwaving, or stir-frying.

Considerable amounts of fiber and nutrients can be found in the peels of some vegetables such as potatoes. The vegetables must be washed before cooking to remove pesticides and dirt. Raw vegetables such as carrots, bell peppers, celery, cauliflower, or broccoli are healthy snacks and may help you on a diet.

You can increase the amount of vegetables from your food. For example, add them to the spaghetti sauce, eat vegetarian pizza instead of your usual pizza, or choose pasta with spinach or beets. Include in your salad chicory, kale, spinach, arugula, collard, mustard greens, watercress, or dandelion greens.