Questions tagged [vegetables]
From the humblest pea to the immensest squash.
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What causes changing blue and purple pigments in food?
I've noticed that many foods, such as cabbage, garlic, and ginger, either turn blue or purple in certain conditions, or that, like purple string beans, they lose these colors when cooked. Why is this?
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What are the differences between different types of onions, and when do you use them?
I used a recipe for a mean black-eyed-pea salad this past weekend which called for a red onion. Since I wanted extra onion flavor in the salad anyway, I decided to pick up a Vidalia onion to throw in ...
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Are vegetables poisonous if they have roots, are sprouting or are many weeks old?
Can I use sprouting vegetables? Are they poisonous?
When cooked, does the sprouting have an effect to foods taste?
Can I use my potatoes or carrots if they already has some roots...?
How about when ...
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Are Green Potatoes OK?
Sometimes when peeling a potato, I find that areas of it are a bright shade of green. Does this mean that:
A) The potato is OK to eat?
B) The potato is OK to eat, as long as the green parts are ...
14
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2
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How do you wash fruit and veggies effectively?
When eating or preparing fruit and vegetables, you should wash them beforehand to get rid of pesticides, bacterias, fertilizers, etc. However, I notice that I (and others I know), just put the thing ...
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Which fruits and vegetables should be kept in a fridge, and which outside?
I'm a bit unsure about which fruits and veggies should be kept outside the fridge and which inside. It seems that apples, oranges, and bananas, are normally kept outside, and melons, watermelons, etc ...
9
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How to add flavouring ingredients to steamed or boiled veggies?
I'm a newbie cook from to prepare the nightly dinner for my wife and I. I usually have a meat and stream or boil sweet potato, corn, Brussels sprouts, asparagus or broccolini.
It occurred to me that ...
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Food safety issues related to eating raw frozen vegetables
I just pulled out a package of frozen spinach and noticed a warning "Cook from frozen, product must be cooked before consumption". I found the same on a package of frozen baby peas and I'm sure I've ...
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What can I do to prevent the gaseous side effect of sunchokes?
I'd love to eat sunchokes (aka Jerusalem artichokes or topinambour) more frequently, but the side effects (gas, abdominal discomfort) are a bummer. In a home kitchen, how can I prepare the sunchokes ...
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How can I get more umami in a veggie burger?
I'm not a vegan, so let me get that out there as the first sentence. I can find recipes all over the place for veggie burgers, but all I've tried have been bland. I may indeed have an umami flavor ...
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Counter to bitterness in soup
My minestrone turned out too bitter. How can I counter it? The soup contains tomatoes, pasta, Savoy cabbage, celery, carrots, burnt sautéed garlic, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper.
Sugar seems to be ...
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What does the refrigerator crisper compartment actually do?
In most refrigerators you will be able to find a compartment for your vegetables and fruits. This compartment is called the crisper and it is supposedly able to keep your vegetables and fruits fresh ...
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Do you need to rinse vegetables that can be peeled?
When using garlic or onions - is it redundant to rinse them in water, being that you take off multiple layers before preparation?
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Why sweat but not brown?
Many recipes require that you sweat vegetables (celery, onions, etc). Why not saute them and brown them a little instead? Would not that develop the flavors even more? Why would you not want that?
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Why blanche vegetables before freezing?
I have a bumper crop of french beans, runners, and (earlier in the summer) peas. I know that we're supposed to blanche vegetables prior to freezing and my general purpose cookbooks tell me how long to ...
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Why would cooked spinach contain more iron than raw?
I've been researching the nutrient content of various foods and I've found that cooked spinach appears to have more iron than raw spinach (3.57 mg / 100g vs 2.71 mg /100g). Intuitively, I would have ...
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How can I tell whether beetroot is still edible?
I have some raw beetroot I bought about a week ago, having stored them at room temperature since. It's the first time I bought it raw, and I'm unsure whether it's still edible.
It is already soft, ...
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Why do brassicas like cauliflower or brussels sprouts sometimes taste bitter, and (how) can I avoid it?
Cauliflower or Brussels Sprouts sometimes taste slightly bitter after cooking. Is this some mistake in the way they are cooked or is that just the vegetables themselves?
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What helps against astringent mouthfeel from spinach or chard?
Spinach and chard dishes, if prepared from fresh veggies, have a somehow astringent mouthfeel, that can be unpleasant. Does anybody know what exactly causes this mouthfeel chemically and/or knows a ...
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Will vegetables and fresh herbs last longer in the refrigerator in a plastic bag?
Is there a difference between how long fresh herbs and vegetables last if they are in a plastic bag or in the open? If it does, is there a break-down of which ones it does make a difference for - ...
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how to use CSA vegetables most efficiently
I belong to a CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture) and get a basket of assorted vegetables every week. I have very little cooking experience, and if I search the ingredients online I get a ton of ...
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Can I use the same board for meat and vegetables?
I've heard that it's not good to use the same board for vegetables and meat, not only when you are making a salad but in general. Something about the bacteria in dirt and the bacteria in the meat is a ...
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Hints on storage of vegetables and fruit
Different fruits and vegetables require different treatment in order to preserve their integrity, micronutrient contents and especially taste over the longest period possible.
Time and again I am ...
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Roasting multiple vegetables at once
I have plans to make a roasted vegetable soup. The tentative list of veggies (that need roasting) is: sweet peppers, onions, carrots, garlic, zuchini (maybe), small weird purple potatoes.
I've ...
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What can I do to prolong vegetable and meat freshness in the freezer?
In an effort to improve my eating habits I am thinking of buying more vegetables and meats while at the store so that I have them to cook with. However, with a busy schedule it is hard to try and ...
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How to stir fry frozen veggies?
There are various frozen veggie mixes available in my local grocery shops, that are meant to be used in stir fries (according to their description at least), but I can't seem to get satisfactory ...
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What are some good ways to Roast Peppers
I'm looking for a safe method to remove the skin.
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How should I keep the vegetables from flying off the board when I cut them?
Whenever I chop veggies like onions or carrots they sometimes just fly off the chopping board into the open space of the kitchen. Carrots do that especially often – I cannot chop them (...
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Which vegetables to use for stock?
Which vegetables and/or fresh herbs should be used when making vegetable stock?
Are there any vegetables/herbs that should be avoided?
Can parts of vegetables that would otherwise be discarded be ...
21
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3
answers
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Is it possible to preserve color in steamed vegetables?
When I steam green vegetables, like broccoli, they come out bright green. A few minutes later though, and they have darkened and dulled. Is this a symptom of cooking them for too long or is there some ...
19
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How to wash vegetables without running water?
I live in a subtropical climate where most people cook vegetables, rather than eat them raw, so when making green salads, I must be careful to ensure that everything is clean. I have seen ...
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Is it really necessary to properly heat oil in a pan before frying veggies?
As an example, we often lightly fry onions in (preferably) Olive Oil before adding them to any number of dishes, such as scrambled eggs for breakfast.
My talented cooking friends frequently remind me,...
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Ham and Pea Soup with whole dried peas instead of split peas?
I am making Ham and Split Pea Soup, however I only have whole dried peas. Will the shell on the whole pea make the soup more difficult to digest? Will the shell spoil the flavor? Or is it just adding ...
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Why are non-orange coloured carrots so uncommon?
Carrots come in a great variety of colours, from almost white to dark purple. However, the most ubiquitous colour variety is orange, and often the only to be found in regular supermarkets. Why is this?...
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Difference between boiling and steaming vegetables?
I have eaten both boiled vegetables and steamed vegetables (e.g. broccoli, carrot, zucchini etc.), and I cannot tell the vegetables are cooked in one way or the other, whether by texture or by taste (...
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Why does roasting vegetables before pureeing into soup affect the flavour?
Last night I made a butternut squash soup. The recipe said to roast some squash and onion for 45 mins before boiling with stock for 15 and then pureeing. Is anyone able to explain (in moderate depth) ...
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When should I add spinach to homemade pizza?
When making pizza, do you put the spinach on raw or cooked? I would prefer to put it on raw, but I am concerned that the high water content in the spinach will release in the oven and make the crust ...
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How can I examine fruits or vegetables in a market, while minimizing mechanical damage?
From this answer and the discussion in comments:
[T]he problem is mechanical damage: every time someone picks up a
piece of fruit and puts it down again it may cause small soft spots
and local ...
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How to keep fruits and vegetables fresh
I enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables, but the problem is that they seem to go back extremely quickly. It isn't realistic for me to go shopping multiple times a week. Are there any tricks to keeping ...
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Should you ever add aromatic veggies to a dish without sauteing them first?
Many recipes and cooking blog posts emphasize the importance of sauteing aromatic veggies to release their flavor and reduce the bite. This gave me the impression that when aromatic veggies are ...
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Should asparagus be peeled before cooking?
I have it from two sources that asparagus should be peeled before being cooked in simmering water (Julia Child) or fried in butter (Heston Blumenthal). I tried Julia's method once and I've been ...
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Is it ok to microwave veggies without water instead of blanching them in a pot of water?
Whenever I see a recipe which requires me to blanch vegetables for a few minutes, I microwave them instead. It's sometimes faster, I don't have to get a pot dirty, and I don't usually have to dry the ...
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What are the correct simmering times for chicken/vegetable stock?
I recently read that cooking stock for more than about 2 hours negatively affects the flavor, and eventually vitiates the vitamins due to heat degradation.
This seems to conflict with advice I've ...
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What do I do with a kohlrabi? [closed]
I've recieved several kohlrabi from my CSA, and I have no idea what to do with them. I found a recipe for a curry using kohlrabi, but it wasn't great.
Does anyone have suggestions on how to get the ...
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How to wash pesticides from fruit skins?
We eat many fruits and veggies at home and I am concerned about the amount pesticides on fruits like strawberries. Is washing the fruit effective enough? Does a thorough wash vs. a quick rinse make ...
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What are the major differences between yams and sweet potatoes?
I was just wondering what the major difference between yams and sweet potatotes. I know yams are more orange and I love yams!
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Water vs olive oil when sautéing
I was recently watching a friend sauté vegetables (specifically artichokes and broccoli) and instead of using olive oil, she used water. What's the difference between using oil as compared to using ...
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Why does my chard taste bitter when I cook it?
I've tried cooking it in various ways, but it always ends up tasting bitter. What am I doing wrong? I'm using fairly young chard (homegrown), using the whole leaves.
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Are large veins in a rhubarb leaf safe to eat?
I've got a lovely rhubarb plant. Nice stalks, huge leaves. The biggest leaves have veins in them bigger than some of the smaller stalks. It seems a shame to throw them away— but obviously I am not ...
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When to add diced vegetables when cooking rice
I like to add diced vegetables (or peas) when I make rice in my rice cooker, but I'm not sure when is the best time to add them. I find if I add them too early they get mushy and flavorless, but if I ...