Can someone direct me to a site that has basic cooking instructions for
a variety of vegetables?

Nothing complex. Just basic preparation for a lot of different foods
like spinach, collared greens, corn, cauliflower, beets, broccoli,
peas, ect, ect.

(Also how to pick them at the supermarket would be nice).

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

wrote:
> Can someone direct me to a site that has basic cooking instructions
> for a variety of vegetables?
>
> Nothing complex. Just basic preparation for a lot of different foods
> like spinach, collared greens, corn, cauliflower, beets, broccoli,
> peas, ect, ect.
>
> (Also how to pick them at the supermarket would be nice).
>
> Thanks.
>
> Darren Harris
> Staten Island, New York.


You kind of left yourself wide open on this one. Veggies can be grilled,
steamed, boiled, baked, broiled, microwaved, blanched, sauteed, fried, etc.

It all depends upon how well done you like your veggies, what veggies you
like, what type of meal you're preparing, how much time you have, if you're
using fresh or frozen (never canned!), and so forth.

If you're buying fresh veggies at the store, picking veggies is easy. Look
for "healthy" vegetables. That means, few indentations and a lack of brown
or black spots.

kili

wrote:
> Can someone direct me to a site that has basic cooking instructions for
> a variety of vegetables?
>
> Nothing complex. Just basic preparation for a lot of different foods
> like spinach, collared greens, corn, cauliflower, beets, broccoli,
> peas, ect, ect.
>
> (Also how to pick them at the supermarket would be nice).


It isn't a website, but you can't do better than _The Victory Garden
Cookbook_ by Marian Morash. It has basics for every common vegetable in
a U.S. supermarket, how to grow, how to shop for, how to prepare, and it
has recipes ranging from the simple to the more complex.


--Lia

kilikini wrote:
> wrote:
> > Can someone direct me to a site that has basic cooking instructions
> > for a variety of vegetables?
> >
> > Nothing complex. Just basic preparation for a lot of different foods
> > like spinach, collared greens, corn, cauliflower, beets, broccoli,
> > peas, ect, ect.
> >
> > (Also how to pick them at the supermarket would be nice).
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
> > Darren Harris
> > Staten Island, New York.
>
>
> You kind of left yourself wide open on this one. Veggies can be grilled,
> steamed, boiled, baked, broiled, microwaved, blanched, sauteed, fried, etc.

Then perhaps I should say steamed. I want to retain the maximum amount
of nutrients possible.

> It all depends upon how well done you like your veggies, what veggies you
> like, what type of meal you're preparing, how much time you have, if you're
> using fresh or frozen (never canned!), and so forth.

Fresh vegetables.(Frozen vegetables generally have instructions on the
package).

> If you're buying fresh veggies at the store, picking veggies is easy. Look
> for "healthy" vegetables. That means, few indentations and a lack of brown
> or black spots.

Yes, but there are things like color, texture, harness, and smell.

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

wrote:
> Can someone direct me to a site that has basic cooking instructions
> for a variety of vegetables?
>
> Nothing complex. Just basic preparation for a lot of different foods
> like spinach, collared greens

"collared?" What, you think they are wearing a collar?

> wrote:
>
>>Can someone direct me to a site that has basic cooking instructions
>>for a variety of vegetables?
>>
>>Nothing complex. Just basic preparation for a lot of different foods
>>like spinach, collared greens, corn, cauliflower, beets, broccoli,
>>peas, ect, ect.
>>
>>(Also how to pick them at the supermarket would be nice).
>>

http://www.recipetips.com/kitchen-ti...Vegetables.asp


This is an excellent site for all kinds of food and cooking information,
and wonderfully ad-free.


Dawn

In article >,
says...
>
> "collared?" What, you think they are wearing a collar?
>
>
I always figured any of the leafy veggies (e.g. kale, mustard greens,
and the like) that were bound together with those wide rubber bands or
twist-ties were collared greens. You're saying they're not?

Sheesh, another favorite pun bites the dust...

Bob

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 13:38:21 -0500, Julia Altshuler
> wrote:

wrote:
>> Can someone direct me to a site that has basic cooking instructions for
>> a variety of vegetables?
>>
>> Nothing complex. Just basic preparation for a lot of different foods
>> like spinach, collared greens, corn, cauliflower, beets, broccoli,
>> peas, ect, ect.
>>
>> (Also how to pick them at the supermarket would be nice).
>
>
>It isn't a website, but you can't do better than _The Victory Garden
>Cookbook_ by Marian Morash. It has basics for every common vegetable in
>a U.S. supermarket, how to grow, how to shop for, how to prepare, and it
>has recipes ranging from the simple to the more complex.
>
>
A book? You want somebody to read a book?
--

modom

http://www.koyote.com/users/modom/home.html

modom (palindrome guy) wrote:

> A book? You want somebody to read a book?
> --


When I posted earlier, I was going to recommend Joy of Cooking as well,
then thought that might be overdoing it.


--Lia

Dawn > wrote in

> http://www.recipetips.com/kitchen-ti...out-Vegetables.
> asp
>
> This is an excellent site for all kinds of food and cooking
> information, and wonderfully ad-free.
>
>
> Dawn

Great site. Thanks Dawn!

Thanks Dawn and Julia for the recommendations.

I'm looking into steamers as the best way to retain nutrients and was
considering some items I found on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250057273296
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=330060188220
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=130057624445
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=180061881559

Any other recommendations in this regard would be appreciated.

Thanks a lot.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

Julia Altshuler wrote:
> modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
>
> > A book? You want somebody to read a book?
> > --
>
>
> When I posted earlier, I was going to recommend Joy of Cooking as well,
> then thought that might be overdoing it.
>
>
> --Lia

wrote:
> [snip]
> I'm looking into steamers as the best way to retain nutrients and was
> considering some items I found on eBay.

First you say you want "basic cooking instructions for
a variety of vegetables" now all of a sudden you've decided that
steaming is the "best way to retain nutrients" and then you somehow
find four completely useless gadgets on eBay. I suspect a thinly
veiled sales pitch. But just for the helluvit I'm going to answer as
though you were sincere.

Yes, steaming vegetables until just done is one way to retain
nutrients. So are baking, grilling, sautéing and eating raw. Boiling
is only barely worse if you don't overcook them.
>
> [snip eBay links]

To steam veggies you need a pot, a lid, and something to hold the
veggie above the boiling water. Five dollars will get you an
adjustable steamer basket or a bamboo steamer. Or cut the top and
bottom off a can and put a heatproof dish on top of it. You don't need
a matched pot and basket and lid.

Nah, the more I think of it the less I think you're not selling junk.
-aem

No one has ever needed a device that will both steam and mash potatoes.

An electric pressure cooker is a far different device than a steamer.

Many rice cookers make good rice. Some can be adapted to do a poor job
as a veggie steamer. Not nearly as flexible, adaptable or controllable
as a pot on the stove.

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Can someone direct me to a site that has basic cooking instructions for
> a variety of vegetables?
>
> Nothing complex. Just basic preparation for a lot of different foods
> like spinach, collared greens, corn, cauliflower, beets, broccoli,
> peas, ect, ect.
>
> (Also how to pick them at the supermarket would be nice).
>
> Thanks.
>
> Darren Harris
> Staten Island, New York.
>

If I suggested a book, how likely is it you would actually go and buy it?

"Julia Altshuler" > wrote in message
...
> modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
>
>> A book? You want somebody to read a book?
>> --
>
>
> When I posted earlier, I was going to recommend Joy of Cooking as well,
> then thought that might be overdoing it.
> --Lia
>

Overdoing it? That book is perfect for this person.

wrote:
> Can someone direct me to a site that has basic cooking instructions for
> a variety of vegetables?

http://www.justvegetablerecipes.com/inxart.html

> Darren Harris
> Staten Island, New York.

To me it's still Richmond, NY... now it's called Staten Island and it's
Guidoville.

Sheldon

wrote:

> Any other recommendations in this regard would be appreciated.


There's so much floating around about how boiling vegetables is terrible
for retaining nutrients that this might be a good time to point out that
the real problem is OVERboiling vegetables, and even that's not a huge
problem. If the vegetables are cooked to the point where they're
colorful and still a tad crispy, they're fine. Stop worrying. Go for
variety instead of the One Perfect Cooking Method. Experiment with
boiling, steaming, grilling, deep frying, wok frying, and eating raw.
Experiment with a variety of sauces and combinations. In that way,
you'll enjoy the vegetables, therefore eat more of them, and therefore
get more nutrients from them.


That said, here's the most common way of cooking broccoli and
cauliflower in this household.


Bring a pot of water to a boil.
Cut broccoli or cauliflower into flowerettes. That's leaving some stem
on so you get 1"-2" pieces.
Put the broccoli into the boiling water. Cover and REMOVE FROM HEAT.
That's take the pot off the burner, and put it on a cold one.
Set the timer for exactly 5 minutes.
When the timer goes off, drain the water off of the broccoli. I do so
by holding the lid to the side of the pot and pouring off the water into
the sink. I don't dirty a collandar that way.
Then serve the broccoli in the same pot it was cooked in.
At the table, diners may put butter or salad dressing on it or nothing.
The broccoli can be cooled and put in salads the next day.

In this way, the broccoli is never overcooked.


--Lia

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

> Overdoing it? That book is perfect for this person.


Yes and no. I'll put on my librarian's coat here and say that a lot of
times when someone asks a broad but basic question, it's as wrong to
give too much information as too little or incorrect information. The
asker finds himself in overwhelm and as baffled as to where to start as
before. Joy of Cooking can do that to a person. Those of us who have
used it know that it's a good basic cookbook with easy recipes and clear
explanations. Those of us who are just starting out might pick it up,
see the sheer size of the index and start to sweat. Then open to a
random page, see recipes with several steps or recipes that refer you to
a recipe on another page in another section and break out in a full
blown panic attack. (My mother is practically like that. JOC was the
only cookbook we had growing up, but she never used it. She couldn't
figure out how it worked.) (And my mother is an educated woman, a
college professor in fact, who just couldn't decode cookbooks.) Victory
Garden is a better beginner's vegetable book. The information is
amazingly easy to find.


--Lia

"Julia Altshuler" > wrote in message
. ..
> JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
>
>> Overdoing it? That book is perfect for this person.
>
>
> Yes and no. I'll put on my librarian's coat here and say that a lot of
> times when someone asks a broad but basic question, it's as wrong to give
> too much information as too little or incorrect information. The asker
> finds himself in overwhelm and as baffled as to where to start as before.
> Joy of Cooking can do that to a person. Those of us who have used it know
> that it's a good basic cookbook with easy recipes and clear explanations.
> Those of us who are just starting out might pick it up, see the sheer size
> of the index and start to sweat. Then open to a random page, see recipes
> with several steps or recipes that refer you to a recipe on another page
> in another section and break out in a full blown panic attack.

If the Joy of Cooking exhibited the characteristics you mentioned above, in
your last sentence, I would agree with you. But, it does not. And if someone
is daunted by the "size of the index", they are idiots, and NOTHING will
help them except to be placed in a high chair like an infant and fed.

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

> If the Joy of Cooking exhibited the characteristics you mentioned above, in
> your last sentence, I would agree with you. But, it does not. And if someone
> is daunted by the "size of the index", they are idiots, and NOTHING will
> help them except to be placed in a high chair like an infant and fed.


Yo talkin' 'bout my mama dat way? She's a BEGINNER who has NEVER LIKED
COOKING, not an idiot.


--Lia

"Julia Altshuler" > wrote in message
. ..
> JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
>
>> If the Joy of Cooking exhibited the characteristics you mentioned above,
>> in your last sentence, I would agree with you. But, it does not. And if
>> someone is daunted by the "size of the index", they are idiots, and
>> NOTHING will help them except to be placed in a high chair like an infant
>> and fed.
>
>
> Yo talkin' 'bout my mama dat way? She's a BEGINNER who has NEVER LIKED
> COOKING, not an idiot.
>
>
> --Lia
>

Here's something else you wrote:
"Those of us who are just starting out might pick it up, see the sheer size
of the index and start to sweat."

If you think your mom was like that, I question how much respect YOU have
for her.

Mo
"Then open to a random page, see recipes with several steps..."

The simplest vegetable recipe has "several" steps, if you include:
- Put enough water in pan to cover vegetables
- Bring to boil
- Add vegetables
- Time them, poke them or taste them
- Drain them

What would you call someone who was freaked out by those steps?

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

> The simplest vegetable recipe has "several" steps, if you include:
> - Put enough water in pan to cover vegetables
> - Bring to boil
> - Add vegetables
> - Time them, poke them or taste them
> - Drain them
>
> What would you call someone who was freaked out by those steps?


I'd call her Mom! (She's the one who taught me the correct usage of
"its" and "it's.")


--Lia

"Julia Altshuler" > wrote in message
. ..
> JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
>
>> The simplest vegetable recipe has "several" steps, if you include:
>> - Put enough water in pan to cover vegetables
>> - Bring to boil
>> - Add vegetables
>> - Time them, poke them or taste them
>> - Drain them
>>
>> What would you call someone who was freaked out by those steps?
>
>
> I'd call her Mom! (She's the one who taught me the correct usage of "its"
> and "it's.")
>
>
> --Lia
>


I don't believe she was "freaked out" by these things.

Julia Altshuler wrote:

> It isn't a website, but you can't do better than _The Victory Garden
> Cookbook_ by Marian Morash.

Let me second that. It's the first book I grab when confronted with a
pile of some new vegetable, like salsify. I'm not sure it's still in
print, but if you can't find one, Bittman's "How to Cook Everything" is
also a good choice.

mike
http://smsfr.blogspot.com