What is the best way to prepare vegetables?

It is important that you include vegetables in your daily diet. And so that you don’t get bored of always preparing them the same way, here we have some cooking options to prepare vegetables. Which in addition, the nutritional value it provides will vary depending on the way you prepare them.

Roasted vegetables

This technique enhances its flavor, but approximately 25% of its vitamins are lost (more than with cooking in water). Slightly meaty vegetables (eggplant, pumpkin) and mushrooms are good when grilled. The piece is seasoned, spread with oil and placed on the grill. To facilitate the passage of heat into the food, some transverse cuts can be made. These same vegetables can also be cooked in the oven. Whole they dry out less, although cutting them up shortens the cooking time. They can be made without oil. Wrapping the food in heat-resistant paper. Basic ingredients: Choose between peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, pumpkin, onion or leek. Additional ingredients: Potato, olive oil, salt. Seasonings: Pepper, sweet paprika, oregano, garlic.

Fried vegetables

Fried, battered or breaded, they absorb some of the frying oil. They are higher in calories than those cooked with other culinary techniques and also more difficult to digest.

Cooked and boiled vegetables (cooking in water)

To minimize the loss of vitamins and mineral salts when cooking vegetables, it is advisable to: Use the smallest amount of water possible, add the vegetables to the water when it is already boiling, leave the vegetables undercooked (al dente) and cook them in large pieces, do not leave them in the cooking water after cooking if said liquid is not going to be consumed, take advantage of the cooking water to make soups or broths or stews and add acidic substances (lemon, sauce tomato, vinegar) to the soaking water once clean before cooking, since this helps to avoid excessive loss of vitamins.

Steamed vegetables

They are the culinary techniques that achieve the least nutritional losses and best preserve the flavor of these foods, as long as the cooking time is respected. Mineral salts are concentrated in the food because it is not in contact with water or broth. It can be done in a quick or conventional pot if you have a basket for cooking vegetables that you lift from the bottom of the pot. The vegetables are placed in the basket, water is added to the bottom, the pot is closed and placed on the heat. These foods are much more pleasant to the palate. Especially for those who are restricted from adding salt to foods.

Vegetables in salad

This is the way in which all its nutrients are best used, since heat causes a large part of the vitamins they contain to be destroyed.

Pureated vegetables

It is worth keeping in mind that passing them through a food processor is not the same as grinding them. Because in the latter case the fiber remains on the plate, even if it is crushed.

Vegetables and cooked vegetables

If vegetables are cooked for a long time, more than 50% of the vitamins and minerals that these foods contain in their composition can be lost. Cooking is the most widespread treatment when cooking them. Steam, pressure cooker and microwave cooking are the most suitable from a nutritional point of view because there is not as much loss of nutrients compared to other culinary techniques. The nutritional losses that accompany the cooking of vegetables can be reduced if you pay attention to the following practical tips: • Use the minimum amount of water to cook vegetables. • Add the vegetables, in pieces as large as possible, to the water when it is boiling and cover the container. • Respect cooking times. The optimal cooking point tends to be exceeded. It is advisable to get used to eating vegetables cooked “al dente”. It is not advisable for food to be undercooked because it is unpleasant and more difficult to digest. But you should not exceed the time either. • Organic acids protect the vitamins in vegetables. Like vitamin C, unlike baking soda (which increases the green color but destroys vitamins). Therefore, whenever the vegetable allows it, add a few drops of lemon or vinegar to the cooking. • Drain the vegetables once they reach the optimal cooking point to stop the process. • Take advantage of the cooking water to make soups, broths or stews. Do not do this in the case of vegetables rich in nitrates and nitrites (spinach, chard, lettuce, fennel, beet, radish and turnip) because these compounds also pass into the broth. • Successive heating of already cooked vegetables causes significant losses of nutrients. • Cooked in a conventional pot or pressure cooker. Once the vegetable is cleaned, it is cooked in boiling salted water. Drain when they are ready: well cooked if it is fibrous, just cooked if it has a homogeneous texture. In a pressure cooker the cooking time is shorter. To vary the flavors and texture of the dish, once the vegetables are cooked, they can be sautéed for a few minutes over the heat with oil and other ingredients (garlic, onion…). Vegetables cooked in any of these ways are presented whole or in the form of purees or creams. If they are crushed, the fiber remains in the dish even if it is crushed. This does not happen if the vegetables are passed through a food mill or food mill, since the fiber strands are discarded. Some suggestions: pumpkin puree, pumpkin puree, various vegetables, cream of mushrooms with milk and filleted mushrooms, asparagus, spinach with milk.