How To Prepare Fresh Vegetables

Raise your hand if you grew up with a dislike of most vegetables.

Veggies aren't always easy to swallow when you're a kid, especially for those of you who grew up with veggies from a can which were further overcooked and heaped on your plate in a wimpy mass. Blechhh!

It's time to learn how to prepare vegetables you can fall in love with. There are many different veggies to choose from, various cooking techniques, and so many flavoring ideas that you're bound to find some new favorites. And don't forget about the magical nutrition that juicing vegetables provides.

Click here to skip jump directly to the List of Vegetables.

Why Are Vegetables Healthy?

Vegetables are some of the most nutrient dense foods you can eat. They contain a fair amount of protein -- in fact, it's the protein which gives them their structure.

They're filled with vitamins, which our bodies cannot make and must be supplied in the diet.

And the dark green veggies provide calcium. In fact, even though cow's milk provides 150 mg of calcium per serving (1/2 cup), the amount absorbed is only 48 mg. Whereas bok choy, which contains 79 mg of calcium per serving (1/2 cup), the amount absorbed is 42 mg!

Veggies are so beautiful and span the colors of the rainbow. These vibrant colors indicate they're chock full of phytochemicals, those disease-preventing chemicals found in all plant foods. The varying colors signify varying nutrients which is why it's important to include all the colors of the vegetable rainbow to cover the innumerable health benefits veggies bring to the table.

Is It Vital To Choose Organics?

It's OPTIMUM to eat organic vegetables all the time since they're grown in soil which is abundant in nutrients. But let's be real, it's not always easy to find organic veggies, plus it can get expensive.

So to make things easier on you, memorize these Top 5 Veggies you should ALWAYS buy organic. Why? Because they are members of The Dirty Dozen, the top 12 fruits and veggies that must be purchased organic due to the amount of pesticides they contain:

1. Lettuce
2. Celery
3. Spinach
4. Potatoes
5. Bell Peppers

If you can't find these organic, then don't eat them. Plain and simple.

The missing seven of the Dirty Dozen are the "dirty fruits".

How Much Do You Need?

Eat 3-5 servings of vegetables per day. Having a hard time imagining how you're going to eat that much food? Keep in mind a serving might be smaller than you think! One serving of cooked veggies is equal to 1/2 cup or the size of 1/2 a baseball. Refer to the Vegan Food Pyramid to learn more about serving sizes.

Mix things up a bit -- snack on 1 cup of raw veggies with dip, enjoy 1 cup of cooked veggies with dinner, get in the habit of adding chopped veggies to most dishes you prepare. Once you're in the groove, you'll discover that it's actually quite simple to meet the required amount of vegetable servings per day.

Another way to ensure you're getting the veggies you need is to make them the focus of at least one meal per day. Meaning, your veggie will take up the majority of room on your plate. Many times, this will mean you're eating 1 1/2 cups of veggies which is equal to 3 servings! See how easy that was? ;o)

Juice Those Veggies!

Purchase a vegetable juicer and juice those veggies! This is an excellent way to get the nutrients from a large amount of veggies. For instance, it takes about 5-6 carrots to make one glass of carrot juice. That's a lot of beta carotene! One 3/4 cup glass of vegetable juice equals 1 serving of vegetables.

Be sure to have a good mix of whole veggies and juiced vegetables in your diet. While making vegetable juices is a delicious way to meet your daily veggie quota, j uicing DOES remove the all-important fiber that we need. So be sure to include both whole vegetables AND juiced veggies in your daily diet.

Here are some ideas for fresh vegetable juices to get you started. Feel free to experiment until you find your favorites:

• apple carrot

• carrot apple cucumber celery chard
• apple carrot beet
• carrot beet (my personal fave)
• carrot celery cabbage
• carrot cucumber
• carrot strawberry
• carrot spinach
• celery spinach
• spinach cabbage celery
• spinach celery tomato

Feel free to add foods and flavors that will help your juice to be more palatable -- especially important when juicing deep greens. Ideas: Fruits, Cranberries, Garlic, Lemon, Dill, Cayenne, and Tamari.

A fantastic addition to your juices is wheat grass. I recently began adding this to our morning smoothies and, let me tell you, Jeff and I feel amazing!

For more juicing tips, including information about juice fasting, please visit my friend Kate over at Detox-For-Life.com and Sara at Juicing For Health.com.

Raw Or Cooked?

Raw veggies are chock full of nutrients and are invaluable to your good health. At the same time, cooking your veggies helps to break down the cellulose walls which makes some nutrients more accessible than they'd be in their raw state.

So what's the answer? Should you eat your veggies raw or cooked?

Quite simply: Be sure your diet is filled with both raw AND cooked vegetables.

Eat one fresh green salad per day (2 cups equals 1 serving), and add chopped raw veggies such as bell peppers, onions, bok choy and grated beets. The more colorful, the better -- and the more beautiful your salad will be to get that mouth watering before your first delectable bite.

As a general rule, I've always found that those veggies that seem to be lacking in lip-smacking flavor in their raw state seem to be the veggies that are best cooked first to make their nutrients more readily available. Every body is different, and the nutrients my body needs might differ slightly from those that your body needs.

So listen to your body -- you'll discover which veggies you prefer cooked and which you like raw. Don't be afraid to experiment to find what works for you. The most important thing is to just get those veggies into your tumtum! ;O)

Some General Rules About Vegetables

• Whenever possible, don't peel your veggies -- the skins contain lots of valuable nutrients;
• Avoid overcooking your veggies. As a general rule, veggies should be JUST tender when poked with a fork. Green veggies should be cooked just until they turn a bright and vibrant green;
• When making a dish with more than one veggie (recommended!), be sure to cut them all about the same size so they cook up in the same amount of time (or close to it);
• To clean root vegetables, simply scrub with a brush under cold running water. Most of your veggies are best cleaned in a bowl full of cold water and an edible acid, such as lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, for 10 minutes -- this will ensure thorough cleansing. 1/4 cup of this edible acid is usually enough for a large bowl of water;
• Cook only the veggies you need at each meal -- leftover cooked veggies are very sad and have lost their vitality. If they look wimpy, they ARE wimpy!
• Whenever possible, select fresh, local, seasonal, organic veggies;
• Most veggies can be washed immediately upon returning from the grocery, then placed into air-tight bags or Tupperware-like containers. When you're ready to eat, they'll be ready to go;
• If you own a vacuum sealer and would like to seal your vegetables for the freezer, be sure to cook them GENTLY first -- parboiling seems to work best, meaning drop cut veggies into boiling water for just a couple minutes to JUST begin the cooking process, then remove and run under cold water. Cool thoroughly, and be aware that you may have to use a large bag to allow room for water to "seep" towards the seal without interrupting the sealing action. Random Factoid - Raw broccoli emits a gas that will break the seal on your bags.

Now that you're armed with the basics of veggies, it's time to play with your food!

Handy List of Vegetables

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