Helpful Tips For Cooking Fruits and Vegetables

Helpful Tips For Cooking Fruits and Vegetables

Ø  Fresh , canned, dehydrated or frozen fruit and vegetables are all good nutritious options.

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Ø  The best is to look for frozen or packed fruit that are not presweetened as all heavy syrups contain far more sugar and calories in it.

Ø  When buying frozen or canned vegetables, buy those with no added salt, butter or cream sauces for far healthier options for your family.

Ø  Take care not to overcook your vegetables as this destroys their nutritional value and can make them soggy, bland tasting and unpleasant to eat.

Ø  Steaming is the best way to cook your vegetables so as to retain a little crispness and as much vitamin and mineral content as possible, while also keeping your vegetables looking bright, vibrant and pleasant to eat.

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Ø  Root vegetables such as potatoes, kumara, yams and parsnips are ideal for roasting. 

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Ø  However, vegetables that grow above ground such as squash, pumpkin, tomatoes, zucchini and capsicum are also all very delicious roasted and result in full bodied flavours.

Ø  Stir frying vegetables is another excellent way to retain the highest levels of vitamins and mineral content also as well as providing a quick and efficient method of cooking.

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Ø  When Stir frying your vegetables ensure that your wok or deep frying pan is already hot before you add your vegetables and always begin with the harder, longer cooking vegetables first such as carrots, then onions, broccoli, cabbage, capsicum and then add vegetables such as asparagus, snow peas and mushrooms and finally leafy vegetables such as bok choy and spinach at the very end.

Ø  Make sure that you cut your vegetables all to a consistent sizes so as to ensure even cooking times. Cut harder vegetables such as carrots, parsnips, swedes and turnips smaller to allow then to cook faster.

Ø  When grilling vegetables over coals or gas,  cook them over a medium heat for the best results.

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Ø  Fruits such as plums, peaches, nectarines and pineapple are delicious grilled on the barbecue, bringing out their natural sweetness.

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Ø  When stewing fruits add your sugar at the beginning as this will reduce the fruit from turning to pulp too much.

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Ø  To cook fruit for a puree then cook the fruit unsweetened and add the required sugar at the end of the cooking process for the best results.

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Ø  Roasting fruits such as peaches and nectarines brings a whole new dimension of flavour intensity to the fruits. Bake at 180^oC until just tender for the best results.

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