How to cook vegetables correctly: in a slow cooker, steamed, in a saucepan

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Boiled vegetables are one of the easiest side dishes. Each hostess prepares them differently. One soaks in cold water, the other boils in a large amount of water, the third adds soda during cooking. It is important to know how to cook vegetables in order to preserve all the valuable properties and give your favorite dishes an extraordinary taste.

Helpful tips for cooking vegetables

Here are some simple rules:

• Boil them in a small amount of water. It is ideal that they are covered by about 1 cm. Steaming is considered the most correct preparation. The less water, the more nutrients are retained.
• The larger the vegetables, the less nutrients they lose during the cooking process. It is best to cook them whole, not cut into pieces.
• You only need to put them in boiling water.
• Vegetable freezing does not need to be thawed beforehand. She is thrown into the frozen water.
• An enamel pot would be ideal for cooking. It should not have any defects. Lid whencooking is better to close tightly.
• All vegetables, except for beets, green beans and green peas, should be boiled in lightly s alted water (10 g of s alt per 1 liter of water). Thanks to this, potassium s alts, indispensable for the body, are preserved. Beets will lose their taste due to s alt water, and peas will take a very long time to cook.
• You need to lay them in turn: first, those vegetables that cook the longest.
• Food cooked with the skin on is best cleaned hot.
• Leaving boiled vegetables in water for a long time is not recommended, as they will become too watery and lose their taste.
• Zucchini, tomatoes, pumpkin and other vegetables that secrete juice should be properly steamed so that they retain their nutritional value and taste.

How to cook vegetables of different colors?

Onions, cauliflower, potatoes, kohlrabi and other white products are dipped in boiling water and boiled over high heat. It is better not to close the lid. After a quarter of an hour, it is better to drain the water a little, then close the lid tightly and boil over low heat. So the vegetables do not overcook and do not give up useful properties to the water.

Green vegetables (green beans, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, spinach, peas) should be cooked for a short time and preferably steamed. If you cook in water, run them in boiling water. So ascorbic acid, which is rich in green vegetables, will be less destroyed.

Orange and yellow vegetables contain a lot of carotene. If they are digested, then it will go into the water. In this case, the vegetables themselves will become pale. Also brewedbeets, only add a little lemon juice or acid, or vinegar to the water. This will keep the beetroot bright. Some people add a little sugar to the water (half a teaspoon per liter of water). This will also keep the color of the vegetables.

How long to cook?

The cooking time for vegetables is as follows:

• Carrots are boiled for 20-25 minutes if they are whole. Pieces will be ready faster, already after 10-15 minutes. How much to cook carrots for salad? The ideal cooking time is 20 minutes. Readiness can be checked by piercing the product with a fork. If it pierces easily, then the carrot is done.
• Beets cook for 40-45 minutes. It is not necessary to clean the root crop before cooking. The smaller the fruit, the faster it will cook.
• Broccoli is cooked for 5-7 minutes if fresh. Frozen product takes a little longer to cook - 12-15 minutes.
• The potatoes will be ready 20-25 minutes after you put them in the water.
• Corn is best cooked without peeling the leaves. You can also put a few leaves in the bottom of the pot. So it will be more fragrant. Young corn takes 10-15 minutes to cook, and old ears need to be boiled for about 1.5-2 hours.
• Fresh white cabbage is cooked for 10-20 minutes. Before cooking, it must first be cut into small pieces.
• Tomatoes are boiled for borsch for a quarter of an hour, for mashed potatoes - 45 minutes, for tomato juice - 10 minutes.

Cooking in a slow cooker

How to cook vegetables in a slow cooker? You can cook them in the bowl itself, in a saucepan or steam. This will require a bowl.for steaming. Vegetables are laid out on it, several glasses of water are poured down. The steamer mode is set, the time is set, the lid closes and soon everything will be ready.

How long to steam vegetables? It will take about 45 minutes for beets, 15 minutes for carrots, and 20 minutes for potatoes. Vegetables prepared in this way will contain the maximum amount of useful properties. Just make sure that the water does not boil away from the bowl and top up if necessary.

How to cook frozen vegetables?

Freeze them by blast freezing. These vegetables contain as many vitamins as fresh ones. Before cooking, they must be separated so that they are not cooked in one ice block. So the vegetables will cook unevenly or not at all undercooked. You can add herbs or your favorite seasonings to the water.

Sliced carrots, any kind of cabbage, zucchini are boiled for about 5-7 minutes. String beans, corn will be ready in 3-5 minutes, and spinach in 1-2 minutes.

You can also boil frozen food in the microwave. To do this, put them in a microwave-safe heat-resistant container, close the lid, but leave a small hole for steam to escape and set at full power for 4-5 minutes. If the vegetables are still not ready after this time, turn on the microwave for a couple more minutes.

If you know how to cook vegetables, you can keep all the vitamins and beneficial properties to the maximum.