What foodstuffs do vegetables give us ? We may, indeed, look with pride upon the results of our working with nature, for each vegetable is a little storehouse of materials, taken from the earth,. air, and water, that are sources of health and strength for us. Remember in particular the iron, the lime, the sulphur, and all the other minerals that Mother Nature has laid away so cunningly and that we so greatly need. Taking into account all the varieties, we eat every part of a plant, if not always the whole of any one — cauliflower is a de- formed flower, you know. The seeds Contain all the foodstuffs. Well-developed peas and beans are rich in protein. Roots and tubers Contain all the foodstuffs. (the potato) and Small amount of protein and fat. the bulb (onion) Much starch or some form of sugar. Rinds (squash and Contain all the foodstuffs in small amounts. pumpkin) Mineral substances the chief value. Leaves and stems Very valuable on account of the mineral matter. Other substances in such small quantities that they are not important. Make your own list in your notebook, putting against seeds all the seed vegetables that you know, and so on. Where will you put string beans f This list is useful in connection with that just given, because it will show you the chief food value of each kind. THE HOME DINNER 227 If you have a good supply of many varieties, you will use less meat in summer. Eating vegetables is much better for you, and for your purse. Eating vegetables raw. We can eat lettuce and some other green leaves raw. We enjoy crisp radishes, cu- cumber, and celery, and tomatoes and melons, which are " fruit "" rather than "vegetables." Our work with these is to serve them clean and cool and to remove only the tougher outside skin. How shall we best cook our vegetables ? This story will amuse you. One day a mistress asked her cook to bring the meat soup from the refrigerator that she herself might prepare it for the dinner. The cook brought a bowl with a bone, bare except for gristle and a few dry strings of meat. " But where is the soup ? '' " Oh, ma'am, this is all the soup there was when I threw away the water ! " But what has happened if you cook spinach in a kettle of boiling salted water and strain off all the water ? You have left behind little more than the bones of the spinach, for in that water was lost the precious iron that you so much need. After such struggles to store up food material it seems a bit foolish to throw it away, does it not .? " Shall we never boil vegetables, then ? " Yes, sometimes, but not often. We will look into this a little further. What does cooking do to vegetables ? You know already what happens to the vegetable fiber and starch. Where there is protein the change in cooking is not very important. The heat does not change the 228 FOOD AND HEALTH mineral matter, ^but the water dissolves out the mineral substances to a large e:Ktent. What can you do then, to save the mineral matter ? ' One way is to use as little water as possible, and then use the water ; that is, have only so much water that by the time the vegetables are tender there is so little liquid left in the bottom of the pot that it can be served with the vegetables. Perhaps this table will help you : Bake when you can Potatoes, squash, corn, even young beets, old beans, and peas. Steam when you can Any vegetable. In a steamer the cooking takes more time. Stew when you can Spinach, c^elery, string beans, tender (This means so little peas, and so on. water that none is thrown away.) Boil in large quantity Old, strong-flavored vegetables, be- of water and throw cause you want to be rid of the away the water flavor — strong onions and cabbage. Time-table for stewing, boiling, and baking. Fifteen minutes. Tender cabbage and sweet corn. These are usually cooked too long.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

What foodstuffs do vegetables give us ? We may, indeed, look with pride upon the results of our working with nature, for each vegetable is a little storehouse of materials, taken from the earth,. air, and water, that are sources of health and strength for us. Remember in particular the iron, the lime, the sulphur, and all the other minerals that Mother Nature has laid away so cunningly and that we so greatly need. Taking into account all the varieties, we eat every part of a plant, if not always the whole of any one — cauliflower is a deformed flower, you know. The seeds Contain all the foodstuffs. Well-developed peas and beans are rich in protein. Roots and tubers Contain all the foodstuffs. (the potato) and Small amount of protein and fat. the bulb (onion) Much starch or some form of sugar. Rinds (squash and Contain all the foodstuffs in small amounts. pumpkin) Mineral substances the chief value. Leaves and stems Very valuable on account of the mineral matter. Other substances in such small quantities that they are not important. Make your own list in your notebook, putting against seeds all the seed vegetables that you know, and so on. Where will you put string beans f This list is useful in connection with that just given, because it will show you the chief food value of each kind. If you have a good supply of many varieties, you will use less meat in summer. Eating vegetables is much better for you, and for your purse. Eating vegetables raw. We can eat lettuce and some other green leaves raw. We enjoy crisp radishes, cucumber, and celery, and tomatoes and melons, which are " fruit "" rather than "vegetables." Our work with these is to serve them clean and cool and to remove only the tougher outside skin. How shall we best cook our vegetables ? This story will amuse you. One day a mistress asked her cook to bring the meat soup from the refrigerator that she herself might prepare it for the dinner. The cook brought a bowl with a bone, bare except for gristle and a few dry strings of meat. " But where is the soup ? '' " Oh, ma'am, this is all the soup there was when I threw away the water ! " But what has happened if you cook spinach in a kettle of boiling salted water and strain off all the water ? You have left behind little more than the bones of the spinach, for in that water was lost the precious iron that you so much need. After such struggles to store up food material it seems a bit foolish to throw it away, does it not .? " Shall we never boil vegetables, then ? " Yes, sometimes, but not often. We will look into this a little further. What Does cooking do to vegetables ? You know already what happens to the vegetable fiber and starch. Where there is protein the change in cooking is not very important. The heat does not change the mineral matter, but the water dissolves out the mineral substances to a large extent.. What can you do then, to save the mineral matter ? ' One way is to use as little water as possible, and then use the water ; that is, have only so much water that by the time the vegetables are tender there is so little liquid left in the bottom of the pot that it can be served with the vegetables. Perhaps this table will help you : Bake when you can Potatoes, squash, corn, even young beets, old beans, and peas. Steam when you can Any vegetable. In a steamer the cooking takes more time. Stew when you can Spinach, celery, string beans, tender (This means so little peas, and so on. water that none is thrown away.) Boil in large quantity Old, strong-flavored vegetables, beof water and throw cause you want to be rid of the away the water flavor — strong onions and cabbage. Time-table for stewing, boiling, and baking. Fifteen minutes. Tender cabbage and sweet corn. These are usually cooked too long.

Food and health