Foods and home making

Some vegetables, as onions, are strong-flavored, while others, as peas, are mild in flavor. To be acquainted with the flavor of vegetables is helpful in deciding what vegetables to serve to- gether or with other foods. There is still another classification which helps us in selecting vegetables, namely color. Some vegetables, as tomatoes, are decidedly colorful, while others such as parsnips are colorless. In selecting vegetables to use together or with other foods, think of the color of the foods. Do we need vegetables other than potatoes? Eat two vegetables other than potatoes every day is the advice that is being given by those who understand what we need to keep us in good health. Potatoes are generally popular. They are a good food. But to eat no vegetable other than potatoes is unwise. We need the leaves and stems of plants as well as the roots. Then, too, we need those vegetables such as tomatoes and squash which the botanist classes as fruits. An authority on diet says that the reason why many families do not have a variety of vegetables is that vegetables take time to prepare and many do not know how to cook them so as to make them taste good. Vegetables are delicious when they are cooked properly. Cooking vegetables properly does not mean always to prepare them in ways that require much time and effort. One of the ways of making vegetables taste good is to cook them so as Fresh Vegetables 271 to save their nourishing materials. This you can learn to do by following the recipes given in this book. Would it not be fine if you became a specialist in cooking vegetables? If you learn a number of ways of preparing spinach, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, and many other vegetables which are so good for us, how helpful and useful you can be in your home ! The suggestions given in this text should serve as a basis for learning to cook vegetables. Watch for new ideas regarding vegetable cooking and serving. Some vegetables really do us more good when we eat them raw. When you study more about salads (see page 287) you will learn how to use uncooked vegetables. Why are yellow and green vegetables prized? The carrot with its sunny coloring has a wealth of vitamins. Turn to the vitamin table on page 603 and note that the carrot is a good source of vitamins A, B, C, and G. If you compare white and sweet potatoes and white and yellow corn, you will see that the yellow vegetable is a better source of vitamins, especially vitamin A, than the white vegetables. Yellow vegetables contain a substance called carotene which is a yellow pigment. When foods containing carotene are eaten, the carotene is changed into vitamin A in the liver. Most yellow vegetables are a good source of vitamin A. How- ever, carotene is found also in green vegetables and in toma- toes. Its yellow coloring is concealed by the green coloring (chlorophyll) of green leaves and the red coloring of tomatoes. Although yellow and green vegetables abound in food treas- ures, they are not always cooked so as to make them taste good. Because some of their valuable materials are sometimes wasted in cooking, they do not have the good flavor they should have. If these vegetables are cooked as directed in this text, they will be very palatable. For what are tomatoes, cabbage, and lettuce valuable? It seems strange to us now that tomatoes were at one time believed 272 Luncheon or Supper