True food values and their low costs

Spinach cooked in this manner will retain all its salts. It will be more laxative and the flavor when blanched (boiled in water). . In young, tender spinach this is not objectionable, hot when the overgrown vegetable is cooked in its uwn moisture, the flavor is strong and somewhat acrid. A Word about Cabbage. Because of the relatively large amount of phur which cabbage contains, it is apt to be indigestible and cause flatulence when it is improperly cooked. On the other hand, it can be cooked so that it will be deiicaie and digestible. It is one of our most useful vegetables, bong available during the late fall, winter, and spring months, wIku other green vegetables are difficult to procure. The quickest and simplest methods of cooking cabbage are the best. The essentials for the proper cooking of this vegetable are : Plenty of boiling water, a hot lire to keep the water boiling all the time, and thorough ventilation, that the strong-smelling gases, liberated by the high temperature, may be carried off in the steam. Young cabbage will cook in twenty-five or thirty minutes ; late in the winter it may require forty-five minutes. The vegetable when done ] A should be crisp and tender, any green portion should retain the color, and the white portion should be white and not yellow or brown. Overcooked cabbage or cauliflower is more or less yellow, has a strong flavor, and is very inferior to the same dish properly cooked. In addition, overcooking is a cause of digestive disturbance. The Proper Way to Boil Cabbage Cut a small head of cabbage into four parts, cutting down through the stock. Soak for half an hour in a pan of cold water to which has been added a tablespoon of salt; this is to draw out any insects that may be hidden in the leaves. Take from the water and cut into slices. Have a large stewpan half full of boiling water; put in the cabbage, pushing it under the water with a spoon. Add one tablespoon of salt and cook from twenty-five to forty-five minutes, depending upon the age of the cabbage. Turn into a colander and drain for about two minutes. Put into a chopping bowl and mince. Season with butter, pepper, and more salt if it requires it. Allow a tablespoon of butter to a generous pint of the cooked vegetable. Cabbage cooked in this manner will be of delicate flavor and may be generally eaten without distress. Have the kitchen windows open at the shown by a large number of analyses of American food materials by the United States Department of Agriculture. The amoimt may be very small (seven per cent) in such vegetables as string beans; mediimi (ten to fifteen per cent), in such vegetables as onions, cabbage, leeks, lettuce, cucumbers; or high (fifty per cent) in such vegetables as beans in pod, pumpkins, and squash. With tubers, such as potatoes, the average amount of refuse is twenty per cent, and with such roots as turnips, thirty per cent. In preparing vegetables for the table the careful cook will remove all inedible portions and will see to it that the total amount of refuse is as small as is consistent with good quality. Thin paring of potatoes and other vegetables is an economy which it is worth while to practice, and is an easy way of decreasing useless loss. A "Word about Tomatoes A half century ago the tomato was a scarce and expensive article. It was then known as the "loveapple," from its resemblance in form to the apple and its ardent color. In those days it was used largely for decorative purposes, and when used as a food it was customary to eat it as a fruit from the hand, sprinkling it lightly with salt or sugar. There was also a bit of superstition connected with its use as an article of food, many people believing it to be unwholesome and productive of "hiunors," and for this reason eschewing it ahogether.