Handy Vegetable Tips and Tricks

Vegetables are used in many different recipes. You can also enjoy them as quick snacks and zucchini spears, baby carrots, celery ribs or cherry tomatoes are especially good for this.

Whether you want to make a classic French onion soup recipe with yellow onions or combine lots of vegetables to make a stir fry or salad, it is handy to know some vegetable tips. One of the best things to know is that vegetables, which grow beneath the ground, should start cooking in cold water and vegetables, which grow above the ground, should start cooking in boiling water.

Do you like corn? This makes a great side dish to so many different recipes. The simplest way to remove silks from corn is to use a toothbrush. Rub it upwards over the corn cobs and the corn silks will come off. Add some sugar to the salt water when you are boiling corn if you like your corn to be sweet.

Tomatoes go nicely with corn in lots of recipes and you should store these unwashed. Store them at room temperature for the best results and use them when they are firm and fully ripened.

Potato and Root Vegetable Tips

Root vegetables should be washed before you peel them and again after you peel them. If you are cutting up potatoes before you need them, cover them with cold water to stop them from going brown. Pat them dry with paper towels before using them in your recipe.

You can use sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes in most recipes because the cooking times are the same. Try using half white potatoes and half sweet potatoes to enhance the flavor of your favorite potato dish. Sweet potatoes must be peeled.

Useful Mushroom Tips

When choosing mushrooms, it is a good idea to turn them over and look underneath. The gills under the cap should be closed tightly. Wash mushrooms before using them but right before using them else they might go soggy. Rinse them under lukewarm water and cut the stem off after this, so they do not hold in water. You can slice mushroom stems with an egg slicer.

More Fascinating Tips for Delicious Vegetables

When you are steaming broccoli, take the steamer lid off for half a minute during the cooking time. Letting out some of the steam keeps the broccoli bright green. Saute some seasoned bread crumbs in oil and sprinkle them over your steamed broccoli for a fancy side dish.

This is an easy way to cook asparagus. Stir fry it in a little oil for a minute over high heat, then add half a teaspoon of salt and a quarter of a cup of water to the pan. Cover the pan and let the asparagus cook for three minutes.

To get grit out of leeks, you should cut the roots off as well as the green ends. Slice three quarters of the way through the leek and let it soak in lukewarm water for a few minutes. Hold it under running water, cut side up, and pull the leaves apart.

Salt your eggplant slices before sauteing or frying them. This cuts down on the amount of fat the eggplant can absorb. Wash the eggplant and slice it, then sprinkle coarse salt all over it. Let it sit for half an hour before you rinse and dry it.