Vegetables

Vegetables are the succulent parts of herbaceous plants that are used as food. They are divided into tubers (potatoes), root vegetables (beets, carrots, radishes, parsley, celery, etc.), cabbage (white cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kohlrabi, etc.), onions (onion, leek, garlic), salad spinach (lettuce, spinach, sorrel), pumpkin (cucumbers, zucchini), tomato (tomatoes, eggplant, peppers), legumes (beans, beans, peas), dessert (rhubarb, asparagus), spicy (dill, horseradish, etc.).

Cucumbers

Cucumber is the lowest calorie and most watery vegetable, as it is 96% water. Cultivated cucumbers appeared in the hot countries of the East - India and China - more than 6 thousand years ago. In appearance, varieties of cucumbers can be very different from each other: they are short and long, rounded and elongated, smooth and warty, and there is also a lemon cucumber, which is tasty when it turns yellow (other varieties are eaten green and crispy). Some varieties are more suitable for salads and soups, others, small in size, for salting. Cucumbers traditionally go to salads, and are also pickled and salted. Also, fresh, pickled and pickled cucumbers are used to make savory snacks, light soups and delicate sauces. In oriental cuisine, cucumbers are often fried. Fried cucumbers are very similar to fried zucchini, but they have more sourness. The main ground cucumber season in Russia lasts from June to August-September. In stores, greenhouse cucumbers are available all year round. A good fresh cucumber is resilient and strong; when pressed, no dents remain on it, and the vegetable does not deform. In the stalk area, it should be firm, and its pimples should be dense (if they break or are soft to the touch, the cucumber may be overripe or lying on the counter for too long). The peel of cucumbers can be almost smooth, with pimples or with “thorns”. It is believed that cucumbers with pimples and dark spikes on them are ideal for canning. Such vegetables will be crispy and moderately hard. If the spikes are white, the cucumbers will practically not crunch - either fresh or after pickling. For canning, it is better to choose cucumbers with a green skin and a small size. In stores, you can also see yellow and white cucumbers, in shape they are more reminiscent of zucchini. Yellow cucumbers are soaked in water before eating or pickling because of the bitter taste.

Carrot

Carrots are perhaps the most popular root vegetable after potatoes. This is no coincidence: carrots are tasty, they can be eaten raw and used for cooking, they go well with many foods and are healthy. In central Russia, the main carrot season begins in June and ends in September-October, but there are no shortages of carrots in the store in any season, and we are very happy about this. The orange color of carrots depends on the presence of beta-carotene in it: the more it is, the brighter and healthier the carrots are. No other vegetable or root crop can compare with carrots in terms of the amount of beta-carotene. The brighter the color of carrots, the more beta-carotene that is extremely useful for the human body. Now you can find carrots in different natural shades of white, yellow and deep purple. Considering that there are about 20 types of carrots worldwide, it is not surprising that they come in different shades. The sugar in carrots gives them a pleasant sweetish taste, but root vegetables can also have different flavors (earthy or even bitter). The current carrot can be divided into two main categories - "Eastern" and "Western". In Asia, "oriental" carrots are grown in yellow or purple. Holland - the birthplace of the "western" - is mainly rich in orange root crops. More than 40 million tons of carrots are produced annually in the world. China provides about 45% of the world’s annual carrot crop. Choose medium-sized root vegetables: the larger the carrot, the less interesting its taste and the less juice it also has. Buy firm, smooth-skinned carrots that don’t have the spots or cracks that appear when the vegetable starts to go bad.

Onion

Onion plays a special role in cooking. Without it, many traditional dishes almost lose their meaning: we add green shoots and onions to most salads, soups and side dishes, and they add spiciness, piquancy and aroma to ready-made dishes. And if you remember that there are a lot of vitamins B and C, calcium, iron and potassium in onions, it becomes clear that this is a truly magical vegetable. Bulbs of red, white, yellow onions, shallots are well preserved in a cool and dry place, but not in the refrigerator - there they quickly shrink and lose their taste. They have only one unpleasant property: an ineptly cut onion (especially a yellow onion) makes us cry; to avoid this, it is worth using a very sharp knife that cuts through its layers, and does not crush them. Yellow onions are the most common (that’s 80% of all the onions people eat!). When they write in recipes "Take one onion" - they mean it. It gives the dishes a characteristic smell and taste. It is rarely eaten raw: yellow onions are the sharpest. During the cooking process, the sharpness disappears, only the aroma remains. However, there are also exceptionally sweet varieties of yellow onions, such as "exhibition" - the famous French onion soup is best made from it.

Potatoes

Potato is a cultivated plant of the species of perennial grassy tuberous plants of the family of the nightshade. The food product is potato tubers. According to its chemical composition, potatoes are considered a vegetable with a unique set of substances useful to humans, which, importantly, are represented in it in ideal proportions.

The protein contained in the potato is of high biological value, since most of the amino acids in it are necessary for the body to build proteins. Polysaccharides are starch, fiber, pectic substances, potatoes also contain glucose, sucrose and fructose. Mineral salts, mainly phosphorus and potassium, as well as micro and macro elements: magnesium, iron, calcium, nickel, iodine, cobalt, manganese. Potato is also rich in vitamins and it is not only a source of vitamin C, it also has vitamins B, vitamin D, E, K, PP and very valuable folic acid. Potato tubers contain carotene, sterols, organic acids (citric, malic, oxalic, etc.).

The chemical composition of potatoes is close to bread, and the content of vitamins and minerals - to greenery.
Calories in potatoes are many - 800-900 kcal per 100 g, which is almost three times higher than in other vegetables. This vegetable is especially valuable in the period of beriberi (autumn and spring), and it is good that, if stored, preserves most of the nutrients until the very spring.

It is useful to know that in order to conserve the maximum amount of useful substances, potatoes must be placed in boiling water when boiling, so it will be cooked faster and will save the use. Most important elements are concentrated in the outer part of the tuber, therefore, the thinner the cut layer, the better, and even more useful, the potato welded "in uniform."

Pumpkin

Pumpkin is a vegetable, also a diet. Because of the low content of coarse fiber and organic acids in its pulp, pumpkin can be eaten even with inflammatory diseases of the stomach and intestines. Pumpkin is a kind of natural vitamin and mineral complex. The champion among the vitamins contained in the pumpkin is beta-carotene, the pumpkin is rich in vitamins C, E, B1, B2, PP. It has a lot of potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, copper, zinc, cobalt, silicon, fluorine. Pumpkin - is a very tasty, useful and curative vegetable, contains a significant amount of carotene and vitamins.

Useful properties of pumpkin were known to our distant ancestors. Later, science confirmed that the pumpkin is a real storehouse of vitamins. Do not underestimate this vegetable. Recipes from it can be used as culinary as well as healing. Pumpkin therapy is becoming more and more popular all over the world.