The Importance of Vegetables

The huge variety of vegetables now available to us from all over the world is the cook's opportunity to shine - this is where your skills are really tested
 
Why do I say that? Because although there are countless recipies for meat, soups, fish and desserts, there are relatively few for vegetables. It's as though they don't really count, and yet they are frequently the most important part of a meal, both in terms of nutrition and appearance.
 
Even in restaurants they are often served as a kind of after-thought or, worse, an additional accompaniment for which you have to pay extra. This is frequently the case where the chef is far more concerned with making a presentation than providing a decent meal.
 
The attitude seems to be, if you are going to clutter up his plate of art with vegetables then you're going to have to pay for it.
 
Fortunately, in our homes we don't suffer from these sorts of constraints and there is nothing to prevent us from providing the deep slashes of color stuffed with vitamins and minerals that vegetables supply every day of the week.
 
Our problem - and it's an easily solvable one - is to make them as attractive, as nutritious and as interesting as possible. That's particularly true in households where an expert food critic has taken up residence. And you thought it was just a four year old!
 
There are two main rules with regard to cooking vegetables. The first is to buy the best you can afford - freshness is everything - and the second is to cook them as little as possible.
 
Light cooking retains the color, but more to the point it retains most of the nutrients that are the real reason for eating vegetables in the first place. Balance your diet with well-cooked veggies, and you can throw those expensive vitamin pills away. You don't need them in a well balanced diet.
 
Speaking of 'balance', there is another general rule of thumb that you might like to consider; each main meal should contain at least two vegetables that are not a starch such as rice or potatoes, and at least one of those should be green.
 
That could be a salad, for example, or something as simple as steamed broccoli.
 
But don't limit yourself to that; the great thing about vegetables is that you can eat as many of them as you like, at any time of the day or night, and you won't put on a scrap of weight, overload your heart or have to break into the piggy bank to pay for them.
 
They are cheap, cheerful, versatile, oh so good for you and, even more to the point, properly prepared they are simply delicious.
 
I hope the recipes in these pages, to which I am adding all the time, will tempt you into trying just that little bit harder with these wonderful examples of nature's providence.