Gentle Cooking Retains Vitamins
What's gained by careful buying of vegetables at the market can be lost by careless cooking in the saucepan. Vitamins and minerals have a hard time surviving certain cooking conditions, and it's wise to know how to treat those greens and other good vegetables after they come into your kitchen. Some vitamins can stand rougher treatment than others, but gentle cooking is always good advice when it comes to vegetables.
Vitamin A is the sturdy member of the family, not seriously affected by cooking. Vitamins B and C, on the other hand, are subject to considerable loss, and they need a little coddling to preserve them. Cut down vitamin loss to the minimum by cooking vegetables just to the point where they're tender, and not one minute more!
Mineral salts, so essential to the body's chemistry, dissolve in water, which is one of the reasons why the water you cook your vegetables in should never be thrown away. That water contains valuable calcium, needed to build sound bones and teeth, and even iron, essential for making rich, red blood. Cook vegetables in as little water as possible and if there is any appreciable amount of liquid left over after removing the vegetables from the saucepan, use it in sauces, vegetable cocktail drinks or in soups.
Some of the vitamins inevitably lost in cooking can be replaced by the clever cook who has a keen eye toward food values. Dressings and sauces for vegetables, when properly concocted, can add up the vitamin score to a higher total. The new vitaminized margarine makes a thrifty melted dressing for greens that adds extra vitamin A, for the best margarine on the market now has 9,000 units of vitamin A per pound which makes it equal to the year-round average of butter.
Potatoes With Savory Sauce
4 potatoes, cut in strips 2 small onions, cut in rings 4 tablespoons vitaminized margarine 2 tablespoons flour 1 cup milk 2 teaspoons salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 2 tablespoons pimiento, chopped Grated cheese
Cut the raw, pared potatoes into long match-like strips. Cook them in boiling water until tender. Drain and turn into a warm dish. Brown the onion rings in the vitaminized margarine. Add the flour, stirring thoroughly; add milk, salt, pepper and pimiento and cook in double boiler 20 minutes. Pour over cooked potatoes, sprinkle with grated cheese and serve.
Vegetable Chop Suey
1 large onion Small head cauliflower 1 green pepper 3 cups celery, diced 1 cup string beans 1 cup peas 1 cup boiling salted water 4 tablespoons vitaminized margarine 1/2 cup parsley sprigs
Peel onion. Separate cauliflower in flowerets. Shred or slice green pepper, onion, cauliflower, celery and string beans. Cook all vegetables together except parsley in boiling salted water 15 minutes, or until tender. Add vitaminized margarine. Turn into serving dish and sprinkle with parsley. Serves 6.
Lima Beans Parisienne
Melt 4 tablespoons vitaminized margarine in double boiler, add 4 tablespoons flour and mix well. Add 1 cup milk, 1/4 cup bean stock and 1/4 cup celery stock gradually until thickened. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and Va teaspoon pepper. Add 1 cup grated American cheese, 3 cups cooked Lima beans, salted, and 1 cup cooked celery, diced and salted. Mix well. Sprinkle with paprika. Serves 6.
Vitamin A is the sturdy member of the family, not seriously affected by cooking. Vitamins B and C, on the other hand, are subject to considerable loss, and they need a little coddling to preserve them. Cut down vitamin loss to the minimum by cooking vegetables just to the point where they're tender, and not one minute more!
Mineral salts, so essential to the body's chemistry, dissolve in water, which is one of the reasons why the water you cook your vegetables in should never be thrown away. That water contains valuable calcium, needed to build sound bones and teeth, and even iron, essential for making rich, red blood. Cook vegetables in as little water as possible and if there is any appreciable amount of liquid left over after removing the vegetables from the saucepan, use it in sauces, vegetable cocktail drinks or in soups.
Some of the vitamins inevitably lost in cooking can be replaced by the clever cook who has a keen eye toward food values. Dressings and sauces for vegetables, when properly concocted, can add up the vitamin score to a higher total. The new vitaminized margarine makes a thrifty melted dressing for greens that adds extra vitamin A, for the best margarine on the market now has 9,000 units of vitamin A per pound which makes it equal to the year-round average of butter.
Potatoes With Savory Sauce
4 potatoes, cut in strips 2 small onions, cut in rings 4 tablespoons vitaminized margarine 2 tablespoons flour 1 cup milk 2 teaspoons salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 2 tablespoons pimiento, chopped Grated cheese
Cut the raw, pared potatoes into long match-like strips. Cook them in boiling water until tender. Drain and turn into a warm dish. Brown the onion rings in the vitaminized margarine. Add the flour, stirring thoroughly; add milk, salt, pepper and pimiento and cook in double boiler 20 minutes. Pour over cooked potatoes, sprinkle with grated cheese and serve.
Vegetable Chop Suey
1 large onion Small head cauliflower 1 green pepper 3 cups celery, diced 1 cup string beans 1 cup peas 1 cup boiling salted water 4 tablespoons vitaminized margarine 1/2 cup parsley sprigs
Peel onion. Separate cauliflower in flowerets. Shred or slice green pepper, onion, cauliflower, celery and string beans. Cook all vegetables together except parsley in boiling salted water 15 minutes, or until tender. Add vitaminized margarine. Turn into serving dish and sprinkle with parsley. Serves 6.
Lima Beans Parisienne
Melt 4 tablespoons vitaminized margarine in double boiler, add 4 tablespoons flour and mix well. Add 1 cup milk, 1/4 cup bean stock and 1/4 cup celery stock gradually until thickened. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and Va teaspoon pepper. Add 1 cup grated American cheese, 3 cups cooked Lima beans, salted, and 1 cup cooked celery, diced and salted. Mix well. Sprinkle with paprika. Serves 6.
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