Preparing Vegetables for Cooking

Introduction

The best dishes are made with the use of the freshest ingredients. That is why most of the time cooks prefer using fresh vegetables. This lesson will present the procedures for preparing vegetables for cooking and the measures for controlling the changes in the quality of vegetables during cooking.

Preparing Fresh Vegetables for Cooking

In order to preserve and maximize the good quality fresh vegetables have, it is important to learn how to handle vegetables before, during and after preparation.

Guidelines for Preparing Vegetables for Cooking

Preparing vegetables for cooking includes washing, soaking, peeling, cutting and trimming vegetables.

Washing:

• Wash vegetables thoroughly.

• Root vegetables that are not peeled, such as potatoes for baking, should be scrubbed very well with a stiff vegetable brush.

• Wash green, leafy vegetables in several changes of cold water. Lift the greens from the water so that the sand will sink to the bottom. Pouring off into a colander dumps the sand back onto the leaves.

• If needed for later use, drain vegetables well, cover and refrigerate to prevent drying.

Soaking:

• To preserve as much flavor, do not soak vegetables in water for long periods (except for dried legumes).

• If necessary, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower may be soaked for 30 minutes in cold salted water to eliminate insects.

• Limp vegetables can be soaked briefly in cold water to restore crispiness.

• Dried legumes are soaked for several hours before cooking to replace moisture lost in drying. Dried beans absorb their weight in water.

• Treat vegetables that brown easily (potatoes, eggplant, artichokes, sweet potatoes) with an acid, such as lemon juice, or an antioxidant solution, or hold under water until ready to use (some vitamins and minerals will be lost).

Peeling, Cutting and Trimming:

• Peel most vegetables as thinly as possible. Many nutrients lie just under the skin.

• Cut vegetables into uniform pieces for even cooking.

• Peel and cut vegetables as close to cooking time as possible to prevent drying and loss of vitamins through oxidation.

• Save edible trim for soups, stocks, and vegetable purees.

Handling and Preparing Processed Vegetables

Due to the high perishability of fresh vegetable products, seasonal variations in availability and price as well as the amount of labor required to handle fresh products in commercial kitchens, food service heavily relies on processed vegetables. Processed vegetables may be sold frozen or dried.

It is important that you know how to handle processed products properly. The following are important reminders for handling processed vegetables safely.

Guidelines for Handling and Preparing Frozen Vegetables

Handling Frozen Vegetables:

• Temperature inside the packaging should be at 0ºF (-18 ºC)

• Ice crystals should be kept at a minimum. Lots of ice crystals means poor handling.

• Packaging should not have leaks or other obvious signs of thawing.

• Vegetables inside packages should have bright and natural color and not yellowed or dried by freezer-burn.

Preparing Frozen Vegetables:

• Frozen vegetables have been partially cooked, so final cooking time is shorter than for fresh products.

• Cook from the frozen state. Most vegetables need no thawing. They can go directly into steamer pans or boiling water.

• Exceptions: Corn on the cob and vegetables that freeze into a solid block, such as spinach and squash, should be thawed in the cooler first for more even cooking.

• Seasoning: Most frozen vegetables are slightly salted during processing, so add less salt than you would to fresh products.

Guidelines for Handling Dried Vegetables

Most of the many-colored beans are types of kidney beans, peas, and lentils. Lentils are small, lens-shaped legumes that have shorter cooking times than kidney beans. Other types of dried beans include chickpeas or garbanzos, fava beans, and lima beans.

Handling and Preparing Dried Legumes:

When handling dried vegetables, it is important to take note of the following, accordingly:

1. Pick over to remove any foreign particles and rinse well.

2. Soak overnight in 3 times their volume of water. (Split peas and some lentils do not require soaking. Check package directions).

3. Simmer, covered, until tender. Do not boil, or the vegetables may toughen. Some beans require up to 3 hours of simmering.

4. If you forget to soak beans overnight, an alternative method can be used. Put the beans in a cooking pot with 3 times their volume of cold water. Bring to a boil. When water boils, cover tightly and remove from the heat. Let stand for 1 hour. Then proceed with step 3.

Handling Freeze-Dried and Other Dehydrated Vegetables

Drying has always been an important method for preserving vegetables, especially before modern canning and freezing techniques were developed. Modern technology has developed additional methods for drying foods, so a great variety of dried products is on the market. Here are some reminders for handling freeze-dried and other dehydrated items:

• Follow the manufacturer’s directions for reconstituting these products. Many need to be soaked in cold or warm water for specific lengths of time. They continue to absorb water as they are simmered.

• Dried products, especially potatoes, require only the addition of boiling liquid and seasonings to be ready to serve. Again, the manufacturer’s directions vary with their brands.

• Dried mushrooms should be soaked in hot water until soft, then drained and lightly squeezed before being cooked. The flavorful soaking liquid is trained and used as a flavoring for cooking liquids and sauces.