Vegetables: the real taste of nature

Vegetables: the real taste of nature

Test for freshness

How you will get fresh vegetables?

All vegetables, particularly green ones, are best when taken straight from the garden. But this is not  always possible so it is essential that one should know how to judge a well- grown vegetables. A well- grown vegetables is usually tender and free from pests.

Vegetables are classified into three divisions:

1) root vegetables.

2) leafy vegetables

3) other vegetables grown above the soil.

Root vegetables these should be firm and heavy for their size. They should be free from earth and grubs. Carrot should be heavy, smooth skinned and orange in colour

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Leafy vegetables these should be crisp and give a crunchy sound when squeezed. Break the vein of a leaf; it should give a sharp snap. It the leaves are limp, then the vegetables is not fresh

Other vegetables  cabbage and cauliflower should be free from greenfly. The cabbage should have a firm heart and the outer leaves should stand the same test for freshness as green leafy vegetables. Cauliflower should have a close, white flower. Tomatoes should be of a rusty red colour and should not be soft. Runner beams and French beams should  not be stringy. Peas should be full in the pod, and green. Ladies fingers should snap if the end are broken. Brinjals should have a smooth skin and should not be heavy for their size.

Importance of vegetables in our diet

Vegetables play an important role in the human diet. Properly chosen and eaten, cooked or raw, they make an invaluable contribution toward the supply of vitamins and minerals. Root vegetables are good source of carbohydrates, and pulses of vegetable proteins. A good balance of ingredients essential for growth and maintenance in human beings is more easily attained by a dite made up of both plant and animal life. Vegetables also provide variety in a meal, help to make a meal attractive by indroducing colour, and furnish roughage.