To Cook or Not to Cook

That is a question answered by the weather. Is it too hot to cook? We eat raw vegetable or fruit salads or bean salad accompanied by a plate of cold cuts and a sturdy whole grain bread, or a bean salad. Is it too cool not to cook? There we have more choices. We cook whatever we like or whatever the fridge or freezer yields.

Some surprising vegetables you have probably only eaten cooked are in other countries eaten cooked or raw. Beets for instance, in central Europe come to the table simply grated and called a salad. Nutritionists tell us that beets loose 25% of their folate when cooked. Maybe those Hungarians know what they’re doing. They also serve grated carrots as a fall or winter salad. So do I, but I dress them up with raisins and mayonnaise and serve them on lettuce. Carrots actually yield up more of their Vitamin A when cooked, and they have more of it than any other vegetable I can think of. We like them braised in butter, alone or with sliced parsnips for added sweetness.

Experts advise us to eat broccoli raw and it’s often served up with a platter of vegetables and a dip, but I prefer it lightly steamed and eaten with ranch style dressing on them.. Though cooking destroys an enzyme called myrosinase, it helps the liver eliminate any carcinogens it’s cleaned out of other foods that have passed through it. I think that a good wash before steaming eliminates any carcinogenic pesticides it’s been sprayed with while growing.

Red peppers retain their Vitamin C when eaten raw, but when friend, roasted, or grilled the Vitamin C gets destroyed. Lightly sautéed, like in a stir fry, leaves them raw inside.

Asparagus is most nutritious when steamed to crisp-tender. Some people butter it. I put ranch dressing on it. The theory is that the fat in the butter or dressing breaks down cell walls, making it’s nutrients more available. It’s a great source of Vitamin A and folate. To grow it in your garden involves preparing the soil the year before you plant it and there’s a special technique for installing the roots, but once you do, it will go on producing tasty, vitamin rich spears for a generation.

Mushrooms fried in butter are super delicious and the fat enables them to make their potassium available.
Spinach is best cooked no more than one minute. You absorb more of its calcium, iron, and magnesium than when you eat it raw. If you fill a 6-cup saucepan with well washed spinach leaves on top of a little oil or other fat, it will cook down to produce 2 to 3 servings. At one minute, the top leaves will just look somewhat wilted, but turn them over and they will cook almost instantly.

French cooks add color, flavor and nourishment to stews, roasts, and casseroles with quickly made Mirepoix (say MEER-pwa). You can produce an easy soup by adding a Mirepoix to chicken broth or beef broth or vegetable stock.
Here are the basic proportions of a Mirepoix:

         Mirepoix
Makes about 2/3 cupful

1 average size carrot
1 medium-size onion
2 or 3 ribs celery
Dash dried thyme or marjoram
1 Tablespoon butter
1/2 cup water

Chop the vegetables. Heat the butter in a small skillet. Add the vegetables and sprinkle with thyme. Stir. Add water. Cook until vegetables are tender.