Fitness and Freebies
Veggie Tips
Health Tip
Most people think raw vegetables are healthier for you than cooked vegetables. This is true IF you cook them until they wilt and lose their bright color.
However, cooking tomatoes and tomato sauce and carrots improves the amount of available antioxidants.
Steaming is fast, preserves nutrients, and it works best for fresh and frozen vegetables such as carrots, broccoli, spinach and roots like beets, parsnips,peas and beans.
Roasting is quick, simple, and is an excellent way for cooking vegetables as it preserves the vitamins, flavors and minerals. Stir-frying is another very good flavor and color preserving cooking method.
Vegetables can also be cooked by the steam produced by their own vegetable juices. In a fry pan, add a little olive oil, sliced vegetables and your favorite seasonings. Cover the pan, put it on medium heat, and within 5 to 8 minutes you will have spicy and crispy vegetables. Stir often. Panning works best for carrots, beans, summer squash and shredded cabbage.
Shopping for Your Vegetables
Many frozen vegetables have added salt. Fresh vegetables are a better choice; you control the added fat and salt. Vegetables comes in many containers. Shop the produce section for fabulous sources of Vitamin C including peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, potatoes, greens (collard, mustard and turnip), cantaloupe, honeydew melon melon, kiwifruit, mango, papaya and strawberries.
Fiber is where you find it. Don't scrap that potato skin - scrub it! Edible skins of fruits and vegetables and seeds (berries, tomatoes, Sunflower seeds) are good sources of natural fiber. Vitamin A comes in colors. Look for deeply colored green, yellow, or orange vegetables, and you've found your vitamin A. Try for a dark orange or leafy, deep green vegetable every day.