INTRODUCTION


Preparing more vegetables and cooking at home is a simple strategy that can greatly improve your health. What's more, research has reported that preparing food at home is associated with less fast food consumption and money spent on food.


One of the first steps towards cooking more at home is learning different ways to cook fresh vegetables. These skills will enable you to make veggies the star of your meals, which in turn will provide you with tons of beneficial nutrients and lead to improved health.


Basic methods of cooking vegetables
A. CHOPPING
Chopping is about as basic as you can get, and it's something that seasoned home cooks might take for granted. But not everyone learns how to slice, dice, and julienne veggies as a kid. That's why chopping is the first and foremost skill to master if you want to become a better cook and eat more vegetables.


B. STEAMING
Steaming is an age-old technique for preparing veggies. Sometimes it gets overlooked, but it really gets the job done! Plus, research shows that steaming some vegetables may preserve their nutrients more than other methods of cooking. 8 To steam a vegetable means to expose it to hot water to soften the food and make it more tender.


C. BOILING
Boiling vegetables is one of the easiest ways to prepare them. While boiling can cause some nutrients to leech out of vegetables into the water, that's not the case for every type of veggie. Sometimes, boiling is the most effective way to cook potatoes and other firm root vegetables even if some nutrients are lost. And if you're eating a variety of both cooked and raw veggies, you don't need to worry about preserving the optimal nutrition of every single meal.


D. SAUTÉING
To sauté a vegetable means to cook it in some type of fat over heat. The most common fats used in sautéing are extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, butter, and even coconut oil. You can also add minced garlic, herbs and spices, and/or salt and pepper to a sauté.


E. MARINATING
Once you start to get more comfortable in the kitchen, you can create marinades for vegetables! Brushing or soaking vegetables in a mixture of olive oil, spices, herbs and other flavorings before cooking them can increase their flavor and tenderness once they are cooked. Marinated vegetables can be sautéed, roasted, or grilled.


F. ROASTING
If you're new to roasting veggies, you have no idea what you're missing! Roasting completely transforms the flavors and textures of raw vegetables. Many people find that the veggies they absolutely hate to eat raw are some of their favorite ones to eat roasted.


G. QUICK PICKLING


Quick pickling is a simple and fun technique to prepare vegetables. Even though pickling can sound intimidating, making pickled veggies (fridge pickles, not the shelf stable kind) is incredibly easy. With some vinegar, sugar, and spices, you can pickle just about any kind of vegetable.