Fresh vegetables contain not only the foodstuff ash, but water. Indeed most fresh vegetables contain from 75 to 90 per cent of water.
In addition to these two foodstuffs, vegetables contain cellulose. The latter is a fibrous substance which forms for the most part the skins and interior framework of vegetables and fruits. The strings of beans and celery and the "pith" of turnips and radishes, for example, contain much cellulose.
Foods containing both ash and cellulose have a laxative effect. Hence the value of fresh vegetables in diet. The use of fresh vegetables cannot be too strongly urged. Certain vegetables, especially the green leaved vegetables, also contain substances which are necessary to make the body grow and keep it in good health (see Division Seven).
Most persons should use fresh vegetables more freely than they do.
SUGGESTIONS FOR COOKING GREEN VEGETABLES.—If ash is such a valuable constituent of vegetables, the latter should be cooked so as to retain all the ash. Unfortunately vegetables are not always cooked in such a way that the minerals are saved. Just as salt dissolves readily in water, so many of the mineral materials found in green vegetables dissolve in the water in which vegetables are cooked. Hence if it is necessary to drain off water from vegetables after cooking, it is evident there may be much loss of nutriment.
Ash is also one of the substances which gives flavor to vegetables.
Insipid flavors of certain vegetables may be due to improper cooking.
A most important point to consider in the cooking of vegetables is the saving of the minerals. This can be accomplished in several ways:
1. Cooking in water with their skins.
2. Cooking in water and using the water which must be drained away after cooking for sauces and soups.
3. Cooking in such a small quantity of water that none needs to be drained away after cooking.