While celery is generally eaten raw, it furnishes a palatable dish when cooked in milk. It should not be eaten by dyspeptics or children, particularly if raw. Similarly the cucumber has a well-merited reputation for producing dyspeptic disturbances. It is only eaten raw, is frequently served as a salad, and should be used only when very young and fresh, and eaten only by persons of sound digestion.
Okra is much prized in the Southern States as the principal ingredient of a very palatable soup, but is not as a rule looked upon with favor by the uninitiated. It is also much eaten boiled and served with a little butter and pepper. When fresh and young it is fairly digestible, and furnishes a very agreeable addition to the dinner.
In addition to those already referred to, there are a number of vegetables that are very popular either alone, or in combination as salads—particularly in the South; among them are green peppers, parsley, mint, capers, endive, and chicory. The remarks already made concerning green vegetables apply equally to these just mentioned, and it should here again be particularly insisted upon that salads containing acids are unwholesome for infants and children, and should be used sparingly even by those in health. None contains much nourishment.
Among easily digestible vegetables asparagus probably takes front rank, and in addition to this has the merit of being exceedingly agreeable to the taste. It possesses little nutritive value, but when young, fresh, and well cooked, it may be taken even by infants without harm.
Rhubarb, or “pie plant,” is eaten stewed, and made into pie. It is said to be somewhat laxative, and is decidedly more wholesome than many others. The squash, when properly cooked is comparatively wholesome, but contains little nourishment, and is of no particular value as a food, and the pumpkin is not much better, although useful during the winter for making pies after the ordinary vegetables and fruits are gone.
Cranberries, when thoroughly cooked and separated from the hulls, form the basis of a delicious jelly that is widely eaten in the winter over all portions of the United States. Like all sweets it is not entirely wholesome for dyspeptics or infants, but as it is usually eaten with meats and not in great quantities, it may be looked upon as being one of the most wholesome of all foods of this class. It does not seem to have such a tendency to produce sour stomach in many dyspeptics as is so frequently done by other foods containing vegetable acids.