How to cook vegetables to preserve nutrients

 It is true living healthy is good but it takes knowing how to live healthy to live healthier. Many of us eat vegetables and for a vegetarian - eating vegetable is staple but how can you prepare delicious vegetables and preserve its nutrients. Although once heat is applied to vegetables or fruit it's nutrient is reduced but in some vegetables such as tomatoes, the enzymes are activated when heated. The way you cook your vegetables determines the freshness and nutrition value. So let's learn how to prepare vegetables like spinach, broccoli florets, kale, carrot, red/green peppers, green onions, garlic, tomatoes, etc. Keep in mind when making soup or stew you add the vegetable last when the stew is almost done.  For carrots and beets cook till soft.  For vegetables like spinach, kale,broccoli steam for 2-3minutes, you can cook directly in a pot over stove but it's best to cook these with a steam basket.

First, wash vegetables with clean cold water.
Add 1 cup of water to pot.
Put a bamboo steam basket over the pot or steam using a mechanical vegetable steamer
Mix chopped vegetables with pure flavored/seasoning apple cider vinegar,then put vegetables into the bamboo steam basket immediately.
Add pinch of sea salt, and 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil and seasoning.
Cover the pot, to stop the steam from evaporating, and to preserve nutrient.
steam for about 2-3minutes then remove heat.
The oil and vinegar helps to soften the vegetables and it cooks faster.
Serve with stir fried vegetarian sausages or cooked brown rice with stew.

Note: Cook root vegetables direct without using steam basket because you want the steam to cook the inside of the vegetable, you can use the juicy vegetable flavor water as a broth. Root vegetables includes rutabaga, beet, radish, carrot,sweet potatoes, daikon, cabbage etc.

Cook starchy vegetable first before adding other non-starchy vegetables since the starch one's are much harder e.g rutabaga, sweet potatoes, daikon etc.
                                                                                                                                              
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