Green vegetables furnish a large amount of easily digested carbohydrates and contain much mineral matter in which meats and cereals are deficient. That they add to the highest purity of our blood has been proven by the fact that many blood and skin diseases have been cured by the application of specific greens alone. However, no matter how valuable an article is, it should be used according to the needs of the individual. As vegetables also contain a large amount of water, it is not wise for one who has to perform active mental or physical labor to indulge in a large amount of cooked, especially underground, vegetables at the noon meal. At this time of the day the system requires the most nutritious foods in the form of proteid elements, no matter whether the meal consists of cooked food, cold or warmed over. Green peas and corn are best eaten at the noon meal, as they are rich in proteid elements. Asparagus, tomatoes, string beans and leaf greens are also suitable at this time of the day, provided some nutritious food of the proteid class is served with them. For further combinations, see “Left Overs” and Menus.
The blanching of vegetables, as advised by some authorities, will always remove valuable constituents of the plant. The blanching and ventilation of vegetables during the process of cooking is advised, in order to make them more wholesome. All artificially prepared foods will lose certain constituents through the process of cooking, and this loss is generally made up by additional flavoring or sauces. Vegetables which are cooked in very little water and kept well covered (not ventilated), will lose less of their natural qualities, and the injurious gases which do not escape by this process can be made harmless through the addition of fats, in the emulsified form, as sauces, the yolk of an egg, lemon or cream.
In the consumption of food, as well as the custom of dress and education, some people have reached that stage of refinement where degeneration begins. We cannot refine natural food without paying the penalty for it, which means the producing of disease and the shortening of life. The excessive use of refined sugar, alcohol and other artificial stimulants, has produced a dislike for fatty foods by many people, so that they refuse to eat sauces, or fat meats in any form, the only fat they use being butter. While the latter is a valuable food, it often cannot be assimilated by the system if spread on white bread, or mixed with cooked vegetables; it generally serves only as a lubricant. If butter is eaten in excess, especially in the summer, it clogs the system. Some people prepare vegetables and soups with melted butter for the sake of convenience. This is a waste, since a tablespoonful of butter or other fat properly emulsified as directed under butter sauces will often give more nutriment than one-quarter of a pound of butter wasted by soaking into toast or other cooked foods.
The American method of cooking green vegetables in a large amount of water and throwing it away, then seasoning them with butter and spices and serving them with lean meat and white bread, produces a starvation diet. In such a meal, the important mineral matter and the fats in vegetables and whole wheat grains are left out, and are supplemented by an excess of starches and water in the form of bread, beverages and desserts. Additional fats should be added scientifically and combined with foods which are rich in minerals and acids.
All vegetable water, especially that of canned or sterilized fruits and vegetables, is very wholesome and antiseptic. Strained, sterilized tomato, currant, gooseberry and strawberry juices are unsurpassed as a liver medicine in some conditions. These same foods will lose their medicinal value if stewed in an open kettle. They should be prepared in Mason jars or cans. After opening, these fruit juices may be kept in earthenware on ice for twelve hours, and served again. After this they should be reboiled or sterilized, in order to check fermentation. For the sick, the same precaution should be taken with keeping fruit juices as with milk.
When using canned vegetables, never throw away the water, if it is not to be used for dressing. Add it to soups or use it in place of beverages. Pea, bean and asparagus water may be made very palatable if cream is added. See preparation of legume teas under “Fluids.”
In preparing vegetables for the sick, the finest of all dressings is the yolk of an egg and lemon juice, with a small amount of butter. The fat in the yolk of the egg being emulsified in a perfectly natural state, it feeds the mucous membrane of the entire alimentary tract and blood vessels. Besides neutralizing the gas producing tendencies of the foods, it aids in the digestive and assimilating processes and feeds the nerve sheaths. In all chronic conditions, which are the result of hardening of the arteries, a large amount of the yolk of eggs, combined with lemon and oil, may be used. There are a few vegetables which do not combine well with the yolk of an egg, such as turnips, carrots, beets and onions. These contain a large amount of sulphur and iron, which is also found in the yolk of the egg. Fat meats are good additions to the last mentioned vegetables, except onions, which are rich in oil themselves. If underground vegetables are served in the form of purees, they should be mashed very fine or rubbed through a colander; the butter which is added should not be allowed to boil. Peas, beans, cauliflower and cabbage are most likely to disagree if served with butter only. Butter sauces, cream sauces, yolks of eggs and lemon are the best additions to make them agreeable.
Some people prefer vegetables cooked in oil. Those whose systems can digest a large amount of fat will find them agreeable.
Wash them thoroughly and remove the outside leaves. Drop into salted boiling water and cook for 20 or 30 minutes. Add a few drops of vinegar to the water while boiling. Serve warm with a white sauce or let cool and serve with French or mayonnaise dressing.
Wash and cut them into inch pieces until the hard part of the stem is reached. Boil them for 20 minutes, or until tender. Serve warm with butter, milk, cream, or egg sauce, or cold with French or mayonnaise dressing. The asparagus may be scraped and tied into bundles when boiling.
Remove the green tops and wash them carefully. Do not prick the skin, as the juice will then escape and injure the color as well as the flavor. Young beets will be tender in about one hour, older ones take two to three hours. When done, peel and slice. Serve with a butter or cream sauce, or plain, with butter and chopped parsley. For salad, cut into slices and pour over them boiling vinegar, diluted with one-half water. Add whole spices if desired.
Prepare like the above. When tender, peel and mash very fine with a potato masher, and add butter and a few drops of lemon juice.
Wash the tops and boil in a very little water until tender. A small piece of salted or smoked lean meat may be boiled with them to give them a better flavor. Chop fine and flavor with butter and lemon juice. A brown butter sauce may be prepared from the water in which the greens have been boiled; when done mix with the finely chopped greens, and let it boil a second, and flavor with lemon.
Wash, scrape, and cut them lengthwise into halfs and quarters, then cut crosswise into inch pieces or smaller. Cover with boiling water and cook for 10 or 15 minutes, with a little salt. Drain off the water (add to soups); brown some fat and flour, add to it soup stock, whey or the water which was drained off, and roast the carrots in it until done. Cover them tightly and add more fluid while roasting, if necessary. Flavor with chopped parsley.
Steam or cook the carrots with salt and as little water as possible. A small piece of lean bacon or cornbeef may be added for flavoring. When done, mash very fine with a potato masher. Flavor with butter and a little pepper and parsley or lemon.
Prepare like the above, and add one potato to three medium-sized carrots. If the potatoes require less time to cook, add them when the carrots are half done. This preparation may be especially recommended for chronic invalids or for those who have a dislike for the sweet flavor of the vegetable.
Cook like carrot puree. When tender, make a butter sauce with the water; add parsley and hot cream, if desired.
Cook like number one, thicken with flour or corn starch, and add some hot cream and parsley. Serve, like soup or vegetables, for breakfast or supper, with dry whole wheat or black bread. Butter is not required at the meal if cream is used. If the butter and cream are emulsified as in sauces, they are more wholesome.
Wash the peas while in the pods, then shell. Boil the pods in a very little water for 15 minutes, then take out and put the peas to boil in the same water. Add a little salt and sugar when almost done. Prepare further like creamed carrots. Some people prefer them with no dressing except butter. Those who have difficulty in digesting starch and wish to cut out the bread at the meal may use sauces or cream dressings with their vegetables, especially in the winter.
Put the peas on to boil, and when half done, add an equal amount of carrots which have been cut into half inch pieces. Prepare with a butter sauce like creamed carrots, and add chopped parsley. This will afford a perfect meal for dinner in spring or summer. A few bread or flour dumplings may be served with it. The latter should be cooked with the peas 10 minutes before serving. Salted or smoked meats give them a good flavor.
Cook the peas with a very little water, and add meat broth while they are boiling. Boil some fresh codfish in a separate saucepan, and when done remove the skin and bones, cut into pieces and mix with the peas. Prepare a butter sauce from the liquid remaining on the peas. Carrots may be added.
Boil the lamb with sufficient water to cover it. Add salt and onion. When half done, put it to boil with the peas, which should have been boiled with water in another saucepan for 10 minutes. When meat and peas are done, remove the fat, thicken with flour and add the pea water to make a butter sauce. Flavor with parsley. Use the meat broth for soup or add the yolk of an egg or two, and serve in cups.
Use asparagus tops, young French carrots, peas, and cauliflower. Cook each vegetable separately with salt, in as little water as possible. When done, drain the water from each and use for soup. Mix the different vegetables in one dish and pour browned butter over them. Serve with Lobster Curry. A butter sauce may be prepared from the vegetable water in place of brown butter. Bread or flour dumplings may be served with it. Lean meat is also a good combination.
Cauliflower should be avoided by those who have delicate stomachs, at the evening meal. It should be perfectly fresh and put into salted water for an hour before cooking, in order to take out any hidden insects. It should be boiled 20 to 30 minutes; if steamed it takes a little longer. Flavor with salt and a little sugar while boiling. Serve with brown or melted butter and lemon, or prepare a butter sauce with soup stock and the yolk of an egg, or with cream. Season with pepper. Serve with chipped beef or grated cheese for breakfast, or with lean meat for dinner. Left over cauliflower may be baked in the oven with cheese or bread crumbs, and served for breakfast. Tomato sauce is also suitable as a dressing. Cold cheese is a better combination with the latter than cream sauce or baked cheese.
They are very purifying and should be eaten often, by people of a bilious tendency. Select young string beans, pull off the string on each side and break in pieces an inch long. Boil in slightly salted water and prepare like green peas. They may be mixed with carrots. Ribs of beef or lamb can be cooked with them as described in recipe for peas. For other combinations, see “Boiled Mixed Dinners.”
This is also a very valuable vegetable. Besides being rich in iron and phosphates, it is laxative, and excellent as a medicinal food for constipation. Wash it thoroughly. For a delicate stomach use the leaves only. Steep in as little water as possible, chop very fine or rub through a colander; season with pepper, salt, lemon and butter, or prepare with a brown or white butter sauce from soup stock, or spinach water. Gelatine may be used in place of soup stock by dissolving the gelatine in the vegetable water. Smoked or salted lean meat may be cooked with it for flavoring. Serve with eggs or lean meat.
Boil in as little water as possible, and chop fine. Then chop fine some well watered salt herring or other salt fish. Prepare the spinach with a butter sauce made from soup stock, add the fish and serve on toast. Dried bread crumbs or browned flour mixed with butter, without the liquid, may be added to any of the green leaf vegetables.
Dandelions, yellow dock, horse radish tops and lettuce may be prepared in the same manner as spinach.
Wash and remove the stems. Boil in salted water for 40 or 50 minutes. Prepare with a butter or cream sauce.
Wash and peel them. Then cut into pieces and cook with as little water as possible, until tender. Serve with fish or lean meat for dinner, or with whole wheat or rye bread for breakfast.
Wash and boil the roots with the skins. When tender, peel them and cut into slices. Prepare with a butter sauce made with soup stock or serve with French dressing. Flavor with parsley.
Wash and scrape. Boil in salt water to which a little vinegar has been added. Prepare with a butter sauce, or mash fine. Serve with tongue, croquettes or boiled beef.
Cut in slices about an inch thick. Make a batter of eggs, salt and flour; dip the slices of egg plant in the batter, and fry in hot fat. Serve with lean meat, for dinner or supper, or serve with green salad for breakfast.
Cut off the stem end and remove the seeds. Fill the peppers with a dressing such as is given in recipes for bread dumplings or meat croquettes. Place them in a baking dish with two tablespoonfuls of oil or fat; when brown add a little flour and some soup stock, cover the dish and bake in an oven for about 50 minutes. The inner part of the peppers may be mixed with the filling.
For stewing use small or medium sized onions. Boil them in salt water, drain off the water and serve with butter and lemon, or prepare a butter or cream sauce. They are best eaten for breakfast or dinner with some salted meat, and wheat or rye bread.
People who like onions and find they disagree on account of the strong acids, should grate them and mix thoroughly with sauces, or French or mayonnaise dressing.
Chop the onions very fine in a wooden bowl. Then heat some butter and oil and fry them until light brown and pour over steak or mix with potatoes.
Chop enough to last for several days. Melt some butter and add the parsley, and let boil up once. When cold put on ice. This saves time, though it is best to prepare the parsley fresh for each meal.
Wash and dry them, then roll in flour and fry in fat until brown. Add some soup stock and steep until done. Cover well. If the stock is too thin, add a little browned flour; season and serve on toast.
Wash and cut in quarters. Mince very fine and put on to boil in a little water; let it cook for 20 minutes in earthen ware, then add three to five ounces of fat or oil, some vinegar, sugar, salt and caraway seed. Let all cook for several hours. A few apples may be cooked with the cabbage and taken out when done. The latter may be served for breakfast. When the cabbage is done, thicken with browned flour and let cook 10 minutes longer. Onion may be added if desired. A piece of salt pork is also a good addition in place of oil.
Prepare the same as red cabbage.
Cut in quarters and boil in a little water with a small piece of lean salted smoked meat, or without meat. When tender, drain and serve with butter and the yolk of an egg and lemon, or with an egg sauce or tomato sauce.
Remove the outside leaves and put to boil in a little salt water. When tender, drain and season with butter and lemon. The yolk of an egg may be added. A butter or egg sauce is also good.
Remove the leaves and put in cold salt water for 30 minutes. Then boil for 20 minutes. Corn is best when eaten raw. It is very nutritious and will afford a perfect meal during the summer with tomato salad and lettuce.
Thicken the corn with flour and water. Add a small amount of hot cream and season with salt and pepper or a few spoonfuls of tomato juice. If no cream is desired, drain off the liquid and thicken like butter sauce. Canned corn, being a rich and soft food, should not be mixed with many other foods at the same meal. It is more suitable for the morning or noon meal than for supper.
Peel, slice thin, and stew in a very little water. When nearly done, add some hot soup. Prepare with a butter sauce. Chop fine some green leaves of the plant previously boiled and add. Serve with boiled beef.
Wash, scrape and boil in salt water until tender—about 40 minutes. Prepare with butter, milk or cream sauce, or mash fine and fry like potato balls. Season with lemon or pepper.
Prepare like carrot puree. Cook with as little water as possible.
Prepare the same as roasted carrots. They combine well with mutton.
Scrape, wash and cut in slices, lengthwise. Boil in salt water for 5 minutes, then drain and fry in smoking hot fat. They can be turned in batter if desired. They may be fried without cooking, like sweet potatoes.
This is a desirable vegetable in cold weather. It is purifying and very valuable during the rainy season, in malarial districts. Remove the leaves from the stems, wash and boil in salt water, using as little water as possible. Chop very fine and prepare like spinach. A little smoked meat may be added.
If young and tender it does not require peeling. Wash, cut into small pieces and steam. When done, mash fine and season with salt, pepper and cream, or butter, and a few drops of lemon. It may be cut in slices and fried in oil, or dipped in butter and fried like egg plant.
Cut some fresh, firm tomatoes into several pieces. Cook in a double boiler with as little water as possible. Rub through a sieve with a spoon or potato masher. From 3 to 6 ounces of thick puree is sufficient at a meal, for the average adult. For medicinal purposes, tomatoes may be eaten in large quantities.
They are more wholesome if not cooked. Place a can of tomatoes in hot water to heat, drain off the liquid, and serve with meat, fish, eggs or cheese. The liquid may be kept for soup.
Heat a can of tomatoes, thicken with flour and water, and let boil 10 minutes. Add some butter and flavor with onion, and small amount of sugar if desired.
Prepare as number two, thicken with bread or cracker crumbs, instead of flour.
Heat a can of tomatoes. Then heat some butter and oil in a flat saucepan, thicken with mixed flour, flavor with onion, add the tomatoes gradually, and let boil a few minutes.
Wash the tomatoes and cut off the upper part with a sharp knife. Scrape out the pulp and fill the tomatoes with cold chopped meat mixed with onion and mayonnaise dressing. Garnish with lettuce and serve with bread and butter, or as an entree.
Wash the sauerkraut in cold water several times. People with sensitive stomachs should boil it for a short time. Then drain off the water and put on to boil again. If no meat is served with it, use a few tablespoons of oil, lard, butter, or goose fat. Add onions and a little sugar or some apples for flavoring. Cook from one to two hours. Then add a little flour dissolved in cold water, or two raw grated potatoes. Remove the apples before serving. The latter may be eaten for breakfast or supper. If the onions disagree, remove them before serving. Good combinations with sauerkraut are: Pea puree, pork, bacon, liver, liver-pudding, white fish, and oysters stewed or fried.
Wash some large cabbage leaves. Fill them with finely chopped left-over meat, mixed with eggs. (See recipe for croquettes.) Then tie the rolls together with a string. Steam in a shallow dish with as little water as possible. Serve with an egg sauce. Flavor with mace.
Potatoes consist mainly of starch and water. They are more expensive than wheat, rye, oats, barley and corn. They should not be eaten oftener than once a day, or better three times a week. People who do hard physical or mental work should not eat potatoes at the noon meal. Fat meats, eggs, fish and greens combine well with potatoes; if they are served with lean meat, some fatty substance in the form of butter, cream or gravy should be eaten with them. Fried potatoes are not wholesome. The best way to prepare them is to boil or bake them in the skins, or boil or mash them in cream or buttermilk.
Boil or steam some potatoes with their jackets on. When done, peel and slice them into a deep bowl while warm; then sprinkle over them a little salt, pepper, and finely chopped or grated onion, and pour over them some boiling hot vinegar diluted with one-half water and mixed with melted butter or oil. Cover with a saucer and shake well; let stand for twenty or thirty minutes. If there is too much liquid, pour off some and mix the remainder with mayonnaise dressing and chopped parsley, if desired.
Boil the potatoes in the jackets, let cool, peel, slice, and fry in one-half butter and one-half oil. Serve with cranberry sauce, lettuce, and lean meat.
Sweet potatoes may be peeled and sliced in the raw state, and fried in half oil and half butter. Serve as above. They are very suitable for breakfast.
Select small potatoes and boil in the skins. Add some salt. When done, peel and cut into thin slices. Bring some milk to a boil, and thicken with corn starch dissolved in water, or prepare a butter sauce with butter, flour and milk. Add the potatoes and some finely chopped parsley. Serve with fish or salted preserved meat.
Use small, imported German potatoes. Boil with the skins, peel and turn in yolk of eggs and rye nuts; fry in oil and butter. Serve with sprouts, or spinach and meat.
Peel small sized potatoes, wash and put into a steamer or colander. When done pour into a dish, and mix with chopped parsley and fresh butter. Serve with fish.
Peel and cut into long strips or thin slices. Put into salt water on ice for half an hour. Fry in boiling oil.
Peel, wash, and boil or steam the potatoes; when done, mash fine, and add some hot cream or cold buttermilk, and a little salt, also a piece of butter.
Prepare the same as white potatoes.
Beat 2 eggs with an egg beater, mix with one cup of left-over mashed potatoes, shape into balls and fry in hot fat. Serve with bacon, fish, or sausage, for breakfast.
Prepare the same as potato balls. Put the mass into a pudding dish and cover with rye nuts, grated cheese, or a beaten egg mixed with rye nuts, and bake half an hour.
Prepare as for mashed potatoes. Use apple sauce in place of milk or cream, mix well and add a liberal piece of butter. Serve with sauer roast, veal cutlets or sausage. It is good for breakfast with bacon.