Vegetable Cooking Tips To Avoid Losing Nutrients

Ilsutrasi Sayuran (Ella Olsson/Pexels)

JAKARTA - To improve health, you must have often heard that we must diligently eat vegetables. But do not carelessly process vegetables, because it could be that the nutrients are even lost and you do not get the benefits for the body.

Then, how to cook the best vegetables? Follow these tips!

Wash with running water

Before you start cooking, make sure you wash all vegetables to remove any impurities that may stick, bacteria, or pesticides. Simply wash it in running water and not soak it in a container, especially with hot water. When you soak vegetables, their nutrients can be lost. So it's best to clean enough under the tap shower!

Cutting vegetables in large sizes

Perhaps there are still many who do not know that cutting small vegetables can make their nutrients disappear, especially for vegetables containing vitamin C! If possible cooked whole would be even better. If it feels too big how? You can cut it once it is cooked.

Do not cook at high temperatures

It is best to cook the vegetables to taste so that they are still fresh and taste better. As much as possible even the vegetables are still fresh and shaped like the original. So it is not advisable to overprocess in order to stay healthy. When cooking vegetables, do not take too long at high temperatures because it can eliminate their nutrients.

A selection of healthy vegetable cooking methods

Vegetables are indeed an ingredient that is quite easy to process into various types of food. However, you should choose the right method to keep the nutrients awake. Healthier cooking processes include steaming, roasting, boiling, and sautéing with healthy oils such as olive oil or canola.

If the vegetables you choose are not too hard, you can also use blanching technique, which is to boil vegetables quickly at low temperatures just to ripen. The point is, the less or briefly the cooking process, the better.