Vegetables Creative Foods

Vegetable Classifications  Roots  Tubers  Leaves  Fruits  Bulbs  Stems  Flowers  Seeds

Roots  Roots grow deep into the soil.  Roots store and provide food to their plants, making them rich in nutrients.  Quality roots are firm, unwrinkled, unblemished, and have good color.

Roots  Beets  Carrots  Parsnips  Radishes  Rutabagas  Sweet potatoes  Turnips

Bulbs  Bulbs: vegetables which bulb flesh is edible.  Bulbs are often used for seasoning and flavoring.  Most of these vegetables have a strong taste and odor.  Garlic: strong-smelling multi-cloved bulb.  Onion: strong tasting vegetable, a variety of garlic.  Leek: plant with a small edible bulb.  Quality bulbs are firm, fresh-looking, and have a good color.

Bulbs  Garlic  Onion  Leek

Tubers  Tubers are large, round, underground stems that grow just below the surface of the soil.  They store and provide food to their plants, making them rich in nutrients.  Quality tubers are firm, unwrinkled, unblemished, and have good color.

Tubers  Potatoes  Jerusalem artichokes

Stems  Vegetables in this category produce edible stems, stalks, and shoots.  They are picked when young and tender.  Quality stems, stalks, and shoots are firm, unblemished, and have no browning. Vegetables - stalk: vegetable with an edible stem. Celery: vegetable with edible petioles. Asparagus: vegetable with edible shoots. Swiss chard: white beet. Rhubarb: stem-vegetable with edible petioles.

Stems  Asparagus  Celery

Leaves  Vegetables in this category can be served raw or cooked.  They shrink when cooked because of their high water content.  Flavors of leafy greens range from mild to spicy.  Quality greens have crisp, bright leaves without and brown spots.

Leaves  Brussels sprouts  Cabbage  Lettuce  Spinach

Flowers  These vegetables grow quickly in cool weather.  They are served raw as well as cooked.  Quality cauliflower and broccoli are firm, heavy for their size, and have a good color.

Flowers  Artichokes  Broccoli  Cauliflower

Fruit - Vegetables  Vegetables that are often called fruit-vegetables come from flowering plants and contain at least one seed.  Therefore, they are technically the fruit of the plant.  For the purpose of commercial kitchens, however, they are categorized as vegetables since they are savory rather than sweet.  Quality fruit-vegetables have smooth, unblemished skin.

Fruit - Vegetables  Tomatoes  Cucumbers  Eggplant  Okra  Peppers  Pumpkins  Squash

Seeds  This category consists of vegetables with edible seeds.  Some of the pods are also edible, but the seeds are more nutritious.  Quality seeds and pods are firm, well-shaped, and without blemishes.

Seeds  Peas  Corn  Beans

Nutritional contribution of Vegetables Vegetables are excellent sources of many vitamins and minerals. At least 5 servings should be included in your diet daily

Carbohydrates Main source of energy for the body Seeds, roots, tubers

Fiber  Form of complex carbohydrate that the human body can not digest.  Provides bulk in the diet.  Linked to the prevention of heart disease by lowering cholesterol levels  Bulk may dilute carcinogens Men – 38 grams Men – 38 grams Women 25 grams Women 25 grams

Vitamins A, D, E, K  Fat soluble vitamins  Stored in the liver  If taken in large quantities for a long period of time, can accumulate and cause disease

Vitamin A  Protects eyes and enables night vision  Keeps skin and hair healthy  Strengthens immune system

Deficiency  Night blindness

Vitamin E  Antioxidant  Helps create muscles and red blood cells

Deficiency  Rare except in the case of premature infants  Large doses from supplements may cause hemorrhage

Water soluble vitamins  Dissolve in water and must be consumed every day.  Body flushes excess in waste fluids

B Vitamins/ folate B Vitamins/ folate  Assists in building red blood cells  Helps prevent damage to the brain and the spinal cord

Vitamin B deficiencies  Thiamin  Riboflavin  Niacin  Beriberi – numbness in the legs and ankles  Swollen, cracked lips and skin lesions  Pellagra

Folate deficiencies  May develop in late stages of pregnancy – causing brain and spinal cord injuries in the unborn child  Inflammation of the tongue and digestive disorders or anemia

Vitamin C Vitamin C  Strengthens immune system  Helps heal wounds  Collagen formation  Keeps gums healthy

Deficiency  Scurvy

Mineral Contributions  Calcium – Builds and strengthens bones and teeth Builds and strengthens bones and teeth Helps blood to clot and heart function properly Helps blood to clot and heart function properly

Osteoporosis

Iron  Combines with protein to form hemoglobin  Stored in the body and used over and over  Deficiency - anemia

Cruciferous  Cabbage family vegetables contain compounds that may help to block the development of cancer

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