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VEGETABLES (PART 2)
       *       *       *       *       *

PREPARATION OF VEGETABLES AS FOOD (Continued)

GREENS AND THEIR PREPARATION

VARIETIES AND FOOD VALUE

1. Varieties of Greens.--The leaves and stems of many young plants in
either their wild or their cultivated form are used for food. All of
them are similar in composition, but many of them differ in flavor and
appearance. The cultivated ones include beet tops, endive, spinach, and
kale, as well as lettuce, collards, Swiss chard, sorrel, mustard greens,
turnip tops, parsley, and cultivated cress and dandelion. The four
greens mentioned first are illustrated in Fig. 1, beet tops being shown
in the lower right corner; endive, in the upper right corner; spinach,
in the lower left corner; and kale, in the upper left corner. Commonest
among the wild greens are dandelion, cress, wild mustard, dock, pokeweed
sprouts, milkweed sprouts, and lamb's-quarters. Most of these wild
varieties are excellent in the spring when they are young and tender,
but it is not advisable to use them for food unless one is perfectly
familiar with their appearance.

2. Food Value of Greens.--The food value of all greens with the
exception of dandelion is very low, being just about equal to that of
celery and cucumbers. This may be increased in their preparation by the
addition of other food materials. However, the chief use of greens in
the diet is not to supply food value, but mineral salts, the most
important one being iron in a form that is necessary for building up
the blood.

 GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR COOKING GREENS

3. The cooking of greens, both wild and cultivated, is not only simple
but practically the same for all varieties. When they are not used as a
salad vegetable, they are merely boiled until tender and then dressed in
any desired way. Some kinds admit of special preparation, and wherever
this is the case specific directions are given under the particular
variety, but even in such an event the preliminary preparation is
the same.

[Illustration: FIG. 1]

To prepare greens, look them over carefully, remove any decayed or
withered parts, cut off the leaves, and wash in fresh cold water. Remove
from the water and wash again, and do this as many times as seems
necessary to remove all the sand and grit that the stalks contain. An
important point to remember is that the greens should not be cleansed by
pouring the water off, as the sand will then remain in the pan and is
likely to mix with the greens again. When they are thoroughly washed,
put them on to cook in a saucepan or a similar utensil. If they are
young and tender, they should be cooked as much as possible in their own
juice in order to retain all the valuable mineral salts they contain,
only enough water being added to start the cooking without burning. In
the case of greens that are very strong in flavor, it will be necessary
to cook them in a larger quantity of water and then pour off what
remains after cooking. When they have cooked until they are tender,
season them if necessary, and add butter to give them flavor and
increase their food value. Vinegar or a slice of lemon adds much to the
flavor of greens.

 BEET TOPS

4. The tops of beets include the leaves and the stems of this vegetable,
as Fig. 1 shows. They are at their best when the beets are very young or
before the beets themselves have developed. Beet tops are not used so
extensively as some greens, but they will be found to have a more
agreeable flavor than many greens that are more popular. Beets are
raised for the purpose of supplying greens by planting the seeds closely
enough together to form a thick bed of leaves and then thinning them out
before the beets have developed. A few may be allowed to remain and
develop for use as beets. Young beets that are purchased with the tops
on also furnish a source of beet tops as well as beets.

When beet tops are to be cooked, cut the stems into inch lengths and use
them with the leaves. Proceed to clean and cook the greens according to
the directions given in Art. 3. Season with salt and pepper and flavor
with butter. Serve with something tart, such as vinegar or lemon.


DANDELION

5. Dandelion, both wild and cultivated, is a plant whose leaves are much
used for a vegetable green before the blossoms develop. The wild ones
have the advantage of being cheap, so they should be used if they can be
secured; the cultivated ones, on the other hand, cost as much as spinach
and other greens. The season for dandelions is comparatively short,
lasting only a few weeks in the early spring. Use should therefore be
made of them when they can be procured in order to secure variety for
the menu. When they are desired as cooked greens, prepare them in the
manner explained in Art. 3.

6. Dandelion With Sour Sauce.--If a change in the cooking of dandelion
is desired, it should be prepared with a sour sauce. This method of
preparation is very popular, for besides increasing the food value of
this variety of greens, it improves the flavor very much.

DANDELION WITH SOUR SAUCE
(Sufficient to Serve Six)

1/2 pk. dandelion
1/2 c. vinegar
4 thin slices bacon
1/2 c. water
2 Tb. flour
1 egg
1 tsp. salt

Clean and wash the dandelion. Cut the slices of bacon into small pieces
and saute until crisp. Stir the flour and salt into the bacon fat, add
the vinegar and water, and stir until the flour thickens. Add the beaten
egg last, and remove from the fire. Put the dandelion into the pan and
mix well with the hot sauce. If the dandelion is preferred well wilted,
set the pan over the flame, and stir until the dandelion appears as
desired. Serve hot.


ENDIVE

7. ENDIVE is an herb that is used as a salad plant or is cooked and
served with a hot dressing or as greens. The three common varieties of
this green are escarole, chicory, and French endive, all of which have a
slightly bitter taste and may be found in the market from late summer
until early winter. _Escarole_ is a broad-leaved variety that is grown
more or less in a head. _Chicory_, which is shown in Fig. 1, has a small
feathery-edged leaf, and is often bleached by tying the leaves together
at the top, so that the inside ones are very tender. Both of these
varieties may be cooked, but they are also much used for salads. _French
endive_ bears very little resemblance to the other kinds, having
straight, creamy-white leaves that are closely pressed together. It
looks very much like sprouts of some kind, and is entirely bleached in
the process of growth by banking the earth around it. It is never used
for anything except salads and garnishes.

8. Endive is very low in food value, comparing very closely with celery
and cucumbers in this respect. Still, as a salad vegetable, it is worthy
of much more extensive use than is generally made of it. As a rule, its
price is about the same as that of lettuce, so it should be substituted
frequently for lettuce to give variety to the diet. To be most
satisfactory, endive should be bought when it is fresh and unwithered
and kept until used in a cool, damp place. A good plan is to wrap such
vegetables in a damp cloth. If, upon using, endive appears to be
withered, it may be freshened by placing it in a pan of cold water and
allowing it to remain there for a short time.

When endive is used as a salad, it may be served merely with a salad
dressing of some kind or it may be combined with other vegetables before
applying the dressing. Escarole and chicory, which are much used as
greens, should be prepared and cooked according to the directions given
in Art. 3.

 LETTUCES

9. Lettuce is a well-known herb that is much used as a salad vegetable.
There are numerous varieties of lettuce, but these may be reduced to the
two kinds shown in Fig. 2, _leaf lettuce_ on the right and _head
lettuce_ on the left. Leaf lettuce, which is more often used for
garnishing than for any other purpose, has firm, crisp, green, upright
leaves; on the other hand, head lettuce has round leaves forming a
compact head, like cabbage. The outside leaves of head lettuce are
green, but the inside ones are usually bleached by the exclusion of
light, as are those of cabbage and endive. These inside leaves are more
tender than the others, and hence more to be desired as a salad
vegetable than the unbleached variety. In food value, lettuce compares
closely with other varieties of greens and is high in the same mineral
salts that they are. The bleached leaves do not contain so much iron as
the green ones. [Illustration: FIG. 2]

10. As has already been implied, lettuce finds its principal use in
garnishing salads. When used for this purpose, it should be eaten along
with the salad, for it is too valuable to be wasted. Since the coarse
outside leaves of a stalk or a head of lettuce do not look so well as
the tender bleached ones, they are often rejected, but this should not
be done, for use can also be made of them. For instance, such leaves may
be shredded into narrow strips and used as a foundation for salads that
will be just as attractive as those having a single lettuce leaf for a
garnish. When it is realized that the outside leaves are purchased at
the same price as the more delicate parts of the lettuce, it can readily
be understood why they also should be utilized as food.  Most of the
garden varieties of lettuce, especially when they have grown very large,
are frequently cooked as greens. When used in this way, lettuce is
prepared, as are other greens, according to the directions given in Art.
3. This vegetable also makes an appetizing dish when it is prepared with
a sauce and served hot in the same way as dandelion.


SPINACH

11. SPINACH, which is shown in Fig. 1, consists of the large, fleshy,
deep-green leaves of a garden herb much used as a green for food. In
fact, this is one of the most popular varieties of greens and is used
more extensively than any other. Many varieties of spinach are grown,
but all of them are used in just the same way. It is slightly higher in
food value than lettuce and endive, but lower than dandelion. However,
it is a valuable food in the diet because of the large quantity of iron
it contains, and many persons eat it not so much because they like it
but because they believe it is good for them.

[Illustration: FIG. 3]

12. Some kinds of spinach do not keep for long periods of time.
Therefore, in order to avoid any waste, spinach should always be very
fresh when purchased and should be used as soon as possible after it is
obtained. It may be prepared in a greater number of ways than most of
the other greens except, perhaps, those used for salads. For instance,
it is served with entrees of various kinds, is combined with meat, ham
and spinach being a much used combination, or is made into a puree by
forcing it through a sieve and then used in the making of soup or
souffle. Then, again, spinach is often boiled and pressed into small
cups to form molds like the one shown in Fig. 3. Such a mold may be used
to garnish a dish of some sort or, as here shown, may be garnished with
a slice of hard-cooked egg. When spinach is used in any of these ways,
it should first be cooked according to the directions given for the
preparation of greens in Art. 3.  13. SPINACH SOUFFLE.--The puree that
is made by forcing boiled spinach through a sieve may be used in a
variety of ways, but none of these is more satisfactory than spinach
souffle. When made according to the accompanying recipe, spinach souffle
will be found to be appetizing as well as nourishing.

SPINACH SOUFFLE
(Sufficient to Serve Six)

2 Tb. butter
1/2 c. hot milk
2 Tb. flour
1 c. spinach puree
1 tsp. salt
2 egg whites
Dash of pepper

Melt the butter, add the flour, salt, pepper, and hot milk, and stir in
the spinach puree. Beat the egg whites stiff and fold them into the
mixture. Grease individual baking dishes or a large baking dish and fill
two-thirds full with the mixture. Place in a pan of hot water and bake
in a slow oven until firm, or for about 20 or 30 minutes.

[Illustration: FIG. 4]

14. SPINACH ROYAL.--A very attractive dish can be made by combining
spinach with toast, hard-cooked egg, and lemon in the manner shown in
Fig. 4. This dish is known as _spinach royal_, and because of the
additional ingredients it is nutritious as well as palatable.

SPINACH ROYAL
(Sufficient to Serve Four)

1/2 pk. spinach
1/3 c. water
1-1/2 tsp. salt
3 Tb. bacon fat or butter
3 Tb. flour
1/8 tsp. pepper
Triangular pieces of toast
2 hard-cooked eggs
1 lemon

Look the spinach over carefully and remove all roots and dead leaves.
Cut the stalks apart and wash them thoroughly several times in fresh,
clean water to remove the sand and dirt, lifting the spinach out of the
water each time instead of pouring the water off. Put the spinach into a
saucepan with the water. Stir frequently until the spinach is wilted and
there is sufficient water to boil it. Add 1 teaspoonful of the salt and
cook until the leaves are very tender, or for about 15 or 20 minutes.
Drain off all but about 1/2 cupful of the liquid. Melt the fat in a
frying pan, stir the flour into it, brown to a golden brown, and then
add the spinach, pepper, and remaining salt. Stir and cook until the
flour has thickened and mixed well with the spinach. Turn out in a mound
on a platter and place the pieces of toast around the spinach as shown.
Slice the hard-cooked eggs, cut the lemon into any desirable shape, and
use these to garnish the platter. In serving this dish, put a spoonful
of spinach on a piece of toast and serve a slice or two of egg and lemon
with each portion.

15. CREAMED SPINACH.--After spinach has been boiled until it is tender,
it may be made more appetizing by combining it with a well-flavored
cream sauce, according to the accompanying directions.

CREAMED SPINACH
(Sufficient to Serve Four)

1/2 pk. spinach
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tb. ham or bacon fat
Dash of pepper
2 Tb. flour
2/3 c. milk

Boil the spinach according to the directions given in Art. 3. Melt the
fat in a frying pan, add the flour, salt, pepper, and milk, and stir
until the flour thickens. Chop the cooked spinach and add it to the hot
dressing. Stir and cook until the two are well blended. Serve hot.


WATERCRESS AND PARSLEY

16. WATERCRESS and PARSLEY are two herbs, or greens, that are used
considerably for garnishing and flavoring other dishes. These greens are
shown in Fig. 5, that at the left being watercress and that at the
right parsley.

17. Watercress, which is commonly known as _peppercress_, usually grows
wild in beds along the banks of springs or clear, cool streams. A few
varieties, however, are cultivated, and these are grown in dry soil and
known as _upland cress_. It is a very prolific herb, and may be obtained
from early spring until late in the fall; in fact, it does not freeze
easily and is sometimes found in early winter along the swiftly flowing
streams that are not frozen over. Watercress may be used whenever it can
be procured, but it is not very desirable when in blossom. Its chief use
is to garnish salads and other dishes, but it may also be cooked and
served hot as a green. In such an event, its cooking is accomplished in
the same way as that of other greens.

[Illustration: FIG. 5]

18. Parsley, while classified as a green vegetable, is perhaps not in
the true sense of the word a real vegetable, since it is used for only
two purposes, and in neither of these is it served cooked or raw as an
exclusive article of diet. The most important use of parsley is perhaps
that of flavoring. It is added to soups, sauces, and various kinds of
cooked vegetables in order to impart additional flavor. In such cases,
it should be chopped very fine in order that all possible flavor may be
extracted from it. Parsley may also be dried before it is used for this
purpose, provided it must be kept for any length of time. The other use
of parsley is that of garnishing. It is often used in small sprays to
garnish a roast of meat, a steak, chops, fish, or some baked, fried, or
sauted vegetable. Sometimes it is chopped very fine and placed around
the edge of a patty shell, a croustade, a timbale case, or a piece of
toast upon which food is served. Parsley may be eaten when it is served
as a garnish if its flavor is found to be agreeable to the taste.