FOR THE NURSERY MEAL

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 98, 20 January 1936, Page 4

FOR THE NURSERY MEAL

Attractive Vegetables

Not “eating crusts to have curly air,” but “eating vegetable salads and ruit for clear complexions, rosy cheeks

and bright eyes” should be the nursery slogan, says a writer in the “Sydney Morning Herald.”

Many a mother has the sad story to relate that her child will pot eat his vegetables. The trouble so often lies in°tlie manner in which they are prepared that a few hints on the best way to preserve the good qualities and yet make them appetising, should prove a boon. Starting baby on vegetable flavours as early as possible fixes the habit of eating his meals of vegetables and

salads. In the form of a- broth, later on sieved for a puree, vegetables are included in baby’s diet very soon after ho is weaned. This broth or puree is usually made with a thinly-peeled potato. a lightly-scraped carrot, and a voting spinach leaf, all just covered with water flavoured with salt. These are cooked for about two hours and, as the essence of the vegetables is in the broth, most of the good qualities —minerals and vitamins—are saved in a condensed form. A’egetables, raw best of all, cooked to conserve their valuable properties, or even canned, contain nearly all the vitamins, and are certainly rich in minerals. The bulky portion of vegetables is undigested, and acts as

roughage in aiding regularity of the bowels.

Therefore, what a valuable addition to the daily menu I The “it's-good-for-you” reason for eating vegetables does not help the child to relish them any more unless they are proved to be as agreeable to eat. They will never be quite as popular as the “sweets” course, but with the aid of good cooking and serving may be made quite likeable. Vegetables would be of as little value if over-cooked as if insufficiently done. All plants are made up of cells, with a thick covering of cellulose. This substance cannot be dissolved unless heated by steam or boiling water for a certain time. But when this outer covering of the cells becomes gradually softened, the contents of each cell, swollen through the heating process, lyeak through, and it is then that the vegetable arrives at the point of being properly cooked. Any less or any more ruins th e value of the cooking. In the first case, the cellulose is hard to digest, especially by children, and, in the second case, the food value is lost from the cells into the surrounding water or steam. The vegetables should really be cooked in as little water as possible.

Being valuable for their mineral properties, which lie under the skin, root vegetables (potatoes especially) should be either cooked in their skins or scraped as lightly as possible. Potatoes are rarely popular, especially If they are soft and mushy one time and in hard lumps another. The best way to cook them is either by dry baking or steaming in their jackets. When cooked, they should be opened and creamed with a little butter and salt Potato in a whole piece is by no means as nice to eat as creamed potato. All leafy green vegetables, under which heading are Included cauliflower, beans and peas, should be young and tender, as they are richer in vitamins as well as being more easily diges-. ted through the cellulose substance being soft and not hardened by age. The preparation of all vegetables should be doue just before cookiug and they should not be left standing in cold water for any length of time. Although the best vegetable of all, perhaps, is spinach, it is generally the least liked, due often to a gritty taste. The curly leaves are open to wind and dust, and in consequence should be washed separately and thoroughly under running water. Cabbage is very often served as a pale green watery mass through being overcooked and cooked in too much water. Most vegetables in season are of , great dietetic value, and are suitable for the young child, with the exception of cucumbers, 'radishes and onions. Until he is over two years old. vege- ■ tables should be finely mashed for him. He will learn to chew and digest each one, if it is gradually introduced to : his taste and digestive system. A i child of two and a half should also be i able to eat salads; lettuce, tomato i pulp without seeds, ami finely-grated carrot, constituting part of his evening meal. Finely-shredded leaves from the heart of the cabbage, celery, cress and canned asparagus can be added for variety after he is three years old. Fruit —orange, banana, apple—as well as nuts, mixed with these salads. makes a further wholesome and | appetising addition.