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How about a bowl of vegetables?

Simple tips can increase the quality and quantity of vegetables on your plate

STOREHOUSE OF NUTRIENTS Think vegetables as prime food

Vegetables constitute around 1/8th (by weight or volume) of a typical Indian meal. And those meagre portions are cooked to death before being served. As a result, our `vegetarian' lifestyle ends up failing to deliver the 10 servings of fresh vegetables and fruit recommended by the latest dietary guidelines.

Vegetables are concentrated storehouses of nutrients: they contain vitamins, minerals, dietary fibre and phytochemicals — antioxidants that may prevent some of the wear and tear of aging, and the DNA damage that can lead to cancer. But vegetables lose some of their nutrients with prolonged cooking — a hallmark of Indian cuisine. A few simple tips can increase the quality and quantity of vegetables on your plate.

Eat green

Think of vegetables as prime foods and not merely as something to make rice and chapattis palatable. Cooking with less spices and little water makes it easier to down larger portions. Add grated vegetables to dough and soups. Eat more salads. Include vegetables of all colours in your diet. Each colour represents a different antioxidant — the orange in carrot signifies carotene and the reddish tinge of ripe tomatoes signifies carotene and lycopene. These phytochemicals differ in their health benefits, and a multi-coloured vegetable dish is more than the sum of its parts in terms of nutrition.

Eat vegetables that are in season.

Stir-frying makes vegetables edible without destroying nutrients.

Microwaving and steaming help cook fast without sacrificing too many nutrients. Retain the peel on vegetables as much as possible. The vegetables are crunchier and they are also more nutritious and contain more fibre.

Eat vegetables raw. Slice bell peppers, tomatoes, beetroot, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, and other raw vegetables up in a bowl and keep them in the fridge as something to chew on.

Do not store any vegetable for more than a few days in the non-freeze section of the refrigerator. Do not wash vegetables before storing. Make sure all vegetables are dry before storing.

RAJIV.M

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