To Boil Vegetables Green
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Prepare and wash the vegetables.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Cook
Add the vegetables to the boiling water.
Keep the pot uncovered and boil rapidly until the vegetables are done.
If using hard water, add 1 teaspoon of carbonate of soda to improve color, but use sparingly.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Green vegetables (in the method)
- Are the main food cooked, becoming tender while keeping their bright green color when boiled rapidly.
- Carbonate of soda
- Optionally raises the water's alkalinity, which helps preserve the bright green color of the vegetables.
The step that matters
Boil rapidly, uncovered. Vigorous boiling in an open pot keeps the water temperature high so vegetables cook quickly. Covering the pot traps acids that dull chlorophyll, turning greens olive-colored.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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