Succulent Vegetables : Combinations, Salad Vegetables

Maintaining Health
by R. L. Alsaker

(Page 14 of 31)

Those who say that the various vegetables are unfit to eat and act accordingly are missing some good food. The vegetables all contain crude fibre, but they hurt the stomach and intestinal walls no more than they hurt the mucous membrane of the tongue. They furnish some bulk for the intestines to act upon, which is good and proper. All animals need some bulky food, otherwise they become constipated.

Tomatoes are best raw. If they are stewed they are to be cooked plain. Adding crackers and bread crumbs is a mistake. They taste all right without sugar, but a little may be used as dressing.

Vegetable soup: Take equal parts of about four vegetables, any that you like. Slice and cook in plain water until tender. When done add enough water or hot milk to make it of the right consistency. Season to taste. One of the constituents may be starchy, such as potatoes, barley or rice, but the rest should be succulent vegetables.

Combinations

The succulent vegetables may be combined with all other foods. They go well with flesh or milk or nuts or starchy foods. With flesh or nuts they make a very satisfying meal. They may be taken with fruit. The tomato grows as a vegetable, but for practical purposes it is a fruit. The tomato combines well with protein, but not so well with the starchy foods.

Salad Vegetables

If possible, salads should be made entirely of raw vegetables and raw fruits. The chief salad vegetables are celery, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, onions and garlic, the two last mentioned being used for flavoring.

Dr. Tilden, who has done much to popularize raw vegetable salads, has a favorite, which he calls by his own name. It is equal parts of lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers, with a small piece of onion. Chop up coarse and dress with salt and olive oil and lemon juice. This is all right for those who like it, but many do not care for such a complex salad with such dressing. Some of the combination salads that are served are wonderful mixtures, containing as many as seven or eight vegetables and a complex dressing.

Raw onions are too irritating to use in large quantities, and the same is true of garlic. The best salads contain but two or three ingredients. Take any two of the vegetables mentioned, such as lettuce and tomatoes; lettuce and cucumbers; cabbage and celery; celery and tomatoes, or eat simply one of these green vegetables raw. It is a good thing to eat some of those salad vegetables daily. If your digestion is excellent, you may occasionally take raw carrots or turnips, and a few raw spinach leaves are tasty for a change. Never mind if people tease you about eating grass, for it helps you to keep well.

Dress the raw vegetables as your taste allows. Most people want some salt, or salt and lemon juice, or a little sugar, or cream, or salt and olive oil, or salt, olive oil and lemon juice, or mayonnaise on their salad vegetables. Some eat them without any dressing and the flavor is excellent. Tasty salad can be made of fruit and vegetables, using no dressing, but strewing some nuts over the dish. On warm days, such a salad makes a satisfactory lunch.

It is all right to make a fruit and vegetable salad. Instead of using tomatoes, take strawberries, apples, grapes, or any other acid fruit. These fruits may be combined with cabbage, lettuce, celery or cucumbers. Do not mix too many foods in a meal, for to do so is indicative of poor taste. Those with refined palates like simple meals, and there is no reason for making salads so complex, when simplicity is a requirement for building health. However, a complex salad made of raw vegetables and raw juicy fruits does not play so much havoc as a mixture of concentrated foods.

Lettuce and celery are the most satisfactory salad vegetables to mix with fruits.

People who eat raw fruits do not need to eat the raw salad vegetables, for fruits and vegetables supply the same salts. Those who avoid both raw fruits and raw vegetables are not treating their bodies fairly.

The vegetable salads are most satisfactory when taken in combination with flesh, nuts or eggs, together with cooked succulent vegetables. They may be eaten with starchy foods, but then they should contain little or no acid.