Fresh Vegetables
Fresh vegetables are essential for a healthy lifestyle and Foodmarkt is happy to contribute to this.
Fresh veggies are incredibly healthy and full of nutrients such as vitamin C and fibre. You can eat as many fresh vegetables as you like because vegetables are low in calories. Eating vegetables contributes to a healthy body and reduces the risk of, for example, cardiovascular diseases.
Keep your body healthy and eat 200-250 grams of veggies a day!
Types of Vegetables
By the term 'vegetable' we mean edible plants or a part of these plants. There is an enormous number of different kinds of vegetables. These are, depending on the part that is eaten, divided into a number of groups.
Leaf Vegetables
Vegetables in which the leaf of the plant is eaten are called leaf vegetables. Leafy vegetables are super healthy and are full of important nutrients.
Leaf vegetables are rich in vitamins such as vitamin C, K, E and folic acid. These make a major contribution to your resistance.
As well as vitamins, leafy vegetables also contain a lot of minerals. These include iron, calcium and magnesium. Minerals are necessary for good health and growth and development. Fibres are also an important nutrient in leafy vegetables. Fibres ensure a healthy intestinal flora and are good for your cholesterol.
Examples of leafy vegetables are spinach, endive and iceberg lettuce.
Fruiting Vegetables
As the term suggests, fruiting vegetables are vegetables in which the fruit of the plant is eaten. Fruiting vegetables are rich in essential nutrients such as fibre, vitamins and folic acid. In addition, fruiting vegetables are low in calories.
Examples of fruiting vegetables include cucumber, zucchini, tomatoes, eggplants and bell peppers. Almost all fruiting vegetables can be eaten both raw and prepared.
Root and Tuber Vegetables
Root and tuberous plants consist of the edible roots of plants. Root vegetables and tuber vegetables were already an important source of nutrition for our distant ancestors. The best-known and most commonly eaten tuber vegetable is the potato. This can be prepared in many different ways and is often the base in a meal. Root vegetables and tuber vegetables can also be prepared in various ways, for example in salads or stew. Some crops can even be eaten raw.
Examples of root and tuber vegetables are celeriac, beetroot, radish and carrots. The potato is also a tuberous plant but falls outside the category of vegetables because of its nutritional value or use.
Cabbages
Cabbage is a real winter vegetable and available in various varieties. Cabbage is often used for stews.
Cabbage is rich in healthy nutrients, the amount and type of nutrients varies per type of cabbages but they are almost all a true source of vitamins and minerals. After research, it has been proven that cabbages has antibacterial and antiviral effects. Most types of cabbage are eaten cooked but there are also cabbages that are very tasty raw in a salad.
For example, kale, pointed cabbage, Brussels sprouts and paksoi.
Allium Vegetables
Allium vegetables are bulbous plants from the garlic family. All varieties of garlic are edible, depending on the variety, which may be the bulb, stem or leaf. Allium vegetables have a strong smell and a spicy flavour. There are more than 500 varieties of onion-like plants but the best known is the onion. There are also many varieties of onions, such as the red onion, pink onion, shallots and white onion. But did you know that in addition to onions, leek, garlic, scallions and chives also belong to the onion varieties?
Stem Vegetables
Vegetables of which the stem is eaten fall under the stem vegetables. Some stem vegetables are also considered leafy vegetables. Stem vegetables can be prepared in different ways and some can even be eaten raw.
Examples of stem vegetables are rhubarb, celery, bamboo, fennel and asparagus.
Sprouts
Sprouting vegetables are vegetables that are harvested and eaten as seedlings. Sprouts are not grown in soil but in water. Most sprout vegetables grow in the dark, which keeps them white.
Sprouts are rich in vitamins and minerals and contain a lot of anti-oxidants. They are delicious on a sandwich with meat products, cheese or tomato. Sprouts are also used in soups, salads or as a garnish.
Examples of sprouts are bean sprouts, alfalfa and cress.
Other Vegetables
Of course, there are many other fresh vegetables on the market such as mushrooms.
In addition, there is the category of 'legumes' which includes vegetables such as peas and beans, but peanuts are also legumes. This means that legumes are not necessarily vegetables, peanuts are nuts.
Pulses and mushrooms are good substitutes for meat.
Frozen Vegetables vs. Fresh Vegetables
Healthy vegetables are not necessarily just fresh vegetables. Frozen vegetables contain practically as many nutrients as fresh vegetables. Frozen vegetables are immediately blanched and frozen after harvesting. This preserves many nutrients.
Vegetables lose nutrients (especially vitamin C) immediately after harvesting and the quality quickly decreases. They then go a long way before they are in the supermarket, which does not benefit the quality. After preparation, fresh vegetables only contain about half of their original nutritional value. The same applies to frozen vegetables after preparation.
Canned vegetables and jarred vegetables (preserved vegetables) lose about 10% more nutrients. After preservation, the nutritional value remains reasonably stable. Preserved vegetables need a short preparation time, they just need to be warmed up. Eventually the difference in nutritional value with fresh or frozen vegetables will be minimal. The big disadvantage of vegetables from jars or cans is that they usually contain a lot of salt.
We can therefore conclude that frozen vegetables, 'fresh' vegetables and preserved vegetables are equally healthy because the nutritional value is generally the same. The shorter the time from harvest to plate, the more nutrients are retained. So if you really want to eat fresh vegetables, eat from your own garden.
TIP: Cook fresh vegetables in a small layer of water or steam the vegetables. In this way, the flavour and more nutrients are preserved!
Storing Fresh Vegetables
As has been said, the quality of vegetables deteriorates from the moment they are harvested. How quickly this happens depends on the type of vegetable. Therefore, fresh vegetables should not be stored for more than 2 to 5 days to preserve their nutrients. Pre-cut vegetables are best eaten the same day.
Did you know that it is better not to keep fruiting vegetables (such as cucumber and tomato) in the fridge? Fruiting vegetables suffer from spoilage when stored below 7ºC. This means that the cells break down, they lose moisture and rot faster. In addition, the flavour of this type of vegetable deteriorates if stored in the refrigerator. Fruiting vegetables can therefore best be kept in a cool place outside the fridge.
Buy Fresh Vegetables
Buying fresh vegetables is easy in our online supermarket. Foodmarkt offers a wide range of healthy vegetables. All our fresh vegetables are of high quality and daily fresh. Want to order fresh vegetables today? Your fresh veggies will be delivered to your home as soon as possible.
Fresh Vegetables Recipe
An ideal way to eat extra many and different kinds of healthy vegetables is a vegetable dish. Actually, you don't have to do any special shopping for it. Just use what you have left in the fridge. This way you can easily get rid of your leftovers. For inspiration, we give you a recipe for a delicious oven dish with roasted vegetables. As mentioned before, you can of course use any fresh vegetable you want for this.
What do you need?
- 1 zucchini
- 1 eggplant
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1 red onion
- 2 large (sweet) potatoes
- 3 garlic cloves
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper
- small hand of parsley
- 50 grams Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- oven dish
Preparation
By getting all the necessities ready in advance, preparation of the dish goes a lot faster.
- Preheat the oven to 200 ºC.
- Wash the vegetables and cut the courgette, aubergine, peppers, red onion and (sweet) potatoes into (equally sized) chunks.
- Peel the garlic cloves and crush them by pressing them with the flat side of a knife. In this way, the flavour will come out better.
- Grate the Parmesan cheese and set aside.
- Cut the parsley (as desired) and set aside.
Put the chopped vegetables and crushed garlic cloves in the oven dish. Add the 3 tablespoons of olive oil and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Then place the dish with vegetables in the preheated oven and roast for 40 minutes.
While the vegetables are cooking, we are going to prepare the dressing. Mix the extra virgin olive oil with the balsamic vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper.
After 40 minutes, remove the roasted vegetables from the oven. Pour the dressing over the dish and garnish with the parsley and the Parmesan cheese.
Enjoy your meal!