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Bittman Basics
Simplifying Vegetables
It helps to categorize them
You can cook a different vegetable every day of the week and go a whole month without eating the same one twice.
There are so many varieties that even an expert can’t know everything about all of them. To make vegetables more manageable in the kitchen, I lump them into three groups — greens, tender vegetables, and hard vegetables — based on how fast they go from raw to mushy.
This helps you substitute one for another in recipes and try things that may be unfamiliar. So when you encounter a new vegetable that resembles another, more familiar vegetable in the same group — think broccoli and cauliflower, for example, or beets and turnips — you have a point of reference. This method is far from scientific, but it works together with the techniques, tips, and variations in this chapter to demonstrate how easy it is to cook all sorts of vegetables.
Think of vegetables in groups
Greens
These vegetables cook in a flash — anywhere from 30 seconds to several minutes. In addition to salad greens (you can even cook lettuces!) and greens like chard, watercress, collards, kale, mustard greens, and different bok choys, this group includes tatsoi and whatever you might encounter at farmers markets and international grocery stores.
They all cook the same way. What varies is the time: The more delicate the leaves, the faster they soften. You can separate firm stalks from the leaves and give them a head start. Boiling, steaming, stir-frying, and sautéing are the best cooking methods. Check them frequently and immediately remove them from heat when they reach the softness you want.
Tender
The vegetables in this group are firm but pliable when raw. The cooking time ranges from a couple of minutes to 30 minutes or more, depending on how high the heat is. Celery, green beans, asparagus, snow and snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower, and mushrooms are examples. I also count vegetables that are pliable when you chop or slice them, like eggplant, zucchini, cabbage, onions, leeks, shallots, and fennel.
