Vegetables

If the American Public seems a trifle apathetic, if not to say dyspeptic, about vegetables, it is probably not only because they were forced to eat them as children but also because the vegetables were so poorly prepared. In the nation’s restaurants, too, vegetables are so frequently overcooked and waterlogged as to make them inedible.

This is regrettable because properly cooked vegetables can be a sheer delight.

In selecting a vegetable for a menu there are three things to be considered—flavor, color, and the season. If a fish of delicate flavor is to be served, the vegetable should not be robust. Asparagus, to choose one example, would be ideal. If the principal dish has a white sauce, the vegetables should offer contrast—tomatoes, for red, for example, and the green, perhaps, of string beans or garden peas. It is always best to serve vegetables in season, for obvious reasons.