Evaluating and Preparing Fresh Vegetables

The following section lists the fresh vegetables commonly used in North American kitchens, including many products that have become familiar from Asian and Latin cuisines. Tips for evaluating and trimming the products, as well as the average trimming yield, are indicated.

The vegetables discussed in this section are grouped in useful categories. Keep in mind that, for the reasons just discussed, many of them could be included in more than one category. For example, kale is both a leafy green and a member of the cabbage family.