Cooking Tips and Techniques

Step-by-step instructions for common cooking techniques and other how-to lessons.

  
Make a Cheese Plate
Cheese plates can be simple or elaborate, with dozens of different cheeses or just a few. There's no one right way to make a cheese plate, but these guidelines can help you put together a cheese plate you and your friends will never forget.

Peel and Seed Tomatoes
For many recipes, tomatoes can be cooked with their skins and seeds, but there are some, especially certain tomato sauce recipes, which turn out better if the tomatoes have been peeled and seeded - this results in a smoother, more easily digestible sauce. Try these easy steps for peeling and seeding tomatoes.

Roast Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkins are a key ingredient in some wonderful recipes, notably pumpkin pie and pumpkin soup - not to mention jack-o'lanterns - but what can you do with the seeds? Roast 'em!

Soak and Cook Beans and Legumes
Beans and legumes are an excellent source of protein and a staple of many vegetarian diets. The drawback is that they take a long time to prepare, but once you know the techniques, you'll find it's not difficult at all.

Steam Asparagus
Asparagus is a rather delicate vegetable, and steaming it correctly so that that stalks are done but the tips aren't soggy can be a real challenge. Here are two tried-and-tested techniques for perfectly-steamed asparagus for those of us without steaming baskets.

Thicken Sauces and Soups
Sometimes you can boil a sauce or soup long enough to obtain the perfect thickness, but that's not necessarily efficient or nutritious, so here are some easy ways to thicken without cooking for an extra hour.

Videos
Watch videos related to vegetarian cooking and cuisine.

Wash and Prepare Leeks
Leeks are a wonderful vegetable, but they required a fair amount of preparation before they can be used. Here are some tips on washing and preparing leeks.
 

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  Laura K. Lawless
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