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.

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.
 

Cooking Essentials

Need help stocking your kitchen? Here are some tips on choosing kitchen tools.

Knives
You definitely need to have a good set of knives. There are all kinds of beautiful sets with 10 or 20 knives, but if money is an object, all you really need are these four essentials

Pots and Pans
The number and variety of pots and pans you need depend on what you cook. Then there's also the matter of what the pans are made of....

Interested in chatting about vegetarianism and related issues, trading recipes and cooking tips, and/or getting to know some other veggies? Pull up a chair at the Veggie Table!

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