Vegetables can mean different things. Often in cooking this term is used in relation to those products that in botany have nothing to do with the concept of vegetables.
Types and varieties are divided into several types, depending on the appearance, growth and what part of the vegetable is eaten.
Tube vegetables
To tubers include vegetables, the tubers of which a person eats. There are very few of them - these are potatoes, sweet potatoes and Jerusalem artichoke.
In Russia, potatoes are known relatively recently. At the same time, boiled potatoes are considered almost a national dish. But only at the end of the 18th century, Emperor Peter I brought it from Holland and ordered it to be planted in different places to see where it would take root.
Potato tubers are thickenings formed on the roots of a plant. The pulp (edible part) is protected by a thick skin. Tuber size, purpose and skin thickness depend on the potato variety.
In addition to potatoes, which are used for human consumption, there are fodder and technical potatoes.
Jerusalem artichoke (earth pear) is not very common among the population. It is practically not used for food. Basically, they make alcohol from it, feed livestock.
Culture is planted in the southern regions. It is a small root vegetable with growths of red, purple or white.
The sweet potato tastes sweet, just like Jerusalem artichoke. It also grows in the southern regions. Another name for sweet potato is sweet potato. Strictly speaking, although it is considered a root crop, it is not quite one. Sweet potatoes are just overgrown roots. Like potatoes, sweet potatoes are used in dishes, fried or boiled.
Root vegetables
Root vegetables are probably the most numerous category. The roots of these vegetables are eaten. Root vegetables include beets, radishes, radishes, rutabaga, carrots, horseradish, celery and others. With the exception of radishes, all root vegetables are biennials. In the second year, they do not bear fruit, but only bloom and produce seeds.
All root vegetables have high frost resistance and high sugar content.
The root of root crops is a very vulnerable part. To keep vegetables as long as possible, you need to cut it. All root vegetables can heal mechanical wounds.
Cabbage vegetables
As the name implies, cabbage types of vegetables are different varieties of cabbage. Mostly only a few varieties are widely used.
The most famous is white cabbage. It is divided into three types: early, late and middle.
This cabbage looks like a round head of white-green color. The leaves have veins. For landing, you should choose sunny places. It is not hardy and grows at a temperature of 13 to 18 degrees. For cooking, it is better to use cabbage of a round shape. The oblong is looser and not always suitable for the dish.
Red cabbage has red or purple leaves and differs from white cabbage only in shade. Mainly used for salads.
Brussels sprouts are a smaller copy of white cabbage. It grows on thin stems, one can grow up to 100 heads. And the weight of one head is about 10 grams.
Cauliflower. Only the upper part is eaten. Very capricious in storage, it can deteriorate after being in the sun for a little while.
All types of cabbage vegetables contain many vitamins, minerals and other useful substances.
Salad vegetables
Salad types of vegetables are mainly, as the name implies, consumed in salads. Only the leaves are used for cooking. Mostly they are not cooked, but eaten raw.
A feature of this species is frost resistance and rapid growth. If you plant lettuce varieties in greenhouses, you can get fresh greens all year round.
The most famous of this species is lettuce.
Spicy vegetables
Spicy vegetables are used to add flavor and flavor to dishes. Stems and leaves are mainly used in cooking, less often roots. Some types of spicesvegetables can be used in medicine.
The most famous are dill and parsley. The composition of these plants includes essential oil, which gives a spicy aroma. These species retain their properties for a short time, so it is better to use immediately or dry.
Tarragon is used in salads and canning. Tarragon looks like a grassy shoot with leaves. As well as dill and parsley, tarragon contains a lot of essential oil.
Basil is a perennial plant with a sour taste. Leaves and young shoots are used in cooking. Depending on the variety, it may have a lemon or mint flavor.
All types of spicy vegetables differ in color, bush height and flowering time. They can also often be used dried.
Onion vegetables
Types of onion vegetables are onion and garlic. In addition to their taste, they contain many useful elements. In folk medicine, these types of vegetables are widely used in the treatment and prevention of diseases.
Grow onions and garlic everywhere, they are not very whimsical. Some varieties of garlic tend to grow like weeds. In cooking, not only bulbs, but also shoots can be used. In Russia, not a single dish is complete without onions - from salads to soups.
Onion varieties can be white or red. It also has a caustic sap that irritates the eyes if it gets in.
Both onions and garlic have a pungent and persistent odor that is very hard towithdraw.
Tomato vegetables
Types of tomato vegetables are different varieties of tomatoes, eggplants, peppers.
Tomatoes tend to ripen after they have been taken off the branch. Varieties of tomatoes may not have the usual round shape and red color, but also be yellow, black, blue, elongated in shape.
Eggplant is a dark-colored vegetable with an elongated shape. Almost ripe eggplants with juicy pulp are used for food.
Peppers are divided into sweet and spicy. Hot peppers are used only as a condiment. Sweet varieties are suitable for cooking.
Bean vegetables
Types of legume vegetables are very rich in protein. These include peas, beans and beans. Each vegetable is a pod in which peas are enclosed. Depending on the variety, in addition to peas, the pod itself can also be eaten. In cooking, unripe, soft seeds (peas) are used. The main thing in seeds is a uniform color and structure.
Peas and beans are divided into two varieties: shelling and sweet. The color of vegetables is green.
Colored, green or black beans.
Pumpkin vegetables
Pumpkins include pumpkin, squash, cucumbers, zucchini.
The most commonly eaten food is the cucumber. Green vegetable with watery pulp. Depending on the variety, it can have a smooth or ribbed skin and different lengths.
Pumpkin is a round orange vegetable. The size of the fruit may vary. Pumpkin, like potatoes,brought from America. Pumpkin varieties can be used not only for human consumption, but also for livestock feed.
Zucchini has green or milky fruits. Sizes may vary even if the same variety is grown. May be pear-shaped or elongated.
Squash is a subspecies of pumpkin. The white fruit has a forum plate with jagged edges. Tastes a bit like mushrooms. The flesh of the squash is also white.
Cereal vegetables
This species includes sweet corn. This is the cob, which contains a large number of grains of yellow color. Here they are eaten. Usually it is canned, but it can also be consumed boiled, having cooked the cob completely. Popcorn is also made from dried corn kernels.
Types of fruit vegetables
This species includes any vegetables that are fruits. This is a large group that combines several species. The type of fruit may include a tuber vegetable, root vegetable, tomato, types of green vegetables and others.
Exotic vegetables
All presented types of vegetables are well known to residents of Russia and CIS countries. But this is not the whole list. In other countries, especially Asian and African countries, strange vegetables may be eaten.
There are a lot of varieties of familiar vegetables, but an unusual color. Purple carrots have been known for a long time, but have never been popular. Research is currently underway in Holland on its beneficial properties.
BPotatoes grown in Scotland have a purple flesh that makes them look more like beets when cut.
Cauliflower in all shades of the rainbow appeared in England. It looks strange for a simple layman, because cauliflower in its usual form is white. Its taste has remained the same, but due to its unusual shades, it will add variety to familiar dishes.
Romance broccoli is very similar in taste to cabbage, but its appearance is quite original. Most of all, it looks like a shell.
The Antillean cucumber doesn't look like a cucumber at all. It is a yellow vegetable covered with thorns. And only at first glance it seems that it is impossible to cut or break it. The peel of the Antillean cucumber is very soft, and the thorns do not prick. It is eaten raw - the fruit is cut open and the green flesh is scooped out. The vegetable tastes like a mixture of cucumber and tomato, very refreshing.
A more exotic fruit is the monstera. It is the same monstera that is kept as an ornamental plant. Grown in nature, it can produce a fruit that tastes like pineapple, although the smell does not promote appetite.
