[Illustration: FIG. 36.——100-Calorie portions of vegetables. KIND WEIGHT OF PORTION, OUNCES Asparagus 16 Beets 10 Cabbage 13 Carrots 10 Corn 9 Cucumbers 20 Lettuce 22 Onions 8 Potatoes 5 Spinach 15 Tomatoes 15 _A. Fowler, Photographer._] The season of vegetables is so extended by canning, by the shipping of vegetables from the South, and by growing under glass that there is always a wide range of choice. There are in winter, however, some tempting delicacies in the way of green vegetables that the buyer with a limited purse should pass by. A cucumber at fifty cents or even at ten cents is not a sensible purchase. Lettuce, grown under glass, at ten cents a head is not an extravagance, if the income allows thirty-five to forty cents per capita per day for food. As a rule, select the less expensive vegetable, provided it is in good condition. The prices are so fluctuating that a definite statement is impossible. (See Chapter XVII.) _Root vegetables_ should be uniform in size, sound, the skins fair. _Head vegetables_ should be solid, with but few waste leaves on the outside. _Vegetables with hard rind_ should be sound and firm. _Asparagus_ should be even in size, the stalks not bitten by insects. _Cauliflower_ should be firm and white, not affected by insects or blight. _Celery_ should be firm and white, free from blemishes, fine in texture. _Peas_ should have crisp pods well filled, but not too full. _String beans_ should be crisp and snap easily. _All leaf vegetables_ should be crisp——not wilted. GENERAL METHODS AND RECIPES =Uncooked vegetables.=——Crisp vegetables with tender fiber are eaten raw. Their preparation includes freshening in cold water, thorough washing to remove grit and insects, thorough drying by shaking in a soft cloth or wire basket, and cooling on the ice. Lettuce should not be served so wet that the water collects on the plate, making it impossible to dress the salad with oil. See salad making, Chapter XV. =Cooked vegetables.=——Vegetable cooking is an art much neglected, and in consequence vegetables are sometimes served lacking their proper flavor and their original nutrients. To cook vegetables in boiling salted water, throwing the water away, is not the correct method, except in a few cases. With this method much of the valuable mineral matter and the flavoring substances are lost in the water. With such strong flavored vegetables as the cabbage, old onions and beets, and old potatoes this method is permissible, but even in these cases the nutritive value is decreased. =Principles of cooking.=——Softening of the fiber.