The word 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.
Species and varieties are divided into several types, depending on the appearance, growth and how much of the vegetable is eaten.
Tuberous 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, potato is 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 him from Holland and ordered him to be planted in different places to see where he takes root.
Potato tubers are bulges formed on the roots of the plant. The pulp (edible part) is protected by a thick peel. The size of the tuber, the purpose and thickness of the peel depend on the variety of potatoes.
In addition to potatoes, which is eaten by humans, there is fodder and technical potatoes.
Jerusalem artichoke (earthen pear) is not very common among the population. It is practically not consumed in food. Mostly alcohol is made from it, livestock are fed.
Culture is planted in the southern regions. This is a small root crop with growths of red, purple or white.
Sweet potato tastes sweet, as does Jerusalem artichoke. And also grows in southern areas. Otherwise, sweet potatoes are called sweet potatoes. Strictly speaking, although he is considered a root crop, he is not quite him. Sweet potatoes are simply overgrown roots. As well as potatoes, sweet potatoes are used in dishes, fried or boiled.
Root vegetables
Root vegetables are probably the most numerous category. These vegetables eat roots. Root vegetables include beets, radishes, radishes, swede, carrots, horseradish, celery and others. Apart from radishes, all root vegetables are biennial plants. In the second year they do not bear fruit, but only bloom and give seeds.
All vegetables of the root type have high frost resistance and high sugar content.
Root roots are a very vulnerable part. To save vegetables for 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. In general, only a few varieties are widely used.
The most famous is white cabbage. It is divided into three types: early, late and middle.
Such a cabbage looks like a round head of white-green color. Leaves have streaks. For planting, 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 round cabbage. Oblong more loose and not always suitable for dishes.
Red cabbage has leaves of red or purple color and differs from white cabbage only in shade. It is mainly used for salads.
Brussels sprouts are a small copy of white cabbage. It grows on thin stems, on one it can grow up to 100 heads. And the weight of one head is about 10 grams.
Cauliflower. Only the upper part is eaten. It is very capricious in storage, it can deteriorate after spending quite a bit in the sun.
Any kind of cabbage vegetables contain many vitamins, minerals and other useful substances.
Salad vegetables
Salad types of vegetables are mainly used in salads, as the name implies. Only leaves are used for cooking. Basically, they are not cooked, but consumed raw.
A feature of this species is frost resistance and rapid growth. If you plant varieties of salad in greenhouses, you can get fresh herbs all year round.
The most famous of this type is lettuce.
Spicy vegetables
Spicy types of vegetables are used to add flavor and taste to dishes. Stalks and leaves, less often roots, are used mainly in cooking. Some types of spicy vegetables 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 do not retain their properties for long, therefore it is better to use immediately or dry.
Tarragon is used in salads and in canning. Tarragon looks like a grassy shoot with leaves. Like dill with parsley, tarragon contains a lot of essential oil.
Basil is a perennial plant with a sour taste. In the preparation of dishes using leaves and young shoots. Depending on the variety, it may have a lemon or mint flavor.
All kinds of spicy vegetables vary in color, bush height and flowering time. They can also often be used in dried form.
Bulb vegetables
Types of onion vegetables are onions and garlic. In addition to their taste, they contain many useful elements. In traditional medicine, these types of vegetables are widely used in the treatment and prevention of diseases.
They grow onions and garlic everywhere, they are not very whimsical. Some varieties of garlic tend to grow like weeds. In cooking, not only bulbs can be used, but also shoots. In Russia, not a single dish is complete without onions - from salads to soups.
Varieties of onions can be white or red. He also has caustic juice, which when irritated causes eye irritation.
Both onions and garlic have a pungent and persistent odor that is very difficult to remove.
Tomato vegetables
Types of tomato vegetables - these are different varieties of tomatoes, eggplant, peppers.
Tomatoes have the property of ripening after it has been removed from 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 vegetable of dark color and elongated shape. For food use almost ripened eggplant with juicy pulp.
Peppers are divided into sweet and hot. Hot peppers are used only as seasoning. Sweet varieties are suitable for cooking.
Bean vegetables
Types of legumes 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 the seeds is a uniform color and structure.
Peas and beans are divided into two varieties: peeling and sweet. The color of vegetables is green.
Broad, green or black beans.
Pumpkin vegetables
Pumpkin pumpkins include squash, squash, cucumbers, zucchini.
The most commonly eaten is a cucumber. Green vegetable with watery flesh. Depending on the variety, it can have smooth or ribbed skin and different lengths.
Pumpkin is a round orange-colored vegetable. The size of the fetus may vary. Pumpkin, like potatoes, was brought from America. Varieties of pumpkins can be used not only for human consumption, but also for livestock feed.
Zucchini fruits are green or milky. The sizes can be fixed, even if one variety is grown. May have a pear-shaped or elongated shape.
Squash - a subspecies of pumpkin. The white fruit has a forum plate with uneven edges. It tastes a bit like mushrooms. The flesh of the squash is also white.
Cereal vegetables
This type includes sweet corn. This is an ear in which a large number of yellow grains are located. So they are eaten. Usually it is canned, but they can also use boiled, having completely cooked the ear. Pop corn is also made from dried corn kernels.
Types of Fruit Vegetables
This type includes any vegetables that are fruits. This is a large group that combines several species. The type of fruit may include tubers, root vegetables, tomatoes, types of green vegetables and others.
Exotic types of vegetables
All presented types of vegetables are well known to a resident of Russia and the CIS countries. But this is not the whole list. In other countries, especially Asian and African countries, strange vegetables can be eaten.
There are so many varieties of familiar vegetables, but an unusual color. Purple carrots have been known for a long time, but have never been popular. Now in the Netherlands research is being conducted on the subject of its beneficial properties.
In Scotland, potatoes are grown whose flesh is purple in color, which makes it more like beets when cut.
Cauliflower in all shades of the rainbow appeared in England. This looks strange for a simple layman, because cauliflower in its usual form is white. Her taste remained the same, but due to her unusual shades, she will add variety to familiar dishes.
Romanesque broccoli is very similar in taste to cabbage, but its appearance is quite original. Most of all, it looks like a shell.
The Antilles cucumber is not at all like a cucumber. 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 - cut the fruit and pick out the green flesh. The vegetable tastes like a mixture of cucumber and tomato, very refreshing.
A more exotic fruit is a monstera. It is the very monstera that is kept as an ornamental plant. Grown in nature, it can produce a fruit that tastes like pineapple, although its smell does not contribute to appetite.