Vegetables

The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant. \ Pulses are considered vegetables though we typically eat the seeds. Very many vegetables are botannically fruits and contain seeds but are considered vegetables, examples are avocado tomato, bell pepper, courgette, cucumber, Eggplant and many more. Rhubarb is considered a fruit though we eat the stem. Perhaps the best definition is, if it is sweet it is fruit, if it is savory it is a vegetable.

The United Kingdom National Health Service recommends five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. See 5 A DAY portion sizes which explains how to get the amount and variety of fruit and vegetables you need.

Frozen vegetables[]

Frozen vegetables can be very good value for money. They're cheap and you don't have to throw anything away. Frozen veg is very useful for people who care about healthy eating but don't want to spend too much on vegetables. Also they're ready cut so you don't have to spend time cutting up veg in your kitchen. That's useful for some disabled people and for all busy people. Bought frozen vegetables are also healthy as typically they're frozen within hours of harvesting. Fresh vegetables typically spend days -you never know just how long- at wholesalers, on supermarket shelves or with greengrocers. Then they probably spend more time in your kitchen or fridge before you eat them. Unfortunately bought frozen vegetables sometimes contain added salt so you need to check the packet and be careful about adding yet more salt.

The taste isn't always the same after vegetables have been frozen, that's probably why people still buy fresh veg. Some vegetables freeze well and keep, their flavour, Sweetcorn seems to for example. Most people use a combination of fresh and frozen veg in their kitchens in soups and stews where flavours combine you don't notice the difference in flavour so easily.