Vegetables

How do I keep green beans bright green? They always turn an olive color on me. The key to cooking green beans - really, to cooking most green vegetables - is to cook them in three stages: blanch them, shock them, saute them. This is my preferred method for dealing with green beans, broccoli, asparagus and sugar snap peas. First, bring a large pot of water to boil. The more water you use, the less it will cool down when you add the vegetables, and the quicker it will come back to a boil.

How should I mulch a vegetable garden? Do I need to mulch all of it? Anywhere you don't want weeds will require mulch. Mulch helps retain moisture and moderate soil temperatures, but weed suppression is the No. 1 goal because weeds steal water, nutrients and sunlight from vegetables. Organic mulches of mowed leaves or straw with three to four layers of newspaper underneath make an impenetrable barrier to weeds while allowing rain to soak through. These will last the growing season and decompose over the winter, feeding the soil.

Question: I am ready to choose seeds to start my garden. Can you give me some examples of resistant varieties for spinach, tomatoes, broccoli, peppers, green beans and squash? I can't wait to get my hands in the soil again! Answer: Our online publication "Recommended Vegetable Cultivars for Maryland Home Gardens" will give you plenty of suggestions for those vegetables and more at www.hgic.umd.edu under Publications. Our publications can help you plant outdoors or start vegetable transplants indoors, for example Planting Dates for Vegetable Crops in Maryland.

Nutritionists from the University of Maryland Medical Center regularly contribute a guest post. The latest post is from Catherine Schroeder, dietetic intern. Spring showers inspire the growth of a colorful array of fruits and vegetables to decorate your dishes, tempt your taste buds and nourish yourself naturally. Vibrantly colored produce adds visual appeal to any dish without the use of synthetic dyes or additives. More importantly, these brightly colored foods pack a powerful nutrition punch.

Each week a nutritionist from the University of Maryland Medical Center provides a guest post. This week, Debra Schulze, RD, LDN, weighs in on vegetables. Did you know there are more than 200 varieties of fruits and vegetables? While praised as a "good for you food," vegetables can be enjoyed in new and fun ways if you use a little imagination. Vegetable nutrition has drawn attention for the many proven health benefits. Most are low in fat and calories while dense in vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals like flavonoids, carotenoids, and polyphenols.

Many of my hours are spent thinking and talking about the impact our Little Patuxent Speedway has (or is it Parkway?) on Town Center, Columbia, Maryland. This roadway is where there is a high risk of injury and worse, the site of the deaths of two pedestrians over the past few years. But this piece is not meant to be about speed, but rather about going green. It is still spring for the first three weeks of June, and spring is a time for trees, flowers and, best of all, a time to plant seeds.

Regular turkey sandwiches are one of the best dividends of Thanksgiving, but sometimes something different appeals. The roasty flavors of vegetables sizzled on the grill prove irresistible in this easy-to-prepare main-dish sandwich. Your gas grill makes cooking fast and simple. Brushing the vegetables with a little oil helps provide beautiful grill marks; it's important to grill them for at least three minutes per side -No poking! No peeking! - to get the appealing stripes. The grilled vegetables have so much flavor that only 4 ounces or so of turkey easily serves two. Even the dedicated carnivore won't miss the meat.

Q: Sometimes I see eggplant and tomatoes referred to as fruits. I thought they were vegetables. Can you explain?A: It is confusing to understand what separates a fruit from a vegetable. The fruit is the part of a flowering plant that develops from the ovaryand contains the seeds. This includes sweet fleshy fruits and some vegetables like zucchini, eggplant, cucumber, tomatoes, sweet peppers and nuts. Vegetables are herbaceous plants cultivated for food. Different parts of the vegetables are eaten.

Item: Wyler's Shakers Instant Bouillon and Seasoning * Cost: About $3 * Preparation time: Just sprinkle on meat, vegetables, rice and other foods * Review: Like most bouillon, Wyler's new seasoning mixes are high in sodium and you definitely taste it. That's not to say they're bad. But I recommend ignoring the measurements on the package and shaking the seasoning out slowly, according to your taste. I tried the Southwest Chicken and Herb and the Beef and French Onion flavors on rice and vegetables as Wyler's suggests.

Hamburger Helper, that Betty Crocker standard of the '70s, fascinated me as a child. What was it? How did it help? When faced with some ground turkey for dinner, and tired of my usual turkey burgers, I decided the turkey would be easier to cook up in a skillet with a little help. To me, that meant whatever vegetables I had on hand: some onions and a couple of zucchini. After I threw in a red bell pepper for color, my dish was nearly done. You can adapt the idea to whatever vegetables you have in the refrigerator.

Constipation hits everybody at some point. The uncomfortable condition can be caused by many things, including a bad diet and dehydration. Dr. Vaibhav A. Parekh, director of Medstar Harbor Primary Care, talks about how to prevent and treat constipation, and how to tell if it's a sign of more serious health problems. What are signs that you are constipated? What is a normal number of bowel movements? Common signs of constipation include straining during a bowel movement, hard bowel movement and a sensation of incomplete emptying after a bowel movement.

I'd like to grow carrots, but I hear it's tricky. Any tips? Because carrots are roots that need to push through soil, having light loose soil is a big determiner of success. For carrots, a depth of 12 inches is ideal. Add compost to your soil structure. It is the Year of the Root Crop on Grow It Eat It, our all-vegetables. all-the-time site. Find us at our new url: extension.umd.edu/hgic. Our online newsletter starts off the year with a great article providing many tips for growing root crops in Maryland.

New research has found that the Mediterranean diet is linked to a healthy heart. The diet is rich in vegetables, fish, olive oil and nuts. Thinking of switching or adopting some of the principals of the diet? Here is a Mediterranean diet recipe from the Mayo Clinic to get you started. Have a healthy recipe you'd like to share? Send it to andrea.walker@baltsun.com. Ingredients 1 small eggplant, peeled, cut into 1/4-inch slices 1 small yellow zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch slices 1 small green zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch slices 6 medium mushrooms, sliced 1 sweet red pepper, seeded, cored and cut into chunks 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil 6 cups water 1 1/2 cups coarse polenta (corn grits)

Knowing the right way to eat is one thing, but doing it is not always easy, especially when dining out. But some Baltimore-area restaurants are making heart-healthy dining easier and more attractive for their diners. Restaurants like Zia's in Towson are drawing new customers with a menu approach that makes eating heart-healthy almost foolproof. The cafe's menu is completely free of white flour, hydrogenated oils and refined sugars. "We have doctors, nutritionists, trainers, coaches recommending people to us," said Zia's owner, Daniela Troia.

My young fig tree is on the north side of a fence. Last fall we had one fruit which did not ripen, and that branch died over the winter. This year fruit appeared in late fall but didn't ripen before frost. How do I winterize my fig tree so I get figs? Fig trees are marginally hardy in Maryland. Once frost hits, fruit is no good. The problem is that you can't pick figs underripe either, so occasionally the crop is lost. The more protected and warm the fig's location, the better your chance for successful ripening before frost.

The pumpkin has so much more to offer than languishing on a doorstep as a jack-o'-lantern or being dumped unceremoniously into a pie for a cheap thrill at the end of Thanksgiving dinner. The culinary uses for pumpkin are as limitless as your imagination. Fried, braised, steamed, roasted or even shaved ribbon-thin into salads, pumpkin can hold its own with any vegetable, working incredibly well in savory dishes. Even after Halloween, the local farmers' markets will be overrun with these gorgeous gourds.

For a festive side dish that your microwave oven cooks in a flash, accent a frozen vegetable mix with anise-flavored wedges of fresh fennel and toasted sesame seed. Fresh fennel looks a lot like stalks of celery and is most available in the fall. Look for fennel bulbs with fresh, bright-green tops, then use the feathery sprigs to line your serving platter. If you can't find fennel with tops, pick up some fresh dill or parsley to decorate your platter.Sesame Vegetables2 small fennel bulbs (about 6 ounces each)

Baltimore Ravens player Torrey Smith couldn't stop smiling when he entered Linton Springs Elementary School's gymnasium on Tuesday, Oct. 2. Greeted with thundering cheers from a sea of purple, the wide receiver was there to kick off the school's Project ACES (Active Children Excel in School) initiative - a program partnered with the NFL's Play 60 Challenge - to fight childhood obesity with 60 minutes of daily exercise and healthy eating. "All that purple is nice," Smith said, greeting the crowd.

Each week a nutritionist from the University of Maryland Medical Center provides a guest post. This week, Debra Schulze, RD, LDN, weighs in on vegetables. Did you know there are more than 200 varieties of fruits and vegetables? While praised as a "good for you food," vegetables can be enjoyed in new and fun ways if you use a little imagination. Vegetable nutrition has drawn attention for the many proven health benefits. Most are low in fat and calories while dense in vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals like flavonoids, carotenoids, and polyphenols.