Guide

Fruit and Vegetable Guide

Potatoes

Year-round

Description: These tubers come in three main types: baking potatoes, the most starchy, which become dry and fluffy when cooked; boiling potatoes, the least starchy; and all-purpose potatoes. Any variety harvested before it develops its full amount of starch is considered a new potato.

Selection: Choose smooth, firm potatoes with no mold, soft spots, sprouting, or green color.

Storage and handling: Store in a well-ventilated place away from apples or onions. New potatoes keep for only a week, but other types keep several weeks. Avoid sunlight, which causes potatoes to turn green. Before cooking, scrub potatoes with a brush in cold water or peel with a vegetable peeler and rinse.

Preparation: Boil chopped potatoes about 15 minutes. If desired, mash potatoes after draining well. Bake whole starchy potatoes at 400-450F / 200-230C, 45 minutes or longer. Microwave new or boiling potatoes in covered dish with 1⁄4 cup water, 8-12 minutes. Microwave<> whole baking potatoes, pierced with a fork, 4-6 minutes for 1 potato.

Serving suggestions: Mix leftover mashed potatoes with a beaten egg and fry for potato pancakes. Try oven-roasted fries instead of french fries (SIS, p. 255). Use in soups (SIS, p. 236).

Nutrients (when baked with skin): Vitamins B6 and C, thiamin, niacin, folate; iron, potassium; fiber.

1 lb raw = 3 cups sliced or chopped
1 lb cooked = 2 1⁄4 cups sliced or chopped (1 3⁄4 cups mashed)

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Fruit and Vegetable Guide

Potatoes

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	Guide General Tips Apples Asparagus Beets Blueberries Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Celeriac Celery Collards Corn Cranberries Cucumbers Edamame Edible flowers Eggplant Fennel Grapes Green beans Kale Kohlrabi Leeks Lettuce Melon Mesclun Mushrooms Okra Onions Parsnips Peaches Pears Peas Peppers Persimmons Potatoes Pumpkins Raspberries Rhubarb Rutabagas Spinach Summer squash Strawberries Swiss chard Sweet potatoes Tomatillos Tomatoes Turnips Wild greens Winter squash Fruit and Vegetable Guide Potatoes Year-round Description: These tubers come in three main types: baking potatoes, the most starchy, which become dry and fluffy when cooked; boiling potatoes, the least starchy; and all-purpose potatoes. Any variety harvested before it develops its full amount of starch is considered a new potato. Selection: Choose smooth, firm potatoes with no mold, soft spots, sprouting, or green color. Storage and handling: Store in a well-ventilated place away from apples or onions. New potatoes keep for only a week, but other types keep several weeks. Avoid sunlight, which causes potatoes to turn green. Before cooking, scrub potatoes with a brush in cold water or peel with a vegetable peeler and rinse. Preparation: Boil chopped potatoes about 15 minutes. If desired, mash potatoes after draining well. Bake whole starchy potatoes at 400-450F / 200-230C, 45 minutes or longer. Microwave new or boiling potatoes in covered dish with 1⁄4 cup water, 8-12 minutes. Microwave<> whole baking potatoes, pierced with a fork, 4-6 minutes for 1 potato. Serving suggestions: Mix leftover mashed potatoes with a beaten egg and fry for potato pancakes. Try oven-roasted fries instead of french fries (SIS, p. 255). Use in soups (SIS, p. 236). Nutrients (when baked with skin): Vitamins B6 and C, thiamin, niacin, folate; iron, potassium; fiber. 1 lb raw = 3 cups sliced or chopped 1 lb cooked = 2 1⁄4 cups sliced or chopped (1 3⁄4 cups mashed) More from our readers Do you have a tip, comment or recipe you would like to add to this page? Send your tips, helpful comments or recipes Name Email Address Email Address confirm Comments The Fruit and Vegetable Guide is reproduced here with permission of Herald Press, publisher of Simply in Season. Subscribe to a recipe a week from the Simply in Season cookbook.
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