Can green vegetables be eaten raw?

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kenny1999

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Can most green vegetables (if not all) be eaten raw or cooked medium safely?

My normal practice is to wash them thoroughly first with tap water and let them sit in boiling water for a while but they are not very well cooked. Is it enough to kill/remove most bugs, dirt or bacteria
 
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I'd be willing to bet that most vegetables could be safely eaten raw, though many are better cooked. And many are ruined by overcooking - probably the reason many people grew up hating vegetables! As for cleaning them, there are other ways, besides putting them in boiling water.

 
Can most green vegetables (if not all) be eaten raw or cooked medium safely?

My normal practice is to wash them thoroughly first with tap water and let them sit in boiling water for a while but they are not very well cooked. Is it enough to kill/remove most bugs, dirt or bacteria

I would say that it depends on the source of the produce, as well as the storage and handling guidelines wherever you live.

But, when in doubt, if you are blanching everything then I would imagine that you'd be ok. Most food borne bacteria (i.e. e. coli, salmonella) are killed at 160 degrees F. With boiling water at 212 degrees F, you should be fine.
 
People have been eating crudités for a very , very, very long time.

However, I prefer to very lightly steam them just to get a better texture and flavor, things like broccoli, green beans, asparagus.
 
Can most green vegetables (if not all) be eaten raw or cooked medium safely?

My normal practice is to wash them thoroughly first with tap water and let them sit in boiling water for a while but they are not very well cooked. Is it enough to kill/remove most bugs, dirt or bacteria

Washing thoroughly should be enough to remove bugs and dirt. Bok choy you can wash really well, I would be more concerned about dirt. Broccoli, again thorough washing - when you're chopping it up you will see if there are any unwanted guests.

Bacteria - again washing should take care of it, so unless it is on the slimy verge of tossing into the compost, I would not worry about whether or not it has been boiled.

Like Medtran - I like to boil only because I like just a bit of the edge of the crunch taken off.

That being said, there have been lots of evenings when I don't want to cook.
I will sit with a well washed broccoli or cabbage (or both?), a sharp knife, and a bowl of dressing. Turn on the TV, start snipping chunks of veggies off the core, dip in sauce - my version of a TV dinner. :rolleyes:

Kale, of course, is another story. I won't eat that raw OR cooked. :angel:
 
We eat most of our vegis raw. But, it is worth knowing that there are some vegis that are toxic when raw. Lima beans and red beans come to mind. Serveral types of beans contain toxins that are deactivated by boiling for at least 10 minutes. I'm not sure about other types of vegetables, but I can't remember any others.
 
Hi Kenny, I can't think of a raw green vegetable that can't be eaten raw. Washing them is enough to get them clean. You don't need to dip them in boiling water or anything.



If you dip them in boiling water, that would be blanching them, to let them sit in boiling water for a minute or two, then in cold water.



If you want to lightly steam them, you can microwave them in a covered bowl with a few teaspoons of water, or in a steamer for 5 minutes.


Or you can fully steam them, leaving them microwave longer or steam longer.



You could check raw vegan recipes and see what they have to say. They eat most things raw or cooked only to 115 deg F, which isn't really cooked.


Vegetables which are harvested out of the ground, touching the soil, should be washed, peeled and/or cooked to remove remnants of soil/dirt/bugs/bacteria. Potatoes with peels, carrots, turnips, rutabagas, parsnips.



Things that must be cooked: legumes, grains and flours (not rolled oats).
 
Whooops!

Actually there is a green vegie that must be cooked and not eaten raw. Needs to be cooked to remove toxins.

Fiddleheads, young ferns before they have opened up. Tete de viol, en francaise.

They must be well rinsed (just to get rid of the brown papery) this will take several rinsing. Then steamed for 10 - 12 minutes or boiled for up to 15 til soft and tender.

My mother taught me to rinse well, add water to generously cover, bring to boil, drain, rinse, repeat about 4 more times. When tender and brown paper has gone, add butter to drained fiddleheads and enjoy.

Did she know they were toxic? I have no idea, but by the time you've brought them to a boil 4 times or more - they were done and safe. I only learned of it about 10 years back and even then the stores only started posting that they must be cooked for 10-15 minutes about 5 or 6 years ago.

sometimes the old way of doing things were the right way but just forgotten as to why it needed to be done that way.
 
I have to say I wasn't that impressed with fiddleheads, especially with all the work to prepare them.
 
When I've read some of the most wonderful and amazingly complicated things you've made, I'm a bit surprised, medtran!

Actually I don't do exactly like my mom though. I do wash/rinse them very well, bring to a boil for about 5, rinse and boil again for another 5 or more minutes. If there is still some chaff I'll maybe rinse but more likely not.

Find they don't quite taste like spinach, different but same. :ermm:

I love them, unfortunately they come under the dark green leafy category that agravates arthritis. Fortunately they are only a spring time offering so I pretend I don't have aches and pain. Goes along with the asparagus/spinach/shrimp - all my favourite agravators I indulge in.
I have no willpower, :(.
 
I was out in my garden today, and saw some sugar snap peas starting up the trellis, and thought about this thread when I remembered the first time I grew those, many years ago, when I did not get one of those things into my kitchen to cook, they tasted so good right when I picked them!! I still eat a lot of them out there, snacking on them. I can't think of anything as good as those raw; though I eat a good number of those Sunsugars and other cherry tomatoes out there, those are meant to be eaten raw.

BTW, as far as I know, I've never gotten sick from those raw sugar snap peas.
 
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BTW, as far as I know, I've never gotten sick from those raw sugar snap peas.

I think the OP is more worried about bacteria. From someone's private garden, I'd think the risk would be minimal to nil.

From a commercial farm though, you never know. I remember there was an issue with green onions and also lettuce from contaminated irrigation water years back.
 
medtran49 I only mentioned that I didn't get sick from those sugar snaps, since some may be apprehensive about eating raw legumes, due to the lectins in them. However, sugar snaps, as well as snow peas, and sweet peas have been shown to be low in lectins, plus they aren't as bad as the ones found in kidney beans, and many others.

It seems that more often than not that there is something in the news about some E. coli, salmonella, or listeria in some produce somewhere - the latest is that romaine lettuce that is supposed to be responsible for all those illnesses from Wendy's food. Usually we only hear about the widespread cases.

cookiecrafter - That's a no-no - making a list when hungry! Sorry I did that. :LOL:
 

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