Kitchen Lab: Veggie Cook Off!
Did you know that how a vegetable is cooked affects how it tastes?
Vegetables are an important part of our daily diets. But sometimes, getting kids excited to eat vegetables feels like a real challenge.
At Kids Cook!, we work with students to learn more about all kinds of vegetables and the different ways that they can be cooked. Experimenting in the kitchen with your kids gives them chances to taste vegetables and discover how different cooking methods affect the look, feel, smell, and taste of a vegetable.
Being able to cook vegetables in new ways helps kids expand their tastes and discover new favorite foods that they will happily eat at mealtime.
It’s amazing how your kitchen can turn into a science lab.
Check out our Veggie Cook Off! kitchen experiment below. For this activity, you and your kid are scientists specializing in vegetables.
To start, choose one (or more) of your favorite vegetables or, if you’re feeling brave, try a new one. Help your kids wash and cut the vegetable and get them ready to cook on the stove or in the oven.
This is a great opportunity to watch the food cook and see how it changes while your scientists wait to track the results and enjoy the finished product!
Click here for the Vegetable Kitchen Lab instructions.
Now let’s get cooking!
You will cook your vegetables using two different cooking methods - pick one dry heat cooking method and one moist heat cooking method.
Dry heat cooking cooks food without using extra moisture. This method uses high temperatures of 300° F or hotter. Dry heat cooking also browns the food, which adds flavor and texture.
• Examples:
Sautéing - a method that involves using a small amount of oil or fat in a shallow pan over high heat to cook something.
Roasting - a slow-cooking method where food is surrounded by dry heat in an oven or pan.
Moist heat cooking uses liquid or steam to cook the food. Flavored liquids, like broth, can be used to add flavor. Moist heat methods make tough foods softer, but can also make some foods mushy.
• Examples:
Boiling - a method of submerging food in hot water or other liquid and cooking until softened.
Steaming - a method where food is placed above and not in a boiling liquid and cooked by the moist hot air.
To learn more about the cooking methods, check out our Veggie Cook Off video that takes you through the steps to cooking your vegetables using these methods!
Throughout the experiment, you and your little scientists can develop a hypothesis and record the results of how your vegetable looks, smells, and tastes. This experience helps create a safe and fun environment to learn and try new things in the kitchen, builds a healthier lifestyle and expands the variety of food in your diet.
Grab a vegetable from the fridge and try the experiment today. Get the whole family involved by letting them vote on their favorite cooking methods at dinner tonight!
Bon Appétit!