Do the vegetables in Bolannaise ‘count’ ?

[FollowYourOwnNorthStar]

I’ve been trying to make a conscious effort to get more vegetables into my day, and one way has been adding more vegetables to stews and things like bolannaise.

Leave aside what exactly should go in a bolannaise sauce (another recent thread!) the vegetables I put in are grated onions, carrots and zucchini, then chopped garlic, baby spinach leaves, mushrooms and any tomatoes if I have them (always used tinned tomatoes too).

In doing so I reduce the mince/meat required for each person, so from a health perspective I thought I was making the meal healthy twice - less meat per serve and more vegetables. (It tastes delicious too!)

However my sister thinks that vegetables like this don’t ‘count’. That by grating and cooking them down so much, their nutritional value is pretty low and, whilst still an ok healthy meal, it’s not as good as I think.

I’ve tried to google the answer, but opinions are divided about eating vegetables cooked or raw with a case made for both sides or in favour of some but not others.

What does everyone else think?

I wasn't taking the piss with the serve comment btw, I talk to Australian family and lived there for a while so recognised it straight away

“No @BertrandRussell and @amusedbush, I didn't, and there's no need for the insults.”

So you put meat in your hollandaise?

@BubblesBuddy most random reply award goes to you! This really tickled me

Slightly derailing, but if you are in the UK, OP, might I suggest a trip to Bologna in Italy? You won’t find much spaghetti Bolognese but you will find wonderful vegetable markets, fab restaurants and you can even go to Parma for the ham and Modena for the balsamic vinegar. You would love it*

It counts OP

I am desperate to know what Bertrand posted that was deleted,it's a cooking thread fgs, what on earth could it be?

It counts but it ends up being a small serving. Not sure of your recipe, but in mine I put 1 can of tomatoes, 1 onion, 2 carrots, 2 celery sticks and 1 zuchini/courgette - but that would make 6 servings. So it's only 1/3 of a carrot each and 1/6 of a zucchini, not a lot really.

Obviously not @BertrandRussell, which is why I asked what it was. I just didn't pick up on the bolognese-bolannaise thing. Nowhere was I rude to the OP or anyone else.

You know you're on Mumsnet when a thread about a pasta sauce ends up full of holes due to people abusing each other

I know IHaveBrilloHair I didn’t take it that way. I find language variations interesting, so I was glad to know this and can’t believe I haven’t picked it up from MumsNet yet.

woollyheart’s comment to be the most patronising, actually, but I’ve always thought their comments on other threads were worth reading, and I’m happy to take my spelling errors on the chin.

Yes of course, I sauté carrots, onions, leeks and celery cut really finely for ages, then add chunky onions, mushrooms and chopped tomatoes, works out at about 2 portions of veg each!

If you’re cooking the veg in the bolognese then they count. If they were cooked seperately and the water drained off they don’t.

“I am desperate to know what Bertrand posted that was deleted,it”

I suggested that there might be an element of disingenuousness in the failure to understand the OP.

@BubblesBubbly I actually did go to Bologna last year, and even did a cooking course there! So I have no excuse on the spelling error, and I take that on the chin.

This was less about my particular recipe (and the legitimacy of it) and more about the nutritional content of cooked vegetables in stews or pasta sauces.

Op you're taking the criticism on this thread like a true blue Aussie!

I'm Kiwi and we use courgette and zucchini interchangeably. . . best of both worlds really! We can piss everybody off!

I reckon I'd only expect to encounter the word seated in a formal context ie "Please wait to be seated" in a restaurant, "Remain seated at all times" on a ride, etc.

It's not the past tense of sit surely? You don't say "I walked in and I seated down"? It must be a past participle, as it's used with be in the formal examples, but I can't think of an example where this would be used in British English. "I have sat here all day waiting" I suppose. "I have seated here all day waiting"? That sounds wrong as well. I don't think it is a past participle in the formal use, it's a state rather than a verb at all.

(Sorry, curious EFL teacher here...) I will be listening closely to my Australian friends now :o

How on earth has this thread created comments that are being pulled by Mumsnet?

And I think the veg count.

Do green lentils not make other people terribly windy? 😳 misses the point

The deletions are covering a world wide conspiracy to hide the fact that vegetables are disappearing into the ether when you cook them.

“but I can't think of an example where this would be used in British English. "I have sat here all day waiting" I suppose. "I have seated here all day waiting"?”

I think I would say “I have been sitting here all day” but i’m not sure why.
The form that people object to, I think, is “I was sat”. As in “I was sat on the chair and the dog jumped up on me”

BertieBotts I don’t want to speak for my whole country, but I wouldn’t say “I have sat here all day waiting”. If I had to say a variation of that, I guess I would probably say “I have been seated here all day, waiting for you”, but that is still an odd phrasing of words to me.

@BetrandRussell thankyou, yes! I would say “I have been sitting here all day.”

Brain snap that it didn’t occur to me immediately.

BubblesBuddy, your reply was less than useless. Only on MN can you ask a question about vegetables and get a reply about going abroad to look at veg ham and vinegar

Looks like someone went whining to teacher.

You could elevate that to the next level by putting chopped celery in. I hate celery but they Belong in a spag bol! Lush!

And Yanbu of course they count!

However if you put 5 portions of veg in per person you might only be left with 2 portions per person once cooked off.

Bollocks.