technical question

[nappiesLaGore]

if the best way to retain all the vitamins and minerals etc in vegetables is to steam them gently and eat them al dente...

...does it follow that cooking/boiling them for ages to make, say a stew or soup, kills all said vits and mins?

and does this mean my noble organic soups are a waste of time and energy?

I would say that the reason you lose the vits when boiling is because you drai them and throw out the water but in a stew the liquid remains so surely the good stuff would be in there.
I am a hopless cook by the way it was jjust my first thought when I read your post

hehe. thanks trinity. thats what dp said too... i hope youre both right!