In the culinary world, a vegetable is defined as an edible, herb-like plant and each of them are classified by their botanical origins or the specific edible parts we’re harvesting for dinner: flowers, fruits, leaves, seeds, roots, tubers, or stems. Whether we’re purchasing them fresh, frozen, canned, pre-cut for convenience, or dried, we modern cooks are striving to understand the chemistry of the plant – the way it’s built – so we can determine the best cooking method.

That’s what this post is all about – the big six categories of vegetables you get to play with once you earn your chef’s coat and how best to prepare them to wow anyone brave enough to eat our creations.