Tips on properly washing, handling, cutting, and preparing veggies in your classroom!

Bell Pepper

Serving size: 1/2 cup

Raw nutrient amounts

  • Vitamin B6: 10% daily value (DV)
  • Vitamin C: 100% DV

Edible colors: Green, orange, purple, red, yellow

Amount needed to provide 1 bite-size sample each for 20 students: 1 bell pepper

Preparation tips:

Wash 1 bell pepper and cut it in half length-wise.

Remove and discard the seeds.

Cut the paper into thin, 1/4 inch wide slices as shown.

Bok Choy

Serving size: 1 cup

Raw nutrient amounts

  • Vitamin A: 80% DV
  • Vitamin B6: 10% DV
  • Vitamin C: 60% DV
  • Vitamin K: 48% DV

Edible colors: Green, white

Amount needed to provide 1 bite-size sample each for 20 students: 3 medium bok choy leaves

Preparation tips:

Cut away the base stem of the bok choy leaves and wash them carefully under cold water.

Cut both the white stems and green leaves into thin, 1/2 inch slices.

Broccoli

Serving size: 1/2 cup

Raw nutrient amounts

  • Vitamin C: 70% DV
  • Vitamin K: 58% DV

Edible colors: Green

Amount needed to provide 1 bite-size sample each for 20 students: 1 broccoli crown

Preparation tips:

Wash 1 crown of broccoli and cut away the larger stems.

Cut the broccoli into smaller florets as shown.

Carrots

Serving size: 1 medium carrot

Raw nutrient amounts

  • Vitamin A: 200% DV

Edible colors: Maroon, orange, yellow

Amount needed to provide 1 bite-size sample each for 20 students: 1 small bag of baby carrots or 2 medium-size carrots

Preparation tips:

Cut away the base stem of the bok choy leaves and wash them carefully under cold water.

Cut both the white stems and green leaves into thin, 1/2 inch slices.

Cauliflower

Serving size: 1/2 cup

Raw nutrient amounts

  • Vitamin C: 45% DV

Edible colors: Green, orange, purple, white

Amount needed to provide 1 bite-size sample each for 20 students: 1 crown

Preparation tips:

Wash 1 crown of cauliflower, and cut away the large stems.

Cut the cauliflower into small florets as shown.

Leaf Lettuce

Serving size: 1 cup

Raw nutrient amounts

  • Vitamin A: 40% DV
  • Vitamin K: 49% DV

Edible colors: Green, red

Amount needed to provide 1 bite-size sample each for 20 students: 3 large leaves

Preparation tips:

Cut away the base stem of the leaves and wash them carefully under cold water.

Slice the leaves into thin, 1/2 inch long slices and give each student 1 or 2 strips.

Spinach

Serving size: 1 cup

Raw nutrient amounts

  • Vitamin A: 60%
  • Vitamin C: 15% DV
  • Vitamin K: 181% DV

Edible colors: Green

Amount needed to provide 1 bite-size sample each for 20 students: 1 small bag of baby spinach would be more than enough (1 or 2 baby spinach leaves per student), or 3 large leaves.

Preparation tips:

If you are using large spinach leaves, cut away and discard the base stems.

Wash the leaves carefully under cold water.

Slice the leaves into thin, 1/2 inch long slices, and give each student 1 or 2 strips. Large spinach leaves will be prepared following same steps as the leaf lettuce.

Sugar Snap Peas

Serving size: 1/2 cup

Raw nutrient amounts

  • Vitamin C: 10% DV

Edible colors: Green

Amount needed to provide 1 bite-size sample each for 20 students: Sugar snap peas are often sold by weight. If so, count out enough to give 1 or 2 pods per student.

Preparation tips:

Rinse the pea pods carefully with cold water.

Remove the pea pod strings by pinching off the tip of the pointed end and pulling the string downward. Do the same with the opposite tip to pull the string from the other side of the pod.

Swiss Chard

Serving size: 1 cup

Raw nutrient amounts

  • Vitamin A: 45% DV
  • Vitamin C: 20% DV
  • Vitamin K: 374% DV

Edible colors: Green, white, orange, red, yellow

Amount needed to provide 1 bite-size sample each for 20 students: 3 medium-sized leaves

Preparation tips:

Cut away the base stems.

Wash the leaves carefully under cold water.

Slice the leaves into thin, 1/2 inch long slices, and give each student 1 or 2 strips.

Tomato

Serving size: 1/2 cup

Raw nutrient amounts

  • Vitamin C: 20% DV

Edible colors: Orange, purple, red, yellow

Amount needed to provide 1 bite-size sample each for 20 students: 3 Cherry or grape tomatoes are typically sold in packaged containers. Be sure that there are enough tomatoes for each student to have one. If possible, serve each student both a whole and a half grape or cherry tomato.

Preparation tips:

Rinse the tomatoes in cold water.

Optional: Cut enough tomatoes in half to give each student 1 1/2 tomatoes.