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I'M THOROUGHLY convinced that if people knew more secrets to choosing the most delectable vegetables and seasoning or saucing them nicely, they'd discover that they actually crave vegetables.

It's true that old, overcooked or tough vegetables can taste worse than wet cardboard, but it's equally true that prepared well, they can be a succulent delight. Plus, many studies show that vegetables can reduce risks of heart disease, strokes, cancer and many other diseases.

Veggies are nature's medicine, and they also can be mouthwatering treats.

TASTE SECRETS

The problems most people associate with veggies are due to either overcooking them until they are a limp khaki-brown, undercooking so they are tough, or leaving them dry instead of taking advantage of the yummy array of sauces and seasonings out there.

I think fresh vegetables taste the sweetest. However, from a nutritional standpoint, frozen vegetables are similar to fresh vegetables.

I rarely eat canned vegetables--many are soggy, salty and have vitamin C leached out. However, canned tomato puree and tomato paste are indispensable in the wintertime. And marinated artichoke hearts, or Italian antipasto vegetables, are a treat. Also, canned beans are very quick and convenient for side dishes, soups or added to salads.

Raw and ready

In high summer, some juicy, just-picked vegetables do taste best unadorned. A tomato fresh from the garden, still warm from the sun, is lovely sliced and eaten plain or in a sandwich with a dab of mayonnaise. Fresh lettuce and thinly sliced radishes spice up any sandwich.

If you like salads, try the mingling trick. Consider chopping or grating the vegetables very small, into dime-size or even pea-size pieces, so that you will taste many flavors in a single bite.

You'd be amazed how different a salad of lettuce, tomato, cucumber and carrot tastes chopped smaller and sprinkled with dried basil and oregano before you add the salad dressing.

Marinating is another way to enhance the flavor of vegetables. For example, I learned from my mother-in-law to make a salad of chopped red onion marinated for 30 minutes or so in fresh-squeezed lime juice and with a bit of oil. I don't like plain raw onions, but the lime juice adds tang while taming the onion flavor and eliminating onion breath.

SAUTÉ AND STIR-FRY