Some people suffer intestinal gas after eating cooked cabbage, but the gas is something the sufferers have made, not something in the cabbage. It's the product of bacterial action on the cabbage's rich dose of fiber.

Boiling your potatoes before you toss then into the oven helps the pieces develop a crispy outside coating. The boiling period also reduces the time you have to bake the potatoes to cook them completely and make them crispy.

With its spicy, bold taste, raw arugula is often added to salads to punch up the flavor, but the leafy green can also be eaten cooked. Sautéed or steamed, cooked arugula delivers an impressive dose of vitamins A and K, contains no fat and is very low in calories.

Sweet potatoes are high in vitamin A and beta-carotene, unlike their starchy white counterparts. Though they seem to take forever to cook, a microwave oven allows you to cook a sweet potato in a fraction of the time it takes in a conventional oven.

A convection oven functions much the same way as a regular oven, except that a convection oven contains a fan that constantly circulates the heat evenly throughout the oven. Winter squash varieties such as pumpkin, butternut, acorn and Hubbard are good candidates for convection oven cooking.

Next time you buy celery, save the leaves to eat alone or incorporate into recipes. Celery leaves offer nutritional value that can boost your health. Celery leaves make a good choice for weight-loss diets because they are low in calories and provide vitamins, minerals, fiber and macronutrients.

Among the many varieties of winter squash commonly available at farm stands and in grocery stores are the butternut squash and spaghetti squash. Both of these varieties provide a high amount of Vitamin A and fiber in a delicious low-calorie package.

You might count calories as part of a weight-loss diet without fully understanding what a calorie is and how it works. A calorie is a unit of energy. It takes 1 "large calorie" to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of pure water by 1 degree Celsius. Food calories are measured in large calories.

Ruby-red cranberries often appear on holiday tables, but they are a healthy and flavorful fruit for any time of year. Cranberries supply a good source of vitamin C and the fruits contain antioxidants that help prevent heart diseases, according to the University of Georgia.

Allergic reaction may result from consuming the skin or pulp of green or dried figs, from the commercial extract of figs or from fresh fig fruit. It is also possible for a sensitivity to be caused by inhaling pollen from figs or fig trees or by touching the fruit.

At its best, a loaf of banana bread comes out of the oven redolent of fruit and spice, with a lightly browned, slightly domed top. A well-baked loaf should be moist but hold together well after cooling and slicing.

Chinese eggplant, which is typically longer and more slender than other varieties, has a mild and sweet taste that lends itself well to the strong flavors of Asian cuisines.