How can one bag of vegetables make three meals?

Picture a big paper bag of vegetables landing on the kitchen table with a soft thump. Reach inside and you can feel cool, bumpy carrots and smooth potatoes with a little earth still on them.

That bag looks like one big dinner, doesn't it? Yet it can feed a whole family three times. So how can one bag of vegetables make three meals?

First, the grown-up who cooks tips the bag out and counts. There are nine carrots, six potatoes, three onions and three peppers. One dinner needs only a few of each, so this pile holds far more than one meal.

Next, the cook sorts the pile into three portions, which means three equal shares of food, one for each meal. Every portion gets three carrots, two potatoes, one onion and one pepper. Now each dinner has its own little heap waiting.

Then the cook tucks two of the portions into the fridge. The cold keeps those vegetables crisp and fresh for the days ahead. One portion stays out for tonight.

Tonight the cook chops the first portion, holding the sharp knife carefully while you watch. The cook simmers everything in a pot of water until it becomes warm, soft soup. Now, a portion is only a small heap, so what could the cook add to make it fill everyone's plates tomorrow?

The cook adds other foods! On the second day, the cook tosses the second portion into a hot pan with a bowl of rice and two eggs to make fried rice. The rice and eggs fill up the plates too, so a small portion of vegetables is plenty.

On the third day, the cook takes out the last portion and roasts it in the oven until the edges turn golden and sweet. The family eats it beside a bowl of pasta, and it tastes nothing like the soup or the fried rice. Now all three portions are eaten.

Here is the word to remember: portions. One bag makes three meals because the cook splits it into three portions and adds other foods like rice and pasta, so a few vegetables fill a whole meal.

Now you know the secret of the busy vegetable bag. Next time you spot one, picture the three cozy dinners hiding inside, and sleep tight.