You know vegetables are good for you. Here’s how to make them great.

So, you are committed to getting more vegetables onto your family’s dinner table. Good for you. “Fresh is best,” says Dr. Antonia Demas, director of the Food Studies Institute and a member of the PepsiCo Blue Ribbon Advisory Board.

Be sure to check how fresh the item really is. Some veggies in the produce section may have come from miles away and be weeks old. “If it’s well traveled, it loses some of its nutrient value and shows signs of wear,” she says.

Items with good color that appear freshly picked are good choices. Inquire about where produce is grown and try to find some that came from local farms or were organically grown, advocates Demas.

Next up: the frozen variety. Vegetables that are frozen are often picked fresh and processed right away, retaining their vitamins and minerals. In fact, some frozen items are better than fresh ones that have sat around too long before being consumed.

Canned comes in last, but not least. Read the label to see if salt has been added, suggests Demas. If you are limiting your salt intake, look for low-sodium content and rinse the vegetables before cooking.

When it comes to preparing veggies, the preferred choice is raw. “Everybody should have something raw everyday,” says Demas. Enjoy the crunchiness and nutrition boost of carrots, celery, broccoli and the like. Once you heat up vegetables, Vitamin C and other nutrients can be diminished by the heat.

If you are cooking vegetables, steaming with very little water is the top choice, says Demas. The longer you cook and more water you add (especially if you don’t drink it as you would in soups), the more nutrients you’ll lose.

Some veggies are better than none, but limit sautéing or frying vegetables. If you do use this approach, try the lightest oils possible, in the smallest amounts, for the briefest amount of time.