December 22, 1982

A CARTOON in The New Yorker many years ago depicted a disgruntled little girl confronted with a mysterious substance on her dinner plate. Though assured by her mother that it was broccoli, she remained unconvinced. ''I say it's spinach,'' she insisted, ''and I say the hell with it.'' The child could have substituted any number of vegetables: Parsnips, turnips, rutabaga and squash come quickly to mind. They are only some of the winter vegetables that, unfortunately, are treated as undesirable aliens in this country. Add to them a fair number that are virtually unknown - salsify, cardoons and kohlrabi, to name a few - and the sad conclusion is that Americans are depriving themselves of some of the most flavorful and distinctive foods on earth. The lack of knowledge about some of these vegetables is because of their lack of availability. The poor reputation of others is related, in part, to their association with hard times. Turnips, for example, were once said to be eaten by the poor in lean times, by the cattle of the poor in good times.

THE wok has been the basic Chinese cooking utensil for centuries. And why not? The design of this vessel is simple but superb: its generous, rounded shape permits quick searing of large or small quantities of food by stir-frying; it accomplishes deep frying with less oil than possible in a straight-sided pot; it accommodates steamer baskets of various sizes, and it may even be used to braise or smoke whole fish, chickens or large pieces of meat. The smooth, round shape simplifies cleaning and the metal conducts heat evenly and effectively. Chinese cooking pots were originally hammered cast iron, and while these are still available, today woks are usually made of lighter, less brittle spun steel. American manufacturers and distributors of cookware, however, are not content to leave well enough alone. Stores are filled with woks in various sizes, contours and finishes - to the bewilderment of shoppers. While a modification in the shape of a wok, flattening the bottom, might be necessary to make it more adaptable to an electric range, other changes are gimmicks that raise the price and certainly do not improve it. ''People are trying to make it more than it is,'' said Ken Hom, the chef and author of ''Chinese Technique'' in describing what's happening to the wok.

House Republicans and Democrats today criticized Administration plans to increase the financial resources of the International Monetary Fund so that it can help a number of countries meet huge foreign debt payments. Their comments came after Treasury Secretary Donald T. Regan, in an appearance before the House Banking Committee, warned that if debtor countries did not get help from an I.M.F. with more lending power, the current recession could deepen into a worldwide depression. 'Temporary Situation' ''We think that this is a temporary situation, and to get them over the hump is better than to let them go by the boards,'' Mr. Regan said, alluding to the debt payment crises of such countries as Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica and Yugoslavia.

Paint is peeling from the walls and the carpeting is a bit threadbare, suggesting the low-budget operation of some struggling, start-up airline. But the spartan look to the headquarters of USAir, the nation's eighth-largest carrier, which is based in an old hangar at National Airport here, is but one expression of an operating strategy that has made the airline one of the industry's most profitable. ''We like to spend our money where it counts, where it can produce revenue for us,'' said W. Blake Thompson, USAir's senior vice president of finance. ''We would rather spend that way than give the chairman a big office. We have no plans for an elaborate headquarters building.''

As Congress struggled to end its session and go home for Christmas, the Senate agreed just after midnight to hold a showdown vote Thursday on a bill raising the Federal gasoline tax to pay for highway repairs and mass transit. The agreement came as Senators Jesse Helms and John P. East, two conservative Republicans from North Carolina, blocked immediate action on the bill with their third filibuster in the last week. All efforts by the Senate leadership to propitiate the opponents failed, and Senator Howard H. Baker Jr. of Tennessee, the majority leader, filed a petition to cut off debate. An aide to Mr. Baker predicted that ''the votes are there to pass the bill and send it to the President.''