I need to eat veggies so I can...
... call myself a proper grownup.
Time for a REALLY embarrassing confession: NEVER have I ever cooked cauliflower in my life. In fact, I'm absolutely rubbish when it comes to cooking vegetables. I can't even defend myself from the Asian stereotype: I'm actually decent at stir-frying but don't know the first thing about fennel, rhubarb, turnips, etc. In fact, I grew up calling all radishes "beets" because that's what my mom thought they were. I didn't know shallots existed. I would always bring home zucchini when my mom asked me to pick up cucumbers at the store. I didn't know that those little broccoli "bushes" came in giant broccoli "trees" and they were just chopped up into smaller pieces.
Friends, cure me of my ignorance!
Anyway, it was about time that I started my foray into cooking vegetables properly, so I asked friends on Facebook for recipes. I'm looking forward to cooking my way down the list! The cheesy cauliflower pancakes recipe seemed like a very midwestern way (heck yeah cheese and sour cream) of tricking me into eating my vegetables, so this seemed like a good start. It's modified from this recipe, only I rounded up some of the measurements and doubled the cayenne because I like a spicy kick. It was difficult to save them aside for tomorrow's lunch because they are absolutely delicious.
Do you have any favorite vegetable recipes to share?
I love your illustrations in your notebook -- and yes, I could echo most of what you're saying here. And if you think the way broccoli grows is unexpected, you should definitely check out Brussels sprouts!
ReplyDeleteMy most recent favorite veggie recipe is sauteed Brussels spouts in garlic & olive oil & pancetta (or bacon). Just chop 'em up, sautee until tender.
I bought a bag of brussels sprouts after reading your comment - they are so teeny tiny! They're next on the list!
ReplyDeleteOkay these aren't entirely vegetable recipes but they're mostly veg so they totally count. The first is veg and grilled polenta stacks. YUM.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.eastewart.com/recipes-and-nutrition/recipe-redux-grilled-polenta-veggie-stacks-with-balsamic-cherry-tomatoes/
The second is from a Jamie Oliver cook book and I cook it all the time when it's cold because it is such good cosy food. In a casserole dish you combine cherry tomatoes (I always go for a mix of red, yellow, heirloom etc) roughly chopped red onion and Italian pork sausages. Add some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, crushed garlic, 2 bayleaves and some oregano and cook until the sausages are nice and brown and the tomatoes are soft. The tomatoes with the vinegar and olive oil becomes this chunky sauce which is amazing with mashed potato or cous cous.
Thanks for the recipes, Kayleigh! The Jamie Oliver recipe sounds perfect for today. The windchill for today is -30F (-34C) so I'm dying for something warm and hearty!
ReplyDeleteYay vegetables!
ReplyDeleteI eat a LOT of vegetables but I don't really ever do much with them... I like steamed vegetables (sometimes with some kind of sauce) and I love salad, so I mainly eat them like that, but when I can be bothered I cook proper things with them!
I have never cooked cauliflower either though, but that's because I hate cauliflower!
My favourite Japanese way of having vegetables is 胡麻和え, which is with a sesame sauce. For example, spinach with sesame sauce:
Spinach, cut into about 5 cm long pieces and either boiled for half a minute or so, or steamed in the microwave (you want to put the leafy bits either in a little bit later if you're boiling it, or on the bottom if you're steaming in the microwave as they cook faster)
While it's cooking mix together 1 tablespoon of ground sesame seeds (if you grind them yourself it's extra delicious), and 1 teaspoon each of sugar and shoyu. Try to get the sugar to dissolve properly. (You might want to double or halve this depending on how much spinach you're using)
When it's cooked, wash it thoroughly to cool it down, and then take handfuls of it and squeeze out as much water as you can, then add it to the sesame mixture and mix it up so all the spinach is coated. Done! Yum.
You can tweak the sauce so it is more to your liking by changing the ratio of the ingredients. You can also use a load of different vegetables apart from spinach (runner beans, asparagus etc.)
It goes really nicely with rice :)
I also like to cut up any vegetables remaining in my fridge and at least 1 potato and onion, sautee in butter (or half butter half oil) until they go all glossy and partly cooked, season, then add stock and simmer until all of the vegetables are cooked through, and use a handblender to mush it all together for a simple soup (you can also press it through a sieve if you don't have a blender). Most root vegetables are really nice in it, and that's what I tend to do with turnips.
Yummmm, the goma-ae sounds so delicious the way you describe it!! I have sesame on hand at all times, so I'll definietly give this a try! The second recipe sounds yummy as well - I'll hold off on that one until I get my hands on a stick immersion blender first. Thanks for sharing your recipes!
ReplyDeleteThat's intense! Stay bundled Nahree!
ReplyDeleteIt is delicious! I'm not sure if I ate spinach any way apart from goma-ae the first couple of years I lived here, hehe.
ReplyDeleteThe soup is really useful if you have loads of vegetables lying around that you don't know what to do with. It's pretty healthy as well (even more so if you cut out the butter), yay!
My favourite way to eat cauliflower is roasted! Super easy too. Toss cauliflower pieces in a little olive oil and your seasoning of choice then spread out on a baking pan (or I even use a glass lasagna tray) and roast in the oven at 375 degrees for approx 10-15 minutes. I usually check on them at the 8 minute mark and flip them or shake them a bit, then continue roasting for another few minutes. Depends how crispy you want them, just don't let them burn! Broccoli is also very delicious cooked the same way!
ReplyDeleteThanks Brie! 375 for 10-15 seems to be the magical consensus among veggie lovers here - I feel like I'm in late in life saying this now, but I've decided that I really like cauliflower :)
ReplyDeleteNow that you've mentioned it, I'm pretty sure I've never cooked cauliflower either... Or I guess not either anymore since now you've done it.
ReplyDeleteWe eat a fair amount of veggies, though I'm sure we should be doing more. Most of the time I end up just steaming veggies (usually broccoli, asparagus, green beans, snap peas). Though I did just make beef chow fun and sauteed some Chinese broccoli (the superior broccoli) and bok choy. Oh a grilled veggies (mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, summer squash, zucchini) are pretty great when it's warm enough to grill things/you have a grill pan.
Thanks for the suggestion! I am laughing as I admit this, but I happen to have a George Foreman grill so I should try my hand at grilling some veggies!
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