I'm looking for some different and tasty ways to serve up my veg when I do the standard meat/fish and veg dish. In the past I've only really ever just boiled the veg then added some butter and seasoning. Tasty enough but boring and standard.

Last night I experimented with mixing my carrots and sugar snap peas with cheese and cream in a ramekin and topping with breadcrumbs before putting in the oven and finishing off under the grill to brown (broiler in the US I think?). Was ok but needs a bit of work. I've also tried doing a similar thing using bechemel sauce. Again it was ok but needs a bit of work to get better.

How do you serve your veg?

Most vegetables you can't go wrong by:

1) clean and cut to appropriate size
2) toss with olive oil
3) spread on foil-lined baking sheet
4) toss some salt and pepper on top
5) roast until done

Squash, carrots, asparagus, potato, brussels sprouts, mushroom, etc, works for all of those. Most if not all of those can also add a bit of grated cheese, or paprika, or cayenne, or herbs, or garlic, with good results.

What cit said. Roasting is also wonderful with broccoli and cauliflower.

Big fan of green beans with lemon, butter and almonds.

Brussel sprouts or Cabbage sauteed with garlic and ginger.

Asparagus with hollandaise

Seems like a better proposition than just boiling. I have roasted veg before but for some reason I just don't think about it.

This is the kind of thing I'm really looking for though. I want to do veg that stands out on it's own. Rather than just being something on the side I want it to be integral to the meal.

From another thread:

These are definitely good enough to stand out on their own.

Never eaten brussel sprouts. Will have to try. What would people say they most taste like, other vegetable? Curious people's thoughts on best way to cook asparagus. have only boiled personally. Had them made on grill once before and were ok. But is winter here, so no grilling for a while. Roasting, pan fry? Is hollandaise sauce hard to make?

Also, I'd like to try some different vegetables that taste nothing like have come to expect.

Brussels sprouts are lovely but really have to be cooked in butter and not oil in my opinion. I like the sound of the post-saute roasting though, will have to try that. I usually trim and halve them, boil in salted water until almost cooked while frying bacon in butter. Add sprouts to the pan with cooked chestnuts until you get good colour on the sprouts.

I love asparagus just boiled, or steamed (works well in microwave believe it or not) and dunked in a bowl of melted butter. Good to dunk in a boiled egg too but i prefer salted butter.

Green veg and cream is also a winner for me:

Peas with bacon, little shallot, lettuce finished with double cream.
Leeks cooked with shallot, white wine (boiled off) and cream. (Also very nice to gratinate this, add some cheese and breadcrumbs and bake for 25mins).
Spinach sauted down until wilted with little garlic and grating of nutmeg. Good with or without cream.

Cant go wrong with mash too, doesnt have to be sraight potato. Add in celeriac, carrot, parsnip, swede etc. in about a 50/50 ratio. Also a good idea to add ingredients to pair with the protein you're having. Mustard, horseradish, extra virgin olive oil, cheese, chives etc.

speaking of brussels sprouts, i have this recipe from the momofuku cookbook. You can also get it from serious eats.

Ingredients

For Brussels sprouts
2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved lengthwise
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
For dressing
1/4 cup Asian fish sauce (preferably Tiparos brand)
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons finely chopped mint
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro stems
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (1 1/2-inch) fresh red Thai chile, thinly sliced crosswise, including seeds. (I used dried and halved the amount.)

For puffed rice (optional)
1/2 cup crisp rice cereal such as Rice Krispies
1/4 teaspoon canola oil
1/4 teaspoon shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven-spice blend)




Preheat oven to 450°F with a rack in the upper third of the oven. Trim and halve the Brussels sprouts, toss with oil, and roast, cut side down on baking sheet, for 20-35 minutes, depending on size and desired taste. They should brown but remain somewhat firm.

Meanwhile, stir together the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl.

If making puffed rice, cook ingredients together in a small skillet until toasted and slightly browned.

When sprouts are done, transfer to a serving bowl and add just enough dressing to coat. Top with more chopped mint or cilantro, and puffed rice if using.

I'm not much of a cook, but I always just cut off a good bit of the the stalk and cook it in a pan with a little olive oil and leave it probably on the "less cooked" side. Seems to always impress people who are used to having it boiled.

Kale-

Cut the leaves from the stalks, wash, dry really well (I do this before work). When dry, preheat oven to 425, use a spray bottle or brush to coat the leaves, sprinkle with salt, throw in the oven until crispy.

Kale chips. They almost end up tasting like popcorn. Really great as a crunchy garnish, but imo not very substantial. Because they wilt down so much, the quantity of kale you'd have to roast is somewhat impractical. Great snack though, I think you can now even buy kale chips at Trader Joes.

Braised kale also works well. Clean the leaves of the stalks, wash well, and rustically tear the leaves into a couple pieces. You could also use a knife and cut the kale into a thick chiffonade. Next, sweat some minced garlic in EVOO in a large pot (larger than you think, it takes a significant amount of raw kale to wilt down into 2 portions of braised kale, probably 3 or 4 large bunches of raw greens). Add the raw kale and allow it to wilt down. Season with salt, pepper, and any other spices that you may want (I like a little garlic and onion powder). The leaves will release a little water, but you may need to add some additional water/veg stock/chicken stock. You don't want the greens submerged in liquid, but you do want some residual moisture at the bottom of the pot. Allow the kale to cook on low heat for 30 or 45 minutes, and it should be sufficiently broken down and tender.

I usually serve it with a slotted spoon so I can drain a little of the extra liquid out of the greens. You want the kale to cook in the liquid, but not be served in it. This is pretty easy, affordable, and tasty.

olive oil or butter in pan with:

garlic
onion
green beans
cabbage
broccoli
carrot
salt and pepper

or whatever veggies you have on hand.


Mixed vegetable stir-fry, basically.

Fried zucchini blossoms as an appetizer

lightly steamed runner beans with new potatoes, and dressed with a little olive oil is one of the best light meals I ever had.

Being on a sidewalk café in Rome on a warm summer evening probably helped with the enjoyment though.

In Rome, they were probably fresh beans, as in picked within the last 24 hours, and the olive oil was also probably fresh as in the current harvest and of a quality rarely seen in the US.

It was all very, very fresh.

This is one of the greatest vegetable recipes known to man:

Finnamore's Broccoli Cooked Forever

While fresh is always better, this still works fine for supermarket quality vegetables.

If we're talking green runner beans I boil them for just a few minutes so they are al dente. Cooking vegetables for too long is often most of the problem. Then cracked pepper and salt, always good quality, and finish with an excellent extra virgin olive oil. Toss well and serve.

You can do this for most green vegetables and it always comes out well.

Vegetable curries are great, so many different combinations even if you use off the shelf jars or pastes.

Its fairly easy to throw your own together too here is one of my favorites:-


Ingredients

1 tbsp oil

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 onion, finely sliced

salt and black pepper

2 garlic cloves, crushed

½-1 tsp chilli flakes (to taste)

50g/1¾oz root ginger, peeled and grated

600g/1lb 5oz tinned chickpeas (undrained weight)

1 x 400g/14oz tin tomatoes

750g/1lb 10oz sweet potato, peeled and cut into bite-sized cubes

200g/7oz rice

Preparation method

Heat a large saucepan over a medium heat and add the oil. Once hot, add the cumin seeds and fry for a minute, or until aromatic. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook for 5-6 minutes, or until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the garlic, chilli flakes and ginger and fry for a further three minutes.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Add to the pan with the tomatoes and sweet potato. Add enough water (approximately 500ml/18fl oz) to cover the chickpeas and sweet potatoes and bring to a simmer, stirring to mix everything together.

Cover with a lid and simmer over a medium low heat, stirring now and again, for 30-40 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft and beginning to break apart and the sauce has thickened. Top up with a little more water during the cooking if needed.

Meanwhile, cook the rice according to the packet instructions.

Taste the curry and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately with the rice.

I've never liked the abbreviation veg for vegetable. Seems coarse and ugly to me.

It's not the only factor, but it sure helps:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/63...013-a-1301920/

In most instances, there is very little comparison between garden fresh vine ripened, and what you purchase from a standard grocery store. We gave some produce away to friends that didn't garden, and they were blown away. They had likely never eaten vine ripened tomatoes before. Sweet corn freshly picked is the sweetest you'll ever get. It starts to fade quality wise fairly fast. String beans fresh off the stalk, cooked lightly in oil/butter remain crisp.

I don't really have an opinion on peppers, I really can't tell the difference. Same with Onions.

Grill your veggies. It's a great way to change things up. Grill your fruit as well. I especially like grilled peaches and pineapples.


Hot Broccoli:

Toss Broccoli in a zip top bag with salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic, and crushed red pepper.

Sear on the grill until very dark brown on all sides.


You will thank me when you taste it.

Please try the recipe I posted above. The inclusion of anchovies and chilies and the texture that essentially braising the broccoli produces...it's amazing.

yeah boiling just kills the taste...

curries, roasting and grilling are all much better options and retain the natural colors and flavors. I don't eat meat so I have to get creative with all of these vegetables.