It seems like we have been cycling through a lot of the same recipes lately for our veggie side dishes. Would love to see what everyone has been having lately to get some new ideas and get the creative juices flowing again. 5 months of winter is wearing on me and I need some new fun ideas to get through the last month before grilling season starts. (Yes, 6 months of winter, I live in Fargo).
Provide us with a short list of what you’ve been eating and what’s out there that you haven’t touched.
I could post all sorts of ideas, but if the raw product isn’t there for you to work with, well…
What is available fresh at your local grocery store, or farmer’s market?
1.Take most vegetables, toss with olive oil, salt, garlic and red pepper flakes and roast at 425-450 for 10 or so minutes and serve.
2.Take onion and saute until it softens, add roasted red pepper, spinach, mushrooms, or whatever you fancy. After each addition adjust salt and pepper a bit. Serve. If you like add chicken stock and herbs (I like fresh thyme) and reduced heat, cover and braise for 5 minutes or so. Remove cover and raise heat, reduce until most liquid gone. Adjust seasonings. Could also add red sauce +/- chicken stock or 2 parts ancho chili/1 part cumin+/- mexican oregano with a little bit of chicken stock or small amount of roasted tomatoes and do same.
3.Take any vegetable (esp broccoli florets, asparagus, or fresh green beans) and saute in clarified butter at moderately high temps until done. Blancing before hand and icing down and drying can make the vegetables more tender and cooking times more predictable.
4. Do any of the above(#3) and add at the end add roasted nuts(slivered almond, hazelnuts, walnuts), citrus zest. Or begin with minced shallot first.
5. Saute 2 parts garlic, 1 part ginger, a bit of green onion and red chili flakes until fragrant in peanut oil, add vegetables until almost al dente (may require adjusting size and or blancing to cook evenly). Again a little bit of soy sauce/hoisin/oyster/fish sauce/xo sauce/shaoxing vinegar/sesame oil to taste. Add chicken stock mixed with equal parts corn starch, bring to boil, cover a couple of minutes and again reduce without cover.
6. Basically experiment and find joy in taking your CSA produce and explore what flavors you can give it. The stakes are low. Even one experiment could turn out to be your go to vegetable.
Mike
Going to Bazaar in LA in a few weeks for first time and ran across this recipe on their website. Tried tonight and all I can say is the whole is much better than the sum of its parts. Try it and you will see.
Zucchini with Goat Cheese and Sherry dressing
Serves 4
By the end of summer, most of us are sick of zucchini. Our gardens are full of it. We hide from neighbors because they might give us more zucchini! But this salad–with the sweetness of the zucchini and the smokiness from the grill, the creaminess of the goat cheese and the tangy punch of the Sherry dressing–will have you asking for all of that surplus squash. I use the unique aged Sherry vinegar from my country. It makes this dish amazing. – José Andrés
For the Sherry dressing:
2 tablespoons Spanish extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tablespoon Spanish aged Sherry vinegar
Sea salt to taste
For the Dressing:
Whisk together the Sherry vinegar, olive oil and a large pinch of salt in a bowl. Set aside.
Zucchini with Goat Cheese and Sherry dressing
For the salad:
4 large zucchini, ends trimmed and sliced lengthwise in 1-inch strips
Spanish olive oil
Sea salt
4 ounces goat cheese
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
For the zucchini:
Brush each slice of zucchini on both sides with a little olive oil and season with salt. Cook a hot grill or grill pan, a couple minutes each side, just enough time to get grill marks. Transfer the grilled zucchini to a plate and cover with some aluminum foil for a few minutes to allow the zucchini to continue to cook through.
To serve, divide the grilled zucchini slices between four plates, crumble the goat cheese evenly across each plate and drizzle with Sherry dressing. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and season to taste with salt.
For me, a treat is to take leftover cooked broccoli or cauliflower, and add olive oil, balsamic vinegar and Locatelli cheese (pecorino romano). A little salt and pepper ad you have a cold vegetable salad that is delicious.
Salud.
Farmer’s markets won’t open up for a few months up here. I love baked cabbage: just quarter it, butter, salt and pepper and bake it until it burns. It smells the house up (before and after) but it is so simple and delicious. Grated cheese on top could be a bonus.
Just check my daily posts for our veggie side dishes. I don’t usually like roasted veggies, because of increased bitterness. Almost all of our meals consist of fish or meat and a veggie.
I haven’t been in awhile, so can’t recall if they still allow corkage at the SAAM, but it is the way to go at Bazaar. I think it is only offered Th-Sun.
loved this last night, read the recipe in the newspaper food section.
Clean and cut brussels sprouts in half.
Toss them in olive oil and roast on a cookie sheet for 20-30 minutes at 400 degrees till soft, turning a couple times.
In a small bowl, whisk together 1/3 cup olive oil, 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice, some pepper and salt.*
After finishing the sprouts, put them in a bowl and add the olive oil/lemon juice mixture and toss.
Add some garlic powder and serve hot.
*adjust quantity depending on the volume of brussels sprouts.
alan
That works. And you can also substitute balsamic vinegar for the lemon juice. Or you can marinate them first and then roast them.
Another great Jose Anders recipe last night - wrinkled potatoes.
http://www.tastespotting.com/features/salt-wrinkled-potatoes-recipe-jose-andres
For the mojo verde I put garlic with skin on skewer and held over flame until blackened. Peeled and then put in processor with cilantro/parsley and EVO, pepper (no salt or cumin).
After the potatoes cool wipe most of salt off with paper towel without breaking skin. I only had medium sized yukons so I sliced them and poured sauce over. Delicioso!!
Not a veggie…
Quartered Baby Bella Shrooms, about 1/2 pound with stems trimmed
1 TBS Roasted Garlic
1 TSP Fresh Thyme
1 TBS Clarified Butter, or fat of your choice
2 TBS Cognac
S&P
Saute mushrooms in fat unitl liquid is given up. Add the garlic and continue to saute until aromatic. Hit it with the Cognac and allow the ETOH to burn off and the liquid to be absorbed by the shrooms. Season with S&P.
Hi Dick,
That’s an interesting comment regarding bitterness with roasted vegetables.
I’m trying to think of a particular vegetable that I’ve had that turns bitter when roasted, but can’t think of any.
Of all the vegetables I typically roast (asparagus, cauliflower, carrots, brussel sprouts, bell peppers, etc), the dry heat extracts flavor, and most notably, it extracts and intensifies sweetness out of the vegetable.
Conversely, boiling or steaming vegetables produces a different chemical reaction and doesn’t evaporate any of the water that’s naturally found within the vegetable. Personally, I don’t care for boiled vegetables; I find them bland and watery, but as with everything else related to personal choice, YMMV.
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Brett
A twist on zucchini, courtesy Julia. Grate it in the large holes of your grater. Squeeze as much water out of it as you can, then saute in butter in which you’ve previously sweated some minced shallot. S&P to taste. If wishing to gild the lily, simmer in heavy cream and tarragon right after the saute. Really yummo and REALLY fast. Once the grating is done, we’re talking maybe two minutes, tops - and that includes the shallots cooking.
a side /big plate of veggies is a must in chinese households.
Very simple, oil + garlic till fragrant, toss in green leaf veggie, add a little chicken broth/salt for flavoring and you’re good to go. Of course don’t cook it till it wilts.
Parsnip Puree - a simple but incredibly delicious standard side of ours. Sweet, creamy, silky.
Peel a pound of parsnips and cube them (3/4 inch or so)
Boil them in salted water for 8-10 minutes until tender
Drain
Add to food processor along with 1/2 cup+ of fresh grated parm and 2-3 Tb of butter. Puree until smooth.
S&P to taste and eat up.
+1.
To the OP: Note that the leafy vegetables must be fresh for best results. Of course the best selection of these types of vegetables are at the Chinese markets if you have one near by. Even Whole Foods sells baby bok choy…but those get boring after a while.
I do this with slices of portabella, and use red wine instead of cognac. The mushrooms just soak up all of the buttery winey goodness. They almost taste like steak. Yummo.
I’ve made each of these. They’re all very good.
Maple Root-Vegetable Stir-Fry with Sesame
Jicama, Citrus and Watercress Salad
Chickpeas in Spicy Tomato Gravy
Honey-Soy-Glazed Vegetables with Crispy Mushrooms