Easy and delicious veggies?

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yesiamheathermills
yesiamheathermills Posts: 7
in Recipes
Hey!


I grew up with parents who loathed vegetables and rarely cooked at home. Through recent years at restaurants--I can't cook much better than my parents--I've discovered that I actually rather like vegetables, but I don't really know what to do with most of them. I work long hours so anything requiring a ton of prep work is out of the question, but I'm really trying to kick my dependence on pre-made meals and convenience crap.

I recently discovered oven roasted brussels sprouts with a little bit of olive oil, sea salt and pepper (nom, nom, nom!); and I love steamed broccoli when I can get it to turn out right (which is admittedly not that often). What are your favorite easy ways to prepare vegetables?

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  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,719 Member
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    Oven roasting is a great method for lots of veg. I like to spray with olive oil and use a hot oven, around 220C.

    Asparagus 10 min
    Broccoli 20 min
    Cauliflower 30 min
    Green beans and mange touts 10 min
    Carrots 40 min
    Chicory 45 min
    Halved tomatoes do on a low oven 150C for 45 min or more
  • jk1231
    jk1231 Posts: 23 Member
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    You can roast almost any veggie like the Brussel Sprouts! I do broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, asparagus, and carrots that way. I invested in a MISTO spray and you use so much less olive oil so they are actually healthy when they are roasted :)
  • debbiefarrow65
    debbiefarrow65 Posts: 4
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    Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts with a little olive oil, Dijon mustard and pepper are fabulous!! :-)
  • FrauHaas2013
    FrauHaas2013 Posts: 615 Member
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    The olive oil/sea salt/pepper roasting method works for A LOT of veggies - give them a shot!!! My husband cooks asparagus on his BBQ grill and seasons them this way.

    I also love spinach, so aside from eating it raw, I like to sautee spinach in a tiny bit of olive oil, add some pepper, and stir in some sauteed garlic. YUMMY!!!

    Most of my veggies I just eat raw in a salad, but when you do cook them, they are delicious grilled or oven roasted as most have noted. ENJOY!
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    You can do aspaagus the same way as the Brussels sprouts. Or add a little pepper. They're almost like French fries that way. An old-fashioned salad with a dresing you love (my favorite is Newman's Own Olive oil & Vinegar). I use baby spinach instead of lettuce.

    Cook veggies into pasta sauce. I use my food processor and shred squash and such.

    Saute any combo of veggies you like in some oil and put over pasta or some other food.

    You can do pretty much anything with veggies! A quick Google search will give you lots of recipes, too.
  • reilles
    reilles Posts: 12 Member
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    I like to roast sliced beets, carrots and onions in the oven in some tinfoil with a bit of olive oil and dill seasoning. So yummy!

    I also like to make spinach salads with blueberries, strawberries and walnuts, and with all those ingredients mixed together there is no need for dressing.
  • vegan4lyfe2012
    vegan4lyfe2012 Posts: 1,165 Member
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    I made the tastiest dish tonight and it took just 20 minutes from start-to-finish.

    1/2 eggplant, diced
    1/2 white onion, diced
    1 medium zucchini, diced
    1 tomato, diced
    3 cloves garlic, minced
    1/2 tbsp. dried Italian seasoning
    1/2 tsp. onion powder
    salt & pepper to taste

    Warm a sauté pan on medium and spray the pan with EVOO spray. Put in eggplant first, let it cook for 5 minutes. Then add the onion and zucchini and let cook another 5. Add the diced tomato, garlic and spices. Stir to combine. Makes 4 servings.

    Serve over whole grains of your choice. I used bulgur wheat then 1/4 cup of vegan mozzarella. It was awesome :)
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
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    An easy prep/easy clean-up way to roast firm vegetables:

    -Take a baking dish or baking sheet (metal or glass) big enough to hold the veggies in a single layer with at least a little space between them
    -Line the pan with foil so you don't have to scrub burned on veggie juices afterwards
    -Scrub any of the following: potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, butternut or other winter squash, or any other hard veggie. Cut off any dirty end bits but don't bother to peel them.
    -Wrap each veggie individually in foil and place in the foil-lined pan.
    -Bake until you can poke a fork through them, which can be done right through the foil. How long will vary by which vegetable, what size and oven temperature. Usually somewhere between 40 and 90 minutes. Don't be afraid to do different sized and kinds of vegetables all at once. You can remove them individually when they are done.
    -Let cool still in the foil. They can even be refrigerated several days in the foil. When ready to eat, unwrap and remove the peel which will come off very easily at this stage. If it is a solid vegetable like potatoes, sweet potatoes, or beets, the peel will slough right off with your fingers or a paper towel. If it is a vegetable with strings and seeds in the middle like butternut squash, first cut in half and scoop out the seeds and strings, then remove the flesh from the peel.

    Vegetables done this way tolerate a wide range of oven temperatures so it's easy to tuck a bunch of veggies in the oven while you are cooking something else. Best is probably 350F to 425F. Too hot may result in the vegetable burning to the foil. Too slow may result in the veggies taking forever to get soft.

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