Cooking vegetables

mybicknell
mybicknell Posts: 26 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi,
I have recently started to try and cook different vegetables but am having trouble getting them right. I love zucchini, carrots and cauliflour but when I cut them up and try to bake them in one pan the zucchini always ends up being mushy and the carrots are never completely done. I have tried slicing them different sizes, etc. but obviously I am doing something wrong? Any tips for cooking vegetables would be appreciated!

Replies

  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    You might find it easier to pan fry them, that way you can stop cooking them as soon as you get them where you want them...I like my zucchini best with spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese,(plus oregano, salt, pepper, garlic)...I like my yellow squash with lots of onion and some butter (plus basil, salt, pepper, garlic).

    If you are going to cook zucchini and carrots together, then you need the carrots to be about 1/3 the size of the zucchini so they cook the same amount of time...so like super thin carrots and medium size zucchini slices.

    I love mushrooms with red wine and either some beef broth or worchestershire sauce.
  • Zodikosis
    Zodikosis Posts: 149 Member
    Carrots need to be cut really really small (matchsticked, julienned) or parboiled first to bake correctly. That or you need to roast them in some kind of liquid.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,871 Member
    edited July 2018
    I've never had good luck roasting carrots with anything other than, well, roast :smile: Where they soak up all the fatty deliciousness of the meat. Otherwise mine usually wind up like tough, shriveled bits of orange sadness. Some good suggestions here though, and well worth a try!

    You could also look to pair up vegetables that roast is approximately the same amount of time to keep things simple. I like brussel sprouts and diced sweet potatoes, personally.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    edited July 2018
    mybicknell wrote: »
    Hi,
    I have recently started to try and cook different vegetables but am having trouble getting them right. I love zucchini, carrots and cauliflour but when I cut them up and try to bake them in one pan the zucchini always ends up being mushy and the carrots are never completely done. I have tried slicing them different sizes, etc. but obviously I am doing something wrong? Any tips for cooking vegetables would be appreciated!

    You could add the zucchini toward the end of the cook time or precook the carrots a bit. I think zucchini would need 15 minutes or less cooking time to keep from being mushy.

    You could choose a different combination of vegetables with more similar cooking times if you want to cook it all together.
    https://www.bettycrocker.com/how-to/tipslibrary/charts-timetables-measuring/fresh-vegetable-cooking-chart

    https://www.thekitchn.com/how-long-to-cook-vegetables-a-beginners-guide-to-preparation-times-171231
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    The carrots and cauliflower are far more dense than the squash...you're not really going to be able to just throw them all on a pan and bake them together...the carrots and cauliflower are going to take longer to cook, thus leaving the squash mushy.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    You can roast them in stages. Bake carrots and then halfway through add the squash/zucchini.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    When stirfrying, in general, I start with onions, peppers, celery, and carrots. Once they're a bit soft, it's time for mushrooms, zucchini, Japanese eggplant (I don't stirfry the 'common' kind because I'm usually too impatient to salt it and it soaks up too much oil otherwise), and cherry tomatoes. If I'm using frozen veg, it goes in now. If I'm adding non-frozen vegetarian meat analogs (veggie dogs, tofu, nuggets, etc) it goes in now. Any frozen vegetarian meat analogues would've gone in at the start with the onions. Last to go in are green leafies, scallions, eggs, and if I'm using spiralized vegetable 'noodles' (they're thin-cut so they do in no time). Then sauce and seasonings.

    I realize you're baking vegetables, but I'd use a similar order or cut the longer-cooking vegetables really fine.
  • mybicknell
    mybicknell Posts: 26 Member
    Thanks for all the info!
  • spookyface
    spookyface Posts: 420 Member
    I just buy frozen combo of Normandy blend. Perfect.

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