Vegetables: How do you make them exciting?

The only time I would boil vegetables is if I'm making mashed potatoes, soup, or stew. They get soggy and flavorless if you boil them to eat as a single ingredient. I like them roasted, stir-fried, braised with mushrooms and potatoes, made into a sauce/spread, part of a dish like shepherd's pie, pastries, soups, stews, dumplings, pierogies...etc. I also like them raw.

Grill, Roast, Stir Fry and Raw. Only as a last resort do I eat boiled or microwaved veges. Lots of ideas on internet. If you like spice, go for it. Also great In soup, stews etc... Throw in while roasting or baking meat. One of our favorites for years has been when grilling any type of meat. Is to take vege of day, and throw on grill as well. Can do in pans they have for that, or use throw away foil pans, or put in foil. Throw on the spices, the more the merrier. Needs very little oil. I at times will marinate with a bit of flavored water I like to drink, not adding juice, but I am sure that would work too. A bit of cooking wine works as well. Really no strict rules on what you can do to veges as long as you like them.

In general, my family teases me that my cooking has too many ingredients, but broccoli is something I like relatively plain. I simmer it for 3-4 minutes in a little water, and when it's done add salt, pepper, butter, and lemon juice. I drink the cooking water.

Other than that and steamed spinach or Swiss chard, I tend to incorporate veggies into something else - stir fry, salad, casserole, smoothie.

One word: MUFFINS!

You can make great muffins with many vegetables: carrots, zucchini, broccoli, corn, spinach, onions, peppers, etc. Check online for amazing veggie muffins recipes (one of my favorites is a Western Omelette muffin).

Even if you don't want to do an all-out veggie muffin, you can puree raw veggies and substitute in any muffin or bread recipe. You can just add anywhere from 2 to 4 tablespoons of puree into most baking recipes, which will just add more moisture without affecting any other changes (experiment to see volume that works). Or you can use vegetable purees for fat substitutions: if substituting for a fat, use three-quarters to one cup of vegetable puree for each cup of fat (oil or butter). If you sub out all the fat, check about ten minutes early (they can bake faster without high-level of fats), and you may also try reducing baking temperature by 25 degrees F.

Of course, you can also add to your daily fruits by putting them in muffins!

I like to do a nice, simple gazpacho in the summertime: throw some tomato, cucumber, onion, sweet bell pepper (any color) and a garlic clove into a blender and let it rip along with some olive oil, some vinegar or lemon juice, a tiny bit of salt and black pepper. Let it cool down and assimilate in the refrigerator for a while and serve it up. Variations of this include salmorejo and porra.

Also from the south of Spain is a sort of bruschetta: again, tomato, cucumber, onion and bell pepper (no garlic in this one). Cut them all teeny-tiny, and add olive oil and red wine vinegar. Let it sit for a while, then serve up. The very best part is when you get to soak up the dressing with some nice bread.

Some things I do - add fresh herbs, or even dried herbs to kick up the flavor. Try cooking them in another way - steam them (only until they are tender crisp). Roast them in the oven. Mix them into salads - last night I had some baby bok choy and I put it into a salad. Put them in eggs - in a frittata, omelet. This time of year, sliced tomatoes are great - top with a tiny amount of Italian dressing or put chopped basil on them. Slice cucumbers and douse them with some white wine vinegar and a little chopped dill. I have found recipes for stuffed zucchini, stuffed eggplant. Make vegetable soup. There are tons of recipes out there. Google!

pinuplove wrote: »

Like this?

YES! That was the Three Amigos play the cucumber, broccoli and tomato did, fun and exciting.

I put Braggs Liquid aminos on my vegetables with some garlic powder, chili flakes and then bake at 400 degrees F for like 35-40 minutes.

Well I had this ex-girlfriend who was super adventurous and.....oh sorry it's not that sort of thread.

Yesterday I used up half a head of cauliflour by roughly chopping it and stir frying it with some green beans, peas and spinach from the freezer.

I added garlic, ginger, chilli and some curry powder. As a last minute minute change of plan I saw a jar of Lime Pickle in the fridge and added a spoonful of that too.

It turned out lovely with a spicy lemony depth we really liked.