Good and simple vegetable recipes

Cafe Society
1

So we’re approaching the season of Farmers Markets and quality fresh produce. And, in general, I have a hard time making sure I eat enough vegetables – the bed-of-greens-plus-whatever salads, or grabbing a handful of baby carrots, get boring pretty quickly. I’d like to find a way of making eating vegetables easy – either with salad recipes that can be made ahead of time and won’t be slimy mush in a matter of days, or with main dish types of recipes that are vegetable-heavy and easy to make and store. (Please note for main dishes I’m ovo-lacto vegetarian. I’m also not much of a cook, so simple is best.)

Low-cal is preferred… if a “healthy” salad is slathered in high-calorie dressing, it sort of feels like defeating the purpose of eating the vegetables in the first place.

As an example, a friend has offered to email me a recipe for a shredded carrot salad – although I can’t say for sure how low-cal it is, yet, I think there are ways to make it so. I’ll post it when I get it, but the basic ingredients are shredded carrots, raisins, and a dressing made from peanut butter and low-fat mayo. It sounds disgusting, but I had it yesterday and it was quite awesome.

An old stand-by for me is a field green salad, made with baby greens of whatever floats your boat, plus strawberries or blueberries, crumbled goat cheese or gorgonzola, and possibly chopped walnuts or pecans, candied or not, depending on what I can find. Dressing (for one salad) is about 1 T. olive oil, 1 T. rice wine vinegar, and 1/2 t. of curry powder, to taste. Shake it up, sprinkle it on.

2

Does ovo-lacto mean you “do” or “don’t” eat them?

I had an awesome recipe for spinach squares that had oodles of cheese and an egg or two in it. I don’t think it was very good, calorie-wise, but it’s one of two ways I’ll eat spinach.

The other way is like this:

Sautee mushrooms and artichoke hearts until tender.

Add Italian sausage coins (unless you don’t do meat…it’s still good without it)

Add chopped up fresh spinach, just til wilted.

Mix with pasta and toss in some chopped tomato. Drizzle with olive oil and a little fresh basil.

Waa-la! Awesomeness on a plate!

3

This is a side dish, but very easy. Take a bunch of asparagus, coat with about 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Optionally, sprinkle a little sea salt or balsamic vinegar or minced garlic. Put in the oven at 425 for 10 minutes.

You can also chop up the asparagus (before cooking is easiest) and mix with pasta for a pasta salad.

4

Find a good ratatouille recipe. It’s a bit higher in calories because of the olive oil and grated cheese, but it’s really good and very healthy otherwise.

5

I do eat eggs and dairy. Honey is also okay (although I’m almost out of it and wasn’t feeling well enough to get to the Farmers Market this afternoon to get more). I don’t eat any form of muscle tissue, bone, sinew, organs, etc.

That sounds so yummy. :slight_smile: Do you chop the fresh basil or throw it in whole?

6

I love roast vegetables of any variety. My favorite at the moment is eggplant and/or zucchini, red peppers, onions, and garlic, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with kosher salt and some pepper, roast at 400-450 until done (about 45 minutes to an hour or so). It’s great as a hot side, and it’s nice the next day, cold, with a squirt of lemon. You can easily turn this into a soup, too. Throw into a pot with vegetable broth, cook down for a while, blend with an immersion blender. If you’re feeling a little fancy, you can push this through a medium mesh strainer or sieve to get an absolutely smooth soup. Add a dollop of creme fraiche/sour cream/regular cream/yogurt, etc. if you like.

7

This is some anglo-fied version of:

Eggplant Bharta

1 medium sized eggplant(or 2 Asian eggplant, which I like better)
1 tblsp olive oil (or any other cooking oil)
1 medium sized onion, diced
8 baby tomatoes or 1 large tomato, diced
1 tsp garlic minced (or less to taste)
1 green chilli thinly sliced (or more to taste)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp red pepper (had no idea what this meant, so I used chili powder)
1/2 tsp brown sugar

(you can double the spice load, no problem. I found the quantities given pretty tame. Some garam masala? Curry powder? What the hell!)

3 tsp fresh coriander for garnish (or 1 tsp minced if available)

  1. Make slits in eggplant all around and cover completely in aluminum foil. Roast eggplant in oven at 450 degrees F for 45 min or until charred. Set aside and let cool.

  2. Heat oil in medium size pot, add onions until translucent and cooked through. Add green chilli and continue to sautee until golden brown. Add garlic and cook for 2 more min.

  3. Add in diced tomatoes and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add all dry spices and brown sugar and cook 5 min more.

  4. Scrape out eggplant (if you use the damn yummy Asian e’plant, you can keep the skin) and add to onion & tomato mixture. Cook uncovered for approx. 10 min.

  5. When eggplant is fully mixed with the onions, tomatoes and spices, cover and cook for a further 15 min. Remove lid and add coriander and cook further 5 min until you achieve your desired consistency.

I fry up some tofu (or chicken, for us beast eaters) and toss it in too, and serve with basmati rice.

8

I chop the basil, but if it’s not too intense for you, you can throw it in whole. It really is good, and it’ll keep in the fridge for a day or two. Just heat it up and it’s just as good as the day you made it.

Oh…and I’m an ass. Fresh garlic, baby! What was I thinkin’???

9

It’s still too early in the season for this, but here’s my favorite vegetable recipe.

Ingredients:
One large tomato

Serves one.

10

The best of all roast vegitable snacks is roast cauliflower. Cut up a cauliflower head into florets about the size of popped popcorn. Toss with a little olive oil, sea salt, fresh pepper. Roast on sheet pan in oven at ~400-450, for 8-12 minutes. Remove when they’ve turned golden-brown, before they char.

Delicious snack. Tastes nothing like cauliflower, so if you’re someone who mislikes the taste, no concerns here. It does tend to stink up the kitchen, so best done in spring and autumn when you can have the windows open.

11

I usually just steam my veggies- no muss, no fuss, and they taste great. I think someone here posted about fried broccoli once and I nearly died, it sounded so good- pan fried in butter & garlic, I think it was.

I have enough trouble actually making a main dish- my veggies must be simple and quick. Generally, it end up being steamed broccoli, asparagus or artichokes.

12

Ooo…I love cauliflower, and it’s never occurred to me to roast it. That’s going on the menu this week.

13

Sesame garlic green beans:

Note: I use frozen green beans for this recipe, as they take hardly any time at all to cook. If you are using fresh beans, steam them first in the microwave until they are tender.

Medium size bag of defrosted green beans, or you know, enough to fill a wok
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2-3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon or a few shakes of sesame oil

Heat the olive oil in a large pan or wok on medium high heat. Add the green beans and toss to coat. Make a little hole in the center of the beans and add the minced garlic. Cook the garlic a minute until it is pungent, then toss with the beans. Add the sesame oil and toss. Continue to stir fry until the beans are hot, not more than a few minutes. Couldn’t be easier. 4-6 servings

Turmeric eggplant:

2-3 eggplants
Turmeric
Salt
Water
Enough oil to fry with

Slice the eggplants lengthwise once, and then slice into half-circles about half a centimeter thick. Put the slices in a bowl and sprinkle generously with turmeric and salt. Sprinkle water over the eggplant and toss to coat the eggplant with the turmeric. Careful, turmeric stains! Let the eggplant marinate for about 5 minutes.

Pour enough oil to coat the bottom of a frying pan and heat on medium. Fry the eggplant slices until they are semi-translucent. (My Indian friend who gave me the recipes likes to fry until they are translucent mush, but I like them firmer.) Set the slices on paper towels to drain. Serves: a bunch. The only downside to this recipe is that eggplant takes a long time to cook (10-15 minutes), and you’ll have to do several batches. Plus, you’ll end up with yellow fingers. :smiley:

I’ve posted my Pan con Tomate recipe here before, I’ll go dig it up.

14

Pan con Tomate (involves practically no cooking, and your friends will think you are a genius):

4 slices of rustic bread (important, bread must be coarse or final product will be soggy)
1 Roma tomato
1 clove of garlic
olive oil
salt

Toast the bread lightly. Rub the clove of garlic lightly (lightly!) over the bread. Slice off the top of the tomato and rub it over the bread until lightly coated. Drizzle about 1/2 teaspoon olive oil over each slice. Slice the tomato and distribute slices among the bread. Salt generously.

This is cheap, healthy, and surprisingly filling. Makes a great breakfast or snack. I usually eat it for dinner with some olives on the side.

15

I made this last week, it was awesome as usual:

Curried Vegetables

1 sweet potato, cut into small cubes (regular potato also works)
2 tbs olive oil
Carrots - I cut them into coins
1 onion - cut into big wedges
Garlic - I use a freakish amount, whatever works for you
2 14oz cans of tomatoes, crushed with juice
1 can chickpeas, drained
2 heaping tablespoons curry powder
1 cup veggie broth
juice of one lime
salt, pepper
Veggies of choice - I’ve used green beans, broccoli, wilted spinach, parsnips, beets, brussel sproouts (whatever floats your boat)
Brown rice

This dish isn’t hard to make, just lots of chopping. I like to call it “every 15 minute curry” because you have to add something every 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Cut up potatoes into small, dice-sized pieces. Coat a deep metal baking pan with PAM and drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil over the potatoes. Stick in the oven for 15 minutes.

While the potatoes are baking, cut up carrots and onion. After 15 minutes, take the potatoes out and give them a good shake. Scootch the potatoes to the edge of the pan and put the garlic, carrots, onion and chickpeas (and any veggie you are using you think will take a little longer to cook, like green beans) into the middle of the pan. Drizzle some more olive oil and stick it in the oven for 15 minutes.

Dump the tomatoes into a large bowl, crush them up and add the two heaping tablespoons of curry powder (of course, if you don’t loooove curry like I do, use a little less).

Take the veggie mixture out of the oven, shake things up a bit. Arrange the broccoli around the rim of the pan (and any other veggies you have left that you think will cook in 15 minutes) and dump the tomato mixture all over everything (particularly the broccoli because it really soaks it up and gets DELISH). Stick in oven for YES 15 minutes.

Make broth.

After 15 minutes remove curried vegetables from oven and transfer them to a huge serving bowl.

Put the metal baking pan on the burner, add the broth and the lime juice and salt and black pepper to taste. Reduce the broth by half, stirring vigorously.

When the broth has reduced by half, pour over veggies. Serve them over rice!
This one is also pretty easy (not as much highlighting seasonal produce, but still yummy and easy):

Quinoa Sweet Potato Quesadillas

1 cup quinoa, washed/drained (use brown rice if you can’t find quinoa)
1 sweet potato/yam (diced)
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic (I used more)
1 14 oz can of tomatoes (undrained)
1 can black beans, drained
1 can green chiles
2 tbs minced cilantro
spinach leaves
Reduced fat cheese
Whole wheat, low fat tortillas (I like La Tortilla Factory)
Salsa

Cook quinoa in 2 cups of water. When done, set aside. (Quinoa cooks like rice, 1 cup quinoa, 2 cups water, boil, reduce heat for about 15 minutes, fluff with fork)

While the quinoa is simmering, I cut up the sweet potatoes into small pieces (dice sized) and spray a cookie sheet with PAM. I bake the potatoes for around 20 minutes (shaking often) until they are soft and getting crispy. (if I don’t have time, I nuke them for 5 minutes!)

Saute onion, garlic. Stir in tomato (crushed, with juice), black beans, chiles, cilantro. Add quinoa, sweet potatoes. Season with salt and pepper (I added some red pepper flakes, because i like spicy). Add a couple of handfuls of spinach leaves. Stir and heat through (when spinach is wilted).

Put in tortillas, add some cheese so it sticks together, grill on both sides. Top with lots of salsa.

When making quesadillas, I either use the “2 small tortilla sandwich method” or the “1 big tortilla folded in half method”.

16

If you have a food processor with a shredding attachment, you can make a wonderful salad with raw shredded beets, carrots and green apples in a matter of minutes.

Just peel and shred a large beet, one or two medium sized carrots, as well as a cored unpeeled green apple. Then toss in a bowl with some lemon juice, olive oil, a sprinkle of salt, lots of fresh ground black pepper and a couple handfuls of roughly chopped walnuts. It’s yummy enough to make you forget it’s good for you. :slight_smile: (also, it’ll keep for about a week in the fridge, though it does lose some of its initial crispness)

17
  • Three bunches greens (kale, chard, mustard, collard, dandelion, turnip, cabbage, whatever, and feel free to combine types), washed, de-stemmed and torn into bite sized pieces.
  • lots of minced garlic (like ten cloves or whatever you like).
  • One onion of choice, chopped.
  • olive oil.
  • soy sauce.

Sautee the onion and garlic briefly in the oil, then toss in handfuls of the greens, folding them in until everything is wilted. Splash in just a little soy sauce (add more to taste later if it’s not salty enough). There should be enough juice involved by now. Lower the heat and simmer while stirring occasionally until the greens are tender enough for your preference (which varies depending on the type of green.)

They are delicious and don’t need to go with asian cuisines, despite the soy sauce. I like them as a side dish with mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, and a tofurkey or lentil loaf or cooked beans.

18

Roasted veggies are great, I cook up 5lbs of taters (usually reds but Coscto has the great deal on 5lb bags of fingerling potatoes of mixed types that rocks)
some carrots to taste
bell pepper, I use reds or anything but greens but its your food
Onion
salt and pepper to taste
a bit of olive oil, not much just enough to help the spices stick to the veggies.

for a twist, try the same with garlic,
for another twist garlic, basil, oregano, sun dried tomatoes (in oil and chopped) is also really really good.

and you really really need to try that broccoli recipe that was posted here
preheat oven to about 400
take a ton (seriously 3-5 pounds of broccoli crowns or more) of crowns and chop into bite sizes pieces,
a spoon or 3 of olive oil, salt, pepper to taste mix it up well and bake for 10 min, take out, mix up a bit and put back for another 5-10 min, they will start to brown dont worry so long as they arent burning
while thats going on, zest a lemon and cut it in half, also shred up some Parmesan cheese (I use sheeps milk cause I dont do cow)
when the broccoli is done cooking, toss the zest and cheese on it, squeeze the lemon over it (watch for seeds) and mix it all up
now put it in your face.
I do that one with a nice med rare steak quite a bit and it is soooooo good.

19

The chard mention upthread reminds me of another one of my favorites: Rick Bayless’ Swiss Chard Tacos with Caramelized Onion. You can substitute other greens in this recipe (turnip, mustard, collard, etc.) For that matter, greens in general are awesome. I make a stew with a mix of Egyptian fava beans, onions/garlic, olive oil, and Swiss chard/greens that I love to eat with a loaf of fresh, crusty bread.

20

This. Was. Awesome. Dude, pasta that’s not boring!

I also discovered a new use for my food chopper beyond onions and garlic. I tried it on tomatoes once, got mush. But mushrooms and artichokes – one minute, done. Sweet.

(And I do like spinach, so now I have leftover greens, mushrooms, and tomatoes for a nice raw salad, too. MMmmmm.)

Much to my dismay it seems that most of the markets don’t start in April, but not til mid-May. The one that’s within walking distance won’t start til the end of June. Agh!

Keep 'em coming… I will definitely be keeping this bookmarked for summer cooking.