Our wonderful evening of cooking with vegetables, with Sheryl at the helm, left us all inspired. Here are some of the recipes from that evening. Other cooking and shopping tips and techniques are coming in Part 2!
Sauteed Broccolinni with Cumin and Mustard Seeds
3/4 lb. broccolini
1-2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon of black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
3 cloves garlic
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flake (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1. Heat oil in large sautee pan over medium-high heat, add mustard seeds, shake and sautee until they begin to pop. Add cumin seeds, after about 30 seconds add in the garlic. Stir, then add the broccolini.
2. Toss until well coated with the flavored oil. Then add scant ¼ cup of water or stock to the pan and cover to steam the broccolini. When it is crisp tender, remove the lid and allow extra liquid to boil off. Stir to incorporate spices and serve. Can be served warm or room temperature.
Braising Greens and Beans
2 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed (just watch pressed closely as it will burn faster)
1 TB olive oil
1 bunch chard, or large bag of young braising greens
Pomegranate molasses or wine or verjus
1. Heat oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add chopped garlic and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until it starts to get fragrant and the slightest hint of brown. Do not overcook garlic or it will turn bitter. Sprinkle in some salt.
2. Add in cooking greens, toss with the oil. Cover with a lid (not necessary with very young or tender greens like spinach). Cook until it is the tenderness you like.
3. Add a scant T of pomengranate molasses or a bit of another acid and drained rinsed beans. Salt and pepper to taste.
4. You can add feta, goat or parmesan cheese if you would like, or toasted nuts, raisins or other dried fruit, or red pepper flakes.
5. The grilled polenta I served was a basic make the recipe on the bag and grill it. Here is a recipe from Bobby Flay.
Caramelized Onions
These are perfect on your burgers, sandwich, thrown in pasta, on top of meat, veggies, anything. They are pretty much the perfect food and dead easy to make. (They are also the base of French Onion Soup). I prefer yellow onions to sweet onions as does Cooks Illustrated, but others like the super sweetness of caramelized onions. Make a huge batch, freeze in ice cube trays (they won’t freeze completely because of the high sugar content), and pop it out for your sandwich or pasta. In fact use that tip for your pesto or complex sauces. Here is a link from Simply Recipes, and one from Epicurious to help.
Sorrel Pesto
Sorrel is a delicate lemony herb/green. It can be added raw to salads, used as an herb, or cooked alone or with other cooking greens. It has a spring to early summer season, but can appear here at other times. You can use this technique with all sorts of herb/nut combinations. Cilantro and pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds) make a nice pesto for a Latin American themed dinner.
1 bunch sorrel
1 handful basil
¼ cup toasted hazelnuts
1-2 cloves garlic
Extra virgin olive oil (use something that tastes good to you)
Salt to taste
1. Blanch sorrel and basil and shock in ice bath.
2. Place in food processor or blender with hazelnuts, garlic and about 3 TB of olive oil.
3. Pulse and add in more olive oil as
Can I make it by hand? Sure, just chop everything finely and mix together for a relish type pesto.
Kicking up the flavor. The key to learning to cook veggies is to learn to taste. Recipes will only get you so far. The first key to flavor is when in doubt try a bit of salt or acid. Acids include vinegar (e.g. balsamic vinegar, sherry vinegar), citrus juices, wines and verjus. Verjus is a non-alcoholic young grape juice which can be used in lieu of wine. We like Navarro verjus, but Fusion is more locally available. Another way to get flavor is caramelization or browning. This is achieved by cooking veggies in a hot pan, grill, etc. or roasting. Deglazing a pan with liquid (e.g. wine, verjus, orange or apple juice) after cooking means to add a small amount of liquid to the hot pan and scrape up the tasty brown bits on the bottom with a spatula. Then you simmer any excess liquid away. Remember to do this when your veggies are almost, but not quite done so you don’t overcook them.
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