Sheryl D.'s Veggie Night, Part 2

Here's a continuation of the wonderful cooking activity we had with Sheryl. See Part 1 here.

Cooking tips and techniques:

Knives: Learn basic knife skills and your life will be easier in the kitchen. Here is a quick primer: Invest in a good knife – go to a kitchen store like Sur La Table or Williams Sonoma and ask to try out the knives. Bring carrots to cut, herbs to chop – something. Really! Make sure the knife feels comfy in your hand. They can show you how to hold a knife. Not all Wustoff, Henkels etc. are created equal, but generally good knives are somewhat heavy, have a solid tang (the steel goes through the handle), and have good balance. You can get a less expensive but decent knife from Forschner.

Veggies: You can cook veggies in many different ways. Here are a few techniques.

Blanch: Blanch means to boil quickly. Here are a few tips.

Sautee: Cook in a hot pan (sautee means to jump). Tips here.

Roast: My favorites are roasted celeriac, parsnips, cauliflower, green beans, asparagus
and of course sweet potato. A few instructions here.

Grill: My favorites are mushrooms, onions, sweet potato, peppers, eggplant, and romaine
lettuce. Tips here.

Steam: Keeps in more nutrients and gentle cooking. I like for broccoli, peas, baby potatoes. Instructions here.

Braised greens: We used braised greens in one of the dishes at our activity. Here are some tips.

Roasted beets and pickled fennel recipes.

Braising veggies: Slow cooking at low temps brings out the sweetness. Try it with cabbage. You
will thank me. Super easy and super economical. Here is are two great lists of recipes from different sites.


Where and how to buy veggies

1. Look for fresh produce – the closer it is grown the more likely it is to be fresh, but that is not always the case. Fresh veggies are generally heavy for its size, firm, crisp and spritely. If you can bend it (e.g. cucumbers, summer squash) or it is wilting, it probably isn’t fresh. Dirt is fine. I pick freshness over pretty any day. In general, young small veggies will be sweeter and more tender than larger veggies. So put down the gigantic eggplant in favor of its cute baby cousins.

2. CSAs are a great source of local produce. The basic premise is that you buy a share in a farm for a season, and you get a box of the harvest. Most are weekly boxes around $25-$35 a box. Most are organic. I can vouch for Mariquita and High Ground CSAs. I know others enjoy Full Belly. Capay Farms is a distribution model, where not all come from the local area. Hidden Villa also has one. See localharvest.org to search for CSAs. You can get occasional deliveries as wanted of good priced produce (limited selection) from the Ladybug Buying Club at Mariquita Farms.

3. Veggies expand to grains and legumes. For some great local dried corns, beans and dried chilis see Tierra Vegetables from Healdsburg. For fantastic beans and hominy see Rancho Gordo from Sonoma. For local fresh milled grains, Gristmills. For local yummy brown rice, Homma Farms.

4. Buy what is in season here. It will be the best tasting and the cheapest. Can’t go wrong. Don’t know what is in season? Check out Cuesa’s chart.