What are your 3 favorite veggies and favorite ways to do them?

[babetoo]

i like to many and love them cooked many ways to pick. one star would be baked sweet potatoes.

[chopper]

Let's see. I love sweet red bell peppers-raw or grilled, green beans cooked many ways but are best with bacon, and asparagus steamed. Oh, can I have just one more??? I love broccoli too! Steamed is great!

[Greg Who Cooks]

I'm replying just because I want to play along with the topic.

Onions (brown or red, sliced), green onions, bell peppers (sliced), zucchini (sliced), mushrooms, and (not vegetables) sliced pineapple and/or sliced mangos, all of them grilled on the barbecue, preferably all of them at the same time. Either just naked or tossed in a butter and/or olive oil marinade. Or any kind of herb marinade.

I don't see how you could fail when you're grilling something to not toss a whole bunch of vegetables and/or fruit on the grill at the same time and cook them too. And even better, all of those veggies and fruits are good for you!

[Claire]

Glad we're not getting into the "is it a fruit or vegetable" thing, because #1 for me is tomatoes, especially in the summer. After that, it's hard to make a choice. Broccoli and potatoes and corn and .... well, guess I can't narrow the rest of the field down much. Doesn't help that Mom taught me to consider starches in a separate category even if they are veggies -- so potatoes, corn, peas, beets, carrots kind of get a separate category. Sure helped my mental abilities when husband was diagnosed as diabetic.

Greg, thanks for the reminder of something I'm always putting out. Put those vegs on the grill, and grilled pineapple is to die for!

Craig, I too have a really hard time naming a favorite anything, be it a food, an author, a person. Too much to like!

[Greg Who Cooks]

There is no other vegetable than tomatoes that show so obviously how home grown vegetables are so much better than store bought ones. Home grown tomatoes are so astonishingly better that anybody could tell without a doubt, instantaneously.

[Claire]

Originally Posted by Gourmet Greg

There is no other vegetable than tomatoes that show so obviously how home grown vegetables are so much better than store bought ones. Home grown tomatoes are so astonishingly better that anybody could tell without a doubt, instantaneously.

Yeah, sometimes in mid summer my husband gets anxious and wants a home grown tomato. I have to tell him every year, if he doesn't wait until it is red, then you might as well buy them at the grocery store! I have to keep his greedy little hands off of my tomatoes until they're ready!

[taxlady]

Originally Posted by Claire

Yeah, sometimes in mid summer my husband gets anxious and wants a home grown tomato. I have to tell him every year, if he doesn't wait until it is red, then you might as well buy them at the grocery store! I have to keep his greedy little hands off of my tomatoes until they're ready!

That brought to mind a cute mental picture. I was all ready to get mad and spritz the little bugger. It was a squirrel, holding one of my green cherry tomatoes in her little hands, and gnawing on it. Then I decided that if that squirrel could get that much enjoyment out of a green tomato, I could let him eat it in peace.

[buckytom]

Originally Posted by ChefJune

Favorite veggie? It's the one I'm eating now, whichever that is. I love them all except for rutabaga. I do try to choose and prepare veggies in their season, so there are many I love that I am not eating now. Like asparagus. That season doesn't come around until late spring.

i planted some asparagus crowns in the back of my garden a numbers of years ago, but sadly they were destroyed when my garden's retaining wall fell over.

before that, the truest sign that it was spring was when the asparagus spears would begin to break the surface of the soil, usually around easter time.

all i can say is that i couldn't wait to harvest those little suckers. much like snap peas, tomatoes, and corn in their seasons, half or more of the asparagus didn't make it into the house. like the aforementioned veggies, there was something so special about eating them the second you picked and rinsed them. that asparagus flavour was to the extreme, almost floral in a way.

the rest that did make it inside was quickly blanched and eaten straight away as well, with maybe a dab of butter and some sea salt.

[Margi Cintrano]

Due to my Mediterranean location, aubergine ( eggplant) preferably oven roasted or Parmighiana or layered in Lasagna ...

The 2nd would be fennel ... in salads, cream soup or in risotto and the the 3rd if we are considering that the tomato is not a fruit; then, in Bolognese or sundried or plum ripe red juicy in a salad or Romesco coulis with fish and a touch of cayenne chili pepper ... The last but not least, chili pepper in any form ...

Margi.

[taxlady]

Originally Posted by 4meandthem

...

Grilled eggplant that has been marinated a little after a long stay on the the grill.

...

Have you got a recipe for that marinade? I recently bought some grilled vegis at the deli counter of a Greek grocery store. They were fabulous. Now I want to make it myself.