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

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Some really great preparation ideas here. Just for info, I take thick slices of eggplant and zuchini (aubergine and courgettes to those from various places), whole or halved mushrooms (depending on size), and toss in a bowl of olive oil and favorite garlic based seasoning (mine is Cavender's Greek). Separately, I put some onions in a foil packet with olive oil, salt and pepper. All of this is put over the coals until tender. Into a bowl with a chopped tomato or two from the vine. If needed more olive oil and/or seasoning. Mom calls this "Claire's rattatouille" (OK, I've misspelled that and don't feel like looking it up).

In the years that we were traveling on the road in a trailer, I made this often (at least once a week). I tend to do the vegetables when the coals are newly hot, then remove them to a bowl that I stick in the oven (no heat, just a place to put them ..... living in a trailer isn't easy!). Then I grill the meat. What would crack me up would be that older, "macho" guys would come by to see what wonderful stuff we were grilling. They'd be puzzled to find our grill (a small travel Weber) full of veggies. "... but it smells so good! I thought it was meat!" Hey, guys, veggies are good food!

By the way, and I've posted this at various times over the years, this treatment of vegetables can be chopped more finely (I like them coarse) and used in any bean/pea/lentil type soup or chili. It is great if you're a vegetarian and want that smoked flavor in your food but don't want to use smoked pork.
 
Broccoli Rabe

Thanks for posting ... I too like very much and use frequently ...

This dark green cruciferous veggie with 6 to 9 inch stalks that end with clusters of leaves and tiny buds that look like broccoli buds has a bittery peppery bite and is quite common in southern regional Italian cuisine ...

It has several names as previously pointed out: raab, rape, rapini and broccoli raab

M.C.
 
My favorite vegetable dish is summer squash. I take one small yellow squash, one small zucchini, an onion, and some pimento. I usually add some garlic and seasoned salt and I cook them slowly in a half stick of butter. Very colorful and delicious.

Sometimes I add about a half pound of shrimp for a one dish meal.

I also love winter squash. A small pumpkin just pricked and roasted, then slathered with butter. Yum!

I'm counting squash as one.

Two - fresh green beans cooked with ham and any ham gelatin.

Three - spinach. I often get cans of low sodium spinach. I love them drained and nuked, covered in a white sauce with a little cream cheese melted in it.
 
We tried rapini. It was okay, but bitter. DH and I dislike bitter. I'm certainly not going to pay those prices for a bitter tasting vegi.
 
In no particular order:

Brussels sprouts
asparagus
eggplant

And...
(Baby) artichokes (roasted)

Prefer vegetables in their most natural state - blanched, grilled, steamed, roasted w/ or w/o oil & balsamic vinegar, or a squeeze of fresh citrus (lemon or Meyer lemon, or lime juice).

Asparagus Mimosa (asparagus topped w/ grated hard boiled eggs) is a favorite.

Brussels sprouts in cream (Julia Child's recipe).

Grilled eggplant/caprese salad

My Spring/Summer go-to, is grilled asparagus, surrounded by thinly sliced tomatoes, over a bed of butter lettuce, & drizzled w/ balsamic & evoo & freshly-ground black pepper. Top it with shrimp for a light Summer dish.

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Italian Style Marinade

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.

Ciao,

*** The Greeks and the Italians usually marinade their veggies prior to searing or roasting or sauté-ing them on broiler or grilling ...

*** Here is a simple marinade ...

olive oil extra virgin

garlic cloves minced

Fresh herbs of choice or dried : basil, oregano, parsley, rosemary, thyme

salt and black pepper

cayenne flakes optional

vinegar of choice ( Balsamic Modena ) optional

Fresh Lemon juice ( to replace the vinegar )

a tiny pinch of sugar

*** mix ingredients well to combine the flavors and then place in a large bowl where u shall place the veggies / cover and marinate

Margi.
 
Ciao,

*** The Greeks and the Italians usually marinade their veggies prior to searing or roasting or sauté-ing them on broiler or grilling ...

*** Here is a simple marinade ...

olive oil extra virgin

garlic cloves minced

Fresh herbs of choice or dried : basil, oregano, parsley, rosemary, thyme

salt and black pepper

cayenne flakes optional

vinegar of choice ( Balsamic Modena ) optional

Fresh Lemon juice ( to replace the vinegar )

a tiny pinch of sugar

*** mix ingredients well to combine the flavors and then place in a large bowl where u shall place the veggies / cover and marinate

Margi.

That looks about right.

If the vegis are marinated before grilling, would they go back into the marinade when done?

I won't be doing any grilling until the weather warms up. I'm thinking of doing this in the oven with the broiler. Does that sound reasonable? Any recommendations, tips?
 
I have a bit more simplistic approach for those who like simple. Mix some cooking oil with various dry herbs you have on hand, perhaps oregano, sage, rosemary, thyme, Italian blend, tarragon and maybe either black pepper or chili flakes or both, in any combination you like. Then throw in your vegetables (onions, zucchini, use your imagination) and let them sit in the marinade for a few minutes to as long as you like, then grill them on your barbecue until they have grill marks and are of desired tenderness. Serve with whatever main course you grilled. Salt to taste.

TL, if you do your grilled vegetables under the broiler just put them on a wire rack that will keep them out of the drippings. I use a wire rack that I think was intended for cooling baked goods after they've been taken out of the oven. Got mine at a restaurant supply store.
 
I have a bit more simplistic approach for those who like simple. Mix some cooking oil with various dry herbs you have on hand, perhaps oregano, sage, rosemary, thyme, Italian blend, tarragon and maybe either black pepper or chili flakes or both, in any combination you like. Then throw in your vegetables (onions, zucchini, use your imagination) and let them sit in the marinade for a few minutes to as long as you like, then grill them on your barbecue until they have grill marks and are of desired tenderness. Serve with whatever main course you grilled. Salt to taste.

TL, if you do your grilled vegetables under the broiler just put them on a wire rack that will keep them out of the drippings. I use a wire rack that I think was intended for cooling baked goods after they've been taken out of the oven. Got mine at a restaurant supply store.

I'll give it a try on the hibachi, when the weather gets better. I have a couple of those cooling racks as well and have used them to keep food up, off the juices in pan they are being cooked on.

Here's a view out my patio door. That blue tarp covers my patio table and the shelving unit that I usually put the hibachi on to grill.

IMG_3043.JPG


pic taken 5 minutes ago.
 
I've got some of that stuff in my freezer. I wish it would go away. I'm pretty sure it doesn't have auto-defrost. Guess your climate doesn't either... At least not until you tear a few more pages off the calendar.
 
Cute! In Hawaii and in Florida I had one heck of a problem keeping birds from my tomatoes (and in Hawaii, papayas). As soon as they'd turn from green to ripe, I mean, first streak of any color but green, and the birds got them. The papaya were easy, ripening inside they pretty much tasted like they'd ripen on the trees. But I finally hit upon buying some green nylon net at a fabric store and throwing it over the tomato plants as camoflauge. Sun in, birds out. Have a plethoria of squirrels, but so far they've stayed away from the tomatoes.

Birds, flying insects that go for flowers, etc, don't go for green. Have you ever seen a green flower that has necter inside? Down south they paint their porch roofs green so hornets and bees will not build a nest there. And according to experiements, blue is the favorite of many brids. :ermm:
 
Thank you. I am not alone hating bitter foods. :chef:

Generally people who have more taste buds dislike bitter more than people with fewer taste buds. I'm glad I found that out. Now I have an answer to all those snarky folks who tell me that I have an unsophisticated palate. :LOL:
 
There have been a lot of theories about taste along the lines that bitter vegetables are more likely to be toxic, and that during human evolution (think back to when humans were mostly hunter-gatherers) pregnant women who developed a dislike of bitter food during their pregnancy were more likely to birth healthy children. Darwinian evolutionary theory would day that the pregnant mothers who were willing to eat bitter vegetables during pregnancies had more miscarriages and thus fewer children overall. The theory would explain aversion of bitter foods by pregnant women. To some degree it explains why children often dislike bitter vegetables.

People have a lot of taste preferences. I'm sure some are hereditary and some are due to culture and exposure to various foods particularly while young. It's another one of those nature vs. nurture issues. I'm pretty sure it's both.

I like practically all tastes, including bitter provided it's cooked in an interesting way. I would never ridicule or tease anybody who doesn't like something. What are the examples of vegetables that people who don't like bitter tastes reject?
 
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Crisp romaine hearts in a good salad with fresh lemon.

Bean sprouts stir fried with yellow peppers & snow peas.
 
Birds, flying insects that go for flowers, etc, don't go for green. Have you ever seen a green flower that has necter inside? Down south they paint their porch roofs green so hornets and bees will not build a nest there. And according to experiements, blue is the favorite of many brids. :ermm:

Interesting. When I lived in Virginia, most old house's porch floors were painted gray, the porch roofs were blue or green/blue. I just thought it was reflecting the colors around us.
 
Interesting. When I lived in Virginia, most old house's porch floors were painted gray, the porch roofs were blue or green/blue. I just thought it was reflecting the colors around us.

I should have said their porch ceilings. Sorry. My bad! :(
 
I love eggplants sliced sautéed and in a wrap sometimes.

Broccoli ofcourse steamed garlic onion powder seasoned salt and butter

And last nothing feels you up quite like a potato, potato salads are not just for the summer time. Mayo relish garlic clove mustard Dijon hard boiled eggs and smoked paprika sea salt and pepper for taste:yum:
 
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