Cooking Your Veggies
In three easy steps, Harvest Home can help you make your veggies taste amazing, plain, or fancy whichever you feel like it.
First: Cooking: Stream, sauté (stir-fry) or pan-roast them or toss them into soups, stews, or salads. Do not boil your veggies. Boiling lowers taste and nutrition.
Second: Combine veggies for more nutrition and taste
Third: Add a sprinkle of herbs, a bit of spices or even some nuts
Cooking:
Streaming: Either in a large pot with a streamer and a lid or a microwave, add ½ cup water for microwaving, cut veggies into bite size pieces, put in a microwavable dish, cover with plastic wrap, don’t let it touch the food, leaving a small corner open to let air out. Cook for 3 to minutes depending on the veggie. (See chart for timing below)
Sauté or Stir fry: Cut veggies into small pieces, heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Add harder veggies first and then softer ones. Cook 4-5 minutes or until they are as soft as you like.
Pan-Roasted: Heat the oven to 400°. Cut veggies into bite size pieces and place on a cookie sheet. Drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil over the veggies and mix with your hands. Bake for 15-20 minutes depending on the veggies and tenderness preference.
Veggie Combos: Combine any 2 or 3 veggies of your choice. Eating veggies together can increase their nutrition. Start with the longest cooking time (hardest veggie) and add the softer ones later. Try Broccoli, Cauliflower and Carrots or yellow squash and onions. For cold dishes, mix in some fruit like oranges with beets and red onion or spinach leaves with avocado. And don’t forget the tomatoes. The flavors dance together, and the nutrition is increased.
More Flavor? Better taste for single veggies. Add a little bit of olive oil and sprinkle with herbs green beans with tarragon, Carrots with dill or Broccoli with lemon juice. (See below)
Plain or Fancy
RECIPE: Veggie combos
Cooking and eating vegetables together increases their nutrition, but it’s the taste that you will enjoy the most.
Try these combos or create your own
Broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and onions
Yellow Squash and onions
Carrots and sweet potatoes
Cabbage and Collard Greens
Beets, oranges and red onion
Spinach and avocado
RECIPE: Beets and Cabbage Salad
INGREDIENTS:
3 medium beets
¼ pound (1 cup grated) green cabbage
2 Tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon honey
To MAKE:
Peel and grate the beets
Wash and grate the green cabbage
Combine in a large bowl
In a small bowl combine vinegar, oil, honey, mustard, salt and pepper
Mix dressing with beets and cabbage
TIPS AND TRICKS
Timing for Microwaving fresh veggies.
For softer veggies microwave a little longer (1 minute)
Peas (1cup) = 2 minutes
Spinach = 1-2 minutes
Broccoli, Cauliflower, Asparagus = 3 minutes
Carrots, Green beans, Parsnips = 3-4 minutes
Potatoes, turnips = 5 minutes
Herbs for more flavor: Add a sprinkling with a bit of olive oil to single veggies.
Carrots with dill or cumin
Peas with thyme
Beets with cinnamon
Broccoli with Lemon juice, basil or oregano
Orange Squash with thyme, rosemary or basil
Brussel sprouts: Best pan-roasted with almonds
NOTE: A tablespoon of fresh herbs = a teaspoon of dried herbs.
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