I’ve written about my aversion to sweet potatoes, at least as they’re traditionally prepared in the south. But I like them OK with savory spices and am going to try cooking them in other ways besides soup and hummus. It’s part of my commitment to banish the same old boring veggies from my dinner plate.
Don’t get me wrong: I love ALMOST all vegetables. I won’t eat English peas and I don’t see how anything can change my mind on that, although I’m willing to try a non-cooked preparation of fresh peas. But I find that I cook the same veggies over and over (face it, potatoes and green beans really are versatile) so I’ve begun buying different ones at the market a few times a week.
Right now, I’m loving beets. I’ve fixed them two ways in the past week and I’m settling on this for my standard preparation:
Clean the beets and roast them, unpeeled, until the largest one is tender when you stick a knife through it (put a little oil on them). When cooled, cut in quarters or slice, toss with a diced serrano pepper, white onion, salt, pepper, a light oil and plain white vinegar. The first time I used olive oil and the flavor competed with the beets; the second time I changed the oil but added lime zest and cilantro, neither of which enhanced the dish. Don’t peel the beets, by the way–the skins take on the texture and the toasty flavor of roasted potatoes.
Fantastic!
I’ll share a new cauliflower dish with you next time. Meanwhile, who cooks celery root?
Cooking at home
Responses to “New veggies”
December 27th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
Jennifer - have you tried “shoestring sweet potatoes”? Peel them, slice them like fries and instead of frying (like restaurants do) bake, or roast, and sprinkle with sea salt right out of the oven. They are so much healthier than “fries” (NO FAT), and are a great alternative to whole baked sweet potatoes or the sweet casseroles you speak of. Sorry, I can’t help you with the celery root ….
December 27th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
J,
Two little words for you: roasted parsnips
okay, three more: roasted brussel sprouts.
Coat them in olive oil, salt and minced garlic (optional), roast at a high temp and they taste like potato chips, only better.
December 27th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
Tim, I adore roasted brussels sprouts and was just telling our photo editor about them today, in fact. Sometimes I roast them and sometimes I cook them low and slow on the stovetop until they caramelize.
I made it sound like I’m more green bean than I am, but like many people, I do cook the same things more frequently than I should. Just habits, which is why I’m deliberately cooking different veggies right now. I’ve never had much of an opinion on the parsnip, but I’ll certainly roast a few this weekend and let you know what I think. And thanks for sharing.
Brenda, I dunno…that sounds a little too much like straight sweet potatoes. But we’ll see.
December 28th, 2007 at 12:34 am
Jennifer, I’m with you on liking sweet potatoes without all the sugary goop. My husband and I just bake them and eat them with a little butter and salt, Japanese-style. You’d be amazed how much of a difference a little salt makes. They’re also great as tempura (although tempura is kind of fattening).
The beets sound great, I’ll try that.
Right now I’m really loving turnips. You can toss a diced turnip into almost anything. Parsnips, same deal.
December 28th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
Ms. Biggs,
Had celery root mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving. I really enjoyed the earthiness the celery root imparted. As for sweet potatoes, I bake them in the oven, whip up a honey butter and place a dollop of that on the inside. Sprinkle with chopped pecans. This is great with roasted salmon and cranberry sauce. Happy New Year!
December 29th, 2007 at 10:01 am
Jennifer -
Grab the January issue of Gourmet. It is an ode to the South prompted by the discovery of a wonderful essay written by the late Edna Lewis on what Southern means. The issue has a number of excellent recipes for vegetable dishes along with other great recipes and comments from Scott Peacock and John T. Edge among the notables.
December 29th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
braised leeks. cut off the leaves and the root ends of four keels (for two people), wash thoroughly. lay out a sheet of aluminum foil, put the leeks on the foil, sprinkle on some salt and pepper, a tbsp of oilve oil and a couple of thyme sprigs. wrap up like a package and put into a 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes. Luscious, the leeks are practically melting.
December 29th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
GrantParish, didn’t you just love the January issue of Gourmet? I wrote a big note on the front of my copy: KEEP. If you don’t have a copy of Edna Lewis & Scott Peacock’s book, “The Gift of Southern Cooking,” I think you would really appreciate it. I have read in more than one source that you go to his Atlanta restaurant on Tuesday for the fried chicken because it takes all day Monday to prepare and marinate it in advance. I want to try the homemade baking powder recipe they use to prevent the metallic taste that sometimes results from commercial baking powder.
As for roasted vegetables, I never steam asparagus anymore - I always roast it. I actually make it in my toaster oven cranked up to 450 degrees. It cooks so quickly that it’s hardly worth turning on the big oven unless I’m making more than one pan. I particularly enjoyed a roasted vegetable side dish at Outback that was a fall special. It included carrots, turnips, parsnips, potatoes, onions, peppers, zucchini & mushrooms. The combination was both colorful and tasty.
December 30th, 2007 at 3:58 am
Ooh, I will definitely try the leeks.
Since you’re cutting off the leaves, thought I’d mention that chopped leek leaves are great on sandwiches. I cut them with kitchen scissors.
January 4th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Last night I noticed had some leftover pearl onions from cooking my holiday roast, and since they were too strong for me to eat raw, I tried the new-to-me approach of carmelizing them in garlic butter with some ground coriander to add sweetness. I’m sure it was anything but a healthy side dish, but the taste was great and it got me to eat something I don’t normally cook.
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