Need More Veggies...

After recently considering what I eat most often. I came to the conclusion I need more veggie main dishes.

Veggies I like most are broccoli, asparagus, zucchini, peas, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, spinach, artichoke, cabbage, corn, cucs, tomatoes, sprouts, green beans, beets (but hate to mess with them), and of course potatoes.

Veggies I mostly dislike are squash (with the exception of zucchini), yams, eggplant, kale.

Veggies I usually always have on hand but don’t consider a main ingredient for a veggie entree or side are onions, peppers, shrooms, and celery.

Carrots are in the middle. I sometimes use them in salads, and glazed roasted carrots are good (but I rarely do something like that).

Veggies I have little to no experience with are leeks, bok choy, rhubarb, parsnip, rutabagas, daikon, collard greens.

I am sure there are some things I have missed on both my “liked”, “disliked”, and “unfamiliar” lists, however based on the above, got any main/major side dish recommendations. I get this is a majorly diverse topic, but looking to explore.

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This recipe below is a good way to get several veggies in one main-ish dish (pretending I didn’t see your comment about the PITA that (I agree) fresh beets are). I also like sautéed beet greens flavor-wise, but can never ever seem to get them completely free of grit and never have any of the heavy-duty surfactant “veggie wash” stuff on hand.

It doesn’t have to be vegan, necessarily. This is just one I’ve made for my family that they really enjoyed.

For onions as a considerably-sized side dish, simply cut one into eighths, dollop with butter and pepper and a bit of salt and then microwave until tender in a covered CorningWare type dish or the like. I like sweet onions or plain white for this, but not red.

For very good utilization of veggies, just google for vegetarian curries and you’ll get tons of hits. I don’t have any particular ones bookmarked because I usually just search, mix & match a few that look good, and wing it from there.

Long-cooked cauliflower can give a meaty-ish mouthfeel (see this ATK “What’s Eating Dan” video - I post a lot of his stuff but I find him both entertaining and informative) in curries, as can sweet potatoes. And you can always ramp up the protein by adding paneer to a veg curry. Paneer’s super simple to make, doesn’t melt, and is essentially foolproof - just google for instruction.

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Paneer… YES. I remember a Palak Paneer at a local place in So Cal I loved. Will search for it. Curries in general would be to my liking. Oddly enough, this same place had Greek offerings I was also fond of including Spanakopita and Falafel. While I consider myself a Falafel master, I’ve never tried Spanakopita.

I’ll check out Dan’s cauliflower vid (I like him too).

Pretty sure the borscht kinda stuff is not for me.

Thanks!

EDIT: I now also remember having some Moroccan Fez salad recipes that were great (carrots come to mind right now), but am guessing there were others as well… I will have to try and dig them up.

This is a good thread

I love vegetables. Ideas for a vegetarian dinner. Not a big production .

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My new favourite way to have carrots:

I roast parsnips.
These were good https://amp.theguardian.com/food/2020/feb/18/nigel-slater-midweek-meal-dinner-parsnip-bacon-curry-sauce

I have enjoyed rutabaga or turnip gratin https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/rutabaga-celery-root-and-potato-gratin

Nice way to use kale or collards

I use rhubarb in dessert more than as part of dinner. This is how I like to make it if it’s part of dinner. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/russian-shashlik-rhubarb-sauce/amp

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I recommend that you buy Plenty and Plenty More by Yotam Ottolenghi.

His recipes come out delicious and he uses enough variety in his seasonings that you’ll never get bored. I quit eating meat fifty years ago; Ottolenghi’s vegetarian recipes are by far my favorites.

I also like the Smitten Kitchen website for vegetable -centric recipes.

Smitten kitchen.com

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“The Green Roasting Tin” book is your friend: https://www.rukmini-iyer.com/

For me, a great variety of vegetable side dishes is fermentation)
You can ferment any kind of vegetable. Plus they keep great in the fridge for a long time. Fermentation is in many cuisines e.g. Korean kim chi cabbage
Here’s a recipe for

> sauerkraut

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I like vegetables but more often than not don’t take the time to make one. When I do it usually broccolini, some type of fried or roasted potato, or toss together a Caesar salad.

Try all these soon. Disregard bok choy (no taste, 99,9% water. Water has more taste), use chard (far superior in every way).

You mentioned “Fez salad”. No idea what that is but I liked all the veg “tapas” I had in Fez/Morocco.

This is what you nibble on with bread whilst waiting for your meal to be prepared: all vegetables and delicious!

I love nearly all vegetables, save for leeks and some other alliums.

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Try golden beets.
The Green’s Cookbook and others by Edward Espe Brown are my recommendations.

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I like Bok Choi and Gai lan with mirin and oyster sauce. https://pickledplum.com/bok-choy-garlic-oyster-sauce/

I don’t know why, but I don’t like the idea of cooking Swiss Chard in Asian dishes. I use Swiss Chard for Greek Horta (lemon and olive oil), I prepare it the Spanish or Sicilian way with pine nuts and raisins, I use it in pastas and savoury pies.

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A greens pie is one of my favorite vegetarian main dishes. I don’t make crust from scratch because of the time it takes to clean and prep the greens. This greens and chickpea galette recipe by Martha Rose Schulman is one to check out if you are curious.

But preps that come together faster are more likely for me. Variations on roasted—think sheet-pan style—and grilled vegetables (in summer) are things I often turn to. Pasta dishes where the vegetables are the “condiment,” sautéed in the pan with olive oil while the cooked pasta drains, is another go-to. I can’t be as helpful as I’d like to be on these ideas because I riff on whatever vegetables we have. Will try to remember to post ideas here that may be useful, as I make them.

Also if you have access to the paywalled NYT Cooking content (I don’t), lots of interesting recipes there.

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In the same vein as a greens pie, I’ve been making Kuku Sabzi with whatever leeks and greens I have on hand https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/persian-herb-and-leek-frittata/

Also, spanakorizo or prasorizo. https://miakouppa.com/2021/11/02/recipe-prasorizo-greek-leeks-and-rice/

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I do enjoy locally grown bok choy. It has a bitter greens kick and minerality in addition to crunch. Maybe that has to do with the soil in our little patch of New England.

100% with you on the stuff I can get from the supermarket.

ETA: I made the mistake once of using the assertive bok choy in a greens pie once. Whoops. Never again as the texture and flavor weren’t pleasant for that.

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We tried to cut down on meat consumption and eat more veg a number of years ago. Dinner salads are ideal, because you can put any combo of veg together, that are raw or that you have cooked in any way, with any dressing you like. The key for satiety is to have some of your ingredients provide protein or fat. Nuts, cheese, eggs, beans, bacon, chicken, tofu etc.

Asian stir fries and Thai curries are both fairly straightforward if you have a stocked pantry for the sauces, spices, and pastes. And again will feature any veg that you enjoy.

Pizza and pasta can be topped or tossed with myriad veg for a meal.

Vegetarian chili, and soups.

The choices are nearly endless, especially again if you incorporate some form of protein, fat, or starch into your meal for satiety, nutrient balance, and interest.

Think about borrowing a couple of vegetarian cookbooks from the library to generate some ideas.

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Wonderful artichokes are in season now in California. Ever since I discovered a recipe for roasting them, that’s all I do now.

Preheat oven to 425°

Trim edges of leaves, cut away about one inch from the top and trim bottom evenly. Try to loosen the leaves. Place on a piece of heavy duty foil, Pour about 1Tablespoon of olive oil down the middle, sprinkle salt over, squeeze fresh lemon juice over.

place on half sheet pan, roast about an hour. (I usually do 4 at a time.)

Good hot or cold or room temperature. Can dip in melted butter, mayo, or Kenji’s Caesar dressing (Serious Eats) I don’t add the anchovy/Parmesan.

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This post is hard for me to relate to as I routinely have buckets and buckets of broccoli, but one way I have found for people to get more vegetables in their diet is to use them in soups.

Whether it’s something as classical as minestrone, or simply adding in additional carrots and celery to your chicken soup, or just throwing in some greens (like cabbage, bok choy or sliced brussels sprouts) into noodle soup or instant ramen, adding them to a liquid base is an easy and non-obtrusive way to add vegetables throughout your meals.

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I need to add: this timing is for BIG artichokes. If you have medium ones, check at 45 minutes. (Open foil and see if you can remove a leaf easily; careful

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What do you think the actual volume of chopped leeks is in the leek & bacon gratin recipe. Mine are super small this year, so I’ll have to make up quantity with volume. It looks like a great recipe.

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