Tell me about cooking fresh vegetables

[scout]

Now that my one year old son is eating table food, I'm trying to cook healthier. Potatoes and carrots I can do. How about string beans? Fresh peas? Do I need to buy a steamer, or do I boil them? Any other ideas for fresh veggies?

[KK812]

This is just me, but I love to sautee fresh veggies in a little garlic and EVOO. Obviously you would leave the garlic out for ds, but ya know :)

[scout]

Mmm! That sounds good. I could probably do sort of a stir-fry? Rice, veggies and maybe a little chicken?

[SweetRed]

My favorite way to cook fresh green beans or broccoli (but could easily apply to other crisp veggies):


Heat up some chicken broth in a large pan (I use Better than Bullion and water, but you could also just used canned stock).

Simmer the veggies in the stock until "done". I like my fresh veggies pretty crisp, so it only takes 3-4 minutes.


Or I put my veggies in a glass dish, add just a little bit of water, and then microwave for a few minutes until "steamed". Delish and retains a lot of the taste and vitamins of fresh veggies.

Stir frying is also great.

Can you tell I love me some fresh veggies? ;)

[vancouvergirl]

we steam our veggies so as not to loose a bunch of the vitamins to liquid. we hae a steamer which makes the process a no-brainer, including a super quick clean up. love the steamer.

[looch]

I currently steam veggies in the microwave and i was wondering if that kills off all the vitamins and minerals. I might get a steamer, and I am considering not replacing the microwave when it dies.

So, i did a quick google search, and it doesn't seem to do any more or less damage than good old fashioned steaming. So for now, I will continue to use the microwave. I do want to buy one of those bamboo steamers though, I think I can get those for about $15 in an asian market.

[scout]

Thank you everyone! I'm off to the grocery store to get some veggies!

[SweetRed]

looch I've had a bunch of people tell me, including a couple of cooking instructors and nutritionists, that if you only microwave the veggies for a short amount of time, they retain just about the same amount of vitamins as using a steamer. Use start losing significant nutritional value when the veggies start becoming limp or soggy and you can see the veggie "juice" in your water. I own a metal basket steamer, and only use it when the microwave is being used for something else.

I LOVED The Code Book. I don't see too many people who tackle that book, but they should!

[looch]

SweetRed:
That's good to know! I go back and forth with that microwave, because it is so convenient, but OTOH, who knows what it is doing to our long term health.
For now, I use it to heat stuff up and sometimes to defrost when I forget to take dinner out of the freezer. I just got a toaster oven, and it has really decreased my microwave use.

The Code Book is fascinating, it's a great read. So glad I stumbled upon it!

[alootikki]

I don't know if this is toddler-friendly, but I love spritzing broccoli spear with a little olive oil and garlic salt, and then roasting in a 400-degree oven for about 20 minutes. So quick and easy, so yummy! You could do the same thing with zucchini slices, mushrooms, just about anything.

[Sarah]

I actually saute my veggies for my kids in olive oil and garlic, or any other adult spices, and she loves them. Sometimes I do curry powder or cumin, or I add other spice,s and they love them. I think my doing this has given her a more adventurous palate, and she's a great eater now, at 3.5.

[Marilyn]

I have been on a steamed vegetable kick lately and after reading these posts I thought I would try to saute them with garlic and olive oil. I made broccoli and it was soooo good, the crispness was perfect.

[katmg]

I have steamed broccoli in the microwave by putting into a glass dish with just a *tiny* bit of water and then wrapping the whole thing with saran wrap. You can also do squashes that way.

[laura]

My favorite way to cook veggies is to grill them. Sometimes I do small veggies like peapods or green beans or mixed veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, red/yellow pepper, onion, carrots, green beans, peapods, etc - whatever we have) in foil packets w/ olive oil & garlic or spices, or we just toss whatever veggies right on the grill, like asparagus spears, zucchini, portabella mushrooms, etc. Grilling is also good for eggplant, but I don't like eggplant - bad texture for me.

Otherwise I steam (in a pan w/ lid w/ a tiny bit of water on the stovetop) or saute or broil. Broiled asparagus is good, similar flavor to grilling.

[scout]

Thanks, everyone! I made some great fresh broccoli the other night thanks to everyone in this thread!

[Adaya]

I also steam my broccoli like most of you do, but I like mine with a little lemon, a hit of salt and pepper, and a touch of butter spray. I do my spinach that way too. I don't know where I got that from, but I love it.

[hockeybrat]

I don't know if this is toddler-friendly, but I love spritzing broccoli spear with a little olive oil and garlic salt, and then roasting in a 400-degree oven for about 20 minutes. So quick and easy, so yummy! You could do the same thing with zucchini slices, mushrooms, just about anything.


I just tried that earlier this month and it turned out yummy! I had never thought of roasting brocolli. It was in a Rachael Ray cookbook.

[Janey]

My favorite green bean recipe is to saute them with a little teriyaki sauce and a lot of minced garlic.

For Broccoli, sometimes we steam them and put some Molly McCheddar & pump ICBINB on it -- that seems like it would be kid-friendly too (the McCheddar tastes like Kraft Macaroni & Cheese - such a guilty pleasure).

[DallasLady]

Any veggies that you eat on a regular basis other than broccoli? We are getting a little broccoli-ed out at my house.

[hockeybrat]

How about spinach?

I usually sautee with garlic and olive oil, salt and pepper, just until they're wilted.

[Bloomwood]

zuchini is another good one to steam, broil or saute in olive oil and garlic. You can also shred it, throw it in a nonstick pan and saute until most of the liquid is cooked out. At the very end add a handful of fresh (not Kraft) parm.

We also steam, roast, or broil asparagus.

Cauliflower is great when covered with olive oil, sprinkled with curry powder and roasted in the oven.

If you make spinach, just remember you need a LOT of spinach as it cooks down so much. One of those prewashed bags is hardly enough for the two of us.

[hockeybrat]

If you like eggplant (I like the long skinny, Japanese ones instead of the fatter, egg shaped ones), I like to cut them thinly on a bias, coat with some olive oil, salt and pepper and throw them in the oven for 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or so, until they are slightly browned.

Mmmmmm.

ETA - I also do something similar with asparagus except I leave them as long spears. You can also adapt this to a grill.

[laura]

When I saute spinach, I don't let it cook down so much b/c I don't like it wilt-y. I basically saute it w/ a ton of garlic just until it changes color but it's still crisp and leaf-shaped. It helps to start w/ a really hot pan, too.

Awhile ago I got really tired of just eating broccoli, too, so I made it my mission to add a new veggie to our menu every week. Well, either an entirely new veggie or a new preparation for a repeat veggie. It worked out really well in helping up increase our tolerance for veggies we weren't that fond of before, and now we are pretty good about eating a variety. Our new regulars are:

* asparagus (my husband's fave)
* zucchini (my fave)
* green beans
* snap peas
* lots of varieties of mixed veggies, either pre-bagged or made up w/ leftovers
* roasted/grilled peppers - usually red (hub's fave) or yellow (my fave) or both
* spinach

We tried a couple that we just couldn't will ourselves to like, too, such as eggplant.

I thought of another veggie idea for kids (or not kids) : breaded zucchini coins or something like that, I think it's called. I got it out of Cooking Light or something, but it's basically slice zucchini into discs, spray w/ olive oil, toss w/ bread crumbs and maybe a little grated cheese and then bake them. They crisp up and are pretty good.

[Adaya]

In regular rotation at my house:

-turnip, mustard, collard greens
-green beans
-kale
-spinach
-broccoli rabe
-broccoli
-corn
-asparagus
-a variety of frozen veggie medleys

[KK812]

We're pretty boring w/veggies, as there are few that dh and I share a like for

-broccoli-usually just sauteed or steamed
-brussels sprouts-boiled on occassion, but usually roasted in the oven with some garlic and parm
-corn-on the cob, most times :)
-green beans-sauteed
-asparagus-grilled or roasted
-carrots-usually I candy them with a little brown sugar-not so healthy, i know
-peas if they're in a pot pie :D

[Janey]

I forgot one other thing we like on our steamed veggies: Penzey's Spices Cheese Seasonings (http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/c-Gift_Boxes.html) (you can get them separately w/o paying for the Gift Box). My favorite is "Garden Salad Seasoning" .. though I hardly ever sprinkle it on my salad. It's soooo dreamy on a baked potato, but also great on green vegetables as well. I love it so much I ordered the 1 lb. bag of it. :o

Oh yeah, and also Spinach w/ some pine nuts (toasted or not) tossed in - yummers. :)

[luvnbeng]

I love roasting asparagus in the oven on a rimmed cookie sheet--just toss the asparagus with a little olive oil, sprinkle some salt & pepper, and roast in a 400 degree oven for about 5 - 8 minutes, depending on the thickness of the spears. For extra yumminess, grate some reggiano parmagiano over the asparagus after about 4 minutes and return to oven until just melted.

[greenbunny]

Until the garden is up and running, DH and I rely more heavily on frozen vegetables. If you read the labels, they are really comparable in nutrition to fresh. I was told that here on CC and didn't really believe it, but the labels speak for themselves. I switched over from mostly fresh veggies, and it's great because I'm not running to the store every few days.

We use a steamer/rice cooker and sometimes add some McCormick Season All, but it's high in salt, so a pinch is enough.

[Scooter]

Do I need to buy a steamer, or do I boil them? Just another note--you see that steaming & sauteing are the most popular methods, but I thought I'd mention the boiling idea. When you boil vegetables, their nutrients seep out into the water. You then throw the water away and are left with less nutritious veggies! That's why these other cooking methods are better. The only exception is when you're going to eat the broth, so soups, stews & slow cooker recipes are ok. The only vegetable I can think of that I would ever boil is corn, but you can also grill that if you want.

The other thing about veggies is that most people tend to overcook them. A lot of veggies only need to be cooked to soften them, but so they still retain their crunchiness, like asparagus, green beans, corn, peas. And leafy vegetables need to only be cooked enough to just start wilting.

One exception is onions, which add a LOT of flavor to any side dish, soup, stir fry etc if you throw them in a pan with some olive oil & carmelize them before adding other veggies. Do that, throw in some mushrooms & spinach and a splash of red wine & it's a very quick, easy side of greens with a little extra flavor. Cook off the red wine & you're good to go. (Kind of an adult taste, but you don't need the red wine & I loved it as a kid even with the red wine taste.)

This may be a little grown up for a toddler, but I really love chard. (You can get red chard or swiss chard, just slice it into strips and discard the hard, bitter stem.) I'll just steam it with some diced ginger & a splash of lime juice. You wouldn't believe how good that is! I'll sometimes expand that into a whole meal, making a stir fry with that, some bok choy, nappa cabbage & a few other veggies, tofu (you could use chicken), a little soy sauce, and served it on coconut & cinnamon rice. Very easy to make and a really great way to sneak in a ton of leafy greens into your meal.