Favorite vegetable

[SobaAddict70]

Potatoes: Roasted new potatoes, with rosemary, sea salt or kosher salt, and drizzled with either OO or duck fat, or as colcannon, or simply mashed with butter, light cream and/or milk. (NO ROASTED GARLIC!!!!)

Honorable mention goes to cabbage and its role in a New England boiled dinner, Irish corned beef and cabbage, and Hungarian dolmades -- cabbage rolls stuffed with pork, rice, raisins, seasoned onions, paprika and other spices and cooked in a broth....among others.

What's yours?

SA

[Belmont3]

I would like to put in a vote for parsnips. They are might favorite "now". I think it changes on a regular basis. Roasted and sauteed, with a little brown sugar and butter, then deglazed with a little brandy or boiled in cream and butter andthen pureed with the cooking stock

[Lady T]

Fresh asparagus, plain, steamed, with salt and pepper and just a little sweet butter and/or a squeeze of lemon juice. Instant spring, even if it's snowing outside.

[Suzanne F]

Tough decision. Broccoli: steamed, sautéed with garlic, roasted, in Asian dishes, puréed into soup ...

No, maybe potatoes, in all their zillions of manifestations.

But wait, then there's Swiss Chard... and spinach ... and all those other leafy greens ...

And in season tomatoes, sigh.

Or even the humble green bean.

Damn, SA, this is hard!

[mikey]

Asparagus

Fresh sweet corn

both w/butter and salt.

[Blue Heron]

Potatoes in almost any form... (especially those mentioned by Soba, ie. roasted, mashed ) or french fries, gratin, rosti, etc.

Asparagus, Roasted w/ olive oil, sprinkled w/balsamic, s & p; or steamed and served w/homemade mayo.

Artichokes w/ homemade mayo or butter to dip it in.

Creamed Spinach or Swiss Chard (from the garden) is awfully good too.

Then there is fresh corn on the cob... yum. I can't stop... I must be hungry! Yes, it's dinner time...

[awbrig]

belmont,

I have a great parsnip mashed potato recipe I want to try out very soon!

[Bond Girl]

Suzanne,

How do you make swiss chard? I often see it at the green market in Union Square, but never figured out what to do with it.

[Jinmyo]

Not to speak for Suzanne, but re chard.

Strip the leaves from the thick stems. I like the stems for slice thinly on the bias. Saute in butter or steam. Or just cook the leaves, cut the stems into batonettes and marinate in citrus and salt for a tsukemono (pickle).

Or roll chard leaves within Napa cabbage leaves, slice into two inch lengths, stand upright in a pool of clam broth and ponzu...

etc etc etc

[Suzanne F]

That's okay, Jinmyo. Anything spinach can do, swiss chard can, only better. It's great on a tart with a puff-pasty base, too.

[Sandra Levine]

This is almost as hard as choosing a favorite fruit. I wasn't able to do that at all.

I love: roasted cauliflower, parsnip puree, sauteed mushrooms of all kinds, asparagus in the spring and sweet potatoes. In August, tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes.

Edited January 11, 2003 by Sandra Levine (log)

[Bond Girl]

Thanks Jinmyo and Suzanne. The next time I see chard, I will be sure to get some and try them.

[Kim WB]

I am rather seasonal, but I am lucky enough to live in a four season state with transitional weather:

Summer: Nj tomatoes, and sweet corn with a stick of butter. and then more butter. oh, and some kosher salt

Spring: New potatoes, with rosemary and garlic. Asparagus as Lady T described, with lemon and ppper

Fall: Parsnips, carrots, and brussel sprouts, roasted. . Butternut squash, too.

Winter: braised Cabbage, mushrooms

Edited January 11, 2003 by Kim WB (log)

[ranitidine]

Beets any style whatsoever, same for Brussels sprouts and spinach, cooked any style, but not raw.

[Kim WB]

Beets any style whatsoever, same for Brussels sprouts and spinach, cooked any style, but not raw.

Ran, and just to think, I have been enjoying your posts so far! BEETS are the ONLY truely terrible food on earth..like eating dirt. Though, as discussed on other threads, I have never tasted durian.

[Sandra Levine]

Kim, I find your reaction to beets interesting. Do you feel this way about all root vegetables? What about carrots, for instance? By the way, this is ranitidine asking.

[Toby]

Tomatoes are a fruit. (Sorry, I couldn't help it.)

edit: In the U.S., tomatoes are botanically classified as a fruit, but legally they're a vegetable. This is ridiculous, but stems from a U.S. Supreme Court decision sometime in the 1890s (exact date), where the tomato was classified as a vegetable in order to levy the 10% tariff for vegetables that was exacted to protect U.S. growers.

Edited January 11, 2003 by Toby (log)

[snowangel]

Without question, green beans. I love going to the farmer's market in the summer and buying them from the Hmong ladies -- they seem to pick them a little earlier than the American's, or else they are growing a different variety. When I had a veg garden, I grew tons of pole beans and would just stand and pick and eat.

My kids current fav prepration is to steam, add lemon juice and kosher salt. We can eat two pounds like this, and if there are any leftovers, they are wonderful cold, eaten while standing in front of the fridge with the door open.

Tomatoes (home-grown, in August) are a close second.

Oh, but maybe it's fresh sweet corn (again in August).

My ideal meal in August is sweet corn, tomatoes and green beans. Steak is merely a garnish to a meal like this.

[KarenS]

Hhmm... butternut squash, beets, turnips, celery root, peas. asparagus, artichokes, green beans, spinach, summer squash, tomatoes, corn, lima beans, fava beans, potatoes, carrots (and many more!)

[IrishCream]

Turnips....any way. And tomatoes, asparagus (gasp), and fresh sweet corn on the cob. When is summer?

[stagis]

Sweet corn. As opposed to most of what I stuff in my mouth, I'm very picky about corn. At home (Plainville, CT) I buy it from the stand on the Farmington Flats. They never give a break on price, but they DO offer 2 varieties every day. How can you go wrong with a veggie stand surrounded by 2-300 acres of sweet corn?

Snap peas

Termaters from my own garden, still warm, eaten out of hand with sea salt.

[Kim WB]

Kim, I find your reaction to beets interesting.  Do you feel this way about all root vegetables?  What about carrots, for instance?  By the way, this is ranitidine asking.

Oh, I didn't realize the alternate name was you!

I LOVE root vegetables..turnips, parsnips, carrots..its just beets. IT's the only food that I don't like it..I mean, there are foods I prefer over other foods, but beets are the only thing on my "will not eat" list.

[ranitidine]

No silly, its not Sandy's alternate name, its her husband. I become ranitidine every once in a while when I slip into a phone booth. By the way, I forgot to include radishes on my list of favorites.

Edited January 11, 2003 by ranitidine (log)

[boaziko]

Eggplant

Asparagus

Snap peas

Rocket

Usually made few times a week, whenever available.

[Sandra Levine]

Tomatoes are a fruit.  (Sorry, I couldn't help it.)

We tomato lovers know that, but recognize also that tomatoes are usually used as a vegetable, although I have been known to pick them up and eat them like an apple.