In search of veggies

[mamster]

I don't know if any of you read the Seattle Times review of 1200 Bistro.  Laurie and I went along with Providence Cicero on one of her visits, and I liked the place better than I thought I would.  I had the faux cassoulet, which was quite tasty;  the veal chop was indeed perfect;  the fillet of wild salmon was nicely done.

However, both the veal and the cassoulet came (as the review notes, but not sternly enough) with grossly undercooked and underseasoned kale, and the fish is served in an unintentional soup (there should be a band called Unintentional Soup) of bland potatoes and artichoke hearts.

Vegetables are my favorite thing to eat.  There are few things more essential to my well-being than yellow onions.  I'd eat bell peppers (even the maligned green ones) every day.  Broccoli is my favorite flower.  I get excited about turnips.  I will try any obscure vegetable and probably love it;  I routinely buy weird-looking things at Uwajimaya and do my best to bend them to my will.  And I never went through a vegetable-hating phase when I was a kid.

I know vegetables are harder to cook right than meat, but 1200 Bistro totally dropped the ball.  I'm willing to forgive overcooked meat if there's a great vegetable side, and I'm always elated to find a menu that has an array of vegetable sides a la carte.  I believe all of the Tom Douglas places do it, as does Cassis.

So, to get to the point (finally), who else is doing great vegetables in town?  Anyone can cook a steak;  who can serve me a well thought-out roasted vegetable combo or greens or something like that?

Or if you have some great vegetable sides that you make at home and want to share, have at it.

Oh, I thought of another--the greens at La Medusa in Columbia City are great.

[Blue Heron]

mamster, would you be willing to share one of your favorite vegetable recipes with us?  

I was surprised to read that 1200 Bistro did such a lousy job on the Kale.   For a delicious kale recipe, I loved the recipe on the back of the huge package of mixed greens (kale, turnip, mustard) that I bought at Trader Joes.  (It's the recipe that called for tomato juice).  I recommended it to my neighbor, and she also tried it and loved it.   Maybe 1200 Bistro should try it.

During the garden months, I make a lot of creamed spinach and creamed chard.  I don't use a recipe, but basically  I sautee about 1/2 chopped onion in olive oil until cooked, add about 2 T.  flour, cook 2 minutes stirring, add 1-2 t. swiss beef bouillon paste (you could substitute 1/2 c. canned bouillon I think, but adjust other liquids), add some sliced or grated cheese like jack or other easy meltable cheese, stir and let melt a bit, add maybe 1/c - 1/2 c. milk, and maybe 1 or 2 T vermouth (optional), stir, add nutmeg, pepper to taste.  It should not be too thin or creamy at this point, but more of a loose glob.  To this, I add microwaved chopped chard or chopped new zealand spinach with maybe 2 T of cooking liquid (those great nutrients) .  If it is too thick, I add a little more milk.   I serve this as a main course, with boiled potatoes on the side.  You could also add your favorite meat to the side, or as we do once in awhile, a freshly cooked still warm hard boiled egg on the side.

Can't think of too many memorable restaurant vegetable dishes.  One that comes to mind is the Wild Ginger's Sezchuan Green Beans...they're good!  Also when we used to go to Honey Court, they did a great job on baby bok choy.

[mamster]

Oh, yes, I do like the green beans at Wild Ginger.  In fact, that was my favorite thing about WG:  the availability of vegetable sides.

Last night, Laurie was at work.  She's not a steak eater, so I made myself a strip steak and a big side of kale that would make the 1200 Bistro wet themselves.  I find that it's basically impossible to overcook most supermarket kale, but easy to undercook it.  I trim out the stalks and chop the kale coarsely.  In a saucepan, saute some minced onion with salt, pepper, and curry powder.  Add the kale (I can get 1/2 a bunch in my saucepan) and a little water.  Cover and simmer on medium low, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes.  I had a little Grand Central bread and brushed the steak with a mixture of salt, pepper, and lime juice.  Great dinner.

I'll share some other recipes later.

[Blue Heron]

oops...I made a mistake on my earlier post.  The Trader Joe's (Fresh) Southern Greens Blend package doesn't contain Kale.  It contains fresh mustard, turnip, collards and spinach...1 lb for Ū, cut, cleaned and ready to cook (but I wash it anyway).  I was at Trader Joe's today and picked up a pack, along with a good supply of cheeses, wine, etc.

This is the recipe on the back that I like:

Simple Greens - serves 4

1 lb. pkg. Joe's Southern Greens blend..these are fresh not frozen

1 clove garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

1/2 C. chopped green onion

2 T. Olive oil

1 C. vegetable broth

1 C. tomato juice

salt, pepper and marjoram to taste

Grated Parmesan cheese

Sautee garlic & onion in olive oil in a pot large enough to hold greens.  Add vegetable broth and tomato juice.  Bring to a boil.  

Add greens & seasonings.  Cover & cook over low heat for 35 minutes or until tender.  Sprinkle w/ parmesan cheese & serve.

I like mamster's idea of using curry in his greens.  Sounds good, I'd like to try it.  

Any others?

(Edited by Blue Heron at 11:06 am on Jan. 20, 2002)

[mamster]

That does sound good--one problem with frozen veggies is that they tend to be a little soggy, but greens are supposed to be soggy.  Do you substitute chicken broth for the vegetable broth?  I find canned vegetable broth too sweet and am usually too lazy to make homemade stock.

Here's another of my favorite vegetable recipes.  I posted it once to the grubshack mailing list, but I don't think I've posted it here.

Roasted chile paste, or "nam prik pow" in Thai, is a pungent and spicy ingredient that despite the name is nothing like the common Chinese and Indonesian chile-garlic sauce. It's very thick and has a layer of hot oil over the top. The best brand (and luckily also the most common, at least in these parts) is Pantainorasingh. It's in a squat round jar with "Pantai" on the yellow lid and the label says "Chilli paste with soya bean oil." It's available in several levels of heat; get "hot" if you can find it.

GAI LAN WITH BACON

If you're not one for bacon, try substituting some soaked and shredded shiitake mushrooms--I'm betting it'll be great.

1 lb gai lan (Chinese broccoli), trimmed and cut into 1" lengths

Salt

2 slices supermarket bacon (I like Oscar Meyer), cut crosswise into 1/2" pieces

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tbsp nam prik pow

1 tbsp fish sauce

1/2 cup water

1. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Toss in the gai lan, bring it back to a boil, and cook one minute. Drain, rinse with cold water, and dry.

2. While you are waiting for the water to boil, put the fish sauce and nam prik pow into a small bowl and stir to combine.

3. Heat a wok or skillet (you'll need a lid) over medium heat. When it is hot, add the bacon and cook until almost crisp. Remove the bacon and drain on paper towels. You should have about 1 tbsp of fat in the wok; if there's more, pour it off. If less, add a bit of peanut or vegetable oil.

4. Raise heat to medium-high. Add the garlic and stir-fry 20 seconds.

5. Add the gai lan and stir-fry 90 seconds.

6. Add the nam prik pow, fish sauce, and cooked bacon and stir-fry 30 seconds.

7. Add the water, cover, and let steam two minutes. Serve immediately with lots of jasmine rice and other stuff.

[Blue Heron]

thank you for the recipe.  I'll be sure to get some of the nam prik pow you described... I love tips like that.  Maybe I'll surprise my Thai friend and cook up some thai style gai-lin for her...won't she be surprised.   She doesn't go to Thai restaurants because as she said, she can cook better Thai food at home.   I also asked her about massaman curry when we had the earlier thread about it, and she said the Thai curries over here don't have enough flavor or spiciness (which is different than being 4 stars hot).  ps..I also like Oscar Meyer bacon.

As for the Trader Joe's Southern Blend, it isn't frozen. (frozen...frozen...we don't use no stinkin' frozen vegetables, at least not often).  They come in a cellophane package like the pre-washed baby spinach or salads in the produce section.  I'm glad you asked, so I can adjust the recipe to reflect fresh greens.  Ditto for our garden greens.  We cook them fresh and then chop them for our creamed chard and creamed spinach.

Back to Joe's Simple Greens... We substitute 1 C. beef bouillon (made from Swiss paste, but cubes would work fine) for the vegetable broth.  I think you could also use chicken broth with good results, too.

[mamster]

Sorry to accuse you of using frozen veggies!  Personally, I don't mind frozen peas or corn in the right context.

Tonight I made fettucine with roasted red peppers and belgian endive.  It was great.

[Blue Heron]

actually, I confess, I do use frozen veggies sometimes.  When I make meatloaf, or Joe's Special, I always use frozen chopped spinach.  I also like frozen peas in something like Paella, or clear chicken broth Chinese soups.  Frozen corn is good in Black Bean & Corn salad.  Also, Trader Joe's frozen green beans, I think they are called baby French Green Beans, and come in a clear cellophane package in the freezer section, are pretty good, too.  But, mostly I use fresh veggies when I can.  Canned is the worst, and I hate when my husband comes home from the grocery with canned veggies (he likes them).  I can dress up canned green beans with sauteed butter, onion and bacon, but some of the others are more difficult.

Did you make a cream sauce for your fettucini or  olive oil?  

Where is girlchow?  I hope she has recovered from being sick.

[mamster]

Yeah, I like frozen green beans in my Thai curries--fresh green beans are usually tough as nails unless they're from the farmer's market, and even then you have to bite into one.

And I like frozen fruit in my smoothies.  In the summer we whir up bananas, frozen strawberries, and OJ concentrate in the blender quite often.

[mamster]

Oh, and it was a cream sauce for the fettucine.

[Jim Dixon]

I've got a bunch of simple vegetable recipes (I actually don't think of them as recipes, but more like cooking techniques) on my site. I cook this one about once a week, and it's really good...

tossed a sliced head of cauliflower (trim base, set upright on cuttng board, and cut 1/4 inch slices...okay if pieces break up, actually better if they do) with a bit of your cooking grade extra virign olive oil and a little salt

spread in single layer in baking dish (I like to use a cast iron skillet for this, but I use one for almost everything else, too)

roast in hot oven (375-400F), stirring occasionally, until browned around the edges, about 20 minutes.

drizzle with really good olive oil, more salt if like, and eat hot

Two of us easily devour a single head, and when we have any boys home, I always cook two and there are never leftovers.

Jim

[mamster]

I'll definitely try that cauliflower recipe.  I thought I hated cauliflower, but then I had some in Paris that sauteed until soft and slightly browned, and it was just divine (I think there was a lot of butter involved, too).

[Jim Dixon]

I wasn't a big fan of cauliflower until I started making that. Usually it's steamed or boiled and gets too soggy, but roasting seems to keep more texture, and it gets sort of sweet.

Here's another 'recipe' I came up with last night. Let's call it zuca in agrodolce (aka sweet and sour squash)

Finely dice a medium onion and stalk of celery. Saute in olive oil until transluscent (about 5 minutes).

Add a cubed, peeled winter squash. I like the oblong delicatas because they seem sweeter, but everyone says butternuts are easier to peel...your call. Cut in half and scrape out the seeds, then peel (I find a regular swivel blade peeler works fine) and cut into half-inch cubes.

Splash in a little marsala (sweet or dry...substitute sherry or another white wine, but marsala tastes better with this...by a little I'm guessing a quarter to half cup). Cover and cook over low until squash is tender.

Add a tablespoon each of sugar and white (or red) wine vinegar. Plain distilled vinegar is okay, but stronger, so use a little less. Stir and let cook, uncovered for a few minutes to reduce any juice to a sort of glaze-like consistency. Taste and adjust the sweet-sour ratio to your liking (ie, more sugar, more vinegar).

Eat hot...

Jim

[mamster]

Hey, Blue Heron, I made the Trader Joe's greens tonight with some of my southern-style cornbread, and they were great.  I'm not sure I'm ever going to like turnip greens much, but I like all of the others.  Thanks for the tip--I'll definitely buy these again.

[Jim Dixon]

Big City Produce, a great little neighborhood produce store in North Portland (near Jefferson HS), sells bagged greens with the best label I've ever seen:

Mean Joe's Greens

They're blends of mustard, turnip, & collards in various combos. I used to cook mostly collards, but lately have been using plain old kale for southern style greens (cooked with some kind of pork fat & onions, and eaten with vinegar and tabasco-style hot sauce). But my main green remains cavolo nero (usually sold as lacinato kale, sometimes dinosaur kale). I cook the dark green leaves with onion and olive oil, and they hold their shape and texture better than anything else.

[Blue Heron]

To continue on our theme of sauteed greens, here is a llink to a few freebie Greens recipes that Cooks Iillustrated has on their site right now  

By'>http://www.cooksillustrated.com/show_do....64

By

the way, Southern style greens like the ones that Jim Dixon described w/vinegar & hotsauce (or red pepper flakes in my case) sure does go good with southern style mac & cheese that has a little hot pepper jack cheese mixed in with it.  My brother's mother-in-law makes the BEST!  She's even given me directions for making it, but it (the mac & cheese) sure never turns out as good or creamy as hers.  In fact, hers frozen, thawed and microwaved tastes even better than my fresly made...arrgh. (fortunately, she keeps me supplied w/CARE pkgs of hers, though).

mamster, I'm glad you liked the Trader Joe's Greens in spite of the Turnip mixed in there!  One more thing about those bagged greens....I forgot to mention, that although they are picked, cleaned and ready to go, I always remove any remaining large stems before cooking, but  I'm hoping you already knew that.

[Blue Heron]

Jim, I just tried your recipe for Roasted Cauliflower.  My husband and I both think it was the best cauliflower we ever had (we ate a whole head of cauliflower).  He's even going to translate the recipe into Swiss German, so his mom can try it.  The ultimate complement from my husband was "this tastes like it has cheese on it"...I kid you not.  Your tip about waiting until the edges get brown are key.  It gets better tasting as it carmelizes with the olive oil.  I just realized I forgot to stir it as it cooked, but it still turned out delicious.  Thanks!

[Sandra Levine]

The same technique also does wonders for carrots and parsnips.  Just peel the carrots, and if they are less than about 3/4" in diameter, keep them whole.  I use my De Longhi toaster oven instead of the big oven and the kitchen doesn't even get overheated.  

For variety, sprinkle some herbs on the vegetables.  The cauliflower, BTW, is great as a side dish with seared sea scallops.

(Edited by Sandra Levine at 8:27 pm on Jan. 29, 2002)

[Blue Heron]

Hi Sandra,   Thank you for the recipe ideas.  I also own a DeLonghi toaster oven...they're great.

I read about your egullet dinner over on the NJ board...sounds like it was a lot of fun!  The pictures of all of you turned out great, too.  We had our 1st Northwest egullet dinner a couple of weeks ago and are having our 2nd on Feb. 11.  

I almost forgot to mention, in a couple of months it will be time for one of my favorite roasted veggie dishes, which is Roasted Asparagus.  Spread asparagus in a single layer, drizzled with olive oil, salt & pepper to taste, Roast at 400 degrees for about 10-20 minutes, depending on thickness.  Serve warm or room temp with a splash of balsamic vinegar.  

(Edited by Blue Heron at 10:28 pm on Jan. 29, 2002)

[helenas]

This cauliflower recipe is a real find.  Yesterday i made it into salmon and roasted cauliflower lasagna. It was a small miracle.

[Sandra Levine]

Roasting vegetables caramelizes them and concentrates the flavors.  With the exception of leafy greens, I can't think of a vegetable that doesn't  benefit from this treatment.  I loathed carrots until I decided to try to roast them.  (see above)  Now, they are one of my favorites.  

To give credit where credit is due, I first roasted cauliflower at the suggestion of the much-maligned Amanda Hesser, who mentioned the idea in one of her early articles.

(Edited by Sandra Levine at 8:33 am on Feb. 1, 2002)

[mamster]

Hey, put me on this bandwagon, too.  We tried the roasted cauliflower the other night and it's as good as everyone says.  To move this back toward my original post, is there any restaurant in the Northwest that serves vegetables as good as that cauliflower?

[girl chow]

Hey Mamster, have you ever tried Cafe Flora in Madison Park? It's a vegetarian restaurant with great vegetable centric preparations. I've never had a bad meal there, although I have friends who consider their food too "earthy."

I had a fantastic root vegetable dish the last time I ate there -- and a fabulous chilled rosemary herbal infusion. If you don't drink much alcohol, it's a great place to swill infused herbal concoctions. If only every restaurant offered a variety of drinks without alcohol, caffeine or sugar. I'm so tired of ordering San Pellegrino or suffering with a plain ol' glass o' water. Sigh.

[mamster]

I've been to Cafe Flora once, but it was a long time ago, way before my food writing days, and I don't really remember much about it.  I'd definitely be willing to bury my skepticism of vegetarian restaurants for a day and give it another try.

I drink a lot of herbal tea, so that infusion sounds nice.

[girl chow]

The last time I was at Cafe Flora, they had an entire list of a dozen different infusions, including lemonade. It rocked.

Hey, while we're on the subject of vegetarian restaurants or restaurants with great veggies, has anyone here ever tried Ambrosia? I still haven't tried it. Is it still around? I heard good (and a few bad) things about that place.