My New Love
Okay, true confessions time. The real reason why I have lost so much weight in the past 18 months is because I have found a new love.
I’ve not really tried to keep it secret. My family knows all about it. In fact my wife is quite keen on my new love, too, even if she hasn’t gone exactly head over heels, as I have.
My new love: vegetables
I adore them.
Vegetables are now the most important foods in my diet. I am a frequent visitor to Lanzerotta’s, a local vegetable wholesaler, and hang around the produce department of the local supermarkets. I am enchanted by the beautiful, stacked displays of radishes and root vegetables at Whole Foods, although I find it hard to buy anything in case I spoil the symmetry.
This new love is has made me adventurous, too. No longer satisfied with the standard fare of potatoes, peas and carrots, nowadays I cook bok choy, fennel, Swiss chard, and things my grandmother would have considered forage for cattle — like kale. (Shall I cook the traditional Irish dish of Colcannon for Hallowe’en?) I now bake or grill eggplant, which I never ate before but now enjoy at least once a week, and our salads regularly include avocados.
Spend some time with the basic veggies in a grocery store and you get to meet some of their interesting friends, like mushrooms, watercress, sprouts, peppers, fresh herbs and nuts. They, too, can be quite adorable, albeit in a less gushy way.
For example, I have always liked mushrooms but until now I have not explored much beyond the LBMs (little brown mushrooms) and LWMs (little white mushrooms) that come plastic-wrapped in supermarkets. Last week I sampled all the types found at Sherway Gardens farmers’ market, adding them to my omelettes and salads, and making an unusual beetroot and mushroom stew.
But my relationship with vegetables is key, which is why I have figured out how to keep it healthy. So here is my advice for anyone who might be considering a similar relationship.
Developing a Loving Relationship
- Roast your vegetables, if you really care about them.
A few years ago I created a roasted vegetables recipe for a client who had asked me to develop packaging for a line of meat pies. Now I use modifications of that recipe for almost all my oven-cooked vegetables.
I do not roast vegetables in the pan drippings from the meat as my grandmother did. Anyway, we use much leaner cuts for roasting nowadays, which leave just about enough dripping in the pan to make brown gravy, if you want it.
[pullquote]If you are interested in your heart health, use only olive oil.[/pullquote]To roast them as I do you will need oil, salt, pepper and a selection of herbs and/or spices. If you are interested in your heart health, use only olive oil. It doesn’t have to be an expensive kind. I use unfiltered olive oil for dressings and salads, and a basic Costco olive oil for cooking.
Parboil your preferred vegetables (for example, turnips, carrots, squash, parsnips, potatoes, and sweet potatoes) and to the point where they are soft(ish) on the outside but still firm, although not raw, in the centre. The pieces of vegetables need to be much the same size for easier roasting, so baby carrots aren’t ideal, and the skinny ends of parsnips will shrivel up quickly (but can still be yummy).
[pullquote]Mushy peas: good; mushy sweet potatoes: bad.[/pullquote]Don’t put all the vegetables in the same pot as they need different cooking times. For example, boil Yukon Golds for 10 minutes and they’ll be just right, but 10 minutes of hard boiling might give you mushy sweet potatoes. Mushy peas: good; mushy sweet potatoes: bad. When done, drain the water and shake the pot to scuff up the surface of the vegetables. You can also roast chunks of cauliflower and broccoli, but don’t shake them up once you have boiled them or you’ll end up with tiny florets not much good for anything.
Next, you need to add oil, salt, pepper and herbs, according to taste, and mix the vegetables up to coat them all. Be generous with the oil and herbs, less so with the salt and pepper. I like to add rosemary, but only if I can get it fresh rather than the spiky, dried stuff. Fresh is better for all your herbs, but dried parsley, cilantro, oregano, basil and thyme are all good. Sage can dominate, as can mint, cumin and coriander, but try everything you have available and see what works for you. Harmonising the main meat course with the herbs you use on the veggies is a good idea, too.
Spread the coated vegetables out on a biscuit tray or other shallow pan, and roast until done, which means a good colour on the top but not burned, and still moist and fluffy in the middle. It will probably take at least a hour at 375º F, depending on how big the pieces are.
- Grilling is good, too.
When I barbecue I mix parboiled chunks of carrots, beets, squash and sweet potatoes with seasoning, herbs and olive oil, and grill them in a vegetable basket to serve with smaller portions of steak or chicken.
Roast a lot of vegetables at the same time to save on the fuel bill. They store well in the fridge, and can be re-heated quickly during the week, curried, or added to a stock to make a tasty soup or stew.
Three tips to keep your romance alive
- Keep the variety in your romance
If you’ve never tried eggplant, don’t waste a minute longer. Rush out to your greengrocer right now and buy a couple of those firm, ripe, black beauties.
[pullquote]Sweating is a good sign.[/pullquote]It’s best to slice your eggplant up before it goes dark inside, but even over-ripe ones are good. Slice them thickly (at least 1/2 in or 1 cm) and layer them in a dish, sprinkling coarse salt over each slice as you go. Let them stand until after a while — 30 minutes or so — you see beads of moisture on their cut surfaces. Sweating is a good sign. Rinse the salt off and dry the slices individually. (Important!)Brush each slice generously with olive oil and place it on a hot grill or barbecue. Turn often, and cook until soft throughout. You can roast them on a cookie tray, too, just like the vegetables.
- Spice up your romance with a bit of exotic novelty
- Don’t desert your true love to snack on something else on the side
Finally, don’t worry if you think you might be cramping my style if you fall in love with produce, too.
The vegetable bed is big enough for all of us.