we aren’t eating enough fresh produce
Now, I know there are some people out there who are getting their recommended dosage of fruits and vegetables… but the majority of us are not. This time of year is especially inviting to make changes to your boring fast-food, pre-packaged diet. My husband and I are trying our hand at our first garden. If your thumb is brown or you’re just not down, local farmer’s markets are in full swing and will be until the end of the summer. Eat from the earth, support a local farmer and get to know some new faces in your community.
What I tend to do is buy too many veggies… if there is such a thing. Going to share a few quick ways to use up the veggies from your fridge, the market or your garden. The best thing about the “recipes” I’m going to tell you about is that you can use whatever you have on hand. Vegetables are flexible like that. HUGE shout out to the potato… show off, I love it!
oven-roasted mixed vegetables
This is my favorite way to eat the vegetables that are beginning to outstay their welcome. Popping some fresh bell peppers, cucumbers, carrots… just right in my mouth, but that’s for crunchy, fresh produce. Maybe like me, you “forget” those veggies in the back of the refrigerator drawer. Don’t throw them away, pull them out and let’s put them on a plate…
I like to use parchment paper because it’s a million times easier to clean up when you’re going for a caramelized touch. I preheat my oven to 375 degrees F. Depending on how you like your veggies done, the temperature can vary. For my long strips of onions, bell peppers and fresh green beans, I want those with some color so I jack the oven up to 400-425 degrees. If you’re looking for things to be cooked, but not “burnt” (it’s sooo good), turning the knob to 325-350 will work. It’s all about paying attention and appreciating that free kitchen sauna action. It will be hot!
The next step is to wash your produce thoroughly. I always feel safer with the goods from the farmer’s market than those I get from the grocery store. Either way, a vegetable rinse product or a bit of baking soda in some water will get all the extra things you aren’t wanting to ingest off of there. Dry your vegetables. There is an exception here: mushrooms. I just wipe those off with a paper towel and get on with my life. God made dirt and the dirt don’t hurt.
It’s fun to cut up once in a while…
How you get your vegetables cut up and which ones you choose isn’t as important as how BIG you cut them. The only tricky part of this great side dish is making sure all the pieces get done at the same time. I like my Brussels sprouts done a little more tender than my asparagus and bell peppers, so I pop those in the oven 5 minutes before everything else. I prefer to cook my mushrooms and onions on the same pan usually because they cook at the same time for my personal tastes. This is your dinner, experiment and see how your perfect vegetable roast goes!
As I cut my different veggies, I like to pile them up on the clean prep table in R.O.Y.G.B.I.V. like a produce rainbow. You don’t have to play with yours if you don’t want to. Everything gets tossed lightly in olive oil. (I just do this on the pan.) Not olive oil soup, just a light, glistening layer. I use a light sprinkle of sea salt and regular ground black pepper to season these.
NOTE: If you’re not familiar with cooking oils, they have different hot points. Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) breaks down at a much lower temperature than regular olive oil. EVOO is for salad dressings and dipping delicious bread. Canola, sunflower, or vegetable oil can be used for this recipe as well.
Almost there…
Next, spread your cut pieces evenly on a baking sheet. Take these delicious babies and toss them into that blazing hot oven. Your vegetables will be ready in 10-20 minutes, depending greatly on how you like the tenderness and color. If you aren’t sure if something is ready: Grab a piece, pop it in your mouth, breath with your mouth open like a dragon, give it a bite to see if it’s ready. Cooks are brave.
What about the other half of that….?
I only used half of the 3 colored peppers for this dish. Same for the bag of Brussels sprouts, mushrooms and red onion. WORK AHEAD! I chopped the peppers and diced that onion to make a wonderful black eyed pea salad for lunch this week. If that doesn’t sound tasty, maybe a quick stir fry with these leftover bits? Shrimp and rice are super quick on a weeknight. One of my favorite ways to use up the grilled veggies and pieces is a delicious veggie omelet. Yum! There are so many different vinaigrette variations, it’s easy to get creative with a chopped salad. (Throwing the broccoli stems or Brussels sprouts in the food processor makes a lovely slaw!) I like to make my own dressings by listening to my ancestors tell me when… if you’re not feeling yourself in the kitchen like that yet, don’t worry. Grab a bottle of salad dressing you like and move on. My only suggestion here is to look at the label, then choose the bottle with the least number of ingredients you can’t pronounce. If you are into smoothies, blend scraps of carrots or spinach with a little water and freeze in ice cube trays for later. You can’t even taste the vitamins if you have a banana in there too.
Black eyed pea salad
Ingredients
1 can of black eyed peas (drained and rinsed)
1 can of whole kernel corn (drained)
1/2 of each bell pepper: red, green and yellow (chopped)
1/2 of a medium red onion (finely diced)
1 jalapeno (seeded and finely minced)
1 stalk of celery (finely diced)
chopped cilantro to your taste, about 2 tbsp
Dressing
Sea salt and cracked pepper to taste
5 tbsp olive oil
5 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsp of sugar
1 tsp dried oregano
Mix your dressing ingredients in a bowl with a whisk or shake it up in a jar. Toss everything together into a bowl of happiness and sunshine.
(I like this one when it’s room temperature best, not refrigerated, but that’s just me.)