Trying to work my way through more of the Cooking School entries–here’s 19-12: A Variety of Vegetables for you. This one comes courtesy of the NEW BOOK, and features 4 vegetables you may or may not be familiar with.
As usual, I’ll give you a little blurb after the jump about each one and then links to a few Simply Delicious recipes that I’ve already covered that use those vegetables. Hey, it’s important to eat your veggies!
3/4 of these are pretty standard fare (I’ve even grown them in my garden), but salsify is not something that’s seen often on American menus, even today.
Eggplant
Eggplants (or aubergines in some places) are pretty common these days, especially when creating vegetarian/meatless meals. I’m a big fan of Eggplant Parmesan, and I’ve made a copycat version of Panda Express’ Eggplant Tofu several times when I happen to have the ingredients on hand. If you want to try some Simply Delicious recipes that feature eggplant, here’s some options for you:
- 13-12: Eggplant-Rice Casserole (vegetarian casserole bulked out with rice–pretty standard, but it gets the job done)
- 13-16: Arabian Moussaka (a vegetarian version of the Middle Eastern variation of this traditional dish)
- 13-9: Enchiladas (eggplant and cashew vegetarian enchiladas sound like something out of 2022, not pre-1992…how prescient!)
Broccoli
First, for the old folks in the room–a timely reference to the act of chopping broccoli.
Now that we’ve gotten THAT out of the way, broccoli is probably one of my favorite veggies (unlike one of our former presidents)–I even ate it as a kid as it was one of the few veggies that all of us (mom, dad, and I) could agree upon. I make it as a side dish pretty often, but here’s some Simply Delicious recipes that feature it more prominently:
- 13-1: Broccoli with Cheese Sauce (there’s always the “drench it in cheese” approach if you’re having trouble getting someone to eat their veggies)
- 7-39: Pork Chops with Broccoli and Leek (eating out is expensive these days–make your own Chinese food!)
- 12-27: Chicken Broccoli Lasagna (this one scales up well if you need to feed something relatively healthy to a lot of people–I fed 60+ kids and 10+ adults with this one)
Zucchini
Zucchini (also known as courgettes in some parts of the world) is part of a standard summer vegetable garden (just grew some myself this year). When that time of year comes around, I’m always scrambling to find something with which to use up all those zucchinis. Most of the time I settle on chocolate zucchini bread, but if you’d like some other options, check out what Simply Delicious has in the way of zucchini recipes below:
- 4-22: Zucchini Pancakes (like potato pancakes, but zucchini!)
- 4-34: Italian Roasted Vegetables (I LOVE this recipe, and it’s great for both fancy and casual dinners)
- 13-14: Wok-Fried Veggies with Pasta (lots of color and a great vegetarian recipe for a light meal)
Salsify
Alas, I have a lot less to say about salsify–I’ve not even ever cooked with it before. From my slight bit of research while writing this, it appears to be more of a common European root vegetable than an American one, which explains my lack of experience with it. My only memorable experience with it is when we attended a fancy “weed dinner” about a decade ago and it was featured in one of the dishes (shown above). I’m intrigued by it though–perhaps I’ll have to find a good recipe to try it out on my own (salsify crumpets, anyone?).
I haven’t yet made any Simply Delicious recipes that feature or even include salsify, but if I ever do, I will update this part to reflect that. For now, we’ll have to be okay with the crumpets.
