Vegetables are a funny thing. We know we should eat more, but it isn’t always easy to make them the focus of our meals. When I get tired and busy, I can happily live of cheese sandwiches for quite a while.
So to counteract this desire for no fuss carbohydrate satisfaction, I’ve started to simply load up the fridge with fresh vegetables. I buy lots of them, whatever looks good, without knowing what I’ll do with them exactly. When meal time rolls around I simply pick three and prepare them together. Now in winter it is often either pan frying or roasting, with one of them thrown in raw at the end.
Tonight it was pan fried zucchini and (frozen) peas and as they were ready I topped them off with two handfuls of iceberg lettuce and a quick dressing of mayonnaise, fresh lemon juice and a sprinkle of sea salt. Took hardly any time, is not fancy and can’t even really be called a recipe. I find this is the best way to eat all the vegetable abundance winter has to offer. There are endless combinations.
Pick three,
toss them in olive oil,
season,
boil, pan fry or roast,
dress them with lemon juice.
Done!
Add herbs for extra credit ;).
In case you don’t have it yet, you can download my winter vegetables overview here and start eating your way through it!
And because there are so many delicious ‘proper’ recipes, I’ve compiled the below list for you as a handy little guide. You’ll find suggestions for every vegetable July has to offer. Let me know if I’ve missed any and I’ll add them in!
Next week I’ll share a selection of dressings and toppings that can make any vegetable dish more exciting.
Peace, Love and Veggies,
Katrine xx
Artichoke
- Artichoke with parsley and preserved lemon pesto
- Boil the artichoke whole, then pick the leaves and dip the fleshy end in some vinaigrette. Simple and satisfying! Like explained here.
Bok Choy
- Pan fry and serve with oyster sauce.
- Add to soups.
- Use raw in salads! This one sounds yummy.
Broccoli
- Whizz up a large head in the food processor. Heat up oil in a fry pan, add 6 anchovies and fry until dissolved. Add 2 cloves garlic, sliced, 1/4 tsp dried chilli and the broccoli. Fry for a few minutes while boiling some pasta. Add pasta and a little of the pasta water to the fry pan. Stir together, serve with parmesan.
- Make a soup.
- Or roasted broccoli dip.
Broccolini
- Delicious roasted or panfried.
- One of my favourites: anchovy, broccolini and chilli orecchiette
- Add miso and fish for all round goodness!
Brusselsprouts
- Cut a cross in the stem, parboil them briefly and then fry with some chopped up bacon. Yum!
- This sounds delicious too.
- They are also surprisingly nice raw, slice thinly and add to slaw.
Cabbage
- Make coleslaw – no brainer.
- Add to soups.
- Make raw salad with thinly sliced cabbage (any kind) and a simple vinaigrette of olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.
- Braised red cabbage.
Carrot
- Mmmmm… cake.
- The French know best!
- Carrot and ginger soup with lentils.
Cauliflower
- Delicious roasted in florets, then tossed with red quinoa and lots of chives.
- Cauliflower rice?
- Nutty Cauliflower and Broccoli salad
Celery
- Shaved celery and fennel salad
- Chop finely and mix with mayonnaise, lemon juice and roast chicken for a sandwich spread.
- Add to your bolognese and soup base.
- Make a green smoothie: 1 stick celery, handful kale (stems removed), 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup (organic cloudy) apple juice, spritz of lemon, ice cubes.
Celeriac
- Grate and make hash browns with half celeriac/ half potato like Adam.
- I love it cubed in soups. So hearty.
- Make celeriac and apple coleslaw.
Fennel
- Delicious braised.
- Or shaved in salads.
Jerusalem Artichokes
- Jerusalem Artichoke and Apple Purée
- Use them in beef stew.
Kale
- Make a green smoothie: 1 stick celery, handful kale (stems removed), 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup (organic cloudy) apple juice, spritz of lemon, ice cubes.
- Make kale chips! Remove stems, cut leaves into bite sized pieces, massage with a little olive oil, spread out onto baking tray, sprinkle with salt and chilli flakes. Bake until crisp.
- Use in pesto.
- Kale, cabbage and brussels sprout chopped salad.
Kohlrabi
- Munch on raw! To snack or in a slaw.
- Boil and serve as a side dish.
- Grill it and combine with trout for a delicious salad.
Leeks
- Fry on their own in a little oil and add to sandwiches.
- Use as a base for soups instead of onion.
- Leek and potato soup.
Lettuce
- In salads obviously.
- Also great chopped and added to soups last minute.
- And in smoothies!
Mushrooms
- Fry on their own with a little butter and thyme.
- Stuff them.
- Make Adam’s moorish soup.
Onions
- Use as a base in soups and stews.
- Make French onion soup.
- Stuff them.
Parsnips
- Roast them. No brainer.
- Add them to stews.
Potato
- Make baked potato. Hah.
- Or hasselback potatoes for a fancier version.
- And soup. Make lots of soup. Yum.
Pumpkin
- Roast whole and use the soft flesh as a sandwich spread.
- Roast in cubes and add to salads.
- Bake pumpkin pie… Or this one. Or this paleo version.
Shallots
- Use instead of onions.
- Make Coq au Vin.
- Mushrooms with caramelised shallots and fresh thyme.
Silverbeet
- Add to soups.
- Make ribollita.
Spinach
- Use in green smoothies!
- Leek and spinach soup sounds like a keeper.
- Spinach and chicken coconut curry. Yum.
Swedes
- Add to stews.
- Roast them.
- Grate them and make fritters.
Turnip
- As it turns out – delicious raw!
- And in stews.
- And roasted.
Witlof
- Good in winter salads.