A quick update before we move on*: The snow peas I replanted after the first row mysteriously disappeared have germinated nicely, as have the kohlrabi seeds I planted awhile ago. I have no idea what a kohlrabi plant looks like in its natural state, so this should be a learning experience. I've spied with my little eye the tiny spinach plants beginning to appear, but everything else--carrots, turnips, chard, and parsnips--is sulking and refusing to germinate. I don't blame them; I'm getting a little sulky about the lack of sun too.
Okay! Now, staying on the vegetable topic, let's talk about vegetables. Specifically, your favorite vegetable. More specifically, your favorite way to eat your favorite vegetable. Generally speaking, I prefer cooked vegetables to raw. Picking a favorite is hard, but I suppose beets would have to be right there for me. I like them cooked, sliced, and then mixed with butter, vinegar, salt, and a little sugar. YUM. I hope I get LOTS of beets this year.
Okay duckies, your turn! What's your favorite vegetable and your favorite way to prepare it? And let's not be pedants: For purposes of this discussion, tomatoes count as a vegetable even though they're TECHNICALLY a fruit.
So tell me your favoritest favorite and how to eat it. If it's something I grow, I will be especially grateful for new methods of preparation.
* In truth, the garden updates are almost as much for me as for you, because I find it really interesting and helpful to see where I was at certain points in previous years. For instance, my archives tell me that the potatoes were planted on May 1 last year. This year? Still not planted. Stupid rain.
Oh, and P.S: A.P.D. stands for "Audience Participation Day." I made up the acronym myself and used to do these a lot more before I apparently got completely self-centered and not only stopped inviting participation but expected everyone to remember all the ridiculous acronyms I invent. I should really work on that.
15 comments:
There are some veggies I prefer raw such as carrots and some that benefit from cooking such as peas and corn...my very favourite is probably broccoli but not that overblown almost gone broccoli from the grocery store.
Kholrabi looks like a space alien vegetable. When it's little it kind of looks like a broccoli or cabbage seedling, then all of a sudden it gets a swollen stem. That swollen golf ball is the part you eat. Kind of tastes like a broccoli stalk to me. I used to eat them raw with dip or put them in a salad sliced up like a radish. When we grew a ton and had to use them quickly (they get woody fast) they got peeled, sliced and thrown in stir frys.
As far as my favorite veg, all of them! Especially right out of the garden when at their peak. Quick simple prep with butter or high quality olive oil dressing on top and you have perfection.
My favorite vegetable is bacon.
But if I can't have that ... I think right now my favorite is asparagus, tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, and grilled. Or diced, blanched, and tossed with shrimp, tomato, onion and vinaigrette. Yumm. (I'd link to the recipes on my site, but I'm feeling lazy.)
Word verification: hypone -- the clear globe that holds the plants in a hydroponic system.
Beets....hot from being boiled ,freshly slipped skin and pop in my mouth.
Also, pickled beets.Beth
word verification - corater
one who gets rid of cores
This week, my favorite veg is brussel sprouts {or would that be are sprouts?). Halved, tossed with olive oil and salt and grilled in my "fish basket" - that very rarely ever grills fish. As you don't grow them, not much of a help - sorry! -Moi
I like most vegetables. I eat a salad every day for lunch, usually with spinach, peppers (red, yellow, and/or orange), and cucumbers. And tomatoes sometimes. I like to dip raw carrots in peanut butter (don't knock it 'til you try it). I like steamed broccoli (I eat it all the time as a quick side with dinner). And roasted vegetables are the best. Toss parsnips, carrots, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, or whatever you want with some olice oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and herbs (rosemary is great here, basil is always good, dill, whatever), and roast 'em up. Delish. Just don't serve me mushrooms. Gross.
I love me some Ford Hook lima beans simmered in butter, as only my MIL knows how to do up to my standards. I also love some steamed broccoli, raw celery, and pickled or fried (or pickled AND fried, oh holy lord) okra.
Mmm... Now I'm hungry.
A sunwarmed cherry tomato right off the vine, raw turnips thinly sliced and sprinkled with seasoned salt, pickled beets, beet greens with onion/garlic/bacon, grilled asparagus... Mmmm...
I love a big fat slice of gold medal tomato with flaky sea salt on top.
It's hard to beat broccoli and other brassicaceous veggies, raw or cooked, although I am partial to steamed peas. Bonnie prefers lima beans to all else. Strangely, I love to eat the raw core of a cabbage or the upper portion of a cauliflower stem as a snack during meal prep.
Summer squash! I can live off of zucchini indefinitely. It's so convenient that they're usually so obliging. Sliced and steamed with nothing added is by far my favorite, but sauteed with garlic salt is a close second, baked with a mushroom, bacon, and mayo filling a very close third. And lets not forget stripped into noodles and eaten with chicken, lemon, and capers. Oh yes, also zucchini bread. And then there's...well, I could go on forever.
Word verification: tacato
A tomato variety specifically for tacos.
Haha, oh no! Have you seen this cartoon from the new yorker?
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/issuecartoons/2009/07/06/cartoons_20090629?slide=10#showHeader
Since artichokes are just coming into the marketplace, and I plan to have one tomorrow for the first time this year, I'd have to say artichokes are my favorite on this particular day, at this particular time. You already know how we eat them, as a salad item, so no surprises there. However, like a lot of New Orleans food, they take a while to eat, so they help everyone to enjoy not just the food but the company as well.
I eat a lot of spinach because I was anemic for months. I love to grow and cook and eat tomatoes. My peas are starting to emerge; spinach is looking awesome; lettuce is trying to poke through the top layer of soil!
I never liked beets because the only ones I ever had were canned. . . YUCK. Then a friend gave me fresh beets out of their garden and I said, "What am I supposed to do with these?" I peeled them, then grated them raw, sauteed them in butter with a splash of lemon juice. WOW! I was a convert to beets after that.
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