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Posts Tagged ‘healthy veggies’

Chinese-Flavored Broccoli

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on October 7, 2020| 1 Comment »

My dear husband loves, loves, loves broccoli – I think he would happily eat it every day.  Because of this, I’m always trying to find interesting ways to cook it so we don’t have the same old roasted broccoli every day.  I never boil it as it was brought to the table in my childhood rendering it soggy and completely unappetizing.  

When last in San Francisco – in that other time when we could travel and visit far away places and eat anywhere that pleased us – we had a few wonderful meals at China Live (chinalivesf.com).  It is an amazing emporium and restaurant highlighting great Chinese products and foods.  We came home with some of their soy sauce, vinegar and chili oil – each one better than the other.  Once you try their soy sauce, it is very hard to go back to the supermarket choices.  The black vinegar is delicious and the chili oil incredible.  You can easily order all of these products online.

This is an easy and very tasty method of introducing broccoli into your menu IF you are not fond of it.  And, if you, like my husband, love it, this recipe will make you love it even more.  If you don’t have the China Live chili oil, use any Chinese chili oil you have on hand.

In case you don’t know this easy technique to mince garlic and ginger – just peel them and use a rasp grater to quickly grate.  Easy-peasy!  

Serves 4 to 6

1 head broccoli

½ cup plain yogurt

2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

One ½-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1 tablespoon lite soy sauce

1 teaspoon China Live chili oil

¼ teaspoon red chili flakes

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Line a baking sheet with sides with parchment paper or nonstick aluminum foil.  Set aside.

Trim the broccoli, discarding the leaves and cut it into florets with some stem attached.  If the broccoli is older, check to make sure that the stems are not woody.  If they are, cut most of them off.

Combine the yogurt with the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, chili oil and chile flakes in a large mixing bowl, stirring to blend well.  Add the broccoli and toss to evenly coat.

Lay the seasoned broccoli out in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.  Transfer to the preheated oven and roast, turning occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until the florets are lightly browned and the stems are tender.

Remove from the oven and serve.

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All Kinds of Greens

Posted in Chefs, Food, Recipes, tagged , , , , , on October 28, 2015| 1 Comment »

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These days “greens” can mean any green leafy vegetable and the green market is filled with all kinds – some I grew up and some totally new to me. The other Sunday we picked up a beautiful bouquet of mixed greens that the farmer had put together which, once home, I placed in the living room as our floral arrangement of the day. I often do this for the dining room table as I prefer vegetables to flowers as the scent is more conducive to the aromas coming from the kitchen. I have no idea what was in the mix – some things I immediately recognized and others seem totally new. But, once cooked, they came together in a most delicious way.

You can, if you like, cook them with bacon, ham or smoked turkey bones, pancetta, onion, or garlic, but I usually just toss the chopped wet greens in a pan with some extra virgin olive oil, mashed garlic, and chili flakes. I don’t cook them for too long – just enough time to wilt and flavor, season with some sea salt, and you have the perfect side dish for almost any meat or fish.

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Tromboncino Zucchini

Posted in Chefs, Food, Recipes, Stephen Kolyer, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 2, 2015| Leave a Comment »

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One of the benefits of having a local big city green market – and, by the way, it is here through all of the seasons – is that the farmers get inspired by the chefs who shop with them and then us everyday folks get to taste the fruits of their mutual labors. All that to say that every once in awhile a “new” vegetable gets “discovered” and we reap the reward. One such discovery this past Sunday was tromboncino zucchini at Berried Treasures. Franca Tantillo whose farm in Cooks Falls, New York provides the market with her famous Tristar strawberries among other tasty items was singing the praises of this “discovery” and handing out pieces to lure buyers into the fold. I, of course, heard the siren call and succumbed to a few of these rather sensual looking squashes. Then, as I wandered back home through the hot streets I had to stop at Tarallucci e Vino to show Rita, my most favorite Italian-born barrista, my find. And, what did Rita say – “Oh, my mom grew tons of those in her garden back home – we got tired of eating them.” Call about getting your enthusiasm deflated!

Well, I took them home anyway and, as Rita suggested, I thinly sliced a couple and made a light, lemon-scented salad. Then I took the remaining 2 and turned them into quick pickles adding 2 little yellow zucchini I had on hand. Quick pickles are easy to do – just heat up equal parts white vinegar and water and season as you wish – lots of sugar and you have sweet pickles, more salt and a couple of tablespoons of sugar and you have everyday pickles – add chiles, onions, garlic, spices and you decide what your end result will be. Great to keep on hand all year round. I recommend that you only make a small batch ‘cause if you keep them too long they get soggy, mushy, and not something that is a joy to eat.

 

©StephenKolyer_zucchini

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Tiny French Breakfast Radishes

Posted in Chefs, Food, Recipes, tagged , , , , , on June 4, 2014| 4 Comments »

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Sunday morning at our local green market I saw a bunch of teeny, tiny French breakfast radishes coated in dirt.  Since the dirt told me that they had not been long out of the earth I had to bring them home even though I had no plan to have a second breakfast.  So later in the day I washed them, dipped one at a time into some sea salt, and popped them into my mouth as I made dinner.  I have no idea why they are called French breakfast radishes as I have never known a French breakfast to consist of much more than coffee and a baguette, but there must be a reason.  If you know, would you clue me in?

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Purple Okra

Posted in Food, Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 28, 2013| 2 Comments »

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I bought a bagful of itty-bitty purple okra at the farmer’s market the other day and then just sat them in the middle of the table for décor so we could enjoy their slightly weird look.  Eventually I decided to cook them knowing full well that purple okra would become perfectly ordinary green okra once the heat hit.  That’s why you’ll get no photo of the finished dish – okra just ain’t real purdy when it has been cooked.  But, it is delicious – or it is to me.  Here’s what I normally do –
Heat a couple of spoons of olive oil in a large frying pan.  Add one chopped onion and a couple of cloves of minced garlic and sauté for a few minutes.  Then, I add a basket of cherry tomatoes along with the okra (stems removed and left whole if tiny, sliced, crosswise, if large), a few leaves of basil and a hint of fresh oregano.  I don’t cook it very long – just long enough to get the tomatoes to pop and the okra to soften slightly.  Too long and you get a kinda slimy mix – still delicious, but not the greatest texture on the palate.

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