Stop Boiling the Vegetables!
Every once in a while, Andrew and I pick up new books at a library sale (back home in Ohio, our local library would sell excess books by the paper bag. Whatever you could fit into it was $5. Pretty good deal!) The last time we went, we picked up a handful of cookbooks. I love thumbing through them to get new ideas for meals.
We use tons of vegetables (meat is kind of a once-a-week sort of thing in our house) so I was excited about this classy-looking book from 1970. As I was reading, however, I started noticing something...
Hmmm. There seems to be a pattern. And a pattern that I'm quite familiar with, not very happily.
I have worked in a few different kitchens that served food to lots of kids. And the stereotype that kids hate vegetables? Well, its a stereotype for a reason. Whatever good intentions put that frozen-then-boiled assortment of carrot bits, green bean chunks, and corn nubs on the kids’ plates, I guarantee that I was toting 80% to the dumpsters by the end of each meal. And frankly, as much as I was rankled by the heaps of uncomposted waste that these dinners generated, I couldn’t completely write the kids off as just ungrateful little beasts.
Everyone: even though boiling is the most common way to prepare veggies, for the love of all that is tasty and nutritious, ITS TIME TO STOP. Save the boiling pot for tea or pasta, and give your poor vegetables a chance.
Because let’s be honest: Boiling most vegetables is probably one of the worst things you can do to them. Even the brightest, crispest, most fresh broccoli becomes a gray, mushy shadow of its former self after being boiled to oblivion. And if that was the only way I knew vegetables, I’d probably hate them too! Not only do all the potential flavors and textures go up in steam, much of the nutritional content gets left behind or destroyed in all that hot water, especially if you dump it after cooking.
And especially If you are putting in the time to grow, tend, and harvest your own vegetables, It should be a homesteading crime to let any of them come near to a boiling pot. I know it’s really easy. I know you’re busy. I know that cooking shows make it seem like you need to be a trained chef to do anything beyond a PB and J sandwich. But happily, there are plenty of really good, easy ways to keep the flavor and, just as importantly, the nutrients in your veggies. You just need to add some new techniques in your toolbelt!
Try some of these on for size, and just see if your vegetables start to shine with flavor in gratitude. For most of these ideas, you need minimal cooking experience--if you can use a knife, turn on an oven, or handle a skillet on the stove, you’ve got all you need.
Caramelized in Cast Iron
My favorite sort of lunch...caramelized veggies, good cheese, homemade naan, and olives.
If you don’t have any cast iron cookware, you need to go get some cast iron cookware. Immediately. And if getting it new is too expensive, you can find cast-iron in any antique store or thrift store--quite a few of our pans have been found that way! My well-seasoned cast-iron skillet is like a second hand in my kitchen, and when it comes to cooking vegetables, it is invaluable. Try this: Heat your skillet to high heat and add some coconut/olive/peanut oil. Once the oil is shimmering, add your vegetable of choice and allow it to caramelize. This means, you DON’T touch it until you see a nice little ring of char on the outer edge. When the natural sugars are allowed to reach this point, the flavors are incredibly nuanced, smoky, and totally unique. Then, topped with a drizzle of good olive oil, a crack of sea salt, and fresh ground pepper? Amazing. Try it with onion, tomato, slices of chayote, or zucchini!
Roasted
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Root vegetables and squash love being roasted. Slice into quarters, toss with some oil, salt, pepper, and spices (if desired), and throw into your oven at 400 degrees for at least half an hour (or until nicely browned on the edges.) You may want to give the pan a little shake-a-shake halfway through to make sure everything cooks evenly. I love to do this with beets, turnips, carrots, potatoes, and ESPECIALLY brussel sprouts. If you think brussel sprouts are gross, you’ve never had them roasted!
Stir-Fried
If you’re up for getting a new pan (after making sure you have some cast iron, of course) consider getting a wok! These high-sided pans hold up really well to high heat, can hold a ton of vegetables, and are perfect for stir-frying. Slice your vegetables into thin, uniform shapes, add some coconut or peanut oil, heat on the highest heat your stovetop can hande, and cook while stiring (“stir-frying” isn’t quite rocket science). Veggies cook up really fast this way--and they come out hot, slightly “al-dente,” and intensely flavorful when seasoned just right.
Raw with good oil, vinegar, and spices
I’m not talking about Cobb salads here--lots of vegetables are amazing when given minimal treatment. Have you ever tried tabbouleh? Israeli Salad? Caprese Salad? Sometimes, all it takes is some fresh herbs and good olive oil to make something absolutely delicious. Many cuisines from around the world have mastered good combinations--its worth it to check out a cookbook or two and get some ideas!
Spring Rolls
Have you ever tried making your own spring rolls? It’s surprisingly easy and fun way to eat some of your garden-fresh produce (and I guarantee kids would love designing their own colorful rolls). Any asian market should have these stocked; I like using this brand. Slice your vegetables as thin as you can, and lay them on top of the prepared spring roll skin. Add some rice noodles (we sometimes cheat and use whole-grain spaghetti) or slivered omelette, roll up, and dip in a spicy peanut sauce, and you are in for a treat!
In the heat of the summer, Spring rolls are our favorite dinner. A combo that's always been a winner is slivered carrots, celery, pan-fried tofu, whole-wheat noodles, chives and cilantro. Andrew likes to make a spicy peanut dipping sauce (peanut butter, soy sauce, black vinegar, hot chili oil), and I like to make a ponzu sauce (soy sauce, dash of sugar, lime juice, and a little water).
Fermented
We used to write for Fermentools--check out their blog and you’ll find more tried-and-true fermenting recipes than you can shake a stick at. If you’re new to fermenting, it may seem a little scary, but it is completely worth it. You’ve never really tasted sauerkraut until you’ve had your own homemade sauerkraut. Not only are vegetables transformed in a delicious way, they come loaded with beneficial probiotics. Your gut and your tastebuds will thank you!
Pickled
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Pickling isn’t just for pickles. Try making refrigerator pickles with carrots, celery, beans, cauliflower, okra, or whatever your garden throws at you. Crisp, with a fantastic vinegar bite, and the crunch that keeps you sneaking down the stairs at midnight just to get one more pickle. Everyone does that, right?
...Right?
This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but I hope it does get you started if you’ve never experimented with your vegetables beyond the stock pot. What other ideas do you have to give vegetables the royal treatment?
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Wonderful advice something I have recently start doing. Loads of stir fry yummy. Not tried the Caramelised yet though need some cast iron cooking bits. Whats the view on Steeming (the veg that is not blogging)? 💯🐒
Haha, it's so funny to have to make that clarification! To be honest, I don't have very much experience steaming veggies. Do you have any tips/recommendations?
I have read that it is important to have some sort of fat alongside a lot of veggies to aid in digestion/absorption, and so I end up stir-frying a lot of stuff.
Isn't it just haha. I just put water in a pan and use a colander with a lid on it, seems to work! Al good I think 💯🐒
Wow...very interesting point!
Thanks so much for reading!
I had to laugh at your boiling broccoli comment! My husband has cooked broccoli that way before(for whatever reason?) and it was awful!
Haha, it's so true. Most of my exposure to broccoli was boiled/raw, but when I met my husband, he made it for me stir-fried it with garlic. AND THEN Everything in my world changed.
About kids not liking vegetables, that is so true. I am a chef but not an expert, but I don't boil my vegetables. My vegetables use to be the last thing I put in pot. I even turn of the heat immediately I put it in
As a chef, do you have any other ideas with handling veggies to preserve flavor and texture? I'm always up for learning more!
Our grandkids love raw vegetables and I am so glad. So we will be able to plant them some in the garden this year.
Gardening with grandkids sounds awesome. What a wonderful way to get them some real experience with real food and real life! I am excited to get my little ones in the dirt with me this Spring.
I totally agree with this post. I feel it was more common for my parents generation to boil everything.
I really enjoy baked vegetables but it is something we don't do often enough.
I was so surprised as I read that book! But if it's all you really know, how can you know it's not all there is?
I really love baked veggies too. What's your favorite to prepare?
I think usually we enjoy a medley. Winter squash, zucchini, onion, garlic, red pepper, carrot. It varies but something like that!
Roasted garlic! I used to do that more often. Thank you for the reminder!
One of my personal goals this year to to master cooking. I make things from scratch but it's more the traditional foods. I can make a mean taco (using homemade mix) but that's because I found a recipe online. I really want to learn more traditional ways of preparing food! Having finally gotten a stove I can work on this skill and you just reminded me to work on the vegetables!!
I'm so glad you finally got a stove! (It had been a while coming, right?) I didn't know how to cook, really, once I graduated college--it's been a slow-growing series of trial and error. I remember being terrified of trying to make homemade perogis, but now we do it all the time.
I still use online recipes as launching points, but I feel comfortable enough with how we eat that I can edit the ingredients as I go to make it appropriate food for us (whole wheat/low sugar/ etc). It will become easier and more fun as you go. :)
Haha yes! I never want to do that again. I've been cooking from scratch since I was a teen but I can't just throw ingredients together and make something yummy. I'm really attracted to meals made with whole foods that don't require a lot of spices. If you've ever seen the cooking videos from Elliot Homestead those made me want to get up and cook!!
My gosh, the Elliot Homestead. I love how simple some of her recipes are, but she makes them look so dang amazing. Maybe it's just because anything that starts with cast iron + butter is starting to become a weakness of mine, haha.
haha I just love the fact that foods are being used. Hardly any spices. All things you can make
I hated eating any kind of cooked veggies when I was a kid. They tasted awful! I stir fry, caramelise, grill on an open flame, or roast all my veggies now. I also eat a lot of raw veg too. At least they don't taste and look like mush!
Ohhhh....grilling veggies over an open flame is amazing. That should be on the list! There's so much potential to be had with all the fantastic textures and flavors in the veggie world--rendering anything into grey-green goo is just a shame.
Great list! I really don't know how the old-style cookbooks got ahold of the idea that you should cook vegetables as if they were spaghetti. Could it be a legacy technique from the days when veggies were sometimes overripe?
Anyhoo, that's just trivia.
That's an interesting question! I have no idea. I gather that, in part, some of it might be from the culture gleaning off of a new wife's fear of not knowing how to cook. The book I was reading was written with that sort of tone "Husbands rave over these cheesy peas!" etc, and so I assume boiling was an accessible means of doing the "healthy" thing.
Could be...I was wondering about the instruction to boil in salted water.
I don't boil most of our veggies either, since I know that it eliminates so much of their nutritional content. We usually steam ours, which I noticed wasn't on your list. Is that bad too?
To be honest, I don't have a lot of experience steaming veggies! I certainly don't think it's a bad means of preparing them nutritionally, though--all the stuff that's in them stays in them, rather than being poured off. This is certainly not an exhaustive list though, haha! I still have lots to learn.