Veggie Month: The Month After

I made it.

Sure, I might not have blogged on February 27, but rest assured that, along with Veronika, I ate fried green tomatoes here, and loved them.

This month-long experiment had a bigger effect on me than I'd anticipated in late January.

I thought I'd improve my knife skills, patronize new sections of Vons' produce section, and have some tasty meals.

I already eat a lot of vegetables. But I eat the same ones. My worst offense is Costco's 5lb bag of broccoli, cauliflower, and two types of carrots. This is my staple. And while it's tasty, and cheap, it's only three vegetables. There are so many more out there.

After the first week of February, I was in a rhythm. I looked forward to cooking up heaps of leafy greens, or experimenting with a new stir fry sauce, or Googling a vegetable to see just what I had bought.

I think this will change the way I cook and eat. And I'm all the better for it.

Veggie Month: Opo Squash

Apparently opo squash is used in Asian cooking. I made an Italian-style dish that was a rif on this recipe. I used jar pasta sauce, and included carrots. It reminds me of the ratatouille my family used to get at Rosine's; the opo squash tastes a lot like eggplant. This would probably be good over pasta, or with ground turkey, but I ate it alone.

(Has a saute pan ever been so well documented in such a short amount of time? Or, for that matter, a dog over a blog's lifetime?)

Veggie Month: Spinach

(Shown minus the first of many pieces that would be eaten tonight.)

I made this recipe in December for my end-of-class party. The students ate the whole thing, so Bryan didn't get to try it.

Tonight, he had two servings. (Me, too.)

The only changes I made to this recipe were to use egg whites and skip the butter. It still had enough good stuff to make it tasty--cheese and a pie crust--but wasn't too dense like quiche can sometimes be.

Veggie Month: Tomatillos

(Make sure you rinse off all the stick stuff underneath the wrappers.)

You have got to try this.

Bryan and I made an approximation of this Tomatillo Salad--without the jalapeno or fresh ginger, but with artichoke hearts. Delish.

Next time, we'll add sliced almonds. Someone invite us to a barbecue so we can bring this salad.

(I like when I exceed my expectations.)

Veggie Month: Radishes

(Radish "chips.")

Let's just say I wouldn't make these again. It's not that they're completely terrible--they're coated in chili powder, garlic salt, and paprika--but they aren't exactly tasty, either. Nor are they terribly crisp.

Veggie Month: Piloncillo/Panela

Today's ingredient is essentially brown sugar, but it counts as a vegetable because I found it in the produce section. Let me explain:

I chose a box of three brown cones with the name "piloncillo." Since there was no explanation, I assumed they were a tuber. Once I got them home, a Google search explained that they are made from sugar cane. Sugar cane is a plant. Lots of plants are vegetables. Which makes piloncillo a vegetable. See?

If you don't agree with my logic, you'll at least agree that fruits cooked in a sugar syrup are delicious. So let's get right to it.

This recipe is courtesy of Elaina Rodriguez, who gave it to V over the phone while we wandered the awesome aisles of Cost Plus.

I dissolved one cone in hot water, and let it reduce:

Then I put a little oil, sliced bananas, and some syrup in a pan and let it saute. (Afterwards, I realized that I'd forgotten the cinnamon and cloves):

Bryan came home right as I was cooking these, so I shared. Which was a good thing. Because I'll always share with him, and because these are really sweet.

Veggie Month: Sunchokes/Jerusalem Artichokes

(They're related to the sunflower, but I don't buy that anymore than the idea that Manet's the Father of Impressionism. I don't see it.)

In researching sunchokes online, I kept reading that they can be eaten raw. And I suppose they can. One can probably eat shoe leather, too, but I wouldn't recommend it.

After one raw bite, I decided to sauté them in water with celery and Omaha Steak Seasoning. If this meal weren't going to be on the Internet, they probably would've been microwaved and dunked in ketchup. But I'm glad I didn't.

(This dish is good by itself, or as a starchy base for last night's leftover okra stew.)

Veggie Month: Okra

(It's a good sign when your husband wants seconds.)

I've always been a little leery of okra. Probably because I never had many opportunities to eat it as a kid.

But this meal is one of my favorite of the month (the chayote stir fry will be a dinner regular after February's long gone).

I had been about to fill a produce bag with $4.99/lb. fresh okra when I remembered the bags of frozen stuff I'd been seeing and passing up for years. So I went to the next aisle over and picked up a 1.25-lb. bag for $1.99.

Adapted from a recipe on the bag of generic Safeway frozen okra:

3 tbsp. olive oil

1 chopped onion

1/2 c. chopped celery

3 cloves minced garlic

1 (20 oz.) package frozen cut okra

1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes

1/2 lb. ground turkey

chili powder

red pepper flakes

1 bay leaf

salt

Sautee onion and celery in oil until light brown. Add garlic, okra, and tomatoes. Cook five minutes, then add ground turkey and seasonings. Let simmer until ready. Serve plain, or over rice, pasta, or tortilla chips.

Veggie Month: Carrots

Since my backyard carrots won't be mature by month's end:

I purchased a bag at the grocery store.

And because carrots are a common vegetable, I didn't want to simply steam them, or dip them in ranch dressing.

So I shredded one cup, and added it to Duncan Hines dark chocolate fudge brownie mix.

The result is something like chocolate-carrot cake. Perhaps the extra moisture from the carrots made them less fudgey than usual. And I know what's usual for this brownie mix; it's my party dessert staple.

(These would be even better with chocolate chips.

And, while I'm at it, topped with ice cream, whipped cream, nuts, and a cherry.)

Veggie Month: Bok Choy

(Ten cups of bok choy cooked down to three.)

Today I got around to what I couldn't yesterday. Braised bok choy, which is a simple recipe that Bryan and I put together in ten minutes. He's an excellent chopper, and I'm liberal with the molasses.

And for Marc: the riddle of vegetables and fruits is unraveled. Cover your kids' eyes, though. It's for mature audiences.

From Ask Yahoo: A fruit is actually the sweet, ripened ovary or ovaries of a seed-bearing plant. A vegetable, in contrast, is an herbaceous plant cultivated for an edible part (seeds, roots, stems, leaves, bulbs, tubers, or nonsweet fruits). So, to be really nitpicky, a fruit could be a vegetable, but a vegetable could not be a fruit.

Bonus explanation to Sunday's question: a nut is, "a dry, one-seeded, usually oily fruit."

Veggie Month: Green Onions -- and One Book, One San Diego

Can I get a "Ground Hog Day" do-over?

I had plans for today's vegetable. Big plans. Big bok choy plans. But the day got away from me.

Some short article assignments. Lunch with Marc, V, and V's mom at Spices. A long trainer session with the Olympics. (The DVR is a remarkable thing. By fast-forwarding through figure skating, a marginally motivated triathlete can--literally--spin for hours without getting bored.)

And then I headed off to the One Book, One San Diego kick-off event.

During the video introduction, an African girl spoke of making samosas with her family. Which are pastries that can be filled with--among other things--potatoes, onions, and peas. I just may attempt one of these for a veggie later in the month.

In talking about Outcasts United, Warren St. John said it's been his experience that the diversity training that's so pervasive in America doesn't work. Rather than formally talking about and celebratig people's differences, they should instead simply find a commonality, and work together on it. In the case of these refugee kids in Georgia--and the longtime Georgian residents--that commonality is soccer.

Outcasts United isn't an easy read--because its issues aren't easy--but it's worthwhile. Especially if you're a San Diegan; read it and be "in the know."

(A hazy, non-flash Warren St. John.)

So I'm backtracking, and using the green onions from lunch for today's vegetable:

(Cashew nut and tofu curry, spice #2.)

In tomorrow's post, at Marc's request: I will differentiate between fruits and vegetables.

Veggie Month: Turnips

(Eating them in your PJs is the way to go.)

I used this recipe, which is essentially for breaded turnips fries. Then I added a little Essence to kick the fries up a notch. Bryan had the bright idea of dipping them in apple sauce.

KK is cooking turnips next door tonight, too. Tomorrow's we'll compare notes--or the reactions of our husbands--and see whose recipe won.

From Wikipedia: Pliny the Elder writes that he considered the turnip one of the most important vegetables of his day, rating it "directly after cereals or at all events after the bean, since its utility surpasses that of any other plant."

So suck it, lima beans.

Veggie Month: Celery

(Grandpa with his bowl of chicken--and celery!--soup.)

I admit. These last few days I've been slacking with my vegetables. While I've been eating a different one each day, I've been letting the veggies come to me--usually in the form of a restaurant menu--rather than buying and preparing them myself.

I didn't prepare today's vegetable, either--celery--but I did drive two and a half hours to get it at my Grandpa's place. Mark and I both agreed the chicken soup was pretty tasty. I think it was the celery.

Wikipedia celery fun fact: A salt made from an extract of celery roots is used in Bloody Marys, Chicago hot dogs, and Old Bay Seasoning.

Veggie Month: Frisée Lettuce

(Frisée lettuce, as part of a Valentine's Day four-course dinner, at Eclipse Chocolat [full menu here].)

Half-way through Veggie month!

Veggie Month: Garlic

(Garlic grilling on the left of the zucchini slices.)

(How I miss teaching ESL.)

Garlic at a Korean BBQ.

Dinner conversation included a discussion of whether garlic's a fruit, vegetable, or a nut. Since it's in the onion family, it's gotta be a veggie, which means it counts for February 13th's vegetable.

Veggie Month: Asparagus

(Not a stir fry.)

Veggie Month: Chayote

(Don't these look like a denture-less grandma?)

(I feel like I need to apologize for the tofu's dingy color.)

Stray Carrier Pigeon: testing the produce you see in the grocery store but are too afraid to try.

And since I've been a stir-frying fool lately, I cooked two chayote up with carrots and tofu in a hoisin sauce with extra ginger.

I won't mentions all the different names of this vegetable--for that you can check Wikipedia--but it makes sense that so many cultures eat it. It's a simple starchy squash that's easy to cook. It must be peeled, and although I hear its seed can be eaten, I took it out. I think I ate it in Belize at Erva's. The closest comparison I can make is to breadfruit.

Has anyone else eaten chayote? How did you prepare it?

Veggie Month: String Beans

(Halfway through the salad. Since life is uncertain I ate the beets

first. One green bean is left at the top of the plate.)

String beans, raw, eaten in a roasted beet salad. I usually like my green veggies cooked (spinach, broccoli) but these were tasty.

As I type this, I wonder if the correct term are "string" or "green" beans. A Wikipedia check says that either is acceptable. So now we know.

Veggie Month: Broccolini

Broccolini, stir-fried with carrots and tofu in a hoisin sauce. This vegetable is 15% broccoli floret, 75% asparagus spear. Which is 100% delicious.

Veggie Month: Red Tomato

One roma tomato, cut into chunks and eaten on a salad.