What to put on veggies besides cheese?

[momofkhm]

I want to steam veggies tomorrow night with friends coming over. She always puts cheese on them (which is great!), but dairy is giving me problems lately. What else works well? It will be broccoli and cauliflower.

 

Thanks!

[OnTheBrink]

a little butter and lemon taste good on steamed veggies. Just enough butter to lightly toss, not a huge glob. Maybe sautee some garlic in the butter, toss on the veggies and then squeeze some lemon juice. Delish!

[Emilylou]

I love steamed veggies with butter and fresh dill... yummy!

[The Governess]

Brocolli is great with garlic. You could steam it until it's almost cooked through, then saute it with some olive oil and maybe a little butter and pressed garlic for a few minutes. Yum!! I haven't done this with cauliflower though.

[Spy Car]

I prefer my broccoli unsullied by cheese, butter, or other flavoring as they interfere with the natural goodness of this delicious vegetable.

 

*ducks*

 

Bill (Mr Natural :D)

[Danestress]

and tossing the vegetables in that? Edited to add that I meant warm them in olive oil!

Edited February 17, 2009 by Danestress

[kalanamak]

<this is an old post of mine to a cooking group. The one I call "my favourite" is gado-godo and one of the reasons I love it is that it can be put over hot, warm or cold steamed veggies of many sorts. The "we" is me and my ex. Begin paste>

 

Some hints followed by recipes (all gleaned from old posts of mine):

1) Don't make it too thick. As it sits, it will get thicker.

2) Don't overdue lime or lime-peel, as its taste will grow more

pervasive with time. If you use lime, and feel the sauce needs some

kick, and you've reached the dose in the recipe, add a couple drops of

chinese vinegar instead.

3) If you get a wild idea about adding ground galangal, etc, try adding

a snippet to a spoonful, and tasting THAT first, instead of adding it to

the whole bowl.

4) Puree well. Don't, however, break your machine by putting in the

peanut butter first. Add the liquids, and then start adding the peanut

butter. The first bit of liquid that is added to peanut butter does not

loosen it, but emulsifies the oil (I'm guessing here) and makes

spackling putty out of it.

5) We use unsalted unaltered peanut butter, not Jiffy.

6) Always have a bit of veggie in the dish....scallions, cucks, mung

bean sprouts. The palate craves a shot of moisture while masticating

peanut sauce.

7) we try to add the stock while it's hot.

 

From Moosewood Cooks At Home:

2 T fresh lime juice

1 T fresh lime peel (we cut back on this)

1/2 Cup peanut butter

2 teas brown sugar

1 cup veggie stock

1/2 teas salt

3 cloves garlic minced

 

Now then, more chinesey sauces would use soysauce and rice or perhaps

dark vinegar instead of the lime and salt. We also always add a bit of

ginger, without any fibers of course. WE also tend to add minced

chilipepper, but that's us. We have used no citrus, but pineapple juice

instead of veggie stock, in a recipe with LOTS of fire. I am partial to

minced shallots being added. If you want to use soy sauce, but desire a

light coloured product, use USU KUCHI soy sauce, made by kikkomen. We

put two parts peanut butter and on part sesame paste when we go the

soysauce/rice vinegar route. Also, as both of us like eat lots of food,

and therefore dislike rich food that prevents several more courses being

craved, we tend to make our sauce strong with garlic, peppers, etc, and

use less of it on the noodles.

 

Here is another that has been a spring-board for some good ones:

(From "From the Earth")

 

5 T veggie stock

1 teas sesame paste

3 T peanut butter

2 teas rice vinegar

2 T mushroom soy sauce

1 1/2 teas red pepper flakes from the bottom of a pan of making pepper

oil by heating peanut oil very hot and throwing in hot pepper flakes and

leaving them soak over night (I do the throwing outdoors to prevent

throat spasms in both me and the cat)

1 T sugar

white pepper to taste

2 T minced white of scallions

Garnish dish with fresh coriander leaves.

 

Quick Peanut Sauce

3 T unsweetened peanut butter (I used Adam's Creamy), 2 T rice vinegar,

1 T chopped cilantro, a fat, fat clove of garlic, crushed well, 2 teas

soy sauce, 1 teas light brown sugar, 1/2 teas chili oil (I used fresh

thai chili and a dribble of sesame oil).

 

My favourite:

one cup raw peanuts, deepfried and ground

4 shallots, salt and pepper, fresh chilis, 2 cloves garlic, ground raw

and then fried till aromatic in a T of oil.

Add a teas of sugar and 2 cups water, bring to a boil, add ground

peanuts and simmer till thick. Add 2 T lime juice.

 

I recently read about a variation being to add a half of a very ripe,

mashed banana just before serving. This was Indonesian in origin.

 

Of note, one can mix the "non-spoiling" parts, like peanuts and vinegar

and peppers and sugar and soysauce, etc, keep this in the fridge for a

long time, and then bring out as much as you want and add the spoilable

parts (garlic, shallots, veggie stock, etc) to that amount and use.

[RoughCollie]

We eat steamed veggies plain -- nothing added. I think they taste better that way, and so far, no complaints.

[Rosie_0801]

Stir fried with garlic is always good, but if you want to steam, try dabbing the tops with light miso. I got a miso cookbook for Christmas and we've been having fun with it.

 

:)

Rosie

[E_Edgerton]

a little garlic infused oil....any infused oil for that matter, you may want to look into them at a specialty store or making them yourself. I love fresh lemon juice with olive oil over most any veg and of course a little salt and pepper to taste.

[CactusPair]

We like ours plain, but the olive oil, lemon and herbs or garlic sound pretty good. Butter's kind of rich. I'd probably just squirt some lemon juice on them, but that's me.

 

Have fun!

[HSMom2One]

a little garlic infused oil....any infused oil for that matter, you may want to look into them at a specialty store or making them yourself. I love fresh lemon juice with olive oil over most any veg and of course a little salt and pepper to taste.

 

If it were me, I'd toss with this dressing and then place it all in the oven on a tray to roast. We roast a lot of veggies, including broccoli and cauliflower. All you do is put them on a tray (single layer) and roast at 425 degrees for about 10-15 minutes. They should be just a bit golden around the edges to taste the best. Cloves of fresh garlic would be good. too.

 

Bon appetite!

Lucinda

[EKS]

Broccoli is good with a little melted butter (or margerine) and lemon juice. Just mix it with the broccoli before serving.

[LaxMom]

If it were me, I'd toss with this dressing and then place it all in the oven on a tray to roast. We roast a lot of veggies, including broccoli and cauliflower. All you do is put them on a tray (single layer) and roast at 425 degrees for about 10-15 minutes. They should be just a bit golden around the edges to taste the best. Cloves of fresh garlic would be good. too.

 

Bon appetite!

Lucinda

I agree. Roasting concentrates the flavor sooooo much, and makes the edges a little crispy.... mmmmm, I'm drooling just thinking about it.

[lynn]

Experiment with different spices. Curry, oregano, lemon pepper, garlic powder, mint, lawry's season salt or mrs dash.

[Guest Katia]

If it were me, I'd toss with this dressing and then place it all in the oven on a tray to roast. We roast a lot of veggies, including broccoli and cauliflower. All you do is put them on a tray (single layer) and roast at 425 degrees for about 10-15 minutes. They should be just a bit golden around the edges to taste the best. Cloves of fresh garlic would be good. too.

 

Bon appetite!

Lucinda

 

I have been roasting our veggies here as of late as well. They are scrumptious! Dh was hesitant to try them at first. I made broccoli roasted with garlic, a pinch of salt and pepper, and drizzled in olive oil. One bite and he was hooked. Now, it is his very favorite veg that I make!

 

I vote for you roasting them.....as a matter of fact.....I think I'll roast some for our supper tonight!

[MyThreeSons]

We eat steamed veggies plain -- nothing added. I think they taste better that way, and so far, no complaints.

 

I prefer that my veggies remain on the crunchy side. I really don't like mushy veggies.

[LadyR]

Olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and garlic powder OR olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and raw pumpkin seeds. These are my two favorites.

[Stacey in MA]

Also, a friend once sauted broccoli for me in oil, salt and CINNAMON! I thought it was very odd sounding, since I always associated cinnamon with dessert things. But it is a VERY nice and different taste, and when I do saute (any veggie) now I often use cinnamon. (I mostly steam though, to avoid the oil).

 

Maybe try a little batch to see if you like it?

 

:-)