roasted veggies Archives - Cheryl Brunette

2009-10-042017-05-19

Beauty is Food, Food Beauty (with apologies to Keats)

There is a story told about Albert Einstein. He was asked by a reporter something to the effect of, “What do you think is the most important question facing us today? “His answer was close to this: ‘The most important question a person can ask is, ‘Is the Universe a friendly place?'”

My answer is yes, this is a benevolent universe . . . and here’s a piece of evidence to support that choice:

Romanesco. It’s a broccoli/cauliflower of sorts. I think I’ll roast it . . . probably over 3 or 4 days as it’s quite large. But for now . . . I’m just going to admire it.

Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.’

Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

from Ode on a Grecian Urn John Keats

2009-10-032017-05-19

The 21st century North American hunter-gatherer . . .

“Hunter-gatherers hunt game and collect plant foods (called foraging) rather than grow or tend crops. Hunter-gatherers is the term used by anthropologists to describe a specific kind of lifestyle, that of all human beings until the invention of agriculture about 8000 years ago.” (About.com)

Unless you “grow or tend crops” that provide almost all of your own food, you are a hunter-gatherer. The important questions for you are . . .

where do you hunt and gather your food and . . .
what do you find?

I’ve lived in the same place for almost 30 years but prior to settling here I bounced around like a ping-pong ball. And one of the first things I did at each of the dozen+ places I lived as a young adult was to find my local food sources. I’ve been a hunter-gatherer most of my life and I suspect you are too.

So what are your food sources? McDonald’s? Safeway? Kroger? The Saturday morning Farmers’ Market? Costco? Your neighbor’s garden? Your mom’s cupboards? The dormitory cafeteria? The cafeteria at your work? Whole Foods? Family Market? Elevated Ice Cream? Ralph’s Pretty Good Grocery? Don’s Pharmacy (which has a lunch counter)? Starbucks? Pedro’s Fiesta Jalisco Restaurant? The convenience market at the local gas station?

I decided to look back at my food sources for the past couple of weeks. The variety and abundance of my sources are stunning.

Let’s see . . .

I visited 2 friends in 2 days and each gave me food. Get a load of these beautiful gifts:

The eggs and tomatoes are teeny-tiny and were given to me by a dear woman who is, herself, teeny-tiny.

The Asian pears (two varieties) and corn (two varieties) were from a married pair of friends. He grew the corn, she tends the orchard. The pears were juicy and sweet and the corn . . .

The red one was so beautiful (look at the red in the corn silk) that I shucked it . . .

sat down in the sunshine next to my porch angel . . .

and ate it raw. It was sweet and delicate and tender.

I roasted the other ear with some zucchini and the rest of the purple cauliflower

and. . . FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ALL MY VEGGIE ROASTING EXPERIMENTS I FOUND ONE THAT DIDN’T ROAST WELL. Roasting the corn after it was shucked made it tough and not so good. I have eaten this same variety roasted on the barbecue in the husks after it had been soaked in water and it was delicious.

You can try it and see what you think, but I’m going back to my Midwest family way of preparing it. Grandma put the water on to boil before Grandpa went out to pick the corn. By the time they shucked it the water (which had a pinch of sugar, not salt) was boiling. Drop the corn in. Bring the water back to a boil. Let it boil for only 3 or 4 or 5 minutes and you’re done. Take the corn out of the hot water and put it on a platter. Roll it in butter. Salt and pepper it and . . . enjoy a taste of Heaven.

But back to the point . . . looking at food sources.

I have two neighbors on the island who grow fruits and vegetables and sell them from stands. Neither is certified as an “organic” farm, but both use organic, non-chemical practices to grow their food. That, and a lot of love.

One is self-serve (put your money in the cigar box) and at the other, which is right next to their house, you get a mini-visit and some conversation. This is my haul from both a couple of days ago:Three kinds of tomatoes or more (I’m very fond of tomatoes), mild peppers (like poblanos but I forget their names), a couple of zucchinis and a couple of small and wonderful “winter” squashes and a large bunch of parsley (I’m embarrassed to say I don’t have parsley growing at home . . . I mean I have over 3 acres . . . but that’s another story and I’m grateful I can buy very fresh and very local.)

OK . . . those are my quaint and colorful sources . . . but within the past couple of weeks I’ve also gotten food from the Port Hadlock QFC , the Nordland General Store (I go here almost every day because this is also the home of my post office where I receive my mail and daily connection to my community), the Food Co-op, Costco, Sunny Farms , World Peace Produce and at least one restaurant.

This is a lot of resources. Part of it is that I’m over-buying food right now. It’s high harvest time and I come from a family that “put up” most of their own food to last through the winter. I’m freezing and storing and years ago I was making sauerkraut with my ma and grandma and aunts at this time of year.

The other part of over-buying is that I’m feeling anxious. I”m researching and writing about food and even giving advice which I generally do not like to do, and I feel myself drifting toward a vegan diet. Yet I’m still teaching people how to make chicken soup. In fact . . . I bought two chickens on a deep sale yesterday ($.69 per pound versus the regular $1.79 per pound), put one in the freezer and will make a BIG pot of chicken soup with the other and will post about it.

This conflict will resolve itself, I’m sure. Meanwhile, I’m not sleeping as well as I usually do. Change is never comfortable. Not ever. And yet, if we don’t change and grow we are, essentially, dead. And sometimes change feels more dramatic than at other times. I’m in one of those “big shift” phases.

But about you . . . where do you get your food? Do you even think about it? (I didn’t until I wrote this post.) What about the quality of that food? How much do you prepare? How much is prepared for you? How much is real food? (Let me reiterate . . . real food does not come in a box and chemicals are not a food group.)

For the next week (or even two or three) please pay attention to your food sources. Then tell me about them in your comments. I am curious about how you experience your hunting and gathering. This is such a fundamental part of being a human and yet we usually do it on automatic pilot . . . at least I did until I started getting serious about this project to help young people feed themselves inexpensively, simply and nutritiously when they go out on their own.

Thank you for being willing to help me understand the complex relationship we have to food in this time and place.

2009-09-062009-09-06

Roasted “spaghetti sauce”

Rarely am I inspired to invent a new dish but it recently hit me one night. I love roasted veggies, and I love pasta so what if I . . . ? And thus “roasted marinara sauce” was born.

Marinara is the tomato-based sauce we think of as typical spaghetti sauce. When I lived with the boys I simmered vats of it on the stove and it went into lasagne and onto various kinds of pasta.

But I realize, I’m not that fond of regular spaghetti sauce. Some of it is better than other of it, and every once in a while I’ll make a batch of chicken cacciatore (here’s a simple and typical recipe) and freeze it in single portions so that I can have a quick hit of Americanized Italian, but I don’t cook it for a regular meal.

So here was my thought. Take the veggies you normally put into spaghetti sauce and put them in your roasting pan: garlic cloves, onion (red in this case because it’s what I had “open” in the fridge), tomatoes and red and green bell peppers. Sprinkle them with a little dried oregano and basil as well as salt and pepper. Don’t forget the olive oil.

(Notice the wonky tomato cutting. I was experimenting so I cut one in slices the long way, one in crosswise slices and I quartered the third one. I’m pointing this out so you’ll gain confidence. There’s no one “right” way to do it. Just keep the pieces roughly the same size. Very roughly.)

Then roast them just as we did for regular roasted veggies.When they’re done they look like this.And while they were roasting, I cooked and drained the pasta (whole grain in this case) and put it in a beautiful bowl made by a local artist.

I timed it pretty well. It takes about 10 minutes for the pasta to cook and I don’t know, 5 or so minutes for the water to boil. I didn’t pay attention to this part. I just sort of know how to make it come out at the same time after much experience but you can wait 8 or 9 minutes after you get the veggies roasting to start the water. Depends on the speed of your stove, the type pot you use, etc. You’ll get the rhythm of it just by paying attention.

Then I tossed it together.

CAUTION: THIS CAN CAUSE WEIGHT GAIN IF YOU’RE A LITTLE PIGGY. It was so wonderful that I ate 2/3 of it at once and it was about four healthy-sized servings.

It’s best to invite a hungry friend to help save you from gluttony. Or at least that works for me.

2009-09-052022-06-25

Roasted veggies once a day . . .

Fresh vegetables are everywhere right now. Summer squash, cabbage, green beans, peppers sweet and hot, broccoli, tomatoes, beets, new potatoes, garlic, onions, corn, cukes, turnips . . . it’s happy high harvest season on the island and at your local produce stand. And what to do with all this bounty? Roast ’em.

Singing the praises of roasting veggies

It’s a simple technique.
It can be applied to dozens of different kinds of vegetables.
You can do it in a toaster oven.
It brings out the best in every vegetable. Delicious!
It’s fast.
It’s foolproof.
Once you do it 3 or 4 times, it will become second nature for you.

The Process

Prepare the particular vegetable by washing and drying (or shaking the water off of it), peeling if necessary, and chopping into fairly small pieces. (Don’t worry. There are lots of pictures to follow this explanation.)
Put them in a pan and drizzle with a GOOD extra virgin olive oil. Dust with salt and pepper.
Swirl them around in the pan to spread out the olive oil and coat the veggie pieces better.
Put in toaster oven (or regular oven if you have a bigger pan and family) and roast at 425º for about 20 to 25 minutes. After about 15 minutes, remove the pan and stir and flip the veggies around a bit and put it back in until they’re “done.”

Some illustrations

Your basic tool besides a sharp knife or two and a cutting board is an oven. I live alone for now and use my trusty toaster oven. It’s pretty good sized and the pan that came with it, which you will see over and over, is about 9″ by 10″.

Then you need the three essential condiments:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I don’t care what brand (though Spectrum and Trader Joe’s have some great ones). I buy what’s on sale before I run out and have the new bottle in the cupboard. My favorite is First Cold Press and organic. Whatever you buy for this should be a deep, flavorful green. It’s expensive compared to other oils, yes, but it’s a great value and it will make the quality of your food soar for a small investment. A little goes a long way.
Salt . . . sea salt or kosher salt. These are real. The common, pourable “table salt” has other chemicals in it. Again, a little more expensive, but important for quality and health.
Pepper . . . freshly ground. As in, you should have a pepper mill. I bought mine in the Dansk store in Copenhagen in 1970. It still works smoothly and gracefully. Always buy the best quality tool you can afford.

I’ve told you before that there are dozens of online movies and illustrations to show you how to clean an onion or mushroom and I don’t want to duplicate that. I want to get you thinking about preparing food in a “global” way rather than thinking that you need to follow a recipe.

Roasting veggies is a technique that can be applied in a bajillion ways. Here are some examples to whet your imagination.

In Spring, mid-April, asparagus is in season. Crimini mushrooms (baby portabellas), onions and cabbage are always available. Notice the olive oil drizzled on top.

I stuck this pan into the oven set at 425º.

After about 15 minutes I took it out. Notice that there is steam coming off of it (fresh veggies have a high water content). The cabbage has begun to turn brown around the edges and the mushrooms have shrunk a lot.

Then I stirred and flipped it a bit, and put the pan back into the oven.

About 10 minutes later I had roasted veggies.

Here are more before and after pictures . . .

Asparagus+criminis+cauliflower beforeand after.

In May peppers were on sale for a dollar each. Beforeand after.

Here are zucchini and broccoli.still steaming . . . Zucc+-brocc after

Zucchini and green beans. Note the pepper. I was in a peppery mood that day.

One more combo: zucchini, cauliflower and red pepper.

Enough already!

. . . with the pictures. I have successfully roasted everything you see above plus carrots, eggplant, tomatoes, potatoes, turnips, sweet potatoes, black radish, and some I’m sure I’ve forgotten.

I started doing this only about a dozen years ago with potatoes, garlic and fresh rosemary and I fell in love with them. Because I’m basically a lazy cook, I eat roasted veggies 5 to 7 days a week as one of my meals.

If you don’t like canned or “boiled” vegetables, it’s a sign of your good taste. Now try these. I’m serious! If you’re still skeptical, start with the potatoes with big fresh garlic chunks or whole cloves and fresh rosemary if you have it. To die for . . .

I have to go. A gorgeous purple cauliflower is calling my name. She asked me to hook her up with the purple pole beans she met in the fridge. I’m throwing in a couple carrots to chaperone. ARE THESE THREE NOT GORGEOUS?

In food, as in all things, beauty counts.