Simple Sauteed Vegetables

Simple Sauteed Vegetables


This recipe is long overdue for my sweet friend Emily who is learning to cook and is wanting to introduce more vegetables into her family meals.  She had sauteed squash at a meeting luncheon we attended in April and thought it was amazing.  I assured her it was simple, simple, and I would provide more specific instructions.  Here's what I do (this time with Brennan's help).

These are the beautiful vegetables that Mary brought to Brennan and me last week (along with fun family movies!).  We sliced everything up kind of thick - organic squash, zucchini, kohlrabi (my first time!), and peppers. 


You can either spray the hot saute pan with olive oil spray or pour a little olive oil into the pan with the vegetables.  Spread them out and cook them on each side about 5 minutes.

We sprinkle them with garlic powder, sea salt, and black pepper for a little flavor.

The red potatoes I did separately because the other vegetables had already started and I knew these would take a few minutes longer, being thicker.  We sauteed them with fresh rosemary from Mary's garden.  

 

Then we tossed all the vegetables together, added a little fresh parsley and a touch more sea salt and served.  We also microwave the leftovers the next day.

 

 

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Enjoy!

Nishime Vegetables

Nishime Cooked Vegetables

 

 

Nishime (Ni-SHEE-may) is a style of cooking vegetables that allows the veggies to cook in their own juices, with very little water.  My understanding is that Nishime typically means "Waterless Cooking".  I have read about this style of cooking in a number of places and decided to try it out.

 

You can use just about any vegetables in Nishime, but the ones I see recommended the most often are in the Leafy, Root, and Round vegetable categories.

 

Leafy Suggestions:

Bok Choy, Cabbage, Turnip or Mustard Greens, Kale, Leeks

 

Root Suggestions:

Burdock, Carrots, Daikon Radish, Other Radishes, Parsnips

 

Round Vegetables:

Any Squash or Pumpkin, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower, Rutabaga, Turnips, Shiitakes

 

 

The suggestion I saw most commonly for Nishime is to choose 3 vegetables to cook together.

 

Last night I cooked Napa Cabbage, Daikon Radish, and Acorn Squash - and it was a hit!

 

I will certainly use this style of cooking regularly!

 

Every recipe I read for Nishime Vegetables included a piece of Kombu sea vegetable.

I never did get a reason for why it's important, but I figured it was so I purchased Eden brand Kombu at my local natural foods store.  It should last me quite a while!

 

 

I placed a piece of Kombu in my pot and barely covered the bottom of the pot with water.

Some directions say no more than 1/4 inch of water.  Just enough to barely cover the bottom.

 

 

Then I layered my three vegetables on top of the kombu.

The fastest cooking is placed on the bottom, and the longest cooking is placed at the top.

So I placed the Napa Cabbage, then the Daikon, then the Acorn Squash.

 

(I'll use larger chunks of Napa next time)

I sprinkled a little sea salt on top and covered the pot, bringing the vegetables to a boil.

Then (without lifting the lid) I reduced it to simmer for 20 minutes.

 

Then I added a few drops of soy sauce and re-covered the pot for 5 more minutes.

 

And the vegetables were done!

I understand that if there is liquid in the bottom of the pot, then I may have started with too much to begin with.  I'll reduce my water even more next time.

 

Drain and serve.

 

Very much like steaming, the vegetables were sweet and thoroughly cooked and had a comforting feel to them.  A great way to serve vegetables!

 

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どうぞめしあがれ (douzo meshiagare) (Japanese for Bon Appetit!)

 

 

Cod with Sauteed Vegetables

Cod with Sauteed Vegetables

The other night Thomas asked for fish.  We don't eat a ton of meat at our house, so when someone asks for it, I am happy to make it.  And we all enjoy fish and seafood here!

Our family favorites are tilapia and salmon.  I decided to try out a different fish this time, and found this recipe for Cod and Sauteed Vegetables in the book Awakening Beauty.

I modified the recipe somewhat, making it easier on me!

Thomas decided he prefers tilapia over cod, and couldn't stomach the sauteed vegetables because they were "contaminated" with mushrooms.  Although - he bravely finished both his fish (using our homemade Smoky BBQ Sauce) and "non-fungus veggies".

David and I liked it and I'll certainly make it again!

I placed two cod fillets on a baking sheet and sprinkled them with Kosher salt and pepper, then baked them at 350* for about 22 minutes.

While they were cooking, I started on the sauteed vegetables.

Issue #1 - the recipe calls for shredded carrots and zucchini, but I got confused.  Long grates like with a peeler/grater, or short shreds like with a cheese shredder?  I wasn't sure and it was taking forever.

 ???

So, I decided that julienne cuts would be best.  See below - long carrot shreds, short carrot shreds, and julienned carrots.  I call that "adding texture".

Issue #2 - The original recipe calls for a zucchini.  I stopped by my least favorite place (Wal-Mart) to pick up something else, and thought I'd just grab a zucchini while I was there.  Turns out - they were completely out of zucchini (how is that possible???) so we went with a yellow squash instead.

Issue #3 - I was only supposed to use 1 cup of sliced mushrooms, but David came home from work and kissed me and I forgot what I was doing.  So I ended up slicing all my mushrooms and just went ahead and tossed them in.  Whatever.

 

The vegetables sauteed in olive oil (original recipe calls for butter), with garlic, green onion, and sesame seeds. 

I squeezed a little lemon over the final product.

And David and I liked it - the vegetables were still crisp, and had lots of flavor.

And even contaminated with double the fungus, it was still very good!

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Enjoy!

Adzuki Bean Stew

Gillian McKeith's

Adzuki Bean Stew

When I found this recipe in one of Gillian McKeith's cookbooks, I decided to try it even though I wasn't thinking it would be a family favorite.

Japanese adzuki beans, butternut squash, leeks, and kale.  What do you think?

Surprisingly, it was a hit.  David has mentioned a couple of times that he liked it a lot.

Even Brennan ate a bowl, and asked for more. 

In the cookbook, the opening line for this recipe is, "If you want to lose weight, this is the dish for you."  Well, OK!

The author is from the UK, and I believe some of their vegetables may be different from ours in terms of size.  So, I am modifying this recipe so that it is truly more of a stew than a vegetable side dish.  In addition, I was out of kale so we didn't include it.  David said it's good without it.  I think you could probably go either way.

This recipe cooks in 40 minutes or so, but the chopping takes quite awhile.  I find butternut squash peeling and chopping a chore in itself.  So, plan ahead.

The adzuki bean dates back to 4000 BC. In Eastern Asian cultures it is usually boiled and sweetened with sugar to make a red bean paste and used in many different ways. This was my first time working with this bean. Following the recipe directions, I soaked the beans overnight in cold water before making my dish.

I rinsed my soaked beans well and placed them in a large saucepan with water and boiled them for 15 minutes. The author states that it's necessary to boil the beans hard for those 15 minutes to remove any toxins.

Back up, what???

A quick search online and I see that many dried beans have toxins that can be removed by boiling them. OK, just to be safe - don't skip this step!

While my beans were boiling, I cut up a small butternut squash, 3 carrots, and the white and light green parts of a well-washed leek.

I rinsed and drained the boiled beans and returned them to the pot with fresh water and vegetable bouillon, and allowed it to boil again.

Then I added my vegetables and some spices and cooked the soup for another 15 minutes.  If you were going to add kale, you would do so at the end of this time and let it cook for just a few more minutes until it was tender. 

Surprisingly good!

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どうぞめしあがれ

(Bon Appetit in Japanese!)

Roasted Kabocha Squash

Roasted Kabocha Squash

I recently heard about Kabocha Squash for the first time and picked one up when we were at Jungle Jim's International Market in Cincinnati last month.

I decided to roast it in the oven with a little olive oil and salt.

We all thought it was really, really good.

I'm not a huge squash fan but like roasted butternut, acorn, and other winter squashes, so thought I'd give this a try. 

Besides my Butternut Soup, I don't know that the boys have eaten a lot of squash in their lives (because if Mama doesn't like it, then...)

I'll certainly make it more often and try new recipes. 

The Kabocha Squash is really mild, buttery, and sweet.

It's chock full of Vitamins A and C.

David suggested I try it with brown sugar sometime (to counteract all those vitamins, I guess!)

Winter squashes like the Kabocha are hard to cut.

I read online though that if you put it in the microwave for 4 minutes, it softens it up and makes it easier to cut.

Worked great!

Following some directions online, I just sliced it up, drizzled a tiny bit of olive oil on top, adding a little bit of salt, and baked at 400* for 20 minutes.

You don't have to peel the squash.  The skin is edible.

*I don't know that oil was necessary.  I might try it oil-less next time.

*This is the same process if you are going to make Kabocha soup.

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Enjoy!