Veggie Recipes
How to cook veggies in four easy, healthy ways
Steam:
1. Fill a cooking pot with a few inches of water and insert a metal steamer. Avoid plastic steamers since they tend to melt and can leach plastic into your food. Also avoid microwaving in plastic! Pile in fresh or frozen veggies.
2. Turn up the heat and cover. Remove cover after about three minutes to check veggies. Veggies are done when they are easy to chew, but not mushy.
3. Drain carefully by using a fork to lift out the steamer into the sink, then put veggies back into the pot so you can season them. Start with olive oil, then add salt, pepper, and any other desired herbs, spices, or flavorings, such as lemon juice, sesame oil, or balsamic vinegar.
Steam Sauté:
Cover the bottom of a large skillet with water or broth, add chopped veggies, and heat over medium heat until veggies start to wilt.
Remove cover, add salt and black pepper, stirring until water is gone and veggies are cooked. Can adjust time for crunchiness. Eat warm.
Pan sauté:
1. Heat a teaspoon of coconut oil on medium heat in a large skillet, and add fresh or frozen veggies, stir until warm.
Season with salt, pepper, and any desired flavorings.
Oven Roast:
Preheat oven to 450 ℉.
Cut up any of these veggies: Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, a bell pepper, and/or some onion. Mix them together and drizzle with melted coconut oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper and Italian herb seasoning.
You can also do this with potatoes. Potatoes, peppers and onions make a great mix.
Arrange on a big Pyrex glass dish or on a cookie sheet. You may want to put foil down for easy cleanup.
Bake until they look soft, stirring occasionally so that they cook evenly. Allow to cool before eating.
VEGGIE SIDE DISHES
Green Beans Almondine
Makes 1 serving, easy to multiply
Place a small, dry frying pan on a burner over medium heat. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of slivered almonds and toast and stir them on low until they smell good and are lightly browned. Do not burn!
Cut any hard ends off a large handful of green beans and steam them in a pot of water until tender, but not brown. Frozen green beans are good too.
Drain beans, top with olive oil, sea salt, and toasted almonds. A squeeze of fresh lemon juice is yummy.
Tasty Steamed Veggies, Single Veggie or Mixed
Place a metal steamer basket into a pot. OXO brand makes a good one. Fill pot with water so that waterline is below steamer basket.
Fill basket with any fresh or frozen vegetable.
Cover pot with lid and steam on medium heat until tender.
Top veggies with olive oil, sea salt, and dried herbs or spices to taste.
Broccoli - salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes
Green Beans - salt, black pepper, dill
Asparagus - salt, lemon zest (rind), red pepper flakes
Zucchini - salt, black pepper, dill
Roasted Beet and Fennel Salad
Makes 2-3 servings, easy to double
2 large beets, red or golden are both good
1 bulb of fennel
1/2 orange
2 tablespoons coconut oil
sea salt
Preheat oven to 375 ℉.
Peel beets with a veggie peeler and chop into 1-inch cubes.
Chop fennel bulb into 1/4 inch strips and save frilly fronds for garnish.
Slice the orange into 1/2 inch pieces or use peeled segments.
Toss the beets, fennel and orange with melted coconut oil and combine. Spread evenly in an oven-safe dish - Pyrex glass will be best for this meal.
Bake for 30-40 minutes until beets are fork-tender.
Italian Herb Oven-Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli (or any veggies, really)
Makes 3-4 servings per large Pyrex pan or cookie sheet
Preheat oven to 450 ℉.
Cut up 2 heads cauliflower or 1 cauliflower with 2 stalks of broccoli, using the florets only.
Mix in a bowl and drizzle with a tablespoon of melted butter, ghee or oill. Sprinkle with salt and Italian herb seasoning.
Arrange on a big Pyrex glass dish or on a cookie sheet (use foil down for easy cleanup).
Bake until soft, stirring occasionally to cook evenly.
Spaghetti Squash “Pasta”
One squash makes about 4 servings
Preheat oven to 350 ℉.
Cut spaghetti squash in half, scoop out seeds, and place face down on a Pyrex dish in 1/2 inch water.
Roast until soft; remove from oven and allow to cool, scoop out insides.
Flavor with olive oil, salt, pepper and Italian herbs or tomato sauce. Use as you would pasta.
Crispy Brussels Sprouts with Lemon
Makes 4 servings
4 cups Brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon butter, ghee, or avocado oil - appropriate for high-heat cooking
sea salt
red pepper flakes
lemon or orange zest
lemon or orange juice (fresh)
Cut off the hard lower ends of Brussels sprouts and cut into quarters, lengthwise. Cutting off the bottoms removes some of the bitter flavor and cutting them into quarters allows more surface area to brown, caramelize and taste slightly sweet.
In a large skillet, melt butter or oil on medium heat.
Add sprouts and turn up the heat to medium high. Sauté until they start to brown slightly.
Season with salt and chili flakes.
Squeeze on a little lemon or orange juice.
Continue to stir frequently so sprouts do not burn. If they become overly brown but are still not cooked through, cover the pan to let them steam.
Serve topped with lemon zest.
Baked Potato, Sweet Potato or Yam
A potato or sweet potato is a whole food, rich in fiber with its skin on. Half a potato or sweet potato is a fine side dish, just don’t load it with too many toppings at once.
Preheat oven to 375 ℉.
Scrub potato and pat dry.
Pierce potato all over with a fork.
Bake potato directly on oven rack for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until soft all the way through when pierced with a sharp knife.
Cut a deep cross in the top of each potato and squeeze the base to open up the top.
For a regular potato, top with salt, pepper, butter or coconut oil. Or, top with avocado and salsa for a Mexican flavored potato.
For a sweet potato, top with coconut oil, cinnamon and a little salt, or try olive oil and rosemary.
Maple Carrots
Makes 3 servings, easy to double
Peel 9 medium carrots and cut them into slices.
Steam or boil the carrot for about 3 minutes or until tender (steaming preserves more nutrients).
Drain the carrots well and return them to the pot. Add 1-2 teaspoons of butter, ghee or coconut oil and 3 teaspoons of maple syrup. Mix to coat.
If desired, sprinkle on a little cinnamon.
A dash of salt may bring out the flavor as well.
Asparagus with Lemon & Olives
Makes 3 servings, easy to double
1 bunch asparagus
1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
sea salt to taste
lemon, zested
1/4 cup olives, pitted and halved
Preheat oven to 375℉.
Chop hard lower ends off asparagus and rise under water.
Place asparagus in a baking sheet and toss with melted coconut oil. (You can also do this in a bowl.)
Sprinkle with garlic powder and salt.
Roast for 10-15 minutes depending on how thick the asparagus is.
Zest the lemon.
When asparagus is bright green and fork tender, remove it from the oven, drizzle with olive oil, and top with lemon zest and olives.