02231 Cooking Vegetables

Households that have lost the soul of cooking from their routines may not know what they are missing: the song of a stir-fry sizzle, the small talk of clinking measuring spoons, the yeasty scent of rising dough, the painting of flavors onto a pizza before it slides into the oven. — Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Most people don’t think a lot about how they cook vegetables. If they eat meat, they focus on the meat main dish and the veggies are a canned side show. Vegetables are much more than opening a can and heating it on the stove top. As you permaculture design your lifestyle, you will discover new vegetables and you will need to learn more about cooking them. Here is a quick tour around the various ways of cooking vegetables. Why not try a different way of cooking vegetables every night until you go through this entire list? That would be a fun and tasty experiment.

Boiling Bring the water to a boil before adding the vegetables. If you want to preserve color, don’t boil longer than seven minutes. Cutting the vegetables into smaller pieces will promote faster cooking. Don’t overcook! Save the cooking water for making soups or sauces.

Braising Cut the vegetables into pieces (small to medium). Place some butter, lard, or oil in a pan and add vegetables, over medium heat. Season liberally. Stir so they are uniformly coated with oil. When they have a bit of color from cooking, turn the heat down and add a small amount of liquid. When that is gone, add some more liquid. Continue this process until the vegetables finish cooking. Stir frequently.

Poaching Cook poached vegetables in liquid (water, wine, stock, etc.) at a temperature less than boiling, about180 degrees. If you don’t have a food thermometer, start with the heat on high until bubbles start to drift up. Then turn down the heat, so the bubbles stop, while the top of the liquid continues to shimmer a bit.

Steaming This requires a steaming basket which sets inside a pot. Bring the water to a boil before adding vegetables to the steaming basket. Don’t pack it too tightly or the food will not cook evenly. Cover the pot with the lid while steaming the vegetables.

Broiling This cooks with heat located above the vegetable. Brush the vegetable lightly with oil before broiling. Don’t burn!

Grilling Use a grill pan to keep small vegetables from falling through the racks on your grill. Baste with a liquid to keep the vegetables moist.

Roasting Coat lightly with oil, sprinkle with seasonings to personal taste, and bake at 400 degrees until done. Some possible seasonings include salt, black pepper, crushed cayenne pepper, rosemary, sage, thyme.

Sauté Cut the vegetables into small pieces. Use a pan big enough so that the vegetables will all be in a single layer in the pan. Put oil into the pan and heat it before adding the vegetables and seasonings.

Stir-fry Similar to sauté. Cut the vegetables into smaller pieces over a higher heat in a wok.