There are so many vegetables (and nutrients!) that we should probably be eating, so I thought I would introduce some new foods into our diet. I made eggplant parmesan one time but didn't really know how to cut into the eggplant and if I was supposed to get all the seeds out or not. Haven't tried it again. I bought a mango last week to be exotic and watched a youtube video on how to cut it. The mango was ok, but nothing I want to dump my grapes over.
And then there is the butternut squash from last night. I found a recipe for "Butternut squash and bacon pasta bake" and thought, "it has bacon in it, so it has to be tasty, and squash is probably really good for you, so let's do this thing."
First of all, I didn't know what a butternut squash even looked like, so I walked up and down the produce aisle examining the labels and got sprayed with the misting water more than once until I finally found them. They look like this, in case you are wondering:
You have to peel that sucker and chop it up into bits as seen above, but what they don't tell you is that the peel is actually a titanium derivative and it is virtually impossible to peel. No kidding, I was SWEATING trying to peel that thing. SWEATING. Something you shouldn't be doing while leaning over food. I also almost lost a finger. Plus, it took so long to prepare and I was STARVING so I ate an entire tray of Peeps which completely negated the health benefits of the butternut squash.
So all that work and honestly, I hated the taste. They taste like potatoes. So why do all that if it's just going to taste like potatoes? Very disappointing. Unless I hear that butternut squash is a powerfood and is extremely high in fiber and has other redeemable qualities, then I may try it again.
Otherwise, do ya'll have any suggestions on beefing up our vegetable intake? Are there other fun veggies out there I don't know about?
13 comments:
OH. I made some butternut squash soup this past summer. My mom told me I should just use the cans of butternut squash, but I was like, no mom I got this. IT WAS MISERABLE. You can roast the squash to make it easier to peel, but after about 1.5 hours (and they were still hard as a rock) I gave up and began peeling... Long story short I had my mom, dad, and sister in the kitchen helping me cook so that we could eat dinner that night. I will never do that again.
Ellie Kreiger on food network says you should "eat the rainbow" because all the different colors mean different nutrients. Sweet potatoes are one of my favs, I like to make sweet potato fries with olive oil and taco seasoning. so yum... i love all veggies. except celery.
Fried ocra. It's good for you.
1. If you taste a mango at the peak of its ripeness, it will change your life. I can teach you how to pick a proper one
2. I just made a mean pork tenderloin [meat!] with sauteed apples [fruit!]
3. I've never met a fruit or vegetable I didn't like. Except celery. Let me know if you want to cook together.
4. I recommend Real Simple for their tasty, simple, and nutritious recipes.
I have a love/hate relationship with butternut squash. I hate them because of said difficulty in peeling them, but I love them because I have the all-time best soup recipe for pumpkin-butternut squash soup. It tastes like dessert but is super (souper) healthy. In Baltimore, the market sells already cut-up fresh squash, but I have yet to find it down here. So no soup for me.
Butternut squash is one of my favorites. It's easiest to roast it if you cut it in half long ways, put about .3 inches of water in a cookie sheet, and bake facedown on 400 for about 1 hour. Then, all you have to do is scoop out the squash and put it in to whatever dish your little heart desires.
The Pioneer Woman has a pretty fabulous butternut squash recipe (and pictures!) on her website. I made it for my Bunko group and even the non-vegetable eaters at least pretended to like it.
Trish! You need to use eggplant again. It's sooo good, even just sauteed in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Yum! Also, if you like tomatoes, you MUST try this recipe: http://www.parents.com/recipe/vegetables/grilled-eggplant-and-tomato-gratin/
Healthy? no. Phenomenal? yes. You do eat veggies, but I mean, they are covered in cheese and heavy cream, so they aren't exactly diet food.
ALSO, saute regular yello squash and onions in butter and olive oil, salt and pepper... YUMMY. A great side dish with practically ANYthing. Also add zucchini to that mix and its delightful.
I love vegetables!
i LOVE sweet potatoes. LOVE THEM
Still thinking about your quest for vegetables....
I like to saute raw broccoli with olive oil and garlic in my wok. Maybe it's the wok, but it seems to have a bit of an asian flair to me. And, it's still a little crunchy which a nice departure from mushy steamed broccoli.
We like garlic. So, I use ALOT. Not sure what you call the little pieces of garlic that are inside the bulb...but for a whole head of broccoli, I would use at least 5 little pieces.
In fact, I am going to make this for my lunch today!
So, I just made my garlicky broccoli for lunch. I realized half-way through that I forgot to tell you that you need to add about a third of a can of chicken/veg/beef/whatever broth to the broccoli and garlic. Let it simmer for a while. It was really good!!!
I also like garlic. I like to use it, kosher salt (much better than regular salt), and olive oil in a skillet.
And I loved the pasta bake, but admittedly I didn't have to cut up squash.
In other news, my other favorite vegetable is used in this recipe:http://www.recipezaar.com/Triple-Chocolate-Bread-Pudding-White-Chocolate-Sauce-294817
ASPARAGUS!! I could eat it by the truckload. Nevermind the, um, stink.
But seriously, steamed asparagus with a little salt & pepper, spray butter,and a drizzle of lemon juice CAN'T be beat. It's great with almost anything.
-claire
I might even name my child Asparagus.
claire
Post a Comment