About Those Vegetables

A few weeks ago I considered this topic for Dishing the Dirt after an amazing and simple meal of BBQ Cauliflower, a recipe found in the latest cookbook, Vegetables Unleashed, from one of Central Farm Markets’ most recognized patrons Chef José Andrés. However, an encounter on Sunday cemented the topic—VEGETABLES!At this point you may be asking yourself what a livestock farmer knows about vegetables. I’ll be honest, having to grow produce for a living scares the daylights out of me. Sure, I wouldn’t be trampled by an alpha turnip in full breeding mode, kicked by an angry carrot or bitten by a beet, but I’ll stick with products that have fur, feathers and faces who occasionally leave bruises and bit marks.While I was rustling up my own groceries for the week, I overheard a woman ask Lucas at Spiral Path Farm (who IS an amazing vegetable farmer) for zucchini or summer squash. “No ma’am, the season is over, and we won’t have them again until next year.”On the table not three feet away from her sat several adorable and delicious winter squashes so I had to open my mouth and ask her why she didn’t get a winter squash. “I don’t know how to cook them,” she answered. I knew what she’d do. She’d go to a grocery store and purchase an inferior product imported from California or Mexico that has more miles on it than a 1972 Volkswagen.So I snatched up a Butterkin and started to explain to her how to cook it. In my two-minute elevator pitch I offered several ways of preparing the rich orange flesh before adding that winter squash will keep much longer than summer squash and they don’t even need to be refrigerated.She bought it.So often at market I encounter customers who pass over foods simply because they do not know how to cook it. The apprehension at burning or undercooking a pricey cut of meat is understandable, but vegetables? And people turn their noses up for the craziest reasons.After taking those gorgeous purple potatoes from Bending Bridge Farm to a friend, they admitted they just couldn’t get past the color. “They’re just too weird for me,” leaving me flummoxed. The cauliflower head I had roasted was a rich orange color, but it still tasted like cauliflower. Richly colored vegetables often contain more beta carotene and antioxidants than the paler versions.Nothing excites me like a new variety of vegetable (or fruit) at the markets. A few years ago when kalettes showed up, I swooned with delight. To this day, though, when getting my stash first thing in the morning before they’re all gone customers ask me, “What do you do with them?”They get tossed with olive oil and roasted, sautéed in butter, boiled in broth—you name it. It doesn’t have to be fancy.As creatures of habit, we tend to get caught in the usual ruts of familiar foods. When I was growing up, brussels sprouts were boiled or steamed…period. But paging through Vegetables Unleashed, I’ve found myself queuing up Brussels Sprouts Afelia—with a Greek twist and Yakitori Brussels Sprouts that are grilled with a Tare sauce.Vegetables Unleased is the perfect resource for Central Farm Market shoppers because the author uses ingredients sourced from the markets. Everything for Fassolaki Ladera (braised green beans in tomato sauce) can be sourced on Sunday. You’ll find ideas for cabbage and kale. Leeks are often an innocuous vegetable, used as a supporting ingredient. But Chef Jose give them center stage in dishes such as Braised Leeks and Creamed Leeks, dishes so flavorful they stand on their own as a meal. And Mushroom Cappuccino—a pinch of coffee is transformative to the earthy flavors.So don’t be afraid of stepping out of your comfort zone when it comes to cooking vegetables. There’s an entire world out there waiting to be explored and tasted.