Vegetable

veg-e-ta-ble

-noun

1.	any plant whose fruit, seeds, roots, tubers, bulbs, stems, leaves, or flower parts are used as food, as the tomato, bean, beet, potato, onion, asparagus, spinach, or cauliflower

I've never been a big vegetable fan.  Just haven't.  I don't know why.

Truthfully, I couldn't stand tomatoes, onions, peppers, squash...the idea of any of those in the raw or cooked kind of squicked me out.  Don't think I've missed the hypocrisy of making wool produce for 5 or 6 years. 

Anyway...

When I decided to go all out on a garden this year, I figured I should first, find out why I wanted to grow such a big garden and next,  determine what I'd do with so much produce if I wasn't going to use it.

Well, after careful consideration...I started clicking through favorite meals when we dine out; 
Guac and chips at chipotle. 
Bruschetta from anywhere.
noodles tossed with tomatoes at Olive Garden. 

Hrmmm.  Maybe I do like vegetables. 

Ok then, why don't I like MY vegetables?  I figured this out too!! lmbo.

I wasn't a careful cook.  Eh, get a meal on the table, micro some veggies or put some baby carrots on a plate. Dinner time!!! lets eat!!

So this week, I decided to become a careful cook with Gordon Ramsay as my guide.  Taking what I'd watched on Brian's favorite show, The f word (f is for food), I went about my way through the kitchen with the same simplicity that he uses in his home kitchen, right down to using single words too.  tomato. dice.oil.season. eat. 

This is some of what we dined on this week....

Guac and chips
 
avocado
tomato; seeds removed
red onion
pepper
blitz (that means blend)
lime; squeeze

Roasted Vegetables

mushrooms; chop
zucchini; chop
turnip; chop
summer squash; chop
sweet potato; chop
potato; chop
carrots; chop
shallot; chop
oil
toss
salt
pepper
roast

I know Gordon is rough and foul around the edges.  But his F word show is different.  It's a portrayal of his complete life, which is surprisingly simple and uncomplicated; raising his own meats in the back yard, taking the mystery out of good food and letting the food be itself, a restaurant where the customer's decide if they like the meal. 

He made me a vegetable believer...I may have to move him to miracle worker status. ha. 

Comments

[Wendy]

I discovered the wonderfulness of vegetables several years ago, but ya, I know what you mean. Roasting, pan frying, grilling... all wonderful ways to eat your vegetables. (I like them still just a bit crunchy. Mushy vegetables are gross vegetables.)

Here's a recipe for grilled vegetable/potato salad that was so very tasty. It's full of vegetables and the kids actually love it.
http://wisdomofthemoon.blogspot.com/2008/09/grilled-vegetable-potato-salad.html

(And thanks for stopping by my blog. I'm glad you like it. I'm sure I mentioned how much I love yours.)