Fresh & Fast Vegetarian_ Recipes That Make a Meal - Marie Simmons [4]
Whether it's a bowl of fancy lettuces garnished with cheese curls, dried fruits and nuts or a simple soup or hearty stew laced with exotic spices, a vegetarian meal need not be a challenge or a cause of frustration. As my mother and grandmother knew, the ultimate goal of the cook is to be certain everyone has something good to eat.
FAST TECHNIQUES
I'm always looking for ways to cook the foods I love quickly without sacrificing taste and quality. Here are a few of my solutions.
Give vegetables a good soaking.
Freshly harvested vegetables are higher in moisture and cook more quickly because their moisture converts to steam, cooking them from the inside out. Because we don't always have access to freshly harvested vegetables and often depend on bagged precut vegetables from our supermarkets, I use this technique to replace some of the moisture that has dissipated. Place the vegetable in a large bowl, cover with cold water, add a handful of ice cubes and soak for 10 to 20 minutes while you prep the other ingredients. This method is most effective with carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, greens, bell peppers and celery.
Don't peel.
Potato skins add flavor, as do beet skins, squash skins and carrot peels. Rinse the vegetables in a bowl of water and keep a stiff brush handy for scrubbing off surface dirt.
Cut vegetables into smaller pieces.
Cutting up vegetables shortens their cooking time. A shredded beet cooks faster than a beet the size of a golf ball, and sliced and diced potatoes and winter squash cook faster than large pieces.
Grate garlic, don't chop it.
I hate to chop garlic. I'm too rushed and resent the time it takes, and I find garlic presses cumbersome. Enter my trusty Microplane rasp grater (see Favorite Tools, [>]). Two strokes of a peeled garlic clove along this sharp grater, and you get soft, fine garlic every time. A small marble mortar and pestle makes quick work of mashing garlic with coarse salt. Also, beware of out-of-season or winter garlic, which is strongtasting. In winter, I halve the amount of garlic in most recipes.
Cut onions into thin lengthwise slices.
This is the fastest, easiest way to cut them. First, halve the onion from stem to blossom end, then peel. Place it cut side down on the cutting board and cut lengthwise into thin slices. They will separate into thin crescent-moon-shaped pieces. You can vary the thickness depending on what you need, cutting them into ¼-inch-thick slices for salads, ⅛-inch-thick slices for sautés and ¼- to ½-inch-thick slices for roasting. A bonus of cutting them this way is that they will often match the shape of your other ingredients, so everything cooks evenly.
Pan-searing gives fast, flavorful results.
Heat a cast-iron skillet or other heavy skillet (not nonstick) until it is hot enough to sizzle and evaporate a drop of water, drizzle the pan with a little olive oil and add the vegetable. I use this method mostly for cherry tomatoes and mini bell peppers. The vegetables blister and blacken in a couple of minutes, the juices caramelize and the cooking time is cut in half. Direct-heat pan-searing at a slightly lower temperature also works with thick slices of beet, carrot and winter squash.
Use high heat for roasting vegetables.
Don't be afraid to crank the oven up to 450°F. I preheat the oven and a heavy-gauge baking sheet at the same time. When the food hits the pan, it immediately begins to sear. For even browning, spread the oiled and seasoned vegetables on the pan; don't crowd. This technique cuts about 20 minutes from most vegetable roasting times.
FAVORITE TOOLS
Baking sheets
I prefer