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Spring Vegetables

by Elaine Corn

Vegetables portray themselves as food that doesn’t need to be cooked. Whether this is from our experiences with salad or because the Fiber Patrol believes we should eat earthbound food the way cows do, it’s a cop-out. I remember once buying sugar snap peas at a farmers market here in my city. The woman next to me was allowed a sample to confirm the vendor’s claim that these peas were super sweet. She took a bite. They were sweet and delicious. “Why, I think I’ll just eat them raw!” she exclaimed as she continued to crunch a second pea pod.

Raw? Yes, they are indeed edible. And eating them raw is yet one more way to eat without cooking. I’d also have to agree that sampling them raw is a good way to assess their quality and sweetness. But they’re not at their best. For one thing, just so you know, raw peas are incredibly constipating. And for another thing -- the most important thing -- many vegetables ascend to a higher dimension of flavor, texture and satisfaction if you cook them just a little bit. That’s why I advocate the brief cooking of fresh pea pods, shelled peas, snow peas, green beans, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, corn kernels straight off the cob or from a frozen bag, zucchini and all summer squash. You can microwave vegetables for the same result you’d get if you’d steamed them in a big pot that you’d have to wash and pay your energy company for the fuel to heat it up. You can boil them quickly in salted boiling water, which is a technique called blanching, for a tender-crunchy effect, but you’d have to pay the energy company and wash a big pot again. Or you can adopt the When-In-Doubt method for sauteeing most any vegetable.

To refresh you, “saute” is uptown frying. It takes place in a pan over high heat in just a little butter or olive oil. It’s a technique that’s quick and delicious and always benefits vegetables by pulling out new realms of flavor. Saute is a French term that means “to jump.” Imagine a chef showing off by flipping food around a pan with nothing but wrist-action . But the Chinese have been sauteing for thousands of years. They call it stir-frying, and it’s exactly the same thing as a saute, except that it takes place in a wok. So get out your wok or skillet and see if I’m right. Go out and buy some newborn snap peas or green beans or a head of broccoli. They must be absolutely fresh. Munch a small piece raw of your vegetable raw, then prepare the rest for the following sample recipe. The method stays the same while remaining flexible in the timing of the cooking. For example, green beans take about a minute longer to cook than thinner snow peas.

When-In-Doubt Green Beans (or a host of other vegetables)
Makes 4 servings

1 pound fresh green beans
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 medium onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
About 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt
Few shakes black pepper

Do this first:
1. Get out a small serving dish.
2. Wash the green beans in a colander. Bundle a few at a time on a cutting board and cut the bundle into 1-inch chunks. Get rid of the stem ends. Put the cut beans in a bowl.
3. Mince the garlic and measure it. Add it to the beans. Have the beans convenient to the stove.
4. Peel the onion. On a cutting board, halve it, then thinly slice the halves. Leave the onion on your cutting board and take it over to the stove.

Do this second:
1. Put the olive oil in a medium-sized skillet over highest heat. When the oil is sizzling hot, push the onions off the cutting board into the skillet.
2. Stir the onions, which will have cooled down the skillet somewhat. When the skillet regains its heat, turn the burner down to medium. Stir and saute the onions for 2 minutes.

Wrapping it up:
1. Add the beans and garlic to the skillet.
2. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. With the heat still medium, stir and saute 4 minutes.
4. Transfer to the serving dish and enjoy hot.

When-In-Doubt Stir-Fried Snow Peas
Makes 4 servings

1 pound fresh snow peas (not too bulky-looking)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 medium onion
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
About 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt
Few shakes white pepper
1 or 2 drops sesame oil

Do this first:
1. Get out a small serving dish.
2. Wash the snow peas in a colander. Pull off the cap, taking with it the attached string, and pull is down the length of the pod -- and discard. Put the pea pods in a bowl.
3. Mince the garlic and measure it. Add it to the snow peas. Have the peas convenient to the stove.
4. Peel the onion. On a cutting board, halve it, then thinly slice the halves. Leave the onion on your cutting board and take it over to the stove.

Do this second:
1. Put the vegetable oil into a wok over highest heat. When the oil is sizzling hot, push the onions off the cutting board into the wok.
2. Stir the onions, which will have cooled down the wok somewhat. Stir and saute the onions over high heat for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.

Wrapping it up:
1. Add the snow peas and garlic to the skillet.
2. Sprinkle with salt and white pepper.
3. With the heat still high, stir and saute about 2 1/2 to 3 minutes.
4. Transfer the snow peas to the serving dish and enjoy hot.

 

Elaine Corn is a Sacramento-based freelance writer and cooking teacher as well as the author of two books, Now You're Cooking for Company and Now You're Cooking



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