Vegetable dish cooking club

F

fortyfour

New member
Ok i've just had this idea that might help people who know they should be eating more vegetables and struggle with it. And all of us who like eating our vegies anyway. So its for everyone.

So join if you want to learn how to cook vegetables dishes. Vegetables are not just steamed or boiled. There are so many ways to eat vegies that are delicious and many of them are easy. I notice that when i don't eat vegies regularly i don't feel so good. And of course i always put on weight at those times too.

Here's how i think this could work though it might need some fine tuning. You are welcome to add your two cents worth about this and please post if you are interested in joining so we know who's in.

1. Someone posts a new vegetable recipe every Sunday. We go with the first recipe posted each week. It doesn't have to be me who posts but i will start off and I will do it if i am on the ball and no one else gets in first.

2. Ideally choose a recipe that you know or have cooked before. But if you haven't and no one is coming up with a recipe, then throw it out there.

3. The recipe should be a vegetable dish No meat but if you want to put meat stock that's ok. Because we can always substitute vegetable stock for chicken stock or beef stock. IF there's egg or dairy or pasta, or rice in it that's ok. Just no meat and...

4. Also the recipe should be a healthy recipe so that means low fat and not dependent on saturated fats for flavour so i beg you to leave off the cheese. WE should learn how to enjoy our vegies without cheese. Cheese is good for us, yes, but also very fattening, very moerish and very high in salt. And i think discourages good eating habits. Cheese becomes a habit in itself and i think this habit undermines our weight loss program. By all means i am not asking anyone to give up cheese if you want to eat it in your diet but just for this club.

5. So after the recipe has been posted, we should try to cook it one day during the week. It might be a large recipe that can serve a whole family. It might be only enough for one. OR it might be something you can eat for a few days, or freeze portions of.

6. Whoever posts the recipe should make sure there are enough details for novice cooks to understand it. Also try to make the measurements easy for everyone to follow. Some people live in different parts of the world so cups and measuring spoons are the easiest way for anyone without scales. If you are going to talk about brand names, again remember not everyone has or knows the brand you might mention in their country. So give enough information so that we can find a variation that would work.

7. When we've cooked and eaten the recipe, we should all provide feedback on the experience. Did we like it, how easy or difficult was it to cook? Would we recommend any changes to the recipe? Did we make any changes to the recipe as we cooked it. Would we cook it again. If not why not?

8. Lets post the recipes and feedback in a new thread in the recipe section of the forum. Not here. Lets just keep this thread for issues that are relevant week by week. Otherwise this thread could end up being really long and not useful to future comers. At the end of each week, we could post the recipe we went with here but i really think its best if the bulk of the discussion happens on individual threads in the recipe section.

9. If you post a recipe that you find on the net. Can you say so and can you also please say if you've ever cooked it or if you just want to try it. Please lets not get into a habit of posting just links. Lets cut and paste the recipe and also post the link if you happen to do this. But to be honest a lot of web recipes are shit so be careful.

10. A little inspiration for starters. A vegetable dish could be a soup, a salad but lets not have a salad or a soup week after week, lets try to aim mostly for whole and hot vegetable dishes. It could also be a bean or legume or lentil dish. If its a rice dish, it should include a substantial amount of vegetables. Ditto if its pasta - for example, lets not choose something like spinach ravioli in a cream sauce. Lets rather go for an indian spinach dish.

11. A note on chilli spice. Not everyone likes or can tolerate chilli. I'm one. I've tried and its been ruined for me in india where they eat too much chilli. So now when i make an indian dish, i put only about 1/2 tsp or less in it. So if the recipe calls for a lot of chilli, everyone should realise that the amount of chilli that goes in is always option and it would be helpful if whoever posts the recipe makes a note that its optional.

12. Another inspirational note. If you are looking for ideas, try exploring the cuisines of other cultures. I Personally love mediterranean cuisine. They are good with vegetables as are the indians, the chinese, japanese, vietnamese, thais and so on. Maybe the americans have something great that we aussie or the brits would love to try.

13. ON this thread we could share our general tips about shopping for and preparing vegetables. so long as its not a recipe. It would be good to keep this thread a live if the club gets off the ground.

I can't think of anything else to add at this point. I will post a recipe tomorrow in the recipe branch of the forum. I look forward to see others join in. Invite your friends to join in.
 
Sounds good :) I like veggie dishes a lot, especially roasted vegetables. I have a good recipe for curried cauliflower and potatoes somewhere. Tastes like the "Sag Aloo" dish you can get at Indian Restaurants but much healthier :) x
 
Welcome to the club sunflower. Shall we start with your idea this week then? If you want to, post it in the recipe branch and we'll go from there. I haven't had cauli in a while so I will enjoy it and I've just cooked up some dal so your timing is perfect for me.

I think it would be called aloo gobi. It's a favourite on indian menus in the north.
 
You can't post in the recipe section of the forum--I believe that is for admin/mods only. We can post them here though :)
 
Ah ok. That explains why there's only those links. They need a contributor recipe section.

Hm all right lets start off here and then when it gets too long, we can start a new thread. I don't like long threads.

Are you still going to post that aloo gobi or shall i have a scout on the net for one. I know i've got on in one of my recipe books but i am not sure where they are. I need to dig those books out anyway as i promised to lend them to my neighbour. I just don't know where i put them.... Ok i am going to go hunt down one possibility. Back soon.

We can always have more than one version of a recipe too. So i hope you can find yours.
 
ALOO GOBI - CAULIFLOWER & POTATOS Indian dish

Recipe #1

from here.

My notes are in italics

Aloo Gobi is a delicious main dish made with potatoes, cauliflower, and a great blend of spices. Aloo Gobi can be served with various breads, such as rotis, parathas, and puris. [for us, either buy a packet of chapatis or rotis, preferably wholemeal from the supermarket and heat in the microwave. Or wholemeal pita bread could be a good alternative. Add no butter or oil. Just eat the bread dry because there is enough oil in the recipe. Or eat it with basmati rice if you don't want bread. On the side, have a simple salad of cut up cucumber and tomato with a piece of lemon and raw onion if you like it. You can also have a small dish of natural yoghurt - about 1/4 cup. This should be considered a complete meal]

Serves between 2-4 people.

Ingredients:

2 cups of cut cauliflower (cut into small florets)
2 medium potatoes (cubed into bite sized pieces)
1/2 inch shredded ginger
3 teaspoons coriander powder (dhania)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper ( lal mirch) [leave it out if you don't like chilli or put in less]
3 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons oil [use peanut oil or other vegetable oil but no olive oil unless its all you've got.][I'd recommend trying to use less oil. I'd say allow 2tsp per serve, ie 2tbsp oil]
Pinch of Asafetida (Hing)
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
2 green chilies, sliced in long pieces [leave them out unless you like chilli]
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt (to taste) [indian recipes nearly always have far too much salt. Try using just a pinch and add more at the end to taste if necessary]
1 teaspoon mango powder (amchoor)
2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro (green coriander)
1/4 cup water as needed
Method:

In a small bowl, mix the shredded ginger, coriander powder, cayenne pepper, turmeric, and 3 tablespoons of water to make a paste.

Heat the oil in a pan. Test the heat by adding one cummin seed to the oil; if seed crack right away oil is ready.

Add hing and cumin seeds to the oil after seeds crack add the bay leaves and green chilies and stir for a few seconds.

Next, add the spice paste and stir for a minute until spices start leaving the oil.

Add cauliflower, potatoes, 2 tablespoons of water and salt. Mix well. Cover the pan and let it cook on medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Make sure to stir gently every 3 to 4 minutes.

Lastly, add the mango powder and fresh cilantro (green coriander). Mix everything and cover for a minute. Adjust the salt to your taste.

Variations:

Add some green peas and/or sliced red bell peppers. The red bell peppers should be added at the end of the recipe as they cook quickly.

Tips:

Making a paste with the spices will prevent the spices from burning.

[if you haven't got all these spices and you don't want to buy them, don't worry, just cook the dish with what ever you have. It obviously won't be quite the same but it should still be good. The best place to buy indian spices is from either an indian or asian shop. They are usually a lot cheaper.]
 
Hellllllo, my recipe is Falafel Burgers. I found it on the GoodFood website a while back and it's verrrry yummy! The recipe serves 4 but you can easily double it. You do need a food processor though. Although I've done it before just by mashing everything by hand. They are sooo easy to make. Just mush up and then cook!


Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 6 mins

Each serving is:
161 kcalories, protein 6g, carbohydrate 18g, fat 8 g, saturated fat 1g, fibre 3g, sugar 1g, salt 0.36 g

400g can chickpeas , rinsed and drained
garlic clove , chopped (I've used puree before as well).
handful of flat-leaf parsley or curly parsley
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1?2 tsp harissa paste or chilli powder (If you don't want them as "tangy" then take this out!)
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp sunflower oil You can make this a low-fat variety if you wish although they are still only 161 calories so you can afford to splash out if you'd like!
toasted pitta bread
200g tub tomato salsa , to serve
green salad , to serve
1 small red onion , roughly chopped


1. Drain the chickpeas first and then pat them dry with kitchen paper. Tip into a food processor along with the onion, garlic, parsley, spices, flour and a little salt. You can also mash by hand or by using a spoon/fork. Works just as well.

2. Blend/mash until fairly smooth, then shape into four patties with your hands.

3.
Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan, add the burgers, then quickly fry for 3 mins on each side until lightly golden. Serve with toasted pittas, tomato salsa and a green salad.
 
I'm going to have to try the Falafel burgers, they sound really yummy!

I just came across a kale and white bean salad recipe that turned out really well - I'll have to post it when I get home.

Also, if anyone is interested I do have my 'gateway' recipe, aka How I Got My Husband to Love Asparagus - it does involve cream cheese and prosciutto though, so it's arguably not really a veggie dish. He went from refusing to eat asparagus to requesting plain old roasted asparagus on a regular basis as a result though :D
 
hey whoa! you've gone and changed the rules Sunflower. I thought we were all cooking the same recipe and now i've gone and bought the cauliflower.

Ok so say we've got two weeks worth of recipes then. Or shall we move on after this week to a new recipe altogether.

I love felafal but i've never considered calling them burghers before. I had them last week but I will be happy to try them again next week using your recipe. Actually i could make htem today because i have chickpeas waiting in the fridge for me to cook up. Maybe i will do both this week.
 
The basic rules again for newcomers.

I was hoping we'd do ONE recipe only per week and we would also all cook it and share our common experiences together after wards.

I also hoped to keep these recipes suitable for dieters. The idea is to learn how to love vegetables without all the high fat add on to tempt us. I would consider proscuitto a meaty distraction and cream cheese high fat. And both of these foods are not particularly healthy in their own right, delicious granted. I really want to encourage the love of healthy vegetable dishes.

I don't want to be a party pooper Jeanette. I appreciate your joining in but can we stick to no meat and no cheese please. Neither of these foods are permitted on my diet. I don't eat meat, especially pork and cream cheese is not very healthy.
 
Thanks sunflower. I only posted this recipe because you hadn't posted it yet and i presumed you couldn't find it.

It would be good if we could do those felafal next week. On the other hand, you can still cook them this week. Then you won't have to cook them next week. It looks like a yummy recipe.

Welcome Emerald.

I"m about to start cooking this cauliflower and i am starving and really looking forward to it. I got a bit waylaid on my way home from my walk tonight. so yeah, starving!
 
Yum! Feedback on #1 Aloo Gobi

I"ve cooked and eaten my dinner. It was delicious. Highly recommended. I ate a bit much though.

I decided to cook the whole cauliflower though so i had to double the recipe. The only thing i didn't double was the chilli but i couldnt' taste it at all. So i think doubling it would be good too. I didn't have any bay leaves or cilantro. I couldn't find any of the latter at the supermarket - poo. So i used a squeeze of lemon. Very good but if you can cilantro do use it. I love that stuff.

I also decided at the last minute to add canned peas as per the variation but i didn't cook them. You'd have to cook them if they were frozen though.

I made the mistake of forgetting about my bread and so i served myself 1/2 cup of rice. It was only when i had eaten everything that i remember i was supposed to eat thsi with bread. So then i had to have a bit more. But i don't htink there is too much damage in an extra half cup of cauliflower and potato.


I did reduce the oil to 2tbsp x 2 instead of 3 tbsp x 2. And i would recommend doing that. Its plenty oily enough.

I am definitely going to cook this again but right now, i think i will be eating it for the rest of the week, given how much i've cooked. But i'm not complaining.
 
I had your dish as well, forty :) I also had it with rice (and naan bread..greedy me!!) but it was delicious and very filling!
 
I am looking forward to starting this up! I am totally in on the veggie healthy dishes! Jeanette- on a completely side note, not related to this veggie club, I know the asparagus dish you are talking about. You can use low fat cream cheese, and not that much of it. It is so tasty, but not completely healthy. It's not horrible, either.
I am completely on board, though, to make all veggie dishes! My boyfriend is so picky when it comes to veggies...especially broccoli. I love it, he hates it. In the next week, if someone could post an awesome broccoli dish that will have him licking the plate, I would be very grateful!
We're doing falafel this week, right?
 
Yeah we are doing felafal but that shouldn't stop anyone trying to find a good broccoli dish.

I reckon the chinese would have a nice one. Stir fried broccoli with cashews or something like that. Do a web search.

I don't really like broccoli anymore either though I will eat it. I am just not going to buy it anymore to eat plain old steamed.
 
My felafal meal

I'm cooking felafals tonight. I've made the mixture but haven't cooked them yet. I will update this post when i've finished dinner.

FOr now i just wanted to note my modifications.

I used dried chick peas rather than canned.
I soaked a cup overnight (actually several nights but only one is necessary)
I used shallots instead of an onion
I put some salt in. I think it needs it.
I only put one tbsp of flour in.

I'm not sure if i'm going to fry these in a pan or deep fry. I know the recipe calls for pan fry but I am worried they wont' hold together. They will hold in deep frying even without added oil. I know this is a problem for us though because it soaks up quite a bit of oil. Anyhow, i will try the pan fried version first. You can do them in the oven but they won't be as nice either.

I still haven't decided what i am eating them with. I already had a wrap for lunch.

I've started making some baba ganoush. Maybe i will put some of that on them.

more later....
 
One thing I found that made a huge difference on broccoli was to roast it. I got the tip from Alton Brown. Apparently a lot of people who hate broccoli are super tasters, and there's something in there that really gets to them that cooking at high heat changes.

I normally toss the broccoli in olive oil and then roast until the tips start to look a little crispy at 425F. You can also add parmesean or lemon juice as an additional 'disguise' of the flavor at first - it's got my hubby to the point where he can actually tolerate steamed broccoli or broccoli cooked into foods.

And I use the low fat or fat free cream cheese on the asparagus too ;) I've also found that if you use an icing bag with a wide tip you can put a small amount of the cream cheese on the prosciutto, wrap and go and it all goes a lot quicker and you don't get cream cheese overload :) Not the healthiest side ever, but when you're trying to lure someone away from the belief that veggies don't taste good you use what you've got, lol.
 
Felafal feedback

So further to my last post about how i altered the recipe slightly, i've now made them and had some for lunch.

They are delicious of course.

However, cooking them is tricky. I did both frying them in a flat pan with only 2 tbsp of oil and then because that didn't work so well, i deepfried the rest.

Frying them in a pan, they tend to fall apart. They still absorb a great deal of oil so i figure its just better to deep fry them and then blot off as much oil as possible.

When you deep fry them, you just squeeze them gently into a small ball - about 1/4 cup each, then drop them in the hot vegetable oil. Use a large spoon to flip some oil over the tops of the balls. When the bottom is brown turn them over. They will hold together well at this stage. Then cook till that side is brown.

I did mine in a wok so you don't need to use as much as oil as you would with a wide bottomed saucepan.

I have to guess how much oil 1/2 cup of mixture (or one serve/two felafal) equals. I'd guess between 1-2 tbsp of oil. So whatever else you eat keep it fat free.

I had mine crumbled up through my salad. That was by necessity because it was the ones i cooked in not much oil and which broke. :driving:

I hope to hear about everyone else's experiences soon.
 
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