Vegetables for Dinner

One night last week we had just vegetables for dinner.  Girls, you know your hubbies just love those meatless nights, right?! (sarcasm font)  No, actually Todd was a great sport about it.  I had a lot of vegetables and fresh herbs that needed cooking, and some methods I wanted to try.  Plus I felt the need to detox a little.  So veggie dinner it was!

I don’t have exact recipes for these, but I wanted to share some tips and cooking methods:

Roasted Lemon Dill Carrots

• Peel whole carrots, cut them in half, then into long narrow pieces.  Toss in a little olive oil and place on a baking pan covered in parchment.  Roast for 25 minutes at 375, then remove and toss with a squeeze of lemon juice, salt and pepper, and some fresh dill.  Roast a few more minutes if needed.  (I roasted these on the same pan as the broccolini).

Lemon Garlic Broccolini

• Wash broccolini and cut the bottom end off.  (I did not cut the end off, but I should have).  Toss in a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and either fresh minced garlic or garlic powder.  Roast on the same pan as the carrots for 20-25 minutes.  Before serving squeeze fresh lemon juice over the broccolini and season again with salt and pepper if needed.

White Beans with Thyme

• Normally I like to braise white beans (starting with dried Great Northern beans).  This time I simply drained and rinsed a can of white beans, slowly simmered them in water with a couple sprigs of fresh thyme and a bay leaf for about 30 minutes.  When ready to eat, season with salt and pepper.  You could add a pat of butter to make them a little creamier.

Sauteed Sweet Potatoes with Thyme

• You could easily roast these, but I decided I wanted them a little crispier.  I sautéed them (5 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in a small dice) in a large nonstick sauté pan.  Heat to medium or medium high, add 1-2 Tbsp olive oil.  Add the potatoes to the oil and toss.  Let sauté until the potatoes start to brown and have crispy edges.  Turn the heat down if they are getting too brown – you’ll want them to soften as they cook.  Once cooked through, season with salt and pepper and fresh thyme.  These are great reheated or served right from the pan.

Spicy Sauteed Zucchini

• Cut the zucchini in half length wise.  Then cut into slightly diagonal half-moon pieces.  Add to a heated sauté pan with 2 tsp olive oil.  Season with a little crushed red pepper.  Cook until zucchini is browned slightly and starting to soften.  At the end season with salt, pepper and fresh parsley.

Ginger Asparagus

• My mom makes sautéed asparagus with ginger, and it is such a great flavor combination!  We typically use ginger powder, but I had fresh on hand, so I tried it that way.  Wash and cut or break the bottom ends off of the asparagus.  Heat a large sauté pan, add 2 tsp olive oil.  Add the asparagus, toss, and cook for about 6 minutes.  Add the fresh ginger and cook for a couple minutes.  At this point the asparagus should be cooked through.  If it is cooked through, season with salt and pepper and cook for another minute.

You could absolutely serve any of these with a meat or main dish.  I hope some of these are helpful with your vegetable cooking!

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