A Healer’s Geste

Quick & Easy Dinner Vegetables

This year I have been trying to add more vegetables into our menus, and one of the ways I’ve focused on is more generous servings of tasty, appealing vegetables at dinner. I thought I should assemble those preparations that have become my go-to “recipes,” share them, and solicit new ideas from you, my lovely readers.

Here are my requirements for and definition of “quick and easy”:

1. No or very little washing (this excludes most greens & salad).

2. No more than a cutting board, a knife, and one dish gets dirty.

3. Pulling the vegetables from the fridge to putting them on the table should happen in under 30 minutes.

My kids are not picky eaters and usually enjoy their vegetables and often ask for seconds, so “appeals to children” is not a big hang-up in our house. I do promise, however, that our children do eat all the following preparations with relish, but mileage at your house might vary:

• glazed carrots: Dump baby carrots into a skillet with half an inch of water — bring to a boil. Boil til the water is gone, if they aren’t done yet, add more water and boil until they are, but don’t let there be excess water. Just before the water evaporates, add a pat of butter. Let that brown and sizzle and make the carrots delicious. Lightly salt. Serve. Obviously, you can do this with regular carrots that you’ve peeled and sliced into rounds or sticks, but since my family easily eats a pound and a half, that becomes time consuming. I like to keep a bag of baby carrots on hand for those nights I don’t have time for peeling and cutting (or if I need a quick-to-pack picnic lunch).

• glazed green beans: Trim ends. Toss into a large skillet in shallow water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Dump off any remaining water, then add olive oil or butter, saute on high heat until the fat sizzles and browns over the beans. Salt. Serve. You can do the same thing to asparagus, too.

• coleslaw: Finely slice and dice a red cabbage. Grate in several carrots. Drizzle and toss with olive oil. Drizzle and toss with white wine vinegar. Sprinkle salt. Sprinkle a few dried cranberries atop each serving (or a handful into a family-dinner-sized portion). The greatest thing about this salad is that it holds for 4-5 days. My kids especially love this one, too. I think it’s because of the cranberries.

• roasted brussels sprouts: Spread out fresh brussels sprouts on a cookie sheet (I tried frozen, but they don’t roast well). Drizzle olive oil and roll around until they’re coated. Sprinkle garlic salt on top and roast at 425-degrees for 30 minutes.

• roasted broccoli: Cut the broccoli head into florets (and cut the stem pieces into similar-sized portions, too). Toss onto a cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil, toss to coat, sprinkle with garlic salt and roast at 425-degrees for 15-20 minutes.

• roasted sweet potato “fries”: You can cut these any way you’d slice up and roast potatoes, but they count as a vegetable. I like to slice them in a fry shape and season them like so: slice into strips (no need to peel) and toss them onto a cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle over the top cinnamon, paprika, and garlic salt (you can also add cumin if you like it) in about even proportions, but a little more generous with the salt. Toss it all around and then spread them out so they are in a single layer. Roast at 425-degrees for 20-25 minutes.

• roasted green beans: Trim ends and, on the cookie sheet, toss with olive oil and garlic salt. Roast at 400-degrees for 10-15 minutes. You can do the same thing with asparagus.

• grilled/broiled zucchini: Cut into slices or steaks, toss with olive oil, sprinkle with garlic salt or garlic spread and seasoning (Johnny’s, at Costco) and grill for 10-15 minutes or roast at 450 for 10-15 minutes or broil for 5-10 minutes.

• frozen broccoli: I finally found a decent way to prepare frozen broccoli after tolerating microwaved versions for 10 years. Pull the package out of the freezer at any point after lunch, but at least an hour before dinner so they’re somewhat, but not totally, thawed. Toss them into a skillet sizzling with olive oil and saute until they are heated through, then sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese. Yum!

• fresh tomatoes: Core tomatoes & quarter or slice. Drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of balsamic vinegar and lightly salt and pepper. If available, top with fresh chopped basil or parsley or chives.

And one final super quick and super easy vegetable trick: Each one of my children absolutely love to eat frozen green peas — frozen.