Question for the Cooks on my list

[velvetpage]

First, let me say I'm an indifferent cook. I grew up in a household where vegetables came either from the freezer via the microwave, or from a can via a pot on the stove. When I got married, I had to learn to cook veggies to make them palatable, and I had to get more of them into my diet than I grew up with.

I have recently developed an easy stir-fry veggie recipe involving green pepper (or another colour when I can afford it), onion, zucchini, and mushrooms. I cook these in a stir-fry pan with a bit of grapeseed or olive oil, and just about the time the mushrooms are done, I add some Club House Lemon and Herb seasoning. Sometimes I add egg or sausage, sometimes I do these on the side. It's easy, and even the baby gobbles them up.

The problem is, I'm bored with it. My question is: what can I do to change the flavour and/or texture, that will not add either a lot of time/steps to preparation or a lot of spices that Elizabeth won't like?

Any and all suggestions appreciated.

Comments

[thebitterguy]

Garlic or Ginger always work well.

Soy Sauce is another classic ingrendient.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

So noted. Thanks!

[perlandria.livejournal.com]

Yea, I was going to mention that a friend who hated vegetables liked either brocolli or zuchinni in soy sauce and ginger (with butter). I found it a little salty and overcooked, but it was tasty. Just not a vegetable anymore. :D

Very well steamed cauliflower with a cheddar white sauce is good, 'specially with some seasoned bread crumbs scattered over. ( I would do the almond slices variation, with no cheese, but it is the same basic idea).

And I actually LIKE creamed spinach. I end to get the indian kind (with paneer in a savory sauce, also good with peas instead of spinich) but the european kind is good too.

Hmm lemon... lemon. If you add oregano it will still be greekish. (hmm lemon potatos) Adding basil would, to me , be more italian. Oregano and bell pepper would be spanish-ish. I dunno!

[beetiger.livejournal.com]

Try teriyaki sauce. Commercial ones are sweet, salty, and inexpensive, and I think babies usualy like them. Rhys does!

Try green beans or peas in it as well.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I've been avoiding green beans and peas, because they were staples of the freezer veggie diet and I grew to hate them. Still . . . fresh ones might work better than the frozen kind.

I've tried the teriyaki sauces once or twice. They usually suggest you put way more in than I think this recipe would really need. I'll try them again. Thanks!

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Here are some other good veggies that Rhys likes, which
Elizabeth might perhaps like too:

Now, Rhys likes strong flavors, and I don't know if
Elizabeth will. My usual stirfry sauce:

1. Mince garlic and ginger and cook them at the beginning
   of the stirfry. Or, use jarred garlic and jarred pureed
   ginger.



2. At the end, make a slurry of: maybe 2 tablespoons soy
   sauce, a teaspoon or two of cornstarch, a few tablespoons of
   water, and sometimes something else like chili paste,
   hoi-sin sauce, stock, whatever. Dump this in the stirfry at
   the end. Stir it more 'til it thickens a bit.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I could see myself doing any of these. Especially if I could use frozen broccoli. (I know you lose vitamins that way, but it's much, much easier. Would someone in your household happen to know exactly how much I'm giving up by using the frozen stuff over the fresh?)

I already have jarred garlic, and I often add a bit of that. I'll invest in the ginger tout de suite. That, plus the soy/starch gravy stuff, should spice things up a bit. Elizabeth is a pretty good eater, but ginger has not been one of our staples. We'll have to see. The worst that can happen is she ends up eating a yogurt/fruit/cereal dish for dinner after turning up her nose at my veggies. :)

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Ask vicki (beetiger) about the fresh/frozen -- she's a professional food scientist and knows much of such things.

Rhys loves ginger best of all! Some weeks, at least.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

For another variant, try European seasoning: stirfry in butter or olive oil. Add some Green Herbs (fresh or dry basil, oregano, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, sage, parsley, savory, etc.) towards the end. Make a sauce with stock/boullion and cornstarch, as above. Add a splash of wine, for extra Europeanicity.

(I usually do this one with chicken breast, browned in the pan first thing. The chicken comes out rather dry and Rhys doesn't like it that way, though.)

[anidada.livejournal.com]

It depends what sort of things you like to eat. :)

Things I would add to stir-fries, depending on mood:
- a little hot sauce (a good one like Sriracha is best, but plain ol' Tabasco or Frank's Red Hot works well, too)
- miso paste (a fermented bean paste, rather like a thick soy sauce -- usually comes in a clear plastic pouch, but it's easier to deal with from a jar, if you can get it that way)
- lemon, lime, or orange juice (either concentrate or fresh is fine)
- garlic (okay, I always add garlic -- garlic is LIFE!)
- ginger (fresh, if you can get it -- you just break off a finger of it, peel it, and grate it into the dish -- you can use as little or as much as you like)
- nuts and seeds (sunflower seeds, sliced almonds, chopped peanuts, cashews, pepitas/pumpkin seeds without the shells, etc.)
- water chestnuts (the sliced ones from a can)
- mustard (powdered or dijon)
- all kinds of fresh/frozen savoury herbs or dried spices (dill for fish, cilantro/coriander, parsley, rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano, paprika, chili powder, curry powder...)
- beans (tinned or revived dry -- just drain and add to the stir-fry and you've got protein! -- I like chick peas, black beans, and the mixed Italian bean combo)
- greens (swiss chard, spinach, mustard greens, broccoli rabe, bok choy, shredded nappa cabbage, etc.)
- fun veggies like asparagus, which you don't often see in stir-fries, or baby corn (usually tinned or frozen)
- bean sprouts
- chicken stock (liquid) or any boullion or soup base (preferably the no-salt, no-MSG kind, you can find it at the bulk store or at health food stores, or at Loblaws in amongst the health food area -- it's got a better flavour, and it's easier for you to control the seasoning of the dish)
- thin Asian noodles, like ramen but not the instant-single-serve kind, or "glass" noodles/rice vermicelli, usually found in the same aisle as Asian food, not with Italian-style pasta -- these are very cool, and I bet Dragonlass would enjoy watching the process. If you have a wok or stir-fry pan, that's best, but you can do them in a stockpot, too. You bring the liquid to a boil (enough to cover the bundle of noodles), then toss the bundle in. It transforms before your eyes, expanding and then collapsing, and is ready to eat in a couple of minutes. Very neat.

I make a sauce of hot sauce, ketchup, soy sauce, mustard, and lemon juice (concentrate), stir it all together, and throw it in, tossing everything about at the last minute. It's pretty good, IMO. :)

You can add any meat you like to a stir-fry, that's my favourite thing about it -- chicken thighs are cheap and easy, ground beef is good, shrimp are great... -- just cut up anything big into pieces that are roughly the same size and smallish (I'd say walnut-size), so that they cook quickly at the same rate.

If you can set aside a little time once a week to cut up fresh veggies and put them into containers, it makes things a whole lot easier (of course, doing so increases the likelihood that said veggies will be gone due to snacking! but that's good, too :).

[sassy-fae.livejournal.com]

There's a few vegetables that go really well in stir fry that haven't been mentioned yet! Bean sprouts, snow peas or sugar peas, the inner parts of the stalks of broccoli (after you peel the tough layer off, the inside is tasty either raw or cooked).
For meat, I like to marinate little chunks of chicken, fry them up, and add them when the veggies are almost done.
A lot of stir fry dishes, if they're really packed with flavour, go well when mixed with rice. I make the stir fry portion of mine quite spicy, so it often needs the rice to tone it down :)
Slightly off topic, frying up potato slices with onions, peas and some cumin make a great samosa-like dish. Mmm!

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if I've ever tried samosa, but that sounds good. Kind of perogie-like, with different spices. I may actually buy potatoes. (I usually don't, because I hate peeling the darn things, so they go bad in the fridge.)

I'll definitely try these suggestions.