No time or energy to cook a healthy meal?
Apparently, you aren’t alone.
We had a great turn out for our first spring FUEL cooking workshop featuring “Superfast Vegetables and Fruits.” We prepared 10 delicious and simple vegetable dishes in one hour. Everything came from our local Publix.
1) Fresh Vegetable Platter. First up, an easy fresh vegetable platter with two Greek yogurt based dips. We featured sugar snap peas, rainbow carrots, sweet peppers, and mini cucumbers cut into sticks. Keep these easy snacks in the fridge or prepackage them in reusable containers for the go.
2) Next we fixed an easy Tex-Mex Kale Salad. Start with a bag of prewashed and cut kale. Toss it in a large bowl with fresh lemon juice and olive oil. Massage it in well to fully coat the leaves. At this point, you can eat it immediately or store it in the fridge for a few days. It will marinate and become more tender.
When you are ready to eat, sprinkle over black beans, diced avocado, diced red bell pepper, corn, and shredded cheddar.
3) Our last cold dish was an easy Zucchini Ribbon Salad with lemon, olive oil, and a pinch of salt. Simply use a vegetable peeler to slice the raw zucchini into thin strips. Then toss with dressing and serve cold.
4) Next we moved to the oven and tried a few variations of roasted vegetables. Roasting involves high dry heat in the oven (above 400 degrees F). When vegetables are roasted in a single layer on a baking sheet, their natural sugars caramelize and they become incredibly delicious.
First up was Asian Broccoli and Mushrooms with Sesame. Simply toss broccoli and mushrooms with a little minced garlic, oil, and salt. Roast at 425 degrees F for about 20 minutes or until lightly golden, stirring halfway. Drizzle in a little reduced sodium soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and sesame seeds.
5) Roasted Green Beans and Tomatoes with Pesto. Our next roasted vegetable was green beans and grape tomatoes. Toss with a little oil and salt and spread over a baking sheet. Roast about 15 minutes or until lightly golden at 425 degrees, stirring halfway. Stir in a little bit of jarred pesto.
6) Another delicious roasted vegetable medley is Roasted Squash and Zucchini with Smoked Sun-dried Tomatoes. Toss sliced squash with oil and salt and spread over a baking sheet. Add sliced lemons, if desired. They release their juices in the oven. Roast for 20 minutes or until lightly golden at 425 degrees, stirring halfway. Sprinkle over sun-dried tomatoes and serve.
7) Our final roasted dish was Buffalo Cauliflower— one of my favorites, I could probably eat the whole batch. Toss cauliflower florets with oil and salt and spread over a baking sheet. Roast about 20 minutes or until lightly golden at 425 degrees, stirring halfway. Drizzle with a little bit of hot sauce. Hot sauce is very flavorful but high in sodium so try to use it sparingly. Even our participants who didn’t like spicy food enjoyed this dish.
8) Next we moved to the stovetop for two easy sauteed vegetable dishes. Just like roasting, the key here is to use hot dry heat and don’t pile up the vegetables too high or they will steam instead of saute. You want the vegetables to turn golden brown for best flavor.
Sauteed Brussel Sprouts with Dried Cranberries and Pecans were a big hit. Warm oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add shaved Brussels and a pinch of salt. Saute for 5-10 minutes or until golden, stirring occasionally. Top with dries cranberries and chopped pecans. This is also delicious when finished with a little drizzle of fresh orange juice and zest.
9) The most popular recipe of the workshop was the easiest– Parmesan Garlic Cauliflower Rice.
Simply warm a little minced garlic and oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add cauliflower rice and cook for 5-10 minutes until tender and lightly golden, stirring occassionally. Stir in grated Parmesan.
Cauliflower rice is a new item to the fresh produce and frozen vegetable section. It is just finely chopped cauliflower. Make your own by pulsing fresh cauliflower florets in a food processor until they resemble pebbles.
10) Our final dish was our famous Green Monster Smoothies. In a blender, combine 2 bananas, 2 cups of fresh spinach, 1 cup of orange juice and 1 cup of frozen pineapple or mango.
Be sure to check our Pinterest page for more delicious FUEL recipes: www.pinterest.com/eatveg.
Our next Employee Wellness Cooking workshop will feature one-pot meals and sheet pan suppers. Email kelly.frazier@furman.edu to register.