Veggies, For A Start

Now that I'm trying to lighten up on my caloric intake, one of the challenges has been my fav way to prepare many vegetables: sautéing. Simply spraying the pan with oil doesn't cut it, since the flavor complexity is limited. No way to gently translucify the garlic, shallots or other allium representatives I find so necessary to most vegetable sautes.

One solution that's pleased me is to simply nuke, steam or boil the vegetable, as appropriate to the species. Then I heat up a small, measurable quantity of good olive oil in the microwave into which I've added my minced or chopped onion family member. After that, I simply toss the two together in a bowl.

This technique, while not duplicating a true sauté, does meld the flavors I seek. No reason why other flavor enhancements could be used other than alliums: red pepper flakes, herbs, etc.

Dark greens, like kale and broccoli rabe, work particularly well with this technique, but there's no reason why most other green vegetables can't get this treatment. I've also used it recently on asparagus and fiddleheads.

You can also roast the veggies first. I spray a foil-line pan with canola or olive oil from my mister, toss in the cut up veggies, spray a little more then roast for 20 minutes or so until they start to brown. Then toss with the garlic-infused, heated oil to finish. When I roasted asparagus together with pungent ramps, another member of the garlic-onion family, there was no need for separate garlic; I just used the heated oil, along with some salt and pepper.