3.05.2012

Eat Your Veggies


As a little girl in Korea, I ate lots of fresh vegetables, mostly because it was more abundant than meat or fish. The vegetable sides prepared Korean style are crunchy and flavorful, usually quickly blanched in hot water, cooled, then seasoned or sautéed. I remember the shock my young palate went through when I first tasted canned peas: soft and mushy, with a strange flavor that still lingers in my memory. Since my first unpleasant encounter with canned peas as a little girl, I carefully avoided eating and serving canned vegetables since then.

Though fresh vegetables are always preferred, when serving a large crowd on a low budget and a small kitchen staff, frozen vegetables are wonderful option .
Sautéed frozen peas with onions (or shallots if you want to get fancy).


Frozen whole green beans can be sautéed with canola oil on a hot griddle. Have a mixture of salt, pepper, and granulated garlic ready. Season to taste.


Frozen broccoli.

Quick stir frying is the key with all the frozen vegetables (coated with a bit of oil and seasoning). The inside of the veggies will be still cold, which is fine since you will finish heating in the oven.


Frozen broccoli exudes a lot of water. After a quick sauté, put broccoli in a large colander and let water let drain for 5 minutes before putting them in a steam pan.



Sautéed Frozen Vegetable Options

Green Beans
Peas
Broccoli

Optional: diced and sautéed onions or shallots add great flavor!

Equal part of salt, ground pepper, and granulated garlic
Canola oil for sautéing

Special Equipment: 4-burner griddle

Heat griddle high heat, until smoking point. Drizzle canola oil to coat lightly. Put frozen veggie of your choice, sprinkle salt/pepper/granulated garlic mixture to taste. Coat and quickly sauté veggies for 2-3 minutes so the edges of the vegetables are browned. Transfer into a full-size steam pan. Stir vegetables and season with more salt and pepper as needed. Cover with foil until ready to heat.

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F

1 hour before serving, heat the vegetables in oven. Depending on the amount of vegetables in the steam pan, 25-45 minutes until just heated through. Stir half way through cooking time. For colorful vegetable medley as pictured above, add sautéed onions and tri-color peppers at half way point and finish heating.

To serve vegetable medley for 300 (portioned and served)

28 lbs of frozen broccoli
12 lbs of frozen green beans
6 large white onions, julienne
18 tri-color peppers, cored & julienne
To add flavor, I added 2 cups of fresh chopped Thai Basil right before serving
Canola Oil
Equal parts of salt, pepper, granulated garlic (not garlic powder) to taste

16 comments:

  1. Oh how I love veggies!!! Looks great!

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  2. I think your method of cooking frozen broccoli is amazing,, makes me so much sense.Thank you for sharing.

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  3. Canned vegetables are difficult to eat when you're used to the fresh stuff! The veggies look wonderful, and I'm amazed how you're effortlessly able to cook for so many people. Feeding a family of four alone is sometimes a daunting task for me. :)

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  4. Your pictures are always stunning Kay. I love the one of the frozen broccoli steaming off the water. This veggie medley sounds delicious!

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  5. Oh man, I've never liked canned veggies (except for corn and tomatoes). I remember HATING canned spinach, and then one day in a garden tasting a "real" leaf of spinach right off the plant. I was amazed, and have loved spinach ever since.

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  6. I never thought about sautéing my veggies and then finishing them in the oven. Great idea. Thanks Ms. Kay! ~Megan
    And canned veggies, esp peas? I'll pass.

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  7. Great tips on how to cook frozen vegetables. Your pictures are so pretty and now I'm craving veggies which is a good thing!

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  8. Me, too! Oh and over-boiled vegetables... I thought, no wonder my friends all hate vegetables. Amazing how you can make frozen vegetables look appetizing. I've never had much success in making frozen broccoli and beans tasty.

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  9. These are amazing tips! I've always wondered how to keep the broccoli from being mushy...this preparation will help!

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  10. seams good. Nice blog, congratulations...

    Regards

    JS

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  11. Thank you for your sweet comments dear friends! And Joao, welcome and thank you for your visit! :)

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  12. These are very good tips for even the home cook. It's rare that I cook with frozen vegetables, but they do provide convenience for those short of time. I'm going to try this saute technique soon.

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  13. I really think that eating vegetables help in maintaining a healthy body till the old age. What a nice post!! Well done!
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  14. Wow! That's an additional knowledge for me! Now I know why Koreans are into veggies. :)

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  15. Great as usual!!!!

    Direct from Istanbul!!!


    João Silva

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  16. These are great suggestions! I don't buy a lot of frozen veggies, but you've shown me a way to make them taste good :)

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