I was at Safeway looking at the produce and trying to figure out the difference between a turnip, rutabaga, and a parsnip. We had to compare the produce code on the sign with the code on the sticker of each item to figure out which was which. Tony said, “If your grandmother could see you now, she’d be saying, ‘I always thought that Karen was such a smart girl, I wonder what happened — she doesn’t know a turnip from a rutabaga.’”
When we go into the store we have a habit of always buying the same fruits and vegetables. For us it has been broccoli, asparagus if it’s on sale, and once in a while potatoes. We need to branch out in our produce selections. It will make our meals a lot more interesting and colorful too. So this week we’re going to try cauliflower and cabbage.When I met Tony he told me that he never really liked broccoli or asparagus, and hated brussel sprouts, but I realized later that he grew up eating them out of the freezer (boiled). A lot of us grew up eating canned and frozen vegetables, so give them another try if you think you don’t like them.
Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, or Asparagus
This is how I usually (rushed) make broccoli, brussel sprouts, and asparagus and everyone in the family loves it; I’ll look into getting more creative later.
1-2 lbs vegies
1-2 T avocado or hemp oil
1 t season salt
½ C shredded cheese or 1/4 C nutritional yeast
First cut the broccoli up into small pieces or snap the tough bottoms off of the asparagus. Cut the hard stub off of the Brussels sprouts and then cut them in half or quarters depending on how big they are – use all of the leaves that fall off.
Heat some olive oil in a pan and add the vegies that are now in small pieces, mix them around so they have oil on them and sprinkle a little Lawry’s season salt over it. Put something over the pan so it doesn’t splash and sauté the vegies. You may need to add a little water to keep it sort of steaming and not burning to the pan; stir them around once in a while. When you can stick a fork in them or they get to where you like them, for us it’s about 10-15 minutes, sprinkle some shredded cheese of them and let it melt.
For variations, you can add a crushed clove of garlic, some parmesan, chopped nuts, squeeze a lemon over it, or be creative on your own.
