Tag Archives: the great veggie experiment

The Great Veggie Experiment: Okra!

I love all things New Orleans, as you know – so trying okra seemed like a no brainer.

okraraw

Okra is actually from the mallow family, which includes hibiscus and and cotton.  Who knew?  Okra is also called lady finger in some parts of the world, although not sure what lady has fingers that look like this.  Swamp lady, maybe?

I really, really wanted to batter and fry these (why is it that I have been wanting to fry things lately?).    But, I figured that was the easy way out to eat it LOL.  Instead, I just sprayed with some cooking spray, salt and pepper and roasted in the toaster oven for 15-20 minutes:

okra

They actually looked pretty good.  I then bit into one:

hmmmmm

Hmmm……  tried another bite and got a mucousy string.  I was expecting some sliminess, but I didn’t like it.  The taste was  good, kind of earthy and green.  A little like zuchinni, I thought.  It was the texture, and you all know how I can have a texture problem with my veggies.

So, I won’t be getting okra again to eat like this.  Might keep some on hand frozen for gumbo, since that gelatin is good for thickening.

The Great Veggie Experiment:8-ball squash!

Saw this fun sign at the store:

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Cute little thing, isn’t it?

8ball

Turns out the 8-ball squash is a variety of zucchini.  I keep getting fooled by that LOL!  The shape just said “Grill me!”.  So I sliced it up, brushed with oil and S&P and put it on the grill.

8ball2

Came out nice.  The larger diameter kept the pieces from falling through the grill.

grilled8ball

It looked like a zucchini inside, but not quite as watery and more firm.  It had a delicate, almost buttery flavor and I loved the grill.  Not sure if I will get this again, as it is more expensive that regular zucchini, but fun to try.  And it was from a local farm!

The Great Veggie Experiment: Spinach!

Been a while since I did a GVE!  I finally decided to try the spinach smoothie that I have seen on any number of blogs lately in various incarnations! *  I searched for recipes online, and made the mistake of putting in ‘green monster’ in the search engine.  I got all kinds of alcoholic drinks, which is fine – but none included spinach LOL!

I was a bit nervous, but then I read a lot that they just mostly tasted fruity (if that was the majority of your base).  So – here is my blender:

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The mix:

– 2 cups of spinach leaves (or so – the blender was about 3/4 full, but the rest of the ingredients mushed the leaves down)

– 1 cup strawberries

– 1 very, very ripe banana (80 grams)

– 15 grams of PB2

– 15 grams of strawberry protein powder

– 1 cup of water.

Buzzed it up and got not quite a green drink, a little weird lookingspinach-smoothie

Tasty, though – I have to say.  It tasted like a strawberry banana smoothie.  Plus I got lots of the wonderful qualities of spinach like iron, folate, vitamin A, vitamin K, and magnesium!

The whole smoothie was around 250 calories, which is good.  My only problem is that I like to have a solid, chewable lunch – so this drink got sucked down pretty quick!  I wonder how this would be as a preworkout/postworkout recovery?

Lots of further options to explore with this, like yogurt, different fruits, different add ins.

So, I encourage you all to give this a try and get in 3-4 servings of fruit and veggies in one drink!

* Recipes have been found here, here, and here

The Great Veggie Experiment: Fiddleheads!

This was a totally new veggie to me.  Funny how I was just reading about them online about how they are in season, and what do I see at the farmer’s market yesterday?  Fiddleheads!

fheads

I decided to try some, although the appearance seemed a bit like coiled worms to me, so there was a bit of apprehension.

Fiddleheads are grown mostly in the northeast, and are the unfurled frond tips of the ostrich fern, so obviously have a very short season.

Took them home and washed off the brown papery coating.

fiddleheads

Cooked them thusly:

4 ounces of fiddleheads

1 tsp coconut oil

3 tablespoons minced onions

1 slice canadian bacon, chopped.

Steam the fiddleheads in a mesh steamer for 5 minutes.

In the meantime, saute the onions in the coconut oil and then add the bacon.  When the fiddleheads are done, add them to the saute pan and cook for another 4-5 minutes.

fiddleheads2

They were actually pretty good, although anything with bacon in some form is going to be pretty tasty to me 😀

They were very reminiscent of asparagus, but much milder in flavor and pretty tender.  They were fun, and I would get them again, although keeping the price in mind.

The Great Veggie Experiment: Artichoke!

Artichokes were on sale for $1 a piece, so I thought I would cook one up for myself.  John didn’t want any.choke1

Trimmed up and ready for cooking – It’s purty inside:

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I decided to microwave steam it, so I put it in water with salt and pepper and a bay leaf, covered with plastic wrap and microwaving for probably about 10-12 minutes total.

With dinner.  I had a bit of butter, lemon juice and worchestershire sauce in a dish for dipping, although I mostly just ate it plain:

dinner P5060022

Down to the choke:

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Scraped out the thistle:

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This was the best part as it had a meatiness to it that the leaves lacked.  You can just bite into the choke.   The taste was milder than a cabbage or asparagus with some type of flavor that I can’t quite put my finger on.  Sour maybe?  But not in a bad way, just different.  I could really taste the bay leaf, too.  This was fun, and certainly slowed dinner down, but I still like my broccoli better!

Giveaway ends Friday!

The Great Veggie Experiment: White Asparagus!

Today’s experiment was guided by the sales at the grocery store yesterday.  Bundles and bundles of white asparagus.

As per usual when trying something new, I decided to roast them.asparagus

A little S&P and a drizzle of oil.  They had a nice flavor, but I think I might prefer the green better.  Part of it was that I love really thin asparagus spears, and these were much thicker than I have ever eaten.  I might try making a soup or something with the rest of the bunch.  Any ideas anyone?

The Great Veggie Experiment: Mung Beans!

I found some mung and adzuki beans at a local health food store. They are tiny, and I seem to like the smaller legumes. So thought I would give them a try.
Mung beans are native to India and Pakistan. High in fiber and a good amount of protein.

I soaked them overnight, and put them on the stove this morning to cook. They actually only took about 15 minutes. Not sure if that was due to the soaking or what. Anyway, I decided to make a coconut curry with them.
Ingredients:

2 tsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp black mustard seeds
1/4 of an onion diced
1/2 green bell pepper,diced
1/4 cup mung beans (soaked overnight and cooked)
1/2 cup chick peas
2/3 cup light coconut milk
salt and pepper

In a sauce pan, heat the coconut oil. Add the mustard seeds and cook until they start to pop. Stir in the garam masala and cook for 30 seconds. Add the onions and green peppers. Cook until translucent and starting to carmelize.
Add the cooked mung beans and chick peas. Cook for about a minute. Add the coconut milk and salt and pepper to taste. Heat thoroughly.
I served this with some couscous and it was heavenly!
Makes 2 servings.


About 200 calories per serving, not counting couscous.

The mung beans themselves weren’t really strong in flavor. More so than the chick peas, but I think they had pea-type flavor. Apparently, these are used most often in sweet preparations. Who knew? I have a bunch of these, so that might be the next option. Who ever knew that I would be eating beans!

The Great Veggie Experiment: Chayote!

These looked fresh and appealing at the store, and it was 69 cents to give it a whirl. (Aren’t I the big spender!!)

Looks kind of like a pear doesn’t it? These are actually related to squash and melons. Also known as mirlitons (Nutcracker, anyone?)
I tasted it raw, and my mouth tasted pear, but not very sweet, if that makes any sense. A texture very similar to a hard pear. I cut it up and roasted it, as you know I like to do with new veggies.

Unlike squash, it stays pretty crisp, even after roasting. Surprisingly so. Any trace of sweetness was cooked out of it, and it was very mild. All in all, I think I liked it. I have half left, and I believe that I am going to thinly slice it and eat it raw on a sandwich with some hummus. Just to try it.

The Great Veggie Experiment: Collard Greens!


Okay – I did it! For our Mardi Gras dinner, I made the collard greens and used the Diet,Desserts,and Dogs recipe. Thank you for that!! The only thing I did not add was the lemon juice (didn’t have any).

The recipe was quick and easy. Overall, I am not totally sold on the collards, they were chewier than I was expecting – but the flavor was quite good in this dish, and the apples were a nice touch. I used a more tart apple, so I don’t think I missed the lemon juice. The other people who tried the greens also thought they were good. So – yay for me! However, I don’t think I will buy them again just for me to eat.

Finished greens (along with crawfish pie and shrimp & grits):

The Great Veggie Experiment: Broccolini!


Found some broccolini at the grocery store this weekend. Everyone knows that I looooves me some broccoli, one of the very few veggies I really like, and I eat it pretty much every day.
I thought the broccolini would be like baby broccoli, but it’s not. It’s a cross between broccoli and a chinese cabbage. That said, it really seemed more like asparagus to me, especially in the texture of the stem. It was quite tender and had a more mild flavor than broccoli. The tops were pretty different, more textural and less soft than regular broccoli.
I roasted it, as I tend to do this as a standby for unfamiliar veggies since I like that cooking method. Worked really well. And a serving is huge for only 35 calories. I definitely would purchase this again.