Eat more Veggies in the New Year

One  of my Resolutions for the New Year is to eat more Veggies but also to try and find new ways of making them and maximize the flavour profiles while maintaining the integrity of the vegetable.

On a grocery shop trip to St. Lawrence Market last weekend I picked up some Asparagus, although they are not in season they were cheap and they are always quick to make.  It was only $1.50 for a small bunch but for me I knew I wouldn't waste a big bunch of it.
One of my favourite ways to make them is to just saute them in a grill pan or in this case I just used a flat cast iron pan and then I add Salt, pepper, lemon juice, olive oil and sometimes I will add Balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar.  I have also added grated parmesan on top and chili flakes.   I was tempted to make asparagus tempura but it didn't seem worth it for a small bunch of Asparagus.  I need to find a few new ways of making Asparagus and not having them be boring or over cooked.  My mother used to boil them until they were limp and had lost all of the green color.  I never boil them anymore.  Blanching maybe...but I prefer to cook them in a way that retains all the vitamins.   A lot of people don't like Asparagus because of either the smell, the texture or the after effects.  It will be my mission to try and find new ways of looking at this skinny green veggie.

The other Veggie that nobody seems to know what it is or what to do with is Celeriac.  My mom used to grate it and make a cold salad with lemon and mayonnaise.

This week I decided to make a puree out of it to go with the Salmon I made instead of rice or mashed potatoes.   This is one of the other white vegetables instead of potatoes.  They can be eaten raw or roasted like any other root vegetable or boiled and mashed into a puree the way I made them.  It's a pretty versatile vegetable but I think most people are scared away because they look really ugly and dirty until you cut off the outer layer of it and chop it up.   It can be a bit bland but you can add things to it like you would with potatoes.

When you get the Celeriac cut off the nobby top end and the root end and then start cutting down the sides to cut off the outer layer.   Rinse it and then cut it however you need to prepare whatever you are making.  I cut mine in chunks and boiled them.

I added nutmeg, parsley and dill butter and heavy cream and salt and pepper to season it.    If you are vegan you can skip the butter and cream and add some vegetable stock to puree it.
Things like chives, cheese, dill and even Tarragon or some other spices to bump up the flavour.

These are the simple ways to make these two under eaten veggies.

I will try and attempt to cook more vegetables this year and increase my recipe repetoire  in making them a lot more drool worthy.