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This casserole combines a variety of vegetables into a tasty side dish for any meal. Very easy to make since it is made in a slow coker.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups carrots, cut in strips, cooked & drained
2 cups celery, diced
1 onion, diced
1/4 cup green pepper, diced
1 pint tomato juice
4 cups green beans, drained (I use whole green beans — not French style.)
1 teaspoon salt
dash of pepper
3 tablespoons tapioca
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons margarine

Prepare the carrots and cook them until they are just barely fork tender. They should still be somewhat firm. Drain well.

Combine all the ingredients in a slow cooker. The sugar is optional and you should leave it out if you prefer your vegetables not sweet.  I substitute garlic salt for the salt and from time to time add minced garlic to the mixture.

Dot the top with margarine and cook on a low setting for 8 to 10 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours.

During the “winter blues” I am going to be talking about cooking vegetables. The recipes posted during the next few issues will not feature fresh vegetables.  I live in Oklahoma and those are not plentiful now. Plenty of time to talk about those locally grown veggies in the summer.

Vegetables provide a major part of our daily vitamin content and should be  essential to our diet. The method of preparation determines how much vitamin content is retained. It also accounts for the taste and eye appeal.

It is very easy to over cook vegetables. This results in them being bland and soggy.  Boling not only robs us of vitamin content, it is the main culprit in turning vegetables to a lifeless, tasteless form.  My belief is that there are very few vegetables that should be boiled.

OK — so we aren’t going to boil. What are we going to do?

First option, steaming vegetables is always a good choice. This will leave vegetables full of life. They will be crisp and colorful. It will also not deplete the vegetables of their vitamin content.

By rule of thumb, vegetables will only need a few minutes in the steam.

For those who do not have official vegetable steamers, an easy steamer can be fashioned out a of pot, a metal colander, and a pot lid. Place a small amount of water in the bottom of a given pot. Fit the metal colander into the pot. Start to boil the water. You will begin the see the steam rise. Place your vegetables into the metal colander and place the pot lid over the metal colander and pot. This collection of kitchen items will allow you to steam vegetables as good as any fancy store bought steamer.

There is also a small steamer basket available at most stores that carry any type of kitchen utensils including discount stores.

Another good option is to cook your vegetables in a wok. The secret to the wok is that it cooks quickly at a very high temperature. Vegetables retain their flavors, textures, and colors with small amount of nutrient loss.

My favorite wok recipe for vegetables is to cook broccoli, carrots, bok choy, and snow peas in a very light garlic sauce. The vegetables remain crisp and the garlic adds just the right amount of flavoring. This combination can be served with any cut of meat.

I hope you will see that secret to cooking vegetables is not to over cook. Vegetables need to remain crisp, full of color. It’s all about flavoring and proper cooking methods. As you learn different tricks as to how to bring your vegetables to life, these will become the most requested dishes on your dinner table.

How many days this past week did you serve vegetables for at least one meal?  What is your favorite vegetable recipe?

It would be difficult to explain all of the things that have kept me away from my blog. But that is all boring stuff and doesn’t really mean anything to anyone — even me.  What really matters is that I am back and cooking again.

I live in Oklahoma and we have experienced an extraordinary number of days above 100 degree temperatures. Much of our garden has been slow in producing. But I can’t say that about the zucchini. We can’t pick it fast enough. Take a look at the 8 pounds we harvested this week.

These two weighed 8 pounds total and were slightly over 16″ long. BUT what do you do with these monsters.

Although I had never stuffed a zucchini, I decided that was what I wanted to do. I make stuffed peppers frequently so I thought that would be a good thing to do in this case.

I sliced the zucchini in half and cut the centers out — making a boat to hold the stuffing. I steamed this inside part and added a tablespoon of butter. I mashed this and drained off all the water. Slice the long pieces into serving size — I cut into thirds which gave me 6 servings. Place the zucchini “boats” on a cookie sheet.

Brown about 1 lb. hamburger and add 1 medium size onion. Cook about a cup of rice and add to hamburger and onion mixture.  Add 1 can of petite diced tomatoes and the cooked squash. Salt and pepper to taste.

Add mixture to each zucchini and top with provolone cheese.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until tender. If the zucchini is particularly hard, you might want to microwave the pieces before stuffing and baking.

I did not use any spices except salt and a small amount of pepper. This gives all the flavors a chance to stand on their own.

Enjoy

The beginning cook often skips learning how to cook vegetables. They may be somewhat intimidating but I will be taking them one at a time and offering some quick and delicious recipes. It is important that you experiment with different techniques and with developing your palette for different tastes.

Asparagus is expensive but it doesn’t take many stalks to make a good serving. Try this tasty treat. This is a very simple way to prepare it.:

Boiled Asparagus
Choose the freshest asparagus possible. It should be firm and not droop when held up. Trim the tops, scrape or peel the stalks. Cut them into equal lengths and tie into a small bunch.

Boil in salted water until fork tender.* Remove the asparagus from the water and drain. Pour drawn butter* over the top. A sauce can be made by using the water drained from asparagus. Thicken it with one tablespoonful of butter, one tablespoonful of flour and the beaten yolk of an egg. Add seasoning and lemon or nutmeg to taste.

* Unsure about this meaning? Check the “What Does That Mean” page above.