SEASONED GREETINGS WITH VEGETABLES

 

Power to the beans! They are dressed with horseradish cream sauce.

Making a Christmas dinner for vegetarian friends one year, perhaps inspired by the thought of roast beef with accoutrements, I came up with the brilliant combination of green beans with horseradish cream. 

Seasoning vegetables with unexpected flavors is a good ploy for any special meal, whether vegetarian or meat-based. It gives them presence next to the turkey, roast beef, glazed ham or, why not, a vegetarian mushroom-rice loaf. Here are some of the ways I spice up the vegetables.

Wild fennel stems and seeds.

Spices and herbs. Use the familiar ones in new ways. Or use triple the quantity. For example, instead of a “grating of nutmeg,” try a whole spoonful of the warm spice with squash or in a béchamel sauce; instead of a sprinkle of "paprika" for garnish, use a heaping tablespoon of pimentón (paprika) mixed into a vegetable. Try out the spices that have been languishing on your shelf—poppy seeds, cardamom, coriander, fennel.

Spice and herb blends are especially good for punching-up the flavor of plain veggies. Try especia para pinchitos, a blend made for marinating the little brochettes you get in tapas bars. It’s similar to Moroccan ras el hanout, a blend of cumin, coriander, turmeric, ginger, and cayenne. Other blends to experiment with are Madras curry powder, Palestinian za’atar, American chile powder, Old Bay (celery, mustard, bay, pepper), and herbes de Provence (thyme, rosemary, savory).  

Dip into condiments to season vegetables—mustard, vinegar, pickles, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, miso, olives, capers, Tabasco, chile crisp. Use grated lemon or orange peel to add zest. Mashed anchovies or crisp bacon add oomph to bland vegetables. 

Green beans. Cooks have been trying to fancy-up beans ever since haricots amandine (with toasted slivered almonds). Horseradish (rábano picante) may seem exotic, but it really gives them zing! Stir 1-2 tablespoons prepared horseradish with 2 tablespoons cream, salt, and pepper. Either spoon the horseradish cream over cooked green beans or mix it with the cooked beans and reheat them together. Serve with grated lemon peel on top. Good alongside roast beef. Use skinny haricots or wide, flat beans (pictured at right), strings peeled and beans slivered.

Spinach with cumin and crumbs.

Spinach. I used to make little spinach timbales for holiday dinners, unmolded around the centerpiece roast. But my cooking has simplified over the years. Now I want a pop of flavor and no complications. Cumin is a spice that appears in many traditional Andalusian dishes, a flavor remnant from Moorish Spain. It's a very forward spice; if preferred, use ground cumin for a more subtle flavor. 

Here I have used it in a refrito, a quick-fried sauce. Heat 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil with ½ teaspoon cumin seeds and 1 clove crushed garlic until the seeds begin to darken. Remove from heat and add ½ teaspoon Sherry vinegar. Discard the garlic. Spoon the oil and seeds over cooked spinach and top with fried bread crumbs. Spinach with cumin is especially good as a side with roast lamb.

Broccoli is dressed with herbed vinaigrette.

Broccoli. The sauce for the broccoli is essentially a herb-inflected vinaigrette, but it can be served room temperature or heated. Cook broccoli florets until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Drain and refresh in ice water. Place 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence in a jar and add 1 tablespoon boiling water. Let sit 10 minutes. Add ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar, 1 clove crushed garlic, and ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil. Cap the jar and shake well until sauce is emulsified. Pour over cooked broccoli or combine with the broccoli and reheat briefly. Tip: Vinegar will leach out the bright green of cooked vegetables, so combine sauce and broccoli immediately before serving. (Makes enough sauce for 8 ounces of florets.) Broccoli with herbs would complement roast pork.

Cauliflower escabeche can be served hot or cold.

Cauliflower. Escabeche is a very old method of conserving fish, meat, or vegetables in a vinegar marinade. Nowdays escabeche is prepared for flavor rather than as a preservative. This marinated cauliflower with fennel can serve as a cold dish with salad greens or be reheated in the marinade. Be sure to drizzle the cauliflower with additional olive oil before serving. Marinated cauliflower goes nicely with whole roasted salmon. I've used stems and seeds from wild fennel, but you can use sliced fennel bulb instead.

Marinate cauliflower.

Place ¼ cup of olive oil in a large pan. Spread ½ cup julienned onions, ½ cup red bell pepper cut in strips, and 1 sliced carrot in the pan. Cook on medium heat 5 minutes. Do not let the vegetables brown. Add 4 cups cauliflower florets (about 18 ounces). Sprinkle with 1 ½ teaspoons salt, 2 cloves slivered garlic, sprigs of wild fennel or sliced fennel bulb, peppercorns, and coriander seeds. Tuck lemon slices and bay leaf in the cauliflower. Pour over ½ cup white wine vinegar and 1 cup boiling water. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat, cover the pan, and cook until cauliflower can be easily piereced with a knife, about 15 minutes. Let the cauliflower cool in the pan. Place cauliflower, vegetables, and marinade in a jar and allow to sit overnight. Serve hot or cold. (Tip; don't use red onion in the marinade, as the vinegar will leach out the color, turning the cauliflower slightly pink. The red peppers are not affected by the vinegar.)

Spiced rutabaga with pumpkin seeds.

Rutabaga. Root vegetables—rutabaga (also known as "Swede" and "neep," nabo sueco in Spanish); parsnips (chirivia); turnips (nabo), carrots (zanahorias), sweet potatoes (boniatos)—are enhanced with sweet spices such as cinnamon or are complemented with herbal flavors such as sage. (Although not root vegetables, pumpkin and squashes fit nicely into this category of sweet, earthy vegetables.) I’ve used two of my favorite spices—ginger and cardamom. The cooked rutabaga is crushed, not pureed, then mixed with spices, olive oil, and Greek yogurt. It can be reheated in the oven or microwave. Spiced rutabaga is a good side with roast chicken or duck or with pot roast. 

Peel and cut into cubes 20 ounces of rutabaga (about half of a big one—you may need an axe to split it!) Cook the cubed vegetable in boiling salted water with a 3-inch strip of orange peel until it is soft enough to mash, about 20 minutes. In a mortar crush ½ teaspoon coarse salt, 12 peppercorns, 6 cardamon pods with husks removed, and 1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger. Drain the rutabaga, discarding the orange peel. Use a potato-masher to crush the rutabaga, adding 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil and ¼ cup Greek yogurt. Stir in the spices and combine well. Add salt to taste. Reheat before serving garnished with pumpkin seeds.

Brussels sprouts with Moroccan spices.

Brussels sprouts. Why are sprouts always part of a holiday dinner? I’m guessing it’s because they are so seasonable (pun intended), coming into the market at exactly this time. Sprouts sautéed with diced bacon may be the absolute best way to season them, but if bacon isn’t part of your meal plan, here’s a spicy alternative. The sprouts can be roasted in the oven (30 minutes at 400ºF) or cooked in boiling, salted water and drained. The spiced Brussels sprouts would sparkle next to roast turkey.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet. Add 2 sliced shallots, 1 tablespoon slivered almonds, and (optional) ½ cup peeled and diced apple and sauté until shallots are softened, 5 minutes. Do not let them brown. Stir in 1 teaspoon ras el hanout spice blend or pinchito spice and 1 tablespoon chopped preserved lemon (Moroccan salted lemon). Add the cooked Brussels sprouts. Add a spoonful of water if needed so the sprouts don’t scorch. Heat well before serving. 

Potato latkes with pimentón.

Potatoes. How many ways are there to make roast or mashed potatoes? A spoonful of pimentón de la Vera, smoked Spanish paprika, which comes sweet, bittersweet, and picante-hot, will transform potatoes—roasted or mashed. Pimentón, probably the most popular spice in Spanish cooking, is also a brilliant addition to potato latkes. 

Double-mashed potatoes.

Here's a link to a recipe for Double-Mashed Potatoes with Pimentón (patatas revolconas) and 10 more ways to season the sides for Christmas dinner. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

There's much more about spices and herbs and how to season vegetables in my new cookbook, FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS, The Culinary Heritage of Spain. 

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