Get more veggies on your plate with these tips from local chefs and food producers: Andrew Coppolino

Conestoga College culinary instructor Steve Allen says there are a few simple keys to cooking vegetables properly. 

"The really basic aspects of vegetable cookery come to retaining colour, retaining texture and retaining vitamins. You want that as well as saving taste and flavour," says Allen.

Allen, who also owns Lily Ruth Catering in Cambridge, adds that there is some science to veg cooking, and as an example points to green beans, a relatively easy vegetable to prepare: too long in the pot and sensitive plant pigments and flavour compounds are destroyed.

"Boil them for five minutes and you end up with a brown mushy green bean," says Allen. "But throw them in boiling water for 30 seconds and shock them in ice water and you have a beautiful crunchy bean which you can sauté for a few seconds with some butter and a bit of salt and pepper, and then right on to the plate."

Cooking veg can be easier than meat: there's no worry about food safety if you under cook broccoli and, it's harder to dry out a carbohydrate whereas you can quite easily render your strip loin to an inedible shoe-leather texture.

As you consider adding more vegetables to your dinner plans, I've gathered a few other tips from cooks and food producers in Waterloo region.

Seasonal is superb

They suggest going seasonal first: there's no science there to getting the freshest, tastiest and healthiest bite you can get.

While the season's first harvests are still several weeks away, Shea Robinson at Miijidaa Guelph says cooking asparagus should be quick and simple.

"I love it grilled with olive oil, salt and pepper, and a dash of apple cider vinegar to add a layer of flavour. Finish it with some grated Parmesan," Robinson says.

Make note: Jenn Pfenning of Pfenning's Organic Farm is watching as the farm's "winter spinach" is currently growing; some spinach wasn't harvested last year and spent the winter covered in snow, the important parts protected beneath the ground.

"It's a happy accident," Pfenning says. "It's re-growing and should be ready in early May."

She suggests the spinach would be great on a sandwich or in a salad. "It has a higher Brix level, meaning it's sweeter and has a different texture," says Pfenning.

But as we wait for the first local crops, grocery store vegetables can still offer some great flavours and easy preparation.

Keep it simple

Simplicity is key: Robinson takes root veg like parsnip, carrots and turnip — cut to the same sizes for even cooking — and seasons them with salt and pepper, garlic, olive oil and herbs like rosemary or sage before roasting them.

A particularly interesting dish — and new for me — is a Neapolitan zucchini dish from La Cucina chef Emiliano Fabbrizi. The technique here is unique too.

"Sauté fairly thick slices of zucchini with olive oil and salt and pepper until they begin to soften and turn slightly brown. Cool in the fridge for about 30 minutes and then bring back to room temperature," Fabbrizi says. "Then, add a splash of white vinegar, minced garlic and some chopped mint. It's the bomb!"

Cambridge chef and owner of Elixir Bistro, Pirooz Jafari, says he's been eating vegetarian for the past several months. His bistro cooking blends local produce with French technique and flavours from Iran.

"I like green beans and curried eggplant with rice," Jafari says. "I toast fennel, fenugreek, cumin and then sauté with ginger and onion.  It gets a bit of tomato sauce and coconut milk. It's delicious."

No kale massage required here: long-time produce purveyor Gerald Kara will tell you that while there is thicker, heavier cavolo nero kale at grocery stores, there's some delicate "baby" kale that is grown in Elmira: he says that in his years of sourcing produce for Kara's Market Cafe, he's impressed with this local product.

"This baby kale is very delicate, so when I do a soup I just throw it in at the very end, and it maintains its character," Kara says. "For a salad, all I add is olive oil, a little bit of lemon juice, salt and pepper and a little spice like cumin or coriander just to give it a little umph. It's a salad kale."

Use veggies in sauces

Finally, if you're looking for a sauce for your pasta — a nice spinach-filled ravioli or a simple penne — vegetables can fit the bill. You can make a rosé sauce using butternut squash, according to Six Nations chef Aicha Smith-Belghaba, of Esha's Eats, who combines the Haudenosaunee ingredients of her heritage with her father's Algerian background.

"Grate some tomatoes, which is the way my father does it, and add sautéed garlic and onions. That gets boiled down with butternut squash giving it a natural velvetiness and orange tinge," Smith-Belghaba says, adding that vegetables are versatile and can satisfy any craving for rich flavours and textures.

"It makes it look like there's cream and butter involved," she says.

Aicha Smith-Belghaba's butternut squash rosé sauce

Ingredients

5 medium tomatoes
1 cup diced butternut squash
1 medium white onion, diced
Salt and pepper
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 cups water
1 tablespoon vegetable (or chicken) bouillon
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Method

In a large bowl, grate the tomatoes (slice a small piece of the bottom to make grating easier).

In a pan, sauté the onion, garlic and salt and pepper for 5 minutes. Add the butternut squash cubes.

If you prefer, force the tomato through a fine-meshed sieve or strainer to remove seeds (optional). Add the water and let the mixture simmer until the squash is quite soft.

In a blender, whiz the mixture until smooth (adjust with water or stock, if needed). As an option, you can add butter and cheese and incorporate.