Though I know that one of the next cookbooks I’d like to conquer is Mark Bittman’s How To Cook Everything Vegetarian, given that I’m still working through Food Matters, it might be a while.
We tried a few more recipes from Food Matters this week, mostly unplanned. While I mostly shop at the farmers’ market having already mapped out our meal plan for the coming week, sometimes errant beauties find their way into my bag.
Vegetable Chips
A gorgeous bunch of golden jubilee beets from Sundog Organics was one such item, in spite of the fact that I am not the biggest fan of beets (probably because most of my childhood memories of beets are in the form of a concentrated soup my Mum used to make, one that caused my sisters and I to shudder).
I remembered a recipe for vegetable chips in Food Matters that employed beets (but could easily be adapted for other root vegetables). I thinly sliced the beets (I chose not to peel them), tossed them with some olive oil, and put them in the oven for ten minutes on each side, seasoning them with salt and pepper when I flipped the slices over.
Beet chips
The results were addictive. Though some of the larger slices could have used more time in the oven, most of the chips were crispy. Roasting also had the affect of somewhat neutralizing the beet flavour, which could be helpful in converting even the most ardent beet haters. These chips served us well as a mid-afternoon snack, but would be a healthy addition to any meal (especially in place of French fries!).
Vegetable Pancakes
Though incorporating zucchini into bison chili and cassoulet cut into our zucchini inventory this week, nearly half of the large beast we picked up from Kuhlmann’s on Saturday (for $1! The frugal side of me rejoiced) still remained.
Bittman’s recipe for vegetable pancakes seemed a good way to use up the rest of our zucchini. Grated vegetables squeezed of their water are combined with flour, an egg, herbs and seasonings to form the batter, then pan-fried in butter or oil. Bittman suggests serving them over lightly dressed greens, which we did (mixed heritage greens from Greens, Eggs and Ham, and a vinaigrette featuring Lola Canola honey), for a light supper.
Zucchini pancakes and salad greens
Though our final products were edible (and fragrant, with the addition of fresh dill), they were unpleasant to eat, due to two errors we will not make again: 1) we didn’t take the time to adequately press all of the water out from the zucchini, meaning our pancakes did not crisp up as intended; and 2) we did not flatten the pancakes to the point where the thickness would allow them to cook through entirely (oh yes, there were bits of flour and soggy zucchini throughout our pancakes).
Lessons learned. But we will be making them again (correctly next time, we hope)!
Only Here for the Food 
Try baking sweet potato fries: toss in olive oil and sprinkle salt, cumin and garlic powder for flavour. I just wash the outside and don’t peel it either (for fibre!). That’s how I sneak extra vegetables into Gord’s diet.
Everything looks so yummy! I’m glad to see you experimenting with veggie dishes. The zucchini pancakes have piqued my interest….just might persuade my lazy ass to make them! 🙂
Andrea – sneaky indeed! I haven’t made sweet potato fries at home – will try some time!
Ellen – I’m sure the zucchini pancakes could be yummy – just make sure not to make the same mistakes I did :).