Writers Plot: "Tis the Season for Sneaky Vegetables"

Posted by Kate Flora

You're absolutely right. I'm at it again. I'm trying to counter that meal that featured five kinds of pie with some healthy veggies. Five kinds of pie. I am not kidding. I brought the crumble-topped apple that my son loves and the gooey pecan my husband prefers. My sister-in-law's father brought her favorite (secretly my fave, too) which was raspberry. My niece made her new holiday special--a delicious, light, and low-cal pumpkin pie. And that same indulgent father who brought raspberry also brought mincemeat, which is his personal favorite. So there we were, stuffed with turkey and stuffing, gravy and mashed potatoes, the traditional green bean casserole with crispy onions, and my brother's own homegrown squash, and we were supposed to eat five pies? (The squash, by the way, was the best I've ever tasted, and I'm a big squash fan.)

The holiday began when we arrived to find my niece's husband and her sister's boyfriend playing something called "Guitar Hero." You want to feel like a dinosaur? Go to a family holiday with a bunch of young adults. They read different things, play different games, and watch strange things on TV that we've never heard of. At least they read. This at least, for a writer, is a kind of joy.

Left, Beth with her mother, Ellen Hills. Right, newlyweds Sara and Russ sharing a moment as she gets ready to serve the dessert.

Okay. So the truth is that I'll eventually get to vegetables, but I'm still stuck on how much fun it is to add new members to a family, and to have these multi-generational occasions. So I'm going to stick in a couple of truly whacko pictures. These are of my brother John, the town librarian, a guy who loves wizards and new age music, entering contests (he's won cars and trips and a zillion other things, including a year's supply of orange juice.) John also likes untraditional dress. These photos happened when we were admiring son Max's hat, and John said he had a Robin Hood hat. I foolishly asked if I could see it, and here's what happened:

Left photo: My husband Ken and son Max with Beth and Sara Beth.

Right photo: My crazy brother John in his Robin Hood hat and cape, holding a sword.

So what does all this have to do with vegetables? Only this: that after having eaten more than the human stomach can hold, and then driving back to Massachusetts from Hartland, Maine, my husband and I got sentimental about not having any left-over turkey, and the next day, I went to the store and bought a turkey, stuffed it, cooked it, made mashed potatoes, and we did the whole holiday thing all over again. We did it because we're crazy about those second day turkey sandwiches. You know the ones...they're made with yukky white bread and they have turkey and stuffing and cranberry sauce and mayonaise. And when you eat them, you are convinced they're the best sandwich in the universe?

But a few days later, blissed out on tryptophans and lying about with the top button on our jeans undone, we vow reform, and I drive to the market for vegetables. Now, I don't know about YOUR husband, but mine, even having vowed reform, has an instinctive reaction to veggies. He turns and runs in the other direction, or he whines and asks if there are any potatoes or rice. To his credit, he will eat salad. But lately, things have been turning around. Last week, I made this recipe, from my local farmstand:

Roast potatoes with Brussels sprouts and caulifower
1 pound small red potatoes, cut in eighths
1 pound small Yukon Gold potatoes, cut in eighths
1 small head cauliflower, broken into florets
1 pound Brussels sprouts, split lengthwise
3 Tablespoons olive oil,
dried thyme, salt, and pepper.

Set over to 425. In a bowl, toss the veggies with the olive oil, salt, thyme and pepper. Spread on a baking sheet in one layer. Roast 35-45 minutes, turning once.

Tonight I made this again, and added broccoli. My husband had thirds.

And also last week, I made this dish from a recent copy of Cooking Light, which my husband and guests happily ate:

Butternut Squash Gratin with Blue Cheese and Sage from Cooking Light
5 cups cubed, peeled butternut squash
1 slice white bread
4 teaspoons olive oil
2 cups thinly sliced onion
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh sage
salt & pepper
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

Preheat oven to 400. Steam squash, covered, 10 minutes until tender. (I used the microwave) Place bread in food processor and pulse until coarse crumbs (I used canned bread crumbs), toss in a bowl with 2 t. olive oil. Heat remaining oil in skillet, add onion & saute 5 minutes, 'til tender (I also did onions in the microwave). Mix onions, squash, sage, salt & pepper. Place in 11 x 7 baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cook at 400 for 20 minutes. Top with cheese and breadcrumbs, and bake 10 minutes or until cheese melts and crumbs are golden brown.

Delicious and it looks great!

So what are you cooking this season? Share a recipe. Share an idea, a wrapping tip, and fun family tradition. In our family, we like to wrap presents in large pieces of colorful cloth, or put them in reusable cloth bags. And I cut the fronts off last year's cards to use as package tags.

Let's have fun this holiday. AND EAT OUR VEGGIES.
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Comments

If pies are big and vegetables are not, maybe the veggies should be included in the pie! Tuesday night I went to an event my son's class (he's a hotel & restaurant major) catered and ended up ordering the vegetable strudel because I can't resist anything in phyllo dough, and it was excellent! It did also include ricotta, and I didn't ask where they got the recipe.

Posted by: Lois | December 05, 2008 at 07:49 AM