Doing more with your vegetables

Originally published on Medium.

If you’re a carnivore, or someone who eats a good deal of meat, it can be difficult to see vegetables as anything other than a side dish. When we think of a ‘typical’ American meal, meat is quite often the centerpiece of the plate, the star of the show. Trying to convince others that vegetables and plants can replace this revered part of a meal requires an almost complete reversal of thinking. What do you mean broccoli should be the primary ingredient in this dish?

There’s also a tendency to see vegetables in particular (instead of fruits, for instance) as bland and uninteresting. As kids, my brother and I rarely ate vegetables that weren’t steamed, pre-frozen, or that came from a can. This wasn’t because we were ill fed or that my parents were bad cooks. Rather, as is the case in many busy families, the majority of the meal’s preparation was for the meat, leaving little energy for the rest. Lives are hectic, dinner has to be made, and the most we have energy for is to boil some greens and serve them. It’s no wonder vegetables can turn out to be mushy, flavorless disappointments.

As I learned to cook for myself however, I vowed to make vegetables interesting. I wasn’t at that point interested so much in vegetarian or vegan dishes so much as getting that “wow” factor when cooking a vegetable side. Broccoli sautéed in garlic butter and red pepper flakes. Roasted Brussel sprouts doused in brown butter. Curried cauliflower. Broiled asparagus with Brie and prosciutto ham. The mark of a good cook, or so I thought, was not only to make a stellar main course, but to win over hearts with sides.

But when it came to trying out vegetable main courses, I was lost. Most of the recipes I had for vegetables were designed as sides. Though they tasted amazing, they wouldn’t suffice as a main course. What’s more, trying to find suitable vegetable main course recipes often led to the same place: salads. So often when we think of vegetables as a main course, our thoughts turn to leafy greens and combinations of vegetables that would go well with some dressing.

But vegetables can do a lot more than that. And to discover just how much more, I turned to other cuisines. A great place to learn some fun and quirky things to do with vegetables was reading through a cook book of tapas recipes. Spaniards are crazy about their meat and seafood, but they also know a thing or two about making vegetables interesting. Tapas are a great way to explore these options. Though smaller in scale, their creativity was something I often found lacking in other recipes: tomatoes stuffed with rice and beans, empanadas stuffed with olives, beans, and spices, potatoes in a sun-dried tomato spicy sauce, hundreds of stuffed mushroom recipes, grilled artichokes.

Of course, these were just Spanish recipes. But what about cuisines that are known for their vegetables? My next journey took me to the Indian subcontinent. I’d enjoyed Indian food my whole life, and yet many of the recipes I’d tried involved chicken, lamb, or sea food. The truth is India has a wealth of recipes where vegetables are the feature. What’s more, they are some of the most flavorful dishes out there. Gobi Aloo is perhaps one of the most well-known of vegetarian dishes, involving potatoes and cauliflower. There was also Bhaingan Bharta (eggplant curry), Chana Masala (chickpea curry), and my favorite, samosas.

Slowly, but surely, vegetables began to win my heart over. The world began to open for me the more I explored what all vegetables could do. There were so many options, so many methods, styles, cuisines to try. It wasn’t just discovering what I could do with the vegetables I typically cook with. There were so many vegetables I didn’t know existed. Discovering what to do with them became something of a traveling exploration, a means by which to see the world through food. You learn much about a culture when exploring the plants that make up their cuisine.

And perhaps for this reason, I found myself wanting to explore more vegetarian and vegan meals, to see what plants could produce. Could I be just as satisfied with a meal of only plants as I would a meal with meat and animal products?

So if you’re curious what more you can do with the vegetables available to you in your supermarkets, I encourage you to start exploring. Look up recipes from other cuisines where your favorite vegetable is proudly featured. Try a recipe where your favorite vegetable is the star of the show. Enjoy the process and be open to exploration. You might be surprised what you discover.