Friday, 19 February 2010
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Tribute to the Great 6 Veggies of Victory!!
Over the last few months, I have embarked on a campaign to teach myself how to cook. I had a few reasons:
- I really like food! It tastes so good, and it makes me happy and healthy (or opposite!)
- I live pretty much on my own. It's good to be able to take care of myself.
- My Bassoon studio/instructor is all about cooking. I need to be able to keep up!
- I hear that women like a man who can cook. Not going to lie, that's one of my reasons.I'm still not very good, but people tell me that I'm really not that bad (some say pretty good, but I don't trust them).
I have made fried chicken, pastas (sauces), fried chicken pasta, cakes, cookies, brownies, cheesecake, awesome scrambled eggs and omelets, soups, stir fry, and can do a lot more. Yeah, that's mostly basic things; I just haven't really tried too much due to limited grocery funds and time (due to school). I can also do a lot with a few chicken breasts and have improvised a pretty interesting, somewhat tasty concoction using chicken, onion, potato, butternut squash and brown sugar.
Anyway, over the 7 months that I've begun my "Learn to Cook WELL" campaign, I've started to notice a few veggies that keep showing up. It's like they're in a secret government agency, sent out to keep all the tasty food...well...tasty!
So with no further babble, allow me to expose the identity of these not-so-covert secret agents!!!- ONION
- POTATO
- TOMATO
- BELL PEPPER
- OLIVE
- MUSHROOM
Yes, that is them. These guys are EVERYWHERE!! There are so many dishes in which they (in some combination) can, and are, frequently used!
Eggs for breakfast? Scramble 'em and throw in TOMATO, ONION, PEPPER, OLIVE, and MUSHROOM, and maybe even POTATO... and WHOA NELSON!!!! Your eggs have been transformed!!! No longer are they dull and boring eggs, they are now AWESOME EGGS!
How about a Pizza? Pretty much all of the above (except maybe POTATO) make a pizza what it is. Delicious!
Making Fajitas, Tacos, or Burritos? If you don't have TOMATO, OLIVE, ONION, and maybe BELL PEPPER, your burrito/taco/fajita is going to suck.
Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I really suspect that these six veggies are up to something. They are always in my fridge, and I really don't think they're going to leave any time soon.
When teamed up with chicken, cheddar, butter, milk, egg, and a handful of other kitchen greats in various forms, they can create some pretty unstoppable and awesome combinations, which can shut up most any complaining stomach.
So there. Veggies of Victory, I know your secret, and I welcome and embrace your presence in my kitchen!
Which vegetables are staples in your meals?
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About the Author
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- From: nodnarbassoon@xanga
- Name: Brandon
- About Me: I play music, I go to church, and I like to know how our brains work. yeah. Oh, I like to cook too.
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Comments (35)
I LOVE Vegetarian Pizza. I haven't been able to fulfill by pizza craving yet. I think I need to have pizza tomorrow.
mushrooms, garlic, onions, green onions, tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, eggplant, corriander, curry leaves, ginger, lettuce, potatoes,
those are regulars in my fridge. i love veggies with my non veg meals..
By the look of your list, it seems you tend to like to cook southern european, with a range somewhere between eastern spain, southern france and northern and coastal italy.
If you want to get an idea of what kinds of things people use the most of, just go look in the vegetables section of a Costco or Sam's Club. They research and calculate the most commonly used and needed items for their inventory.
It's a good idea to keep a basic stock of high-volume vegetables; but also visit farmers markets and what-not to get the best fresh selection of more esoteric and lesser-used vegetables. This way, you can vary your repertoire much more.
Good luck with your learning to cook well. It's a good skill to have.
And you are correct, women love a man who can cook.
@osmundaregalis@xanga - Let's just make pizza already. I have dough in the refrigerator, probably going to make a small pizza and some garlic rolls.
@osmundaregalis@xanga - @arenadi@xanga - Haha! Shortly after writing this, I got an intense pizza craving.... and the next day made my first homemade pizza ever :P
I think it's the picture I used. It's really inviting!
@nodnarbassoon@xanga - Oh, good, glad to hear that. Did it turn out well?
I don't know if you take photos of your food, but it's a good way to see how you improve over time. Another good thing to do is to keep a journal of the things you cook, and make notes, like "next time, a little less (whatever)" or for the pizza, something like "dough was undercooked in center, burnt at edges, research problem." or something.and you can see how you're going along and how you're adapting.
BTW, cooking blogs of guys learning to cook do well.
@arenadi@xanga - It turned out OK. I cooked it on a metal pan... the dough cooked OK... very light colored (but thoroughly cooked... a bit hard actually), and the topping was fine. Thanks for the heads up!
amen brother!!!
and yes, girls do love boys who can cook ^^
i myself am a veggie-obsessed health freak and go into withdrawal when i don;t get copious amounts nof veggies in each and every meal.
except for the onion and the white potatoes (sweet potatoes rock!), i like this list. and now that almost everyone is mentioning pizza, i'd like all my fave veggies and cheese to come together for me in one awesome dish. deep dish.
hmmm... ive seen some recipes with squash that look so damn good.. maybe it will become the 7th veggie?
love 'em all... except mushrooms hah
I'm really hungry now. Those food pics are gorgeous with the vibrant colors!
i love veggies.
i love veggies, im gunna eat a bell pepper itght now, basically that list i constantly have all those for when i cook
i hate most veggies (onions and mushrooms especially) but i do always have in my fridge/freezer/cupboard: spinach, tomatoes, peppers of some kind, beans, corn, and peas.
i just bought bell pepper (green + yellow) this week. i hvnt tried to cook bell pepper, so im looking for recipes.. any suggestions?
STAPLES: Spinach, Spaghetti Squash & Green Beans
no doubt that those six are great, but i am really surprised that celery and carrots didn't make the list. first of all, celery and carrots are famous for doubling as aromatics. both of them are great raw AND cooked. i would think that they are in more dishes than bell peppers and potatoes, and certainly in more dishes than olives. i love olives, but they are just not as versitile.
i thought onions were regarded as a type of herb and potatoes were regarded as a type of starch. i know they are both plants and can be viewed as veggies, but for cooking purposes i would think they fall under those categories
oh forgot to say, one of my favorite pizzas have potato on them:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/escape-from-new-york-pizza-san-francisco-3
My staple veggies are green onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, carrots, celery, and spinach. I generally do one-three dishes with a combination of some or all of them every week.
Yum! Vegetables :)
I like all the ones you have listed.
I also enjoy spring onions, spinach, pumpkin... The list could go on and on! :)
i love vegetables. i'll eat almost any vegetable.
I'm a veggie fanatic - I'll eat just about any veg in any form. Outside of the ones you listed, I really dig sweet potatoes/yams, peas, green beans, and squash. Cucumbers, too. Yum!
My staples are bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, carrots, spinach, onions, celery, beans and potatoes. I also get peas, other peppers, broccoli, fennel, radishes, eggplants and corn a lot, but not quite as often as the aforementioned items.
yesss. i hate olives but all those other ingredients are win.
i also have cucumbers and corn as staples.
(and yes, a girl will love it when they find out you can cook!
)
Peppers, chillis, sweetcorn,