Varied Vegetables

Meat, potatoes, green peas, boiled carrots and mucilagenous silver beet can become boring even to your average New Zealander. Most of us seem to regard greens like pills, necessary but distasteful. This can often be traced back to a boarding school or home upbringing of boiled (and boiled and boiled) green vegetables. We in the western world are incredibly wasteful of edible (and potentially enjoyable) meats and vegetables. For example there are few who would consider eating red beet or bean leaves, let alone pumpkin, caulin flower or broccoli leaves. Yet Zambians make a delicious meal by chopping, salting and boiling such leaves with a handful of finely chopped nuts. For those of you without quite such adventurous tastes here is one of my favourite "green" meals.

Broccoli with Mock Hollandaise Sauce

Begore giving you the recipe it is worth noting that all cabbage-like veges contain sulphur which, with boiling, can form distasteful compounds. It is therefore essential to keep boiling to an absolute minimum. Unless you have a steamer, of pressure cooker try placing veges in rapidly boiling water and boil only until soft (no longer than ten minutes usually).

Melt margarine in a saucepan, blend in flour, sugar and salt. Stir in water and vinegar and cook until thickened. Let cool slightly and add beaten egg. Sauce may be reheated but do not boil.

Another quick and easy method of cooking green vegetables is stir-frying. This is particularly useful for those who cannot face the thought of boiled greens. Try the following quick recipe.

Stir Fried Broccoli

Add to cooked broccoli and stir-fry for another minute.

These recipes are open to all sorts of variations. For example why not try other vegetables such as cauliflower, cabbage or brussel sprouts?

Alf Harris