Simple Yummy Veggies

Today we are sitting out a Tornado Watch, here in the Southeast.  My little town was wiped out by a tornado in April 2011, so it goes without saying we are all a little on edge.  We've been glued to the television all morning, so by default I have heard all about the world of "news" that I am usually too busy to care about.  Like the kid president and the commercial knocking vegetables that taco bell pulled.  Before I am misunderstood, I do believe this should be a free country.  But, I hate marketing lies, especially in the food industry, like McDonalds new campaigns to make you think their food is farm fresh.*  The thing is, with the freedom for them to say what they want, we have the freedom to not be stupid.  So if you think you are getting pure wild-caught fish that will up your omega-3's when you order a fillet-o-fish...you are the one at fault for being an idiot.  And if you think those apples in your kids meal are grown with "rain and sunshine", I don't think you can point your finger at them.  You and I are responsible to use our brains to decifer truth from lies.  I should add (before I get off my soapbox) that I do support all legislation for truth in labeling, and frankly I think everyone should, even if you want to eat Oreos and Doritos, you have the right to know what they are made of.  Okay, stepping down.  What I really want to share is a great, and very simple way to eat veggies, so you can prepare them quickly and get more of them at your table and ultimately in your belly.

I grew up eating veggies "steamed" in the microwave.  No flavor, no crunch, no nothing.  It is no wonder, by college I would only eat salad and not cooked veggies.  The problem with salad, is you have to keep so much stuff on hand and you have to eat it before it goes bad.  So once, I didn't have the convenience of my college cafeteria salad bar, I found it almost impossible to eat enough veggies.  Then I married my hubby and he was raised in the great South on slow, long cooked veggies.  Which I figured he could always get from his mom!  Until about a year ago, I'd been making mostly salads and occasionally steamed or roasted veggies.
If you aren't familiar with Nourishing Traditions or some other form of traditional food way of cooking, you might be interested to know that raw vegetables are NOT the MOST healthy veggies.  When vegetables are raw your body has to work so hard to digest them, that most of the nutrients pass out of your body without being absorbed.  The best thing to do is slightly cook the veggies and then add a form of saturated fat to aid in the digestion of the nutrients.  Most nutrients you want out of veggies are fat soluble, so if you eat them steamed with no fat you will not be able to absorb their goodness.  My fat of choice is usually butter, unless I'm cooking leafy greens then I like to use bacon grease.  Here's how I do it:

Heat a small amount of water in a skillet.  It doesn't matter if it is

Add some salt to the water.  A generous pinch will do, you can add more later.

While that's heating, wash and prepare (chop or snap) your veggies.

Add to the hot salted water.

Cook to desired tenderness, stirring as needed.  Green beans or leafy greens are quick, like 2-3 minutes.  Something like carrots, may take 6-10 minutes.  Squash, broccoli, or the like, somewhere in the middle.

Drain off excess water and add some butter.  A generous amount.  (this was a little too much for green beans.  It will depend on how much your veggie will absorb.)  Carrots or squash will absorb more than beans.  Broccoli or cauliflower will absorb a good amount too.  Use as much butter as they will absorb...butter (grass-fed butter) is your friend, it has nutrients in it you cannot get anywhere else!

Taste for salt, and add more if needed.

Add a generous amount of garlic powder.  Fresh Garlic diced would also be nice, but if you are in hurry, just shake on some powder.  This technique is all about simplicity!

Toss to coat with the butter-garlic mixture, remove from heat, and serve.

Here's some carrots and quash I did the same way.  

Happy Veggies to you!

Love and Butter,

Mishelle

*The ideas in this article and the comments are to show the American majority opinion on farming and food.  Let it be reiterated that I am not in the majority on almost all subjects :)