I’m not quite sure what people in the US have against vegetables, but there is definitely a conspiracy. We seem determined to cancel out any health benefits from eating veggies by adding things to them. I don’t mean seasonings or even a dab of butter, but other stuff. Unhealthy stuff.
As a child, I wasn’t fond of vegetables. I ate canned green beans, canned yellow beans, canned corn, and canned peas. Which probably explains why I didn’t like vegetables. As a teenager, I added iceberg lettuce to my repertoire. I didn’t really begin to appreciate veggies until I was older. Unadulterated vegetables. Asparagus. Broccoli. Cauliflower. Red, yellow, and orange bell peppers. (No, I still don’t like green peppers.) Kale–and most other greens. Beets. Sweet potatoes. Carrots. Winter squashes. I’m still not fond of summer squashes, but I’ll eat them.
I first realized this propensity a couple of years ago. I used to make a butternut squash/red onion/baby spinach/craisin dish for our family’s Thanksgiving celebration. A co-worker made her butternut squash with cheese and cream. Now, I have nothing against cheese. At all. But isn’t gooping up a vegetable with unhealthy stuff contrary to the point of eating vegetables?
For the past several years, my Thanksgiving contribution has been sweet potatoes. I think sweet potatoes are sweet enough without any help. So I invented my own recipe. A savory sweet potato dish. It’s now my annual contribution to all autumn, winter, and early spring family gatherings as it is gluten free, dairy free, oxalate free, and vegan. And it’s edible. This year, I wanted to try something simpler. Maybe something in the slow cooker. I asked friends for recipes that didn’t involve additional sweetening. No luck. I received many links and ideas, but every one of them called for one of the following: sugar; brown sugar; molasses; honey; maple syrup. So I ended up making my usual sweet potato faux gallette. And it was fabulous.
Next up, I want to try roasted brussel sprouts. Anybody have a good recipe?
