Veggie Tales
March/16/2009 06:30 PM Filed in: Recipes | Instructional/How To
Posted by Kathy Mansfield
Like most kids, I despised vegetables. In fact, I recall living solely on Spaghetti-O’s for a good portion of my growing up years. So, the fact that I will even go near vegetables as an adult is a minor miracle. All this to say, the following cast-iron vegetable dishes must be fairly tasty if I’m willing to put them on my plate. I hope you will enjoy them, too.
Mom used to make this dish when I was younger, and I thought it looked absolutely disgusting, so naturally I refused to eat it. At some point in my thirties, I attempted the dish on my own with slight variations (sweetened, caramelized onions, etc.) and found a new favorite. Now Mom actually prefers my recipe!
CAST IRON REQUIRED
• 10 1/4” cast iron skillet
INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in 10 1/4 inch cast iron skillet. Sautee onions until almost caramelized.
Place squash slices on top of onions.
Cover and cook approximately 15 minutes over medium low heat, stirring occasionally to rotate onions to top of pile. Sprinkle sugar (artificial sweeteners such as Splenda work fine, too) after the squash has softened a bit. Add salt to taste. Cook until desired consistency.
(As you can tell from the pictures, I prefer mine cooked down quite a bit). Mmm, mmm, good!
MacGourmet users, click image to download recipe (or simply drag image to your MacGourmet recipe box).
My good friend Wendy Smith made this vegetable side for a meal while we were visiting in her home. As with the squash above, I’ve adapted the recipe to a more Southern-style “cooked until soggy” consistency rather than the healthier crunch to the vegetables and added good ole Southern-style non-healthy bacon (leave out the bacon for the healthier version).
CAST IRON REQUIRED
• 10 1/4” cast iron skillet
INGREDIENTS
Heat oil in 10 1/4 inch cast iron skillet for medium bag of beans or 7 inch cast iron skillet for small bag of beans. Sautee chopped shallot and bacon bits until bacon is not quite crisp and shallot is almost opaque.
Add frozen green beans.
Cover and cook over medium low heat until beans are heated through. Sprinkle with sugar (I use Splenda).
Add salt to taste. As with the squash dish above, I tend to cook the beans to a nice, soggy consistency
MacGourmet users, click image to download recipe (or simply drag image to your MacGourmet recipe box).
Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below, or you can contact Kathy directly at kathy@cookingincastiron.com.
Like most kids, I despised vegetables. In fact, I recall living solely on Spaghetti-O’s for a good portion of my growing up years. So, the fact that I will even go near vegetables as an adult is a minor miracle. All this to say, the following cast-iron vegetable dishes must be fairly tasty if I’m willing to put them on my plate. I hope you will enjoy them, too.
Mom’s Squash and Onion Sauté
Mom used to make this dish when I was younger, and I thought it looked absolutely disgusting, so naturally I refused to eat it. At some point in my thirties, I attempted the dish on my own with slight variations (sweetened, caramelized onions, etc.) and found a new favorite. Now Mom actually prefers my recipe!
CAST IRON REQUIRED
• 10 1/4” cast iron skillet
INGREDIENTS
- 4 large yellow squash, peeled and sliced fairly thin
- 1 medium Vidalia onion, sliced
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon sugar or artificial sweetener
- Salt to taste
DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in 10 1/4 inch cast iron skillet. Sautee onions until almost caramelized.
Place squash slices on top of onions.
Cover and cook approximately 15 minutes over medium low heat, stirring occasionally to rotate onions to top of pile. Sprinkle sugar (artificial sweeteners such as Splenda work fine, too) after the squash has softened a bit. Add salt to taste. Cook until desired consistency.
(As you can tell from the pictures, I prefer mine cooked down quite a bit). Mmm, mmm, good!
MacGourmet users, click image to download recipe (or simply drag image to your MacGourmet recipe box).Wendy’s Quick Green Beans w/ Shallots
My good friend Wendy Smith made this vegetable side for a meal while we were visiting in her home. As with the squash above, I’ve adapted the recipe to a more Southern-style “cooked until soggy” consistency rather than the healthier crunch to the vegetables and added good ole Southern-style non-healthy bacon (leave out the bacon for the healthier version).
CAST IRON REQUIRED
• 10 1/4” cast iron skillet
INGREDIENTS
- 1 package frozen green beans (small or medium bag)
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 slice bacon, cut into tiny pieces
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon sugar or artificial sweetener
- Salt to taste
Heat oil in 10 1/4 inch cast iron skillet for medium bag of beans or 7 inch cast iron skillet for small bag of beans. Sautee chopped shallot and bacon bits until bacon is not quite crisp and shallot is almost opaque.
Add frozen green beans.
Cover and cook over medium low heat until beans are heated through. Sprinkle with sugar (I use Splenda).
Add salt to taste. As with the squash dish above, I tend to cook the beans to a nice, soggy consistency
MacGourmet users, click image to download recipe (or simply drag image to your MacGourmet recipe box).Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below, or you can contact Kathy directly at kathy@cookingincastiron.com.