Not to boast but the What We Eat team is darn good at making vegetables irresistible. To keep people coming back for more, we consider the following:

Season
In-season vegetables taste better and are better for us. The less distance food travels, the less its taste and nutrition diminish. We get our produce from the farmers market when possible, but even supermarket in-season produce is typically better than the out-of-season stuff.

Cooking method
In late summer when most produce is at its peak we need little more than a sharp knife to make an unforgettable vegetable dish. But in fall, winter and even early spring, vegetables need a little help. Roasting, blanching, stir-frying and grilling can all enhance vegetables’ flavor. We typically roast our vegetables at 400-425 so that they get some good color, don’t worry if you see some darker edges, that just means more flavor!

Color
We eat with our eyes first. A spring vegetable salad highlighting different shades of green (think blanched peas, green beans, favas, asparagus, & pea shoots) can be as striking as a colorful Greek salad. The color of vegetables is also indicative of what nutrients they contain — why we’re told to “eat the rainbow.

Texture
Yotam Ottolenghi, one of our favorite cookbook authors, says that he is constantly trying to create “drama in the mouth” when developing recipes. Including contrasting textures is one of the best ways to create this drama.

 

Indulgence
In the dead of summer, a tomato sliced and sprinkled with flakey salt can be the best taste in the world. The rest of the year? Vegetables need to be indulged. This is where cheese, amazing oils like olive, hazelnut and walnut oil, and nuts come in. We save these ingredients for vegetables instead of using them in already easy to (over)eat foods like pastas and meat.

 

“Icing on the cake”
This last step is easily overlooked but central to the WWE style. All of the above build a dish’s flavor foundation, but a finishing touch of herbs (judiciously or in abundance), citrus zests and juice, other acids like vinegars, and specialty oils takes it to the next level. Play around and find your favorites.

This featured recipe, Roasted Market Vegetables with Browned Butter Pepitas and Coriander, is a prime example. Delicata squash and carrots from my last farmers market haul are roasted until deeply caramelized, sweet and earthy. They are laid across a smear of seasoned yogurt, topped with pepitas and coriander that have been browned in a pat of butter, then showered with fresh mint and cilantro. The recipe serves four but Chris and I easily polished this off ourselves.

 

ROASTED MARKET VEGETABLES WITH BROWNED BUTTER PEPITAS AND CORIANDER

Ingredients

• 1 delicata squash, halved lengthwise, seeded and sliced into 1 inch half moons
• 1 lb carrots, halved lengthwise or cut on the bias into large 1.5 in chunks
• Evoo
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Salt and pepper
• 1 1/2 cups full fat Greek yogurt
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• Juice and zest of 1 lime
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds, banged up until cracked in a mortar and pestle or the underside of a frying pan
• 1/2 cup pepitas
• Red pepper flakes
• Maldon salt
• 1 handful each cilantro and mint leaves
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced

Method