Many people, for some reason, hate vegetables. Maybe they think they’re bitter, or too grassy, too fibrous, or just gross. Maybe they’ve never had vegetables cooked right. It’s no wonder, with the plethora of disgusting vegetable options we see in homes and at restaurants, many people say they just don’t like vegetables.
I’m here to prove them wrong. I’m here to show you that you can make any vegetable taste incredible with four simple ingredients: salt, fat, acid and heat.
I highly encourage you to read Samin Nosrat’s foundational cookbook, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, or watch the Netflix series based on it. The techniques she describes are at once incredibly simple and fundamental to any kind of refined cooking.
Brussels Sprouts That Actually Taste Good
Ingredients:
- Brussels sprouts
- Lemon pepper (if unavailable, regular pepper and lemon juice)
- Olive oil
- Garlic
I know what you’re thinking — brussels sprouts are disgusting. They’re bitter and acrid, and every children’s show known to humankind depicts them as the epitome of gross adult vegetables.
Let me tell you a secret. They’re delicious.
Start by cutting the root end off your sprouts, then slicing them in half lengthwise. You should end up with each sprout in two roughly equal pieces. The leaves will start to flake away from the inside—that’s fine. Generously coat the cores and leaves with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and garlic to taste. Using lemon pepper, or pepper and lemon juice, is what pushes this dish over the edge. It’s the acid that brightens the flavor and gives a much-needed contrast to the vegetable sprouts..
Preheat your oven to 400°F, and place your sprouts cut side down on a baking sheet. Sprinkle any stray leaves over the top. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until crispy on top.
The salt nullifies any potential bitter flavors in the sprouts; the olive oil provides the fat to tie everything together; the acid perks everything up; and roasting them in the oven provides a much better texture and flavor than mushy, soggy, 300°F sprouts that your grandma made. These same techniques can be used in basically the same way to make any vegetable taste great. Take broccoli, for example.
Garlic Roasted Broccoli
Ingredients:
- Broccoli florets
- Lemon pepper
- Olive oil
- Garlic
This recipe is essentially the same as the last one, and it also tastes amazing. Coat your broccoli florets with olive oil and seasonings like before. Preheat your oven to 400°F, and place your florets in a single layer on your baking sheet. Bake for about 20-30 minutes or until done, and serve. See? Dead easy.
Broccoli holds up especially well with this style of roasting, because the little flowery bits and the end of the florets almost char under the heat, making them crunchy and umami and delicious. I could genuinely eat this five times a week. It’s that good.
Cauliflower Steaks
Ingredients:
- Large head of cauliflower
- Lemon pepper (if unavailable, regular pepper and lemon juice)
- Olive oil
- Garlic
Cut the cauliflower head into four large lengthwise pieces, in the shape of steaks. Coat them in olive oil, garlic, lemon pepper, salt and your spices to taste. Are you sensing a pattern? Reheat your oven to 400°F. Roast the cauliflower for 15 minutes on each side, or until soft, golden and cooked through.
Because the cauliflower is in the shape of a steak, you can even bread it if you want to, or coat it with a dry rub. Speaking from experience, barbeque rub tastes amazing with cauliflower.
The formula to making almost any cruciferous vegetable (see: broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, similar green vegetables) taste good essentially comes down to the same techniques: salt, fat, acid and heat. Every one of these recipes involves a generous amount of olive oil, lemon pepper and roasting the veggies at 400°F. Vegetables can taste good if you want them to. All you have to do is cook them right.
