Outclass the Competition
by Harold Almon 512-821-2699
Be at Ease School of Etiquette Austin
Vegetables can be served as cocktail food or as a snack. Note: about 1 in 5 illnesses were linked to leafy green vegetables — more than any other type of food. You can spray your produce or work surface thoroughly first with vinegar and then with hydrogen peroxide. Then rinse the produce under running water or wipe the surface with a clean wet sponge. In foreign countries 5 drops of chlorine per gallon of water are used to dip vegetables in for five minutes to kill field bacteria, and then the produce is thoroughly rinsed using a colander or a vegetable spinner. You can omit the above practices and just ensure your vegetables are thoroughly rinsed. Once washed, get out a separate cutting board or pad for cutting your vegetables.
Recyclable containers with lids can be your friend. You may stack the containers on a shelf on their sides. You could store the lids on their sides separately in a drawer. Keep your vegetables pre-cut, airtight, and up high. “Vegetable bins are where vegetables go to die.” Flash Frozen can be a less expensive way for vegetables to have their stay.
Suggestions for vegetables (Va-get-ta-bles) or (Fa-get-a-bles) raw, sliced, broken apart or pickled as each counts as 1 serving (1s) or 1cup (1c) and grams of fiber (gf) are
Artichoke 1 medium 10.3 gf. Artichoke hearts – you can marinate them or get them marinated.
Asparagus can be eaten raw or may be grilled as can
Broccoli rabe (also spelled raab). R and
Broccolini R
Vegetables can be shocked with color and cut with character. You can start with placing all vegetables in icy water in a large bowl. Broccoli may be blanched by dipping the whole head into a pan of boiling water. Remove it when it starts to turn a darker green. Place it in another pan of icy water to stop the cooking process. Drain it and then cut or break it into little florets. The blanching process can be omitted, but you are going to miss the added color. You can cut off the outer parts of most stems, and cut and eat the parts within.
You can find Light Green Vegetables you can eat as a snack raw, pickled, cooked. Suggestions include
Bok Choy
The secret is out, there is power in
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage; this may be reserved for steaming or coleslaw,
American Slaw What to do:
2 cups shredded green cabbage, l shredded carrot, 2 finely chopped jalapeno peppers, 2 tablespoons white vinegar ¼ cups each of sugar and pepper can be mixed, allowed to marinate, and served. Add raisins and or bits of organic apples with the skins to this if you wish.
Celery (cut on the bottom), can be cut into strips no longer than three inches. Each stalk can be filled with cream cheese or with peanut butter and cut in sections and placed with crudités. Additional crunch and a complete protein can be provided in the form of seeds, crackers or millet sprinkled atop it. Each stalk can be flattened with the side of a knife and cut into stripes not longer than three inches and stored.
celery and Jamaica can be used as a cocktail food or as a snack
Each can be cut and diced and used in a fish dip, or in a Mirepoix. Some places you can buy celery buy the single stalk.
Organic Romaine lettuce may be used to make as a salad. You can get
a Prepared Salad. You can use most of it as a Soup Starter kit, and cooked each for twelve minutes as you would Ramen. You may save the good crisp parts to use as toppings.
You could serve… turnips and their tops.
You can find most Dark Green Vegetables fresh, pre-cooked, frozen, or in a can. Suggestions include
Swiss chard
Endives
Fennel (that you splice)
Collard Greens
Organic Kale
Mustard Greens
Okra and
Organic Spinach Leaves.
When taking a blood thinner, you can avoid these.
Organic spinach can be used as a base for a dip as a wrap, or as a salad. You can get it from the salad bar. It takes a whole lot of leaves to weigh ¼ pound.
Think of clever uses for
Orange vegetables such as
Carrots; each carrot can be cut on the bias into strips no longer than three inches and served as cocktail food, a dipper, or as a garnish. These may be supplemented with baby carrots which you can buy and may or may not cut in half. 12c 1c. Carrots are best eaten cooked. Each can be steamed atop rice or ramen. Each may also be served as a cold or hot juice. You may serve
(Mango)
(Pumpkin) or
(Squash.) Yes each are fruit but get listed in places as vegetables and you still need the fiber. Summer squash can be eaten raw. Each can be sliced, and added to crudites, or diced and added to a salad or salsa. It may be sliced and grilled as a side.
Sweet Potato * can be provided in servings of 1c 1s.
Then there are essential Red Vegetables: peppers, radishes, and tomatoes. Peppers and tomatoes are fruit but are considered in this group, but as such it is in that section they are discussed.
Radishes may be cut at the top, bottom, and at a small section of each side for effect. Then beginning at the root end cut each stopping just short of halving it, turn one quarter and perform the same step. Drop these four wedge radishes in icy cold water, the longer in, the more each will start to look like a flower. Radishes are to be stored with the greens cut off. All vegetables are to be kept in water until it is time to drain and place each on a tray.
There are essential White Vegetables such as
Cauliflower. Cauliflower may be used as a cocktail food. It is to be cut or broken into florets. As a meal item you could serve it mashed or as a steak.
Garlic and Onions can be served caramelized, raw in crudités, grilled, or sautéed. Now that you have garlic and onions you have a salsa party. You may heat heat garlic (and onions) in the microwaves for 20 seconds for easy peeling.
Salsa can consist of
2 – 3 Tablespoons Cilantro, freshly chopped or minced
2 Hot Chile peppers, Serrano or Jalapeño, finely chopped
2 Small Garlic cloves minced or a pinch of garlic salt
1 ½ Tablespoons Lemon juice, or Lime Juice
3 Tablespoons Onion, firm and finely chopped, and
3 Large ripe Tomatoes firm, peeled, seeds removed, and chopped.
To salsa you can add to taste other ingredients and *spices
Organic Celery
Green onions/ scallions thinly sliced
Red Wine Vinegar
*Salt and pepper a
*Dash of Worcestershire Sauce
*Dried oregano, cumin, and
*Cayenne hot pepper sauce, or not.
The Internet has lots of salsa recipes. Frugal tip: save your old large jars. You can make a lot of salsa and share it with friends, for almost nothing. You can use it on chicken, eggs, turkey, fish, and chips.
Other Salsas you can make
Fiery Habanero Salsa – Hot Hot
2 Habanero peppers, finely chopped, blended with garlic
3 Large ripe tomatillos firm peeled seeds removed and chopped and spices added. Wear gloves when handling the habaneros.
Pico De Gallo Salsa – Mild
3 Tablespoons Red Onion, firm and finely chopped, and
2 – 3 Tablespoons Cilantro, freshly chopped or minced
2 Jalapeño, finely chopped
3 Large ripe Tomatoes firm, peeled, seeds removed, and chopped, mixed with lime juice. This can be a mix for a vegetable omelet.
Roasted Corn Salsa – Mild
½ cup Corn
3 Tablespoons Red Onion, firm and finely chopped, and
2 – 3 Tablespoons Cilantro, freshly chopped or minced
2 Jalapenos, Roasted Poblano peppers, red peppers, finely chopped, and a dash of lime juice
Salsa Roja – Hot
2 – 3 Tablespoons Cumin,
2 Jalapenos, finely chopped
Oregano
3 Large roasted tomatoes firm peeled seeds removed and chopped.
Salsa Verde – Medium
2 – 3 Tablespoons Cilantro, freshly chopped or minced
2 Jalapenos, finely chopped
3 Large tangy tamatillos firm, peeled, seeds removed, and chopped and spices
You can engine search each salsa title and decide what else you can to add to or leave out of each. I use canned peppers, when I can. Roasting is cooking. And I do not do it. You can use a vegetable peeler to peel the skins off of peppers. Fresh salsas are best served marinated. Salsa can go well atop eggs, chicken, or fish. Each of which can be also squirted with lemon. I have seen them go straight from counter top to tortilla chips.
Other vegetables to try as a snack or cocktail foods are
Salsify and
Sprouts.
I would be remiss if I did not say a word about Tofu – Tofu! Now some words; it too is not a vegetable, but a legume otherwise called bean curd. You can use yams and let watercress, round out your list.
When raw vegetable are served as a cocktail food they are called crudités. Crudités may be used as the dipper for a dip. On a meal plan, you can practice making a plate or tray of crudités from a salad bar. How frugal is this, the left over vegetable bits can go into the R. If you are pushing it, to each tray you may add some fruit: olives, peppers, and cherry tomatoes. Yes these items are listed in places as red vegetables, (but they are really fruits.)You might top off the fruit mix, and complete the tray with some fungi: whole mushrooms. Here we just want to use them with the crudités.
To make an Antipasto tray from your vegetable tray you can add dry salami, hot salami, Salmanetti, or Pastrami.
Get a Soup Starter kit. From it you can make a plate or tray of raw vegetables. Practice making plates and trays, and dips of choice, share them with friends. and get feedback from them. Tell them that trial and error offerings are what each is eating. Become the tray master.
Learn how to steam vegetables by microwave. Vegetables sliced or broken apart can be steamed, in a microwave allowed to rest or cool, placed in a container, or on a plate or tray, and served as a cocktail food or a snack.
Each vegetable can be steamed while sitting uncovered on rice or R. noodles in a microwave oven during the last four minutes of cooking.
Vegetables are considered foods that are concern free, mostly; each is to be eaten in food category combinations. Vegetables eaten alone can keep you hungry.
You can pickle your vegetables, or buy them that way and carry them with you.
Vegetables pickled or topped with vinegar may aid in reducing high Glycemic effect of other foods, reduce dietary spike, and aid in elimination or yeast infections, if they are a concern for you.
Something fermented use to be a part of each food course, except dessert. But then for those who bake there is vinegar cake.
You can drink your vegetables. Get your daily dose of vegetables from juiced or pureed produce; unless you grow your own, this may not be too frugal.
Drink your vegetables. You can juice and drink your vegetables; green juice may be what you need to get your boost. For a recipe you could engine search green drink and Oz.
Things you might see in a green drink recipe
Mint Optionally you may add
Carrots Green apples
Celery Jalapenos
Cucumber and Green coffee beans
Ginger
Parsley
Pineapple
Organic Spinach
I could not say doing this is frugal. But when you get to where you can, this is something you might want to do, say every other day, or one day a week. You might look up recipes for using the pulp.
In absence or in support of missing Fresh or Frozen Greens. Vinegar based sides can be served as a snack or cocktail food B/B/A/YOC
Apple Cider Vinegar
Marinated fruits and vegetables
Relish Tray Soup
Vinegar and Artichoke Hearts
Lemon or Vinegar and Fish
Vinegar and Boiled Eggs Pickled Egg
Vinegar and Fish Pickled Fish
(No HFCS) (No Added Sugars)
Vinegar and Pork Pickled Pork
Vinegar and Cabbage Cole Slaw
Vinegar and Cabbage Kimchi
Vinegar and Cabbage Sauerkraut
Vinegar Corn and Legumes Bean and Corn Salad
Vinegar and Cucumbers Pickles
Vinegar Cucumbers and Tomatoes Fruit Salad
Vinegar and Legumes Bean Salad
Vinegar and Mushrooms Marinated Mushrooms
Vinegar and Pasta Macaroni Salad
Mac Tuna Peas
Vinegar (No HFCS) (No Added Sugars) Potatoes
Vinegar and Relishes Potatoes Potato Salad
Vinegar and Mustard Potato (Mustard) Potato Salad
Vinegar and Mustard Seeds: Mustard Sauce
Vinegar and Tomatoes (no HFCS) BBQ sauce/Ketchup
Vinegar and Tomatoes: Catsup Beef Sauce
Vinegar and Oil Salad Dressing Salad
Dips for vegetables as cocktail food can be Bleu Cheese or French dressing. It may be a low fat Greek yogurt. Anyone can serve Ranch, the #1 house dressing. It is hard to make a signature item out of it. On a higher tier dressings can be non-dairy. Non-dairy dips for vegetables can include guacamole, honey mustard dressing, hummus, or salsa mixed with refried beans.
The following vegetables can be hollowed out and used to make a dip or to hold one: cabbage and red and green peppers. I like the look of a garnished dip served on a china pie plate, with an accompanying spoon.
Above the snack or cocktail food space and to the left, a small bud vase or a highball glass with a vase can be pressed into service to hold your fresh signature flowers.
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