If you have been to a farmer’s market lately you may have noticed the vibrant colors that some of the vegetables such as carrots, radishes, and swiss chard come in. Not to forget the different varieties of potatoes and onions. These beautiful colors alone make for creative vegetable dishes, but I’m going to show you even more ideas for whether you are entertaining at home, encouraging children to try new foods, or enjoying a meal with your family. The standard meat and three veggie meal is no more with these simple tips.
Mashed Potato Bar
Peel and dice potatoes, then boil in a large pot of water until tender. Once cooked drain the water, and mash the potatoes with milk and butter until creamy. Divide the mashed potatoes between ramekins, this makes it easy to pop dishes into the oven for guests who might want melted cheese, or other baked toppings on top of their potatoes. Prepare small dishes with assorted toppings for guests to choose from such as boiled cabbage with a little butter, bacon, and freshly grated cheese.
You could try this with mashed sweet potatoes and pumpkin too. Place toppings out such as pecans, raisins, crispy onions, or streusel.
Vegetable Skewers
The possibilities are endless with vegetable skewers, but making them colorful will bring your dishes to life. Soak the wooden skewers before adding vegetables, then grill until grill marks appear. For vegetables such as corn on the cob, pumpkin, and potato that take a little longer to cook than vegetables such as squash, mushrooms, and bell peppers you will want to cook these separately until they are almost cooked, then add them to the skewer for grilling.
Vegetable Chips and Fries
Vegetable chips are very popular right now with quite a few vegetables such as sweet potato, radishes, kale, potatoes, and parsnips being sliced and baked into chips and fries.
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Simple Vegetable Toppings
Adding simple toppings to a plate of vegetables can make all the difference to not only the look, but also the taste. For these carrots I mixed a tablespoon of lemon with a little butter and topped with lemon zest.
Looking for even more tips for cooking and serving vegetables. Give these a try:
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