Veggies - Love Them or Hate Them?

Again, for those of you who know me, my likes and dislikes regarding vegetables are legendary. Give me a salad any date but when you start with the cooked vegetables, you have to be careful. My mom always told me to take a spoonful of anything to be polite, which has gotten me into some fun predicaments such as Thanksgiving mashed potatoes with the biggest drink of soda behind it to ensure no weird gagging!

My issue with most cooked vegetables is consistency. I don’t like mushy or creamy, but, if I like the flavor of the vegetable, I can usually find a way to cook it to ensure it stays pretty firm. Or if the other flavors in the dish are stronger, it often helps with the “offending” vegetable. In this spirit, we've tried to incorporate a non-meat meal once a week. After all, veggies are healthy! This dish could stand alone (just adjust quantities) or be a nice side dish with a steak or maybe some pork chops. You decide.

Sugar Snap Pea & Mushroom Saute

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. vegetable oil     10 oz. mushrooms     10 oz. sugar snap peas

3 scallions                      4 garlic cloves            2 tbsp. soy sauce

Directions:

1. Warm oil over medium high heat until shimmering.
2. Add mushrooms, peas and scallions.
3. Stir constantly until peas are bright green and mushrooms have released their liquid (3-4 minutes).
4. Add garlic and cook until golden (app. 30 seconds).
5. Add soy sauce and cook for 3-4 minutes more, stirring until snap peas are crisp tender.
6. Another advantage to having an all veggie recipe on hand is it can be a time saver. Perhaps you forgot to defrost meat that morning Or maybe your kids have a busy after school schedule that gets you home late. With a recipe like this, dinner time is far less stressful for sure!

As always, have fun!