Unthreatening Vegetables

Cooking shows, while being informative, can leave one with a flayed ego. 

Chefs condescendingly prattle about species of squash I never heard of, claiming it's available in the local market (not mine). They use spices like rosemary that I can't stand - even the name "rosemary" sounds like a female I wouldn't be able to stand in real life. They whip out alien contraptions which, they claim, is the only way to properly extract garlic.

Blah, Barefoot Contessa. Blah.

Tamar Adler strives to change that faulty image of dinner having to be a masterpiece. In her book, she educates the reader that recipes are not a given, that with the knowledge of how to properly boil water, one is a free agent. 

Many of today's generation have not witnessed home cooking first hand, she says, so they think home cooked is what the television personalities do oh-so-annoyingly.

The article made me consider my own approach to vegetables. 

Often, for a meal, when I have access to a stove, I just throw into a pan with some extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder any vegetable available. Sweet potato, mushrooms, parsnip, canned beans, frozen spinach, broccoli, or peas. For added oomph I saute an onion. The steaming resulting mess is absolutely delicious as well as nourishing; I can sense all those vitamins and minerals rushing throughout my bloodstream.

But it would seem my water boiling leaves much to be desired.