Not just for carrots
My recipe for Peachtree Road Farmers Market allows for plenty of substitutions because none of us buy the same things week to week at a market. That's kind of the point. Instead of an ironclad recipe, I chose to demonstrate a technique: glazing.
Glazing is simple and versatile, but I can't say I often see home cooks glaze vegetables. That's a lost opportunity: the technique caters to the cooking needs of multiple vegetables at a time, which makes it perfect for optimizing small amounts from a CSA. It requires only a pan, fat, liquid, vegetables and salt. The cook can monitor progress, but needn't hover, allowing for other preparation, cleaning, phone calls, bingeing premium television/foam rolling, whatever. Time is somewhat adaptable as well, by cutting vegetables larger or smaller to allow for quicker or slower cooking.
One element that suffers in green vegetables is color. The steady heat of a simmer doesn't lock in chlorophyll the way a sudden blanch and shock will. For bright greens, blanch and shock first, leaving the veg just undercooked, and add it to the glaze at the end. For Tuesday dinner, live with olive drab and 'gram your pet, child or shoes instead.
Be mindful of the texture of your vegetables: dense, tougher vegetables like beets, winter radishes and carrots cook slower than broccoli and zucchini which cook slower than cabbage, which cooks slower than mustard greens or bok choi. If you're glazing multiple vegetables, add them to the pan in descending order of cook time.
I prefer to just cover the first vegetables with liquid, and add the next vegetables after testing how far along they are. If your pan is drying out sooner than you'd like, splash more liquid in. Be aware that vegetables will release their own water into the glaze, especially if they're tender greens or summer squash. Starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes will require more water as the starches absorb it. The water level here is a little high: I knew that the root vegetables would cook more slowly, and I wanted to feel comfortable walking away. I increased the heat before the vegetables were tender to evaporate some of the water. Generally, I recommend starting with less and paying attention.
You've noticed that every one of these points directs the cook to consider their ingredients, and that's one more reason I advocate for this technique. Observation like this improves us as cooks. We understand and appreciate our ingredients more and approach cooking with more confidence as a result.
What are you cooking this weekend?
