Visions of Vegetables

Vegetables are so important to me. As I sit here and try to think how to write about these amazing gifts of nature, I find it hard not to lapse into a hymn of thanks. It seems to me each day brings more "news" from the science world how nutritious vegetables are, how we should eat more of each and what each is good for. This information is not "new" to me. My relationship with vegetables is real and deep--I feel how they want to be cooked, I smell and cut, sauté and taste. Vegetables provide me with much more than nutrition, they are inspiration!

How to Cook Vegetables

by Sabrina Marie

Notice

in quick-flashed images as you drive

by farms the frozen soil

of February. Then when

sun warms earth,

glance

at small growing green

sprouts.

As air thickens with heat,

watch

your soon-to-be-food

Spring from the earth

Rest large and dense on its dark surface, or

Curl into sweet balls just beneath, or

Hang heavy from bent branches.

See vegetables

nourished by sunlight

or moonlight, water and soil

grow bright into

elongated squat shapes, bursting

crisp flavor tart or

sweet or hot.

Pluck a pepper

from a green stalk

sink your teeth into

bright crisp fresh

pepper flesh

its sweet red skin might

magnetize your desire.

Visit

a farmer's market where

sun-browned men and women in faded overalls smile,

offer advice, lay the fruits

of their labor atop temporary

wooden shelves and card tables

hang handmade signs

over yellow squash,

greenbeans, 97¢/pound.

Ask how the crops are this year,

listen as they lament--

too much or too little rain,

flea beetles, rabbits. Select

the greenest greens, the summer

squash least shriveled the

tomatoes odd-shaped as if to prove

their individual untampered

flavor.

In your kitchen

place fresh vegetables on your counter top

next to your thick wooden cutting board and your

sharp vegetable knife

Hold each vegetable to the light

notice its weight, its shape remember

its taste thank it for the gift

of its sweet flesh or

bitter leaves

Listen

inside deep from your belly

instructions rise

your inner chef instructs:

Combine zuchinni with carrots

in a quick sauté season with

basil, turmeric and salt.

Parboil green beans lay them fanned across a platter and

drizzle with tahini-yogurt dressing.

Bake butternut squash then

purée with roasted garlic,

maple syrup and garnish

with raspberries . . .

Her voice will continue

you will have to speak up,

"Stop! There are only

two of us for dinner . . .

you have given plenty,

that is enough, more than we need."

As you listen

each vegetable, each piece of fruit,

each farmer patiently tending

his stall, each field brimming

with pumpkins or zuchinni, you

begin to understand, you

know in your heart

all that is provided is

plenty, enough,

more than you need.

Choose from the scroll down menus below to read about the elements of healthy cooking.

About Vegetables

Choose organic vegetables, locally grown, if possible. As soon as a vegetable is picked, some of its more fragile nutrients, such as vitamin C, begin to be lost. It takes at least a week to ship vegetables across the country. In this time, the vegetable can lose some nutrients, and many believe, flavor as well.

Locally grown vegetables have usually been harvested within a day or two before they are driven to market. These fresh foods are brimming with flavor and need very little attention or additional seasoning to transform them into delicious dinners.

The poem at left reveals my deepest feelings about vegetables.