BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Vegetarian What's Your Food Tip? Tips from A - Z

R
Relishes

Many fruits and vegetables can be combined to make great relishes. They may be served as side dishes or as condiments/sauces for sandwiches, salads, canapes and main dishes.

Experiment with different spices to make Indian-inspired relishes or sweet-hot versions...the possibilities are limitless.

I love corn and pepper relishes and eggplant relishes and pineapple-red onion relishes...

S = Salsa. Oh people, make a salsa - just once. Try it! It makes for a great accompaniment to vegetable dishes, with chips, etc.

You may be familiar with the "regular' tomato salsa, but have you every tried a mango salsa on vegetables? YUM!

Instead of pouring dressing on a salad, why not try to liven up your salad with a salsa?

T - Tortillas

Tortillas are excellent staples to build out a meal, stretch a meal, garnish a meal, etc.

We use them a lot in my household. We use them in lasagnas, enchiladas, tortilla soups, tortilla sandwiches and savory roll-ups, tortilla chips and strips, quesadillas, etc. The list can literally go on and on with what you can do with tortillas.

A quick note about tortillas...

Tortillas, much like roti, chapati, naan, etc. are but one of the many flat breads that you'd find in indigenous cultures the world over. Try them out, but make sure that you get outside of the box with it!

U-Ugli Fruit (pronounced ugly)

It is a hybrid fruit, a cross between a tangerine and a grapefruit (some say also pomelo) that comes from Jamaica. It is a citrus fruit and may be used in recipes that call for grapefruit. High in Vitamin C.

Sometimes, we like to pick up a new and exotic fruit or vegetable, just to try it. That's as adventurous as we get around here.

V
Veggies....Eat them more than twice a day.

Steam them or even stir-fry them to keep their nutrient intake contained.

Eat all kinds of them. I'm such a finicky eater but through the cohersing of many hear at Bella, I'm learning to eat more varieties of every kind.

V for veal - something I'd like to eat one day (when I get the courage). Thanks for the game Jason.

W
Winter Squash

Season and steam for 10 - 15 minutes before you stuff and bake in a 350 degree oven until golden and fork tender.

If you eat them with corn and beans you'll have a complete protein.

My favorite to date is amber cup squash. It lends itself to sweet and savory dishes and is a very dense squash. Very hearty and eats like a real meal.

W
Water Chestnut Powder

I love using water chestnut powder to thicken and add body to my soups, stews, and to use as a binder for meatloaf and burger type dishes.

I get mine from the Asian markets.

X
Xantham gum

It is used as a stablizer and thickening agent, of sorts, in commercial products. It keeps ice crystals from forming in ice creams and provides a "fat feel" in low and no-fat dair products.

It also is a substitute for wheat gluten in gluten-free foods, and is found also in salad dressings and sauces. It keeps the spices suspended throughout the liquid.

Xanthum gum is produced by the fermentation process of sucrose or glucose of a particular strain of bacteria. Its value is being able to increase the viscosity of a liquid, making it a gel-like substance.

It is also used in the other industries, namely cosmetic and automotive.

So while it might sound like just another chemical additive, it is produced naturally (from the bacterium's consumption of corn)and can provide good culinary uses. Especially if you want to manufacture and market your own food or cosmetic product.

Y
Yucca

This is one of those roots that I just don't hear enough about. We eat it in the islands. I use it like I would a potato. It's a lot hardier though. I love the body and flavor of it.

When you eat yucca, it's substantial. I boil or steam it first then I work with it. I'll dice it or break it up coarsely, mash it, put it into soups and stews, mix it with plantain and make the Liberian dish fufu. It has a lot of uses for it.

If you want to chop it up after you boil/steam it then add them to a nice simmering tomato or coconut curry sauce. You'll never be the same again!

I was holding out for someone else to take 'z', but I guess you all probably figured since I started this maybe I should finish it.

So here you go:

Z
Zucchini

Try it stuffed, sauteed, grilled, braised and in desserts. My wife and I had a carrot zucchini cake for our wedding cake that was off-the-chain good!

Here's some of the whys behind eating zucchini:

Zucchini is one of those insipidus fruits that pack a punch. According to nutritionfacts.com it's got potassium, niacin, folate, thiamin, vitamin c and magnesium, literally to name a few and a glycemic load of 0.

Now that we got to 'Z' we start again with a different A-Z topic [click on the link]