Love Affair with Flash Cooking
29 February 2008 by Jean Johnson
Thanks to Michelle for prompting this post. She looked at the Flash Cooking entry back in January and made the sensible connections: wok + green veggies = where’s the tofu?
She’s right, of course, tofu’s a great protein source to pair with vegetables. Yet, in addition to buying seasonal produce, what’s opened the door onto enjoying vegetables for me has been giving myself permission to break the rules.
My cast iron wok has found a permanent place on the stove and gets used daily, but I can’t remember the last time I made anything remotely akin to an Asian stir fry. With it’s base of oil, particular vegetables, soy sauce, etc., it doesn’t work for me that well.
Rather, it’s flash cooked veggies that I like. A bit of water to start and then whatever, most always building in the sweeter squashes (cooked spaghetti squash in the case of this pic) and root vegetables before bringing on the greens and things like minced garlic and hot chile at the very last.
Because flash cooking doesn’t need to start with oil, I turn these dishes yummy at the end with nutbutters or good cheeses like blue, caramelized goat cheese, or parmesans–not to mention chunks of fresh fruit and nuts. All that and there’s still enough wiggle room for a drizzle of nice olive or sesame oil, fresh lemon juice or interesting vinegar, salt, and a crack of pepper.
If you’ll notice, the template for flash cooking doesn’t even require spices. If you find the flavor wanting, a careful spoonful of fish sauce does the trick–or a smashed anchovy if you’d rather, since that’s all fish sauce is. Then again, if you’re vegetarian, tamari or soy sauce works.
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