Eat Your Veggies!

A few veggie suggestions for you guys, since I've been trying different vegetables lately....

Leeks
Leeks look like really big green onions, but they have a milder oniony taste when cooked. Avoid really fat thick leeks because they tend to be tough, and instead look for thinner (less than 1 1/2" diameter) stalks. The more white/pale green on the leeks, the better, because the dark green stuff is going to get cut off and discarded. They generally sell in bunches of 3 or more, and I find that 3 med leeks will do quite nicely for a side for two people. Here's a simple way to prepare them.

3 med leeks
2 tblspoons butter
salt

Slice off the tops of the leeks, starting where the leaves turn tough and dark green. Take a very thin slice off the root end (you want the layers to stay attached, so make the slice thin). Slice the leeks in half lengthwise, so that you have long half-cylinders. Put the leeks in a bowl of cold water, and swish them around a bit, to get the dirt out of them, fanning the leaves gently if you need to. Melt the butter in a large sautee pan with a lid on med/med-low. Drain the leeks and then place them cut side down in a single layer in the pan, cover it, and let them cook for about 8 minutes, until they get really tender. Remove the lid, turn the leeks over, raise the heat to med/med-high, and let them sizzle a bit 'til any of the liquid in the pan has evaporated. Add a little salt to taste and serve.

Plantains
Plantains are like a yummy cross between a banana and a potato. They're sweet, like bananas are, but are a lot starchier and tend to hold up to cooking a lot better. When plantains are green, they can be twice-fried in slices. When they're ripe, the skin will be yellowish black to completely black. There are all sorts of ways to prepare them, but here's a stupid-simple method for ripe plantains that goes really well with roast pork.

2 large ripe plantains (yellowish black to completely black skin)
butter
salt
1 lime
hot sauce (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tinfoil. Pierce the plantains all over with a fork, then put them on the baking sheet and let them bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, until tender when pierced with a knife. Take them out of the oven, slice them in half, and then slit the skin on each piece so you can peel it back like a baked potato. Mash up the plantain on the inside with a fork, add a pat of butter and some salt, and then serve with wedges of lime, and hot sauce.

Rutabagas
Rutabagas are also called yellow turnips, and they look kind of like yellowish turnips, only a lot larger. They also lack the peppery sort of taste that turnips have. They're generally coated in wax when sold in grocery stores, and they're a royal pain in the ass to peel, but they're a nice change of pace. Look for rutabagas that don't have any cracks or bruises on them, and don't look mushy or gross on the cut ends. Here's another alternative to mashed potatoes...

1 med/large rutabaga (about 1.5 lbs)
1 sweet apple (golden delicious, fuji, etc)
4 tblspoons butter
salt
1 small yellow onion (optional)

Peel and cube the rutabaga, cutting it into about 1/2" squares. Peel and cube the apple the same. Put the pieces in a large pot, and cover to about 1" over with cold water. Boil the rutabaga and apple until the rutabaga is tender, about 20 minutes. Drain pot, add about 3 tblspoons of butter to the mix, and then mash it all up. If you're going to use the onion, melt 1 tblspoon butter in a small pan on low. Slice the onion into thin strings, and then sautee slowly in the butter until the onion has turned soft and carmelized. Serve on top of the mashed rutabagas.