Conference turris::cooks

Kinda depends on the vegetable, eh?  And on your tastes.

Why are you trying to eliminate pepper?  I find that to be the universal
spice.

Actually, my favorite spice on vegetables, when I'm too lazy to actually
cook a veggie dish, is Mrs. Dash Lemon-n-Herb.  (Of course, I also dose
it liberally with salt and Butter Buds.)

I like asparagus with lemon juice.  Actually lemon juice enhances most
any green vegetable in my opinion.

I like spinach sprinkled with balsamic (no other) vinegar and pepper.

Carrotts are great with curry!

My SO's favorite is greenbeans, dry-fried with minced garlic and a
sprinkling of sesame seeds.

In the summer I like to saute sliced summer squash and zucchini with
italian seasonings (oregano, basil, majoram), salt, and a dash of 
white wine, white wine vinegar or lemon.  And pepper, of course.

I love making roast veggies (onions, red pepper, red potatoes, carrotts,
eggplant, zucchini) with red wine vinegar and pepper, majoram, rosemary
and thyme.

I love vegetables.  I can't wait till summer.  *sigh*

D!

I agree with .1 that pepper does not need substituting.  That's a great
flavor seasoning that's not a health risk.

I omit salt in my mashed potatoes.  I add some chopped onion while they are
boiling for flavor instead.  Pepper here is good!

My family eats corn-on-the-cob straight.  It's like getting used to something
as different as skim milk (from whole milk), but after you get used to it,
you notice the GREAT flavor of the corn!   I wouldn't have it any other way,
now.   

Lemon juice on any steamed green vegetable.

Pepper on carrots.

Lots of other ideas that I can't think of off the top of my head.

Lauren

    Nutmeg on green beans is WONDERFUL!  An old Dutch trick!
    
    And dill on carrots adds a lovely flavor also.
    
    My husband's favorite is thyme on green beans.
    
    Shilah

    Why do you want to leave salt and pepper out of your vegetables?
    margerine I can understand as its for cooking,butter is what you should
    put on vegetables if anything.I hate health fads if they degrade the 
    quality of life,and if you can't eat scrummy food you enjoy then you
    might as well be dead anyway.I love food and I intend to cook it and
    eat it in the way I enjoy best.If it was up to the faddies we'd all be
    eating lentils and washing it down with spring water.There is a world
    of wonderful food out there and as my old Dad says if you do everything
    in moderation not a lot harms you.Besides you're a long time dead so
    why not enjoy life while you're here.Go on spoil yourselves don't
    listen to the "health" food police!!
    Here's a funny that sums it up:
    Man goes to his doctor,
    "Doc I,ve got a new lifestyle.I've given up alcohol,sex,smoking,I'm now
    a vegetarian and I've stopped salting my greens.What do you think? will
    I live longer?"  
    
    Doc: "No but it will certainly feel like it."
    
    Tongue firmly in cheek,
    Geoff
    

    I would love thee recipe for dry fried Green beans. How do you dry fry
    something?
    
    Thanks,
    Regina

    A few suggestions:
    
    Carrots work well with parsley
    
    Use nutmeg with mashed potatoes and Brussel sprouts (in the latter case
    add also some lemon juice)
    
    Cauliflower is great with saffron (after cooking, broken into pieces,
    cool in ice-cold water (cauliflower should still be somewhat firm),
    melt butter, stir in saffron, add cauliflower, stir.
    
    cucumber works together with dill.
    
    Albrecht
    
    P.S. joke in -.4: I know it this way (and my tongue is equally firm in
         cheek): "Doctor, I`ve given up alcohol, sex and smoking. Do I live
         longer now?" "I guess you will. But since you've given up all
         this, why would you want to?"
      

    For roast potatoes, mix together
    
    ground ginger
    ground coriander
    ground bay
    some pepper (to taste or whatever you're restricted to)
    some salt   (to taste or whatever you're restricted to)
    a little oil (preferably Olive)
    
    Smother potatoes with this mixture and roast.
    
    As a guide, for 2-3 lbs (1-1.5Kg) of potatoes, I use 1/2 tps each of the
    ground spices, a sprinkle of pepper, 1/2 tps salt and 2 tps oil. Low
    fat, low salt, great taste.
    
    Another good seasoning for roast potatoes I've heard of but never tried
    is Rosemary.
    
    Angus

    Re: .5
    
    	Are you thinking about the Szechuan-style "dry-fried" green beans,
    sometimes with pork? If so, it's really a misnomer. You take whole
    green beans, clean them and clip off both ends. You heat a cup of oil
    or so in the wok until it is VERY hot, almost smoking. You throw a
    handful of beans at a time into the oil. They crinkle up in 20-30
    seconds and should be removed from the wok with a slotted spoon and
    drained on paper towels. Then, you basically remove most of the oil
    from the wok, stirfry your meat (if any), add the sauce, and then add
    the cooked beans and stir constantly until the sauce thickens.
    	I have the actual recipe somewhere if this is what you mean.

As .9 says, if you're talking about the Szechuan dish the only thing "dry"
about it is that the beans look dried-up and wrinkled when you're done.
It's very tasty, though.  I've seen two different methods of cooking it
in my Chinese cookbooks.  

The recipe in "The Good Food of Szechwan" by Robert A. Delfs (notice the 
Brecht pun in the title) is pretty much like .9 says.  You fry the beans
'till they're wrinkled, then remove them from the wok.  Then you stir-fry
pork, preserved Szechwan vegetable and dried shrimp (all chopped finely).
Then you add the beans and a seasoning sauce containing soy sauce, rice
wine, sugar, salt, and sesame oil.  Then add chopped green onions and
it's done.  I've made this version and it's very good (although strange
looking the first time).

In "Mrs. Chiang's Szechwan Cookbook" by Ellen Schrecker (seems to me that
Mrs. Chiang should have gotten co-author credit since it's her recipes),
a different method is espoused.  The beans are stir-fried with ginger and
dried shrimp and Szechwan preserved vegetable, then the wok is covered
and the heat lowered and they are simmered for two hours.  I haven't 
tried this method yet, but other things I've made from the same book have
been very good.

-Hal

    I'm pretty sure the Betty Crocker cookbook has charts on the inside of
    the front and back covers that show herbs and spices and appropriate
    uses.  You might want to check that out.

    No, no, I am not referring at all to the "dry fried" green beans in
    Chinese restaraunts.  What I mean by "dry fry" is frying without oil.
    
    What I do is this: cut up green beans into bit size pieces.  Nuke 'em
    just for a few minutes - not till they are done, just the *tiniest* bit
    soft (makes 'em cook quicker.)
    
    Heat up a pan and spray with Pam.  Mince 1 or 2 or 8 cloves of garlic
    very fine, toss them in the pan until soft but not brown, sprinkle in
    some toasted sesame seeds and add the green beans, and stir fry until
    they are soft to your liking, and somewhat chewy and wrinkled on the
    outside (kind of like the dry fried green beans from Chinese
    restaraunts.)  
    
    Sprinkle on a little soy sauce and/or sesame oil and voila!
    
    D!

	"The New Basics" from the Silver Palate people has great
	lists of veggies and what complements them.

	I like carrots with thyme.

re: -.1

Could we have this list, please?
~Sheridan~
:^)

    RE: .13  D!
    
    Thanks for the low-oil tips on the dry fried green beans.  I used your
    technique last night (added a bit of minced ginger as well). It was
    quick, easy, and the end result was delicious!  This one's a keeper.
    
    Sue

Does anyone know what Spike seasoning is?  I bought the new cookbook written
by Oprah's chef, and a few recipes call for this stuff.

Thanks!

re: .18

Thanks for your quick reply.  My next question was going to ask where this 
stuff could be purchased, but you answered that too! ;-)