Will Yardley > wrote:
> Dick Adams > wrote:

>> I am eating more fruits and vegetables. My usual condiments are
>> black pepper from a grinder, ground garlic, ground hot peppers,
>> and hot pepper sauce. I recently switched from regular Tabasco
>> to their Chipotle variety because it has more of a flavor that
>> I like. What is happenning is that I am finding vegetable dishes
>> to be bland in spite of these seasonings - even through pepper
>> sauce!
>>
>> What I would appreciate are some suggestions as to condiments
>> that bring out the flavor of cooked vegetables and URL's for
>> recipes that have distinctive flavoring.

> Some suggestions here; don't know if any of these will work for you....
> so I just threw out a bunch of stuff. If you give more details on any
> other health restrictions you have, that might help people come up with
> some better ideas. For instance, do you need to avoid salt / sodium
> completely, are you also avoiding fat, sugar, or stuff like that?

My physical problems focus on debilitating back pain, the
insestinal havoc caused by prolonged use of prescription
opiates, the need to lose 75 to 90 lba (was 295; am 275),
and to be in condition so that the benefits of physical
therapy and exercise retain their effectivemess long-term.
In general, an overall life style change is required.

My doctor was reciting from a laundry list when he suggest
I reduce my sodium intake since I rarely add salt to anything.

> I think the bottom line is that you may need a sauce of some kind
> (with some sort of oil or starch) that will cling to the vegetables.
>
> * nut-based stuff, like a tahini sauce type thing... this will usually
> have something salty and something sweet in it too - you could try low
> sodium soy sauce if you're watching your sodium intake.
> http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/recip...-veg-sauce.php
> http://www.recipehound.com/Recipes/0647.html
> * Olive oil and lemon juice (or butter and lemon juice if you eat
> butter)
> * Sounds like you like spicy stuff - maybe you could try stir frying
> vegetables with garlic, hot chili pepper flakes and / or thai style
> chili sauce (the kind with seeds)... and / or use chili oil. Again,
> though, you'd probably want to use some soy sauce too, which might
> have too much sodium for you.

We do stir fry and the salt content of soy sauce has
always overwhelmed me.

> Something like this might work:
> http://www.recipesource.com/ethnic/a...1/rec0169.html
> (this is not that healthy, but should be pretty tasty. You could skip
> the deep frying step, though they won't be as good. If you can get
> Chinese long beans instead of regular string beans, it will be better).

We don't deep fry. Hever heard of Chinese long beans.
We are blessed with two large Korean supermarkets and
a few smaller oriential food stores within short drives
from us. So Chinese long beans will go on the shopping
list. You can't beat the prices in those supermarkets!

> * I like to make a tofu and vegetable scramble - the tofu will absorb
> the hot stuff better than most vegetables. I use a base of onions and
> bell peppers, chili flakes, sometimes hot sauce.

There is tofu in Chinese Hot-n-Sour soup which I love,
but we have never cooked with it as it has always seemed
bland to both of us.

> * Indian, Japanese or Thai style curries.

This is interesting. For some reason I always found Indian
cuisine to be less than mediocre until I spent some time in
England in the 90's. I must have frequented low quality
restaurants before that. There is an Indian Vegetarian
restaurant (Mango Grove) in Columbia, MD that is superb.
My wife now makes Indian style curries at least twice a
month. Thai is probably too spicy for her. Japanese
curry is unknown to both of us.

Great suggestion.

> * I don't know if you're vegetarian - either way, you could try
> (commercial prepared) Furikake...
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furikake - there are some vegetarian
> versions, though most of them have some bonito flakes too. This can be
> obtained at most Japanese markets. In general, you could try some
> shredded toasted seaweed of some sort.

Furikake has been written down for searching for availablity.
Anything new to add to rice is always appreciated.

I am not a vegetarian in the sense of avoiding meat products.
Do strict vegetarians avoid fish products.

> * Grilled or roasted vegetables have a great flavor of their own; you
> could marinate them ahead of time in some combination of vinegar,
> chili flakes, olive oil, soy sauce, etc.

Another poster suggested raosting and it is a great idea.

> * Some sort of cream sauce - when I was a kid (and before I was vegan) I
> used to do a simple one with this stuff:
> http://shop.chefpaul.com/index.asp?P...PROD&ProdID=67
> (the spice is for pork and veal, but it's vegetarian).
> Saute a bit of flour (maybe 2 Tbsp or so) and the seasoning in some
> hot butter or oil (in a frying pan or saute pan), add maybe a cup of
> milk or soy milk, and whisk smooth, cook until thick and creamy. This
> is good as like a cream sauce on pasta, and would probably work well
> on some cooked vegetables too.

Hey, flavor is flavor! Have written that one down too.

> * Toasted sesame oil has a very strong flavor. Adding a little bit
> *after* cooking can give dishes a nice taste. It's recommended that
> you don't cook with it (add after cooking), as the heat can apparantly
> release some toxins.

My wife mentioned the potential toxins in Sesame oil years ago.

> * Since fruits were mentioned, and since you like spicy food, try
> cayenne pepper on mango. I've never tried it, but a lot of people like
> it.

Laughingly, to me cayenne pepper is hot that hot unless
concentrated. Habeneros are as hot as they get, but
they have an awesome flavor if you add just enough to
get the flavor without being bowled over by the heat.

> * Of course, pasta sauce is a great vehicle for vegetables, and you can
> throw in some chili flakes when you're sauteeing the onions to give it
> a kick.

> If you're interested in branching out from Tabasco, there are a lot of
> other sauces that might work better. The http://www.painisgood.com/ are
> pretty good (and I'd be surprised if you put it on something and didn't
> find it to be hot). You could also try:
> * Packaged "cajun" seasoning (if not too salty)
> * Thai style chili sauce (either the smooth "rooster" sauce or the kind
> with bits of seed in it.
> * Chili oil
>
> If I'm eating something like steamed vegetables, I don't find that hot
> sauce works that well for seasoning - I'd rather have something with a
> milder flavor. And remember... don't overcook your vegetables!

Good point.

> You don't have to make stuff with *only* vegetables... here's a recipe
> that I found very tasty and flavorful recently:
> http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/02...ellas-and.html
>
> You could of course modify to use real dairy - I thought it was
> delicious as-is.

I just printed that off for my wife and bookmarked the page.
I especially like the recipe for the "Polenta Lasagna with
Portabellas and Kale". Mushrooms have always been a favorite
of mine. I found Kale within the last month and it is awesome
- a fraction of the cost of lettuce and unbelievably more
flavor. My outrageously picky-eater son likes it too.

> Since you sound like you like bold, flavorful food, let me also suggest
> checking out a couple of cookbooks.
>
> * http://www.amazon.com/Bold-Vegetaria.../dp/0471212784
> Haven't tried this myself, but I think I got a copy for a friend. Some
> of the recipes look pretty good if it's the one I think it is.
> * http://www.starz.bz/nativefoods/prod...m?product=1546
> Cookbook from a Los Angeles restaurant (Native Foods)

Bold I am - except when speaking with my wife.

> Both of these might have a bunch of tofu, seitan, tempeh recipes, which
> don't really go in the direction of your doctor's orders, but I think
> you'll also find a bunch of pretty good flavorful vegetable recipes.

Flavor is what it is all about. Recipes can be modified
to accomadate people.

I thank another poster for his time and concern in responding
to my post and thank you too.

I moderate a tax newsgroup (misc.taxes.moderated) and read
over two thousand posts a year there alone. Your response
to me ranks up there in the 1% of value-added posts I have
ever read. And for that I thank you even more.

Of course, when my wife is confronted with all the
information I have gathered here, she will have more
support for her argument that I spend too much time on
the computer and mske up a household thing-to-do mandate
to restrict mey time. LoL

Dick