As in, yummy vegetables. Amazing but true. I once wrote a Foodie Tuesday article about one of the best ways to cook cauliflower. Today wanted to incorporate some other veggies I'd picked up at Milk Pail yesterday, so I made a kind of westernized stir-fry.
Vegetables: white cauliflower (half a head), chayote squash, about 2/3 a leftover carrot.
Seasonings: Pepper, two springs of chopped up home-grown Italian parsley (that is the western part), and just the right amount of salt. And some constarch dissolved in water to thicken the sauce (that's the eastern part).
I was kind of surprised by how few seasonings this required. I had to stop myself from adding crushed garlic to the mix, and I'm glad I didn't. I wanted to showcase the natural flavor of the veggies, each of which is so naturally, so delicately sweet on its own. Together, they created harmony. Garlic would have totally overpowered the dish. Even Garry enjoyed it. Lesson learned!
Edit - my process: I should mention that a lot of getting vegetables (or anything really) right is heat control and timing. It takes practice and a certain "tuning in" to your food. I learned from my mother that different vegetables cook at different rates, but I had to learn for myself exactly how that translates into a dish. I've made many mistakes where one kind of veg would be overcooked and mushy, while another would be undercooked and too crunchy.
In this case, I knew from previous experience that chayotes take a LONG time to simmer down, soften up, and sweeten. So I added them first to a bit of oil over slightly higher than medium heat and let them warm up, covered, while I finished cutting the cauliflower into florets. But cauliflower also takes quite a while also, so I put them in soon after, stirring the veggies so they got even heat distribution. I peeled the carrot, then checked on the veggies. They were starting to brown a bit so I added a few splashes of water and covered again so they could "steam-fry" and cook faster and more evenly. I sliced the carrots, then lifted the lid and added them in. At this point I also added the pepper and salt. Covered it again and cleaned up my mess, then dissolved a mounded teaspoon or so of cornstarch in a couple tablespoons of water. Chopped up my parsley. Then when the vegetables looked done (the best way to tell is after they have fully turned color, then leave them in for a minute or two longer - if in doubt, try a little piece for tenderness), I threw in the cornstarch and parsley and stirred until the cornstarch thickened. Voila.