Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Vegetable Hash

Our vegetable gardens (and those of friends) are poised to yield profuse numbers of zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, etc.  Here is a recipe that I invented last summer, in a desperate attempt to deal with an odd bounty of vegetables that had been given to us by a friend. 

I call it "Vegetable Hash", and I just finished making a batch. 

The eggplant, pepper, and tomatoes are from the store (not in season here yet)  The assortment of squash is from the farmer's market.


This is not an exact recipe.  Vegetable Hash is designed to use whatever vegetables you want to use.  For me, the eggplant and tomato and some sort of squash is a staple ... everything else is variable. 

All of the vegetables are chopped and simmered in a pot.  I start with whichever one needs the most cooking time, and I work my way down to the ones that cook quickest.  In today's batch, after adding a good splash of olive oil to the pot, the first ingredient was the green pepper



This simmered while I peeled and chopped the eggplant.



Then, the tomatoes.



I peeled and chopped all the zucchini, and stirred them to the pot.



Simmer, covered, for a few minutes ... till the veggies begin to get tender and it's bubbly and juicy.



Final ingredient, brown rice.  To keep this recipe easy and fast, I usually stir in a bit of Minute Rice brown rice straight from the box.  There's no measurement to give you for this ... just eyeball it.  The idea is for the rice to simmer and soak up most of the liquid from the vegetables.  Add some water, if you need to. 



Put the lid back on and simmer until the rice is cooked.  Season to taste. Most of the time I simply add sea salt. For a bit of a different taste, I have been known to add half an envelope (or so) of McCormick's spaghetti sauce mix.

I portion this into containers and keep it in the fridge.  It is a perfect summer side dish.  My favorite is a bowl of 'hash', topped with sliced steak or a slab of grilled salmon ... yum!!)



We have a friend who is totally vegetable-phobic ... and she eats this eagerly every time we serve it when she's here ... but she picks out the peppers.  I'm okay with that.

(sharing this with Wow Us Wednesday)

11 comments:

  1. This really looks yummy. I think my husband would also top it with some slices of grilled steak or pork chop. I'd put grilled chicken on top, but that's only because I'm leaving most red meats alone these days. Thanks for this great idea! Always love new things to do with veggies at our house!

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  2. Looks yummy! I am a veggie freak :)
    Being a vegetarian is easy these days
    when cooking things like this. J can put a steak on the grill for himself to go with it. I am happy to eat this by itself!
    Thanks for a new recipe!
    xo, misha

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  3. Yummy! I think I would add some garbanzo beans for some protein and eat it all of the time! Thanks for sharing Connie, it looks delicious.. and reminds me to go to the Farmers Market this Saturday! - Susan

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  4. Oh this looks so good. I love fresh veggies!

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  5. This looks wonderful. I don't have a lot of eggplant right now, but I have tried a variation of squash and rice together since I'm overrun with squash right now. It didn't turn out looking as good as yours! Maybe I'll give it a retry, using your recipe instead. And I like that you can freeze it! :)

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  6. Connie, I do something similar but saute with lots of garlic. Never thought of adding rice. Excellent idea!
    Congratulations on donating your hair, You look fabulous!!
    LOVE THE GREY!!

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  7. Try it using quinoa instead of the rice to soak up the veggie water. I do that sometimes, and call it a meal. Quinoa is a protein source instead of a starch, which makes it even healthier. But in practice, quinoa does the same thing -- just soaks up the liquid that is there.

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  8. Looks good. I like mixing veggies, especially those home grown. I have to pick out the peppers like your friend. I am allergic to them.

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  9. We are already having an outstanding number of veggies from our garden, so I'm always looking for new ideas to use them. This looks tasty. Thanks for sharing.
    CAS

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