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Chefs Pump Up Veggie Volume, Featuring Bridgewater College
Food Management Magazine

Roasting, grilling, seasoning, adding sauce and more: take advantage of the techniques that allow the rockin’ flavors of vegetables to come through loud and clear.

Sometimes, a Brussels Sprout just wants to be heard.

“Treat vegetables with the same respect you would a nice cut of meat or poultry,” says Tom Barton, campus executive chef, Northeastern University. “Knowing how to cook them and which seasonings might enhance them is critical.”

Whether it’s a deeply golden-brown Portobello mushroom destined for a veggie burger, roasted corn and chiles for a quinoa-chipotle salad or sweet-as-candy Brussels sprouts zesty with lemon, Barton features vegetables across all dining stations.

Like other onsite chefs featured here, he has found ways to leverage the farmer’s bounty into satisfying vegetarian main courses or side dishes that really stand out.

Here are some flavor-amplifying cooking methods, herbs, spices and sauces from chefs who are amplifying veggie volume.

Grilling

As summer stretches out into late summer and students start coming back to class, Justin Bauer, executive chef, Bridgewater College, Bridgewater, VA, for Parkhurst Dining Services, takes advantage of Shenandoah Valley vegetables at their peak.

“For ‘welcome back’ events, I boil corn with Old Bay or Jerk seasoning, and then finish it on the grill for some great caramelization—just a fantastic flavor,” he says, adding that grilled corn on the cob is available to students as long as it lasts.

As with roasting, onsite chefs can use grilling as a time-saving technique: grill vegetables beforehand, and have them ready for cook-to-order sandwiches, pasta and sides.

Marinating

“Marinating creates layers of flavor and adds a little variance,” Bauer says, further explaining his favorite grilling techniques. “It adds appeal by making vegetables more interesting with sweet or sour or savory flavors.”

Bauer grills vegetables (which have been marinated in olive oil, vinegar and fresh herbs), tosses them with a light cream sauce and serves over pasta, making for a vegetarian main dish with punch.

Saucing

Chimichurri comes up often in conversation about amplifying veggie volume. No wonder: it’s one of the most vibrant sauces around. Argentinean in origin, chimichurri is a zesty combination of chopped parsley, oregano, red chiles, garlic, lemon zest, vinegar and olive oil.

Switching things up a bit, Bauer of Bridgewater College actually uses grilled vegetables as a sauce. Charred, pureed poblano peppers become a light cream sauce that goes wonderfully on angel hair pasta. A grilled sweet Vidalia onion vinaigrette becomes a signature salad dressing or a topping for…yes…grilled vegetables.

 


View original article here
Chefs Pump Up Veggie Volume, Featuring Bridgewater College
Food Management Magazine

Roasting, grilling, seasoning, adding sauce and more: take advantage of the techniques that allow the rockin’ flavors of vegetables to come through loud and clear.

Sometimes, a Brussels Sprout just wants to be heard.

“Treat vegetables with the same respect you would a nice cut of meat or poultry,” says Tom Barton, campus executive chef, Northeastern University. “Knowing how to cook them and which seasonings might enhance them is critical.”

Whether it’s a deeply golden-brown Portobello mushroom destined for a veggie burger, roasted corn and chiles for a quinoa-chipotle salad or sweet-as-candy Brussels sprouts zesty with lemon, Barton features vegetables across all dining stations.

Like other onsite chefs featured here, he has found ways to leverage the farmer’s bounty into satisfying vegetarian main courses or side dishes that really stand out.

Here are some flavor-amplifying cooking methods, herbs, spices and sauces from chefs who are amplifying veggie volume.

Grilling

As summer stretches out into late summer and students start coming back to class, Justin Bauer, executive chef, Bridgewater College, Bridgewater, VA, for Parkhurst Dining Services, takes advantage of Shenandoah Valley vegetables at their peak.

“For ‘welcome back’ events, I boil corn with Old Bay or Jerk seasoning, and then finish it on the grill for some great caramelization—just a fantastic flavor,” he says, adding that grilled corn on the cob is available to students as long as it lasts.

As with roasting, onsite chefs can use grilling as a time-saving technique: grill vegetables beforehand, and have them ready for cook-to-order sandwiches, pasta and sides.

Marinating

“Marinating creates layers of flavor and adds a little variance,” Bauer says, further explaining his favorite grilling techniques. “It adds appeal by making vegetables more interesting with sweet or sour or savory flavors.”

Bauer grills vegetables (which have been marinated in olive oil, vinegar and fresh herbs), tosses them with a light cream sauce and serves over pasta, making for a vegetarian main dish with punch.

Saucing

Chimichurri comes up often in conversation about amplifying veggie volume. No wonder: it’s one of the most vibrant sauces around. Argentinean in origin, chimichurri is a zesty combination of chopped parsley, oregano, red chiles, garlic, lemon zest, vinegar and olive oil.

Switching things up a bit, Bauer of Bridgewater College actually uses grilled vegetables as a sauce. Charred, pureed poblano peppers become a light cream sauce that goes wonderfully on angel hair pasta. A grilled sweet Vidalia onion vinaigrette becomes a signature salad dressing or a topping for…yes…grilled vegetables.

 


View original article here