by Patricia Bunch

Created on: January 23, 2009   Last Updated: February 03, 2009

In the beginning of creation, vegetables, fruits and herbs were all the foods eaten by man for a long, long time. People can still be very healthy by eating a diet of vegetables, herbs, and grains, but thankfully, we have fire to cook and enjoy meat products as well, if we choice to do so.

Taking a trip to a good farmers' market during harvest season and coming home loaded with a bushel basket of assorted fresh vegetables is an adventure for a cook. A true cook can take the same bushel of vegetables and pair them in dishes, steam them alone, or pair with a variety of other to suit the taste,and never have the same dish twice. There certainly isn't just one way to cook vegetables.

One of the favorite ways to cook tasty veggies is stir-fry. Select a variety of vegetables, like onions, broccoli, carrots and green, red and yellow sweet peppers together. There are others one can add to this mix on occasion, like celery, but this is what we will be satisfied with for this recipe.

First put on a non-stick skillet and add a tiny bit of olive oil to the pan. Dice vegetables, before hand, making the denser ones smaller than the thinner ones so everybody gets tender at the same time. Carrots usually take longer to tender than onions.

Let the olive oil get hot enough so one can feel the heat when one puts the palm of the hand over the pan relatively close to the oil. Every cook has their own method of determining when the pan is hot enough. It's time to add the veggies. Seasoning added will be the choice of the cook, but salt and pepper is a must for everyone. Let the veggies stay in one position until they caramelize just a tiny bit before giving them a flip so all the vegetables cook even in the pan. If the pan isn't hot enough no caramelization will happen and the vegetables will be mushy, not firm.

A stir-fried vegetable is done when tender but firm with some caramelization to some of the veggies in the pan for favor. A seasoning sauce such a soy, or a good wine can be used to pour into the pan at the end of the cooking period to deglaze the pan to get all the goodness from the browning of the vegetables. Stir-fry is wonderful served over rice and with a green salad for a complete meal.

Casseroles made with vegetables are good dishes and simple to fix. One can use left over steamed vegetables, left over stir-fried veggies, or one can start the casseroles using a fresh vegetable. Making a casserole isn't really a recipe, its a method. A casserole is a complete meal within

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