Helene's Vegetable Medley for a Crowd

We are back from a wonderful week in Berlin. Since this is a food blog, I won't give details about the incredible museums, music and theatre.  But one thing I wasn't looking forward to was German food- all those wursts and pigs knuckles were a turnoff.  In the end we managed to have mostly very good meals.  What was missing, though, were freshly cooked vegetables that were not drenched in a gloppy sauce.  The one exception was potatoes. They were delish.

Helene's Vegetable Medley will make up for the vegetable deficit in Berlin. I make a version of it for every Thanksgiving and Passover Seder.  I am asked to  bring it to dinners and Rachel and Lisa ( my daughter and daughter-in-law) request that I make the Vegetable Medley when we visit them in Portland Oregon. The bright and colorful veggies will be on my seder table next week.

There is no real recipe but I will walk you through the process. I usually make lots  (for about 18 people) so you can adjust the amounts accordingly.  The only part that takes time is prepping the veggies.  If you have time earlier in the day ( or even the night before) you can get that part out of the way and refrigerate the veggies in separate plastic bags or containers.  Since there is no fry pan large enough to hold all these veggies, I saute the squash and peppers in batches in a fry pan and then transfer them to a large pot where they will all be cooked together.  This may sound like a complicated process but I assure you that it is not.  Please read the recipe through once and you will get the idea. I save the cooking brothy water and use it to make rice to accompany the veggies. You can dump the water if you wish.

3 bunches carrots, peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick on an angle

3 bunches asparagus, trimmed and sliced 1 inch thick on an angle

4 zucchini, trimmed and sliced 1/2 inch thick

4 yellow summer squash, trimmed and sliced 1/2 inch thick

2 red peppers, seeded and sliced

2 yellow peppers, seeded and sliced

4 tbl. olive oil (add more as needed)

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced (optional)

juice of 2 lemons

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup fresh dill, finely chopped (or substitute basil) 

1. Fill a big pot with water and bring it to a boil. Add the carrots and cook until they are tender crisp.  ( They will be cooked again when added to the other vegetables).  Remove carrots from water with a slotted spoon, drain in colander and set aside.  Using the same water add the asparagus and cook until tender crisp.  Remove the asparagus with a slotted spoon, drain in colander and add to the cooked carrots.  Try to get the asparagus out of the water while they are still bright green.  (Reserve the cooking water if you wish, to use for soup or rice or just drain it)

2. In a large fry pan, add olive oil and heat till sizzling. Add garlic and optional ginger and saute for 1 minute.  Add  zucchini and saute until softened, stirring often. Transfer to a large pot big enough to hold all the veggies.  Add additional olive oil to the fry pan as needed.  Continue this until all the squash and peppers have been sauteed and are in the big pot.  Add the reserved cooked carrots and asparagus and mix all the veggies together. 

3. Over medium heat, cook the veggies until they are done to your liking.  Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Stir. Add the dill or basil and combine all ingredients well. The vegetable medley can be served immediately or held for an hour or two and gently reheated.  

Serves 18-20

Note: Ricka is known by many names. Helene is just one of them.