Easy recipe from a top chef #1: Amsterdam vegetable garden
Asking a (Michelin-starred) chef for their signature recipe that is also simple to make mainly elicits raised eyebrows. Before long, a blast chiller, shock freezer or built-in steam oven usually comes into play. You don’t need any of that for Randy Karman’s (The White Room) Amsterdam vegetable garden.
Randy: “The success of this recipe lies not only in its simplicity, but also in the seasonal vegetables, which are at their best right now. Think green asparagus, young carrots, radishes, cucumber, honey tomatoes, lamb’s lettuce and little gem. And for garnish, violets (from your own garden), purslane, parsley, chives or dill. The great thing about this dish is that you can vary it endlessly by working with seasonal vegetables.”
Vegan and gluten-free
In addition to the endless variety, this dish is also ‘dietary-requirement-proof’, as it is vegan and gluten-free. Good news for a chef, because the average guest’s list of allergens seems to have no end.
Method:
1. Use a deep plate. Carrot purée goes on the bottom. Make this by boiling the carrots and then puréeing them. Want an extra-smooth purée? Thin it with a mixture of the carrots’ cooking liquid and some olive oil.
2. Now cook all the seasonal vegetables until just tender. Note that not all vegetables take the same amount of time to cook. Cook the vegetables separately and pierce them with a fork from time to time to check whether they are just tender. To make the vegetables stand out even more beautifully on the plate, toss them with a little olive oil.
3. Cut the vegetables into small shapes and thin slices and stack them loosely on top of one another. Then sprinkle the herbs on top and cover everything with leafy greens. Optionally finish with violets.
4. Finally, add the dressing made from apple cider vinegar and a little lemon zest. You can also make a beautiful foam by thinning crème fraîche with water, adding some salt and blending with an immersion blender.
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