Vegetable challenge: week 3

What are editor-in-chief Marcus Polman’s favorite vegetable dishes that he tried over the past three weeks?

Increasing my vegetable consumption for three weeks to the recommended amount of 250 grams of vegetables per day has given me some eye-opening experiences.

● 250 grams of vegetables isn’t that much at all if you build in several ‘vegetable moments’ throughout the day, such as breakfast, snacks and lunch.
● A handful of five cherry tomatoes weighs 30 grams
● A fennel bulb weighs 220 grams
● A cucumber weighs 400 grams
● So you actually reach those 250 grams pretty quickly.

But most importantly: I’ve eaten incredibly well. Of the dozens of vegetable dishes I tried over the past three weeks as part of Albert Heijn’s vegetable challenge, these are my favorites.

Gỏi cuốn

In other words, fresh Vietnamese rice-paper rolls. A hugely popular street-food dish familiar from Vietnamese snack bars, but also incredibly easy to make at home. Not comparable, incidentally, to the greasy deep-fried Vietnamese spring roll. Put fresh, crunchy vegetables in small bowls on the table, such as lettuce, carrots (cut julienne-style) and cucumber strips, as well as fresh herbs like mint and cilantro. For the protein (optional), you could use shrimp, chicken or beef, for example. Rice vermicelli is also traditionally included. Soak the rice-paper wrappers in a bowl of lukewarm water on the table. After 1 minute, the wrappers will be soft. Place the ingredients on the wrapper, then roll and fold it closed. Dip in a delicious sauce such as fish sauce (nam pla), hoisin sauce or, for example, spicy Sriracha. Rolling is folding, and this is how you do it:

Lukewarm spring salad with burrata and breadcrumbs

Radishes are also incredibly delicious when you roast them in the oven. I learned this from a recipe by our managing editor Marieke: lukewarm spring salad with radishes, asparagus, burrata and breadcrumbs from the oven. Easy does it. And don’t forget to toss the warm radishes with a generous knob of butter.

Oven-baked beets

An old favorite: simple, but always good. These days, beets are available in all kinds of shapes and colors, large and small. Golden beet, white beet, chioggia. Besides boiling, I find roasting one of the most delicious preparations. Wrap the cleaned, unpeeled beets in aluminum foil. Cook for approximately 45 to 60 minutes at 180 degrees until the beet is tender. Then, if desired, roast them out of the foil in the oven for another 5 minutes. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt. I like to drizzle a few drops of my favorite balsamic vinegar over them: San Mauro (aged for eight years). But of course you can also use another good balsamic vinegar from the supermarket.

Delia’s Tunisian eggplant salad

I have a much-loved vegetarian cookbook. It’s by former British TV chef Delia Smith. The challenge was a wonderful reason to make one of my favorite vegetarian recipes from this book again: Tunisian eggplant salad. Eggplant, tomatoes, onion, fresh chili pepper, garlic, cilantro, mint, cumin and allspice berries. First roast the eggplant (cut into cubes) and tomatoes until soft (1 hour). Then mix with the fresh mixed herbs and finely ground spices over medium heat. Leave to cool and refrigerate for at least 24 hours so the flavors can infuse. Serve with pita bread and Greek yogurt. Also ideal as a lunch dish to take with you.

Jonathan Karpathios

And sometimes you simply don’t feel like cooking yourself. During a challenge like this, you look for a nice restaurant where vegetables don’t play a subordinate role for once. That’s how I ended up at the new restaurant of Jonathan Karpathios (known from Vork&Mes), who now also has a restaurant in Amsterdam, Lokaal Edel. Whole pointed cabbage from the BBQ, vegetarian watermelon carpaccio and braised whole cauliflower. That sort of thing. Who said they still needed meat?

Vegetable coach

Albert Heijn is actively encouraging us all to eat more vegetables. But how do you make delicious things with vegetables? That’s why the supermarket launched a new initiative: AH Groenteboost. Via Facebook Messenger, you can get in direct contact with Albert Heijn’s fresh-food team.
Online Vegetable Coaches provide you, upon request, with tips, fun facts, inspirational videos and, of course, recipes packed with vegetables. The goal is to inspire people to eat more vegetables throughout the day as well.

This article was created in collaboration with Albert Heijn.

See also:

Week 1 Challenge, Help… am I eating enough vegetables?
Week 2 Vegetable challenge

Image spring salad: Sven Benjamins Photography