A New View of Healthy Eating: Daily Healthy Recipes by Melanie Albert: Really Quick Veggie Sauté

by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

When our days are full and we don’t have a lot of time to cook, a veggie sauté is a great option for a quickly prepared dinner. Today’s veggie sauté was inspired by several of my purchases from our local Arizona farmers’, including sweet potatoes, I’itoi onions, and arugula. To these veggies, I added a tomato, green pepper, and a few of my favorites, the olives, capers, and sun-dried tomatoes. The quick sauté was a beautiful combination of warming, sweet and earthy.

Simple Steps to make a Quick Veggie Sauté

Step 1: Choose a few veggies. An aromatic onion. Some veggies with more moisture (like tomatoes and bell peppers) and some more dense root veggies, such as sweet potatoes, carrots, or beets. And, some light greens such as arugula or spinach.

Step 2: Chop veggies in different shapes for visual interest in your dish.

Step 3: Heat sauté pan at low heat. When the pan is warm, add a few tablespoons of organic extra virgin olive oil. Yes, when we use a high quality olive oil, with low acid level, below .7%, we can cook with it.

Step 4: Add onions to the pan and gently sweat for about 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent.

Step 5: Add bell pepper, increase heat to medium, and cook for a few minutes to release the flavors.

Step 6: Add tomatoes and cook for another few minutes, to build the flavor base for the sauté. Add in a few pinches of sea salt to bring out the sweetness of the tomato.

Step 7: Add sweet potatoes. Cook for another few minutes until the sweet potatoes are soft.

Step 8: Add extras such as sun-dried tomatoes (re-hydrated in a simmering pot of water for a few minutes), olives, and capers.

Step 9: Add a handful of arugula, gently toss, and cook for a minute or two.

Step 10: Plate the veggies and enjoy.

Quote from “A New View of Healthy Eating”

“Have fun preparing quick, delicious veggie stir-fries with a few simple steps. The key is to be organized. Pre-chop all your ingredients and set up your mise en place (all ingredients in place) for your cooking before you start stir-frying.” Melanie Albert

Culinary Tip from “A New View of Healthy Eating”: What’s the Difference: Sauté vs. Stir-fry

Sautéing and stir-frying are similar dry-heat cooking methods to cook food quickly. Small, bite-size pieces of food are stirred or tossed and quickly cooked over high heat. With sautéing, usually a pan or skillet is used; with a stir-fry, traditionally a wok is used. With stir-frying, the heat is higher and the action is faster with the food continuously tossed and stirred.

ACTION: Have fun shopping at your local farmers’ market and create a quick, simple, delicious veggie sauté and share your creation with us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating

A few Veggie Sauté ideas from book, “A New View of Healthy Eating”