Making Vegetables Craveable
For too long, American menus have put protein in the spotlight and produce in the wings. The story is the steak, right? No one will notice the mushy broccoli spears and the dried-out baked potato.
Those days are so over. Business-savvy chefs like Suvir Saran of Dévi in New York City know that vegetables, prepared with imagination, can be a big draw today—and hugely profitable. At the popular Dévi, Saran's signature Manchurian cauliflower fetches $12 a portion. You can guess the food cost.
Vegetables can be a point of differentiation on your menu if you take the time to make them craveable. Out of ideas?
"Look around the world to cultures that historically ate a lot of plant food and used more expensive foods for flavoring," urges Greg Drescher of the CIA. Cooks in countries as diverse as Malaysia, India and Italy have "ingenious flavor strategies" for preparing vegetables, says Drescher.
Joyce Goldstein, the cookbook author and authority on the foods of the Mediterranean, seasons spinach Catalan style with raisins, Serrano ham and pine nuts. She gives baked pumpkin a Sicilian twist with mint and almonds. In Goldstein's competent hands, cauliflower is boiled, then baked with breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley and grated cheese to make a crusty and aromatic gratin.
"We have to seduce people with vegetables," says Goldstein, who takes her inspiration from Italy, Greece, Tunisia, Turkey and other lands bordering the Mediterranean.
Thai cooks use lemongrass and Kaffir lime leaves to add a citrusy aroma to vegetables. Chai Siriyarn, chef-owner of San Francisco's two Marnee Thai restaurants, uses both in his Avocado and Green Mango Salad, his brilliant California-inspired version of a Thai restaurant staple. With peanuts, coconut, chili jam and lime, the salad punches every flavor button. "It's soft and crunchy, sweet and sour, spicy and salty—an example of the balance in Thai salads," says Siriyarn. And it doesn't have a drop of oil.
If you are cooking for calorie-conscious diners, look to Malaysian and Vietnamese kitchens for more oil-free salad ideas. Alex Ong, the Malaysian chef of San Francisco's Betelnut, dresses his zesty Nonya Eggplant Salad with rice vinegar, sugar, chilies, ginger and mint. And nobody needs to be on a diet to enjoy Mai Pham's Mom's Cabbage Salad, a refreshing "Vietnamese cole slaw" with shredded cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, mint, cilantro and a spicy lime dressing.
Saran, who also consults for Sodexo, the multinational foodservice company, says that diners crave the spicy Indian vegetables he has introduced at Sodexo accounts—dishes like Stir-Fried Green Beans with Coconut and Spicy Indian Slaw. They aren't afraid of the flavors, says the chef, but they are wary of foreign titles. "Let's come up with names that aren't too exotic," Saran told his client. "I want people to try these dishes. Sauteed potatoes with mustard seeds? They'll eat that."
