Give each vegetable the heat and cooking time it needs to retain flavour and texture. Browse colourful everyday dishes that make seasonal produce the main event rather than an afterthought.
Recipes
Roast the peppers and onions with cumin and boil them with tomatoes, kidney beans, black beans and corn. Rinse the beans well and reduce the chilli open so that it thickens without the pulses falling apart.
Cook the beetroot and risotto rice until creamy with onion and hot stock, before parmesan, balsamic vinegar and thyme round off the rice. Add the stock in portions and chop the beetroot finely or puree it in part to ensure a balanced colour and bite.
Mushrooms are fried in dark portions, boiled with onion and thyme and partly pureed with stock and cream. Mushrooms need space and high heat, otherwise they give off water; some browned slices are retained as a garnish.
Roast pork is rubbed with mustard, fried all around and slowly cooked with onions, broth, cumin, bay leaf and sauerkraut. Check the core temperature and let the roast rest before slicing; if necessary, add sauerkraut later.
Chicken pieces are fried, put into the tin with blanched broccoli and cream sauce and cooked under Gouda. Blanch broccoli only briefly and do not pre-fry the chicken completely so that both remain juicy in the oven.
Blanched savoy cabbage leaves are stuffed with spiced minced meat, rolled up, fried and braised in broth until soft. Cut the thick leaf ribs flat and seam the roulades down to keep them closed.
Lentils, carrots, potatoes and leeks are cooked with marjoram in vegetable broth, then sausage slices are heated up. Add vinegar only at the end, because acidity can delay the softening of the lentils.
Beef goulash is sautéed vigorously and gently braised with onions, tomato paste, stock, bay leaves, carrots, celery and potatoes. Add vegetables after cooking and simmer the stew gently until the meat is tender without resistance.
Pumpernickel is spread with horseradish cream cheese and topped with cucumber, smoked salmon, dill and lemon. Pat cucumber dry and top the appetizers just before serving so that the bread remains firm.
Mushroom heads are filled with a mixture of cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, garlic, parsley and crumbs and baked in the oven. Clean the mushrooms only dry and do not press the filling too tightly to brown and not to water the mushrooms.
Tortilla chips are briefly fried with beans, corn, jalapeños and cheddar and served with salsa, sour cream and coriander. A flat layer and separately served moist dips keep the nachos crispy for longer.
Spiced pork shoulder is slowly cooked soft with apple juice, pulled, mixed with BBQ sauce and served in mini rolls with coleslaw. Meat needs low heat until it can be easily pulled apart; sauce is only dosed after plucking.
Sweat the potatoes, leeks and onions in butter, boil them in vegetable stock until soft and puree them with cream. Leave some of the potatoes in the pan and add the roasted onions to the plate to keep the soup textured.
Cooked prawns, avocado, lettuce and tomatoes are layered in glasses and served with a lime cocktail sauce. All ingredients must be well chilled and dry; cut the avocado just before layering and sprinkle with lime.
Cooked lentils are marinated lukewarm with lemon-honey dressing and later mixed with cucumber, feta, parsley and pomegranate. Cook lentils only al dente and drain well; fold in feta and pomegranate only after cooling.
Chopped beef is sautéed vigorously and boiled to a thick party chilli with onion, tomato paste, spices, tomatoes, beans and corn. Brown the chopped chilli in portions and simmer uncovered; add the beans only after the spices have been roasted.
Prepare cooked potatoes, mushrooms, peppers, corn and cucumbers in portions in raclette pans and sauté under cheese. Drain moist ingredients well and do not fill the pans too high to make the cheese brown.
Mountain cheese and Emmentaler are melted in portions in hot white wine and bound with garlic and mixed starch. Stir in the cheese over medium heat and do not boil until bubbling, otherwise the fat can separate from the mixture.
Short pastry is pressed into small moulds and baked with sweaty leeks, egg-cream-glaze and gouda. Let leeks evaporate before filling and do not overfill the moulds so that the bottom and glaze cook clean.
Boil chestnuts, onion and potatoes until soft with white wine and vegetable stock, puree and finish with cream and thyme. Bring the white wine to a boil and add the cream only after pureeing, so that the soup tastes round instead of alcoholic.
Blanched Brussels sprouts are moulded with cream, milk and nutmeg and gratinated with mountain cheese and crumbs until golden brown. Precook Brussels sprouts only just and allow to steam well, so that they do not soften in the oven and the sauce does not thicken.
Thin cuts of meat, broccoli and pre-cooked potatoes are cooked in portions at the table in hot beef broth and eaten with herb and mustard dip. The broth must be gently boiled, raw meat needs separate plates and poultry must cook through completely.
Pre-cooked potatoes, peppers, mushrooms and corn are spread in pans and fried under raclette cheese. Cut the watery vegetables into small pieces and drain well so that the cheese browns instead of floating in liquid.
Cooked lentils, roasted walnuts, fried mushrooms, oatmeal, egg and herbs are mixed to a malleable mass and baked as a roast nut. Fry mushrooms dry and let the mixture swell before forming; it should hold together but not be pressed tightly.
Beef roulades are stuffed with mustard, bacon, cucumber and onion, sautéed and stewed in the stock until soft. Tightly tie the roulades and brown all around; they are ready when a fork slides into the meat without resistance.