You Are Roasting Vegetables Incorrectly.
Roasting vegetables seems to be a simple action. Cut them up, put them in a hot pan, move them until they are “cooked”. But there are many differences from vegetable to vegetable in terms of density, water content, and starch content, just to name a few of the factors. Cooking truly delicious steamed vegetables is not difficult, but it takes a little thought. (I know I hate it too!)
Dry them thoroughly
Whether you’re cooking a pan of mushrooms or a bunch of broccoli, eliminating excess water during the cooking process ensures you’re actually sautéing rather than steaming. The water prevents your food from making good contact with the hot pan, which means less browning, which means less flavor. You can blot vegetables with paper towels, but I like to use a salad spinner to shake off every last drop of water.
Cut them evenly
A 1/2″ piece of carrots will cook faster than a 1″ piece of carrots. It’s just physics. Slicing and/or dicing the plant parts to the same, if not the same size ensures they cook at the same speed, so you don’t end up with a pile of carrots that is both soft and crunchy.
When adding different types of vegetables to the same pot, it is recommended to add them from scratch, starting with root vegetables (like carrots) and vegetables that grow directly on the ground (like zucchini), and your way to leaves and flowers that grow on the ground (for example, cabbage or broccoli).
About those denser vegetables
At the risk of self-contradiction, sometimes it’s not enough to add tough guys to the pan in front of soft fighters. Firmer root vegetables (like potatoes) and heartier squash (like butternuts) can benefit from a little steam cooking (partial cooking) before they hit the pan so you don’t end up with browned outsides and tough insides.
Bathe Sweet Potatoes for Best Taste
Serious Eats has found that precooking sweet potatoes in a hot, but not simmering, water bath before frying results in sweet potatoes that brown better and taste sweeter than those made from fresh potatoes. You can use the same technique for frying:
Bring three liters of water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add one liter of room temperature water. This should bring the water temperature down to about 175°F (79°C). Add a few pounds of sliced or diced potatoes to this water and it will reduce to just the right amount. Cover the pan with a lid, put it in a warm place in the kitchen, leave it there for a couple of hours …
Once the sweet potatoes are ready, you can fry or stew as you normally would.
Explode the nuts to make them easier to peel
Pumpkin nuts are notoriously difficult to peel and cut, but a few minutes in the microwave can soften them up. Make three to four long cuts on each side of the pumpkin (so the steam can escape and the pumpkin doesn’t explode), then microwave it for three to five minutes until the skin is soft. Let stand for a minute or two, then peel and dice as usual.
Boil white potatoes for a better texture.
Boiling the potatoes for a few minutes shortens the time spent in the pot, and the salted water adds flavor. You can cook several potatoes at once and then roast them for a week when the cravings kick in. Add 2 tablespoons of kosher salt to 1 liter of water and bring to a boil. Add up to 2 pounds of 1-inch diced potatoes and cook for five minutes. Drain, then spread on clean kitchen towels or paper towels and let excess moisture evaporate for 10 minutes. Fry immediately or store in the refrigerator until cooking time.
Stop overfilling the damn pot
Each stock photo of “stewed vegetables” shows a frying pan with too many vegetables to actually sauté. These vegetables are steamed , mom, and steamed vegetables are nowhere near as tasty as their stewed counterparts.
If you add too much cold food, the temperature of your pan will drop and the cold pan won’t burn. You want to use a pot that’s large enough so that everyone can hang in a single layer without touching or overlapping each other, so they’re in as much contact with the pot as possible, and the water has room to evaporate quickly.
Make sure your pan is hot
Frying is a method of cooking food at a high temperature, so you want your pan to sizzle. You want your oil to shimmer and your oil to foam. ( Remove the fat from the mushrooms, however. Mushrooms play by their own rules.) A good way to test this is to add some water to it. If the water hisses and immediately evaporates, then everything is ready. (You don’t want the pan to be so hot, however, that the water rolls into a small ball and dances around the pan. Save this for steaks and chops.)
Stop fucking with it like that
Roasting is an action, but some people are too active. Resist the temptation to constantly stir and turn, and let the vegetables stay in contact with the pan long enough for them to take on color. Color is taste, friends, let it happen.