Any raw green vegetable is a waxy, lovely medium green

Green Vegetables

    All green vegetables start as a bright pretty green. To cook any green vegetable, first prepare by cutting away the tough fibrous parts, (like the bottom outside layer of broccoli and asparagus and the fibrous string on a green bean)  Then chop to desired size.

an overcooked green vegetable loses color
and becomes olive green

A perfectly cooked veggie is intense kelly green
Cooking properly makes more nutrients accessible
Overcooking destroys nutrients

 

Broccoli or Green Beans or Asparagus in Brown Butter Sauce

Saute 1 clove of pressed garlic and 2 tsp. shallot (opt) in 3 T. butter and 1/4 tsp kosher salt. Saute over relatively high heat til butter starts to brown. Add green 2-3 C chopped vegetable. Stir quickly to coat with sauce and put a tightly fitting lid on the pan. More Salt to taste. Watch closely. The color of the vegetable will intensify. Remove lid if necessary once or twice to turn vegetables and keep them from burning. A glass lid works best so you can see. You should be able to see water condensing on the lid and dripping back into the pan. Once vegetables are uniformly intense green, remove from heat and turn into serving dish. 

Do not leave the lid on the vegetables and set them aside. 

They will continue to cook, change color and be overdone.

Do not turn down the heat. 

Cooking vegetables as fast as possible maximizes both flavor and nutritional value.

NEVER boil a vegetable unless you are making soup. 

Water will suck the color, taste and nutrients out of a vegetable.

If you feel very insecure and must add liquid, add broth, but just enough to keep from burning.

In this recipe, salt pulls the water out of the vegetable and the lid doesn't allow the liquid to evaporate. Using the vegetable's own water to cook it, intensifies flavor and maximizes nutritional value. This same principle should be followed in cooking almost any fresh vegetable.