Healthy Recipes:Garden Vegetables with Red Pepper Aioli

Feasting on Vegetables

By Dana Jacobi
for the American Institute for Cancer Research

Walking through a local farmers’ market now, I find the vivid colors and sheer abundance of vegetables irresistible. In addition to the corn and tomatoes, which are at their best, I want to fill my basket with red peppers, dark green squash, creamy-colored cauliflower, crisp green beans, and any other vegetables I know will be gone from local farms as soon as the first frost strikes.

Serving them as crudités, no matter how enticing the dip, means a quantity of the vegetables will be leftover. So when I cannot resist late summer’s cornucopia, my solution is to skip serving vegetables as hors d’oeuvres. Instead, I go straight to the main course, presenting them as dinner by making what the French call Le Grand Aïoli.

Aïl is French for garlic. Aïoli is garlic mayonnaise. In 1950, Elizabeth David, the British food writer who introduced Julia Child and her generation to Mediterranean food, described making aïoli. Clear about method, she was vague about how much garlic, egg yolk and oil to use. Julia remedied this in 1964, giving precise measures in Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She also insisted we use a mortar to pound the garlic and muddle it in good olive oil.

Even garlic lovers may wonder how aioli turns all the vegetables in my market basket, plus potatoes, into a meal. To understand Le Grand Aïoli consider Georgeanne Brennan’s The Food and Flavors of Haute Provence, where she describes her entire village gathering outdoors at long tables to feast together all afternoon on garlic and goodness. It may inspire you to try this copious feast in place of a meat-centric barbecue. If need be, add hard-cooked eggs or grilled fish, which go well with the aïoli.

My aïoli has a modest amount of fat and calories and no raw egg. Instead, I thicken it with pureed roasted red peppers and white beans in a food processor with the garlic. Then I add a modest amount of commercially prepared mayonnaise, and bon appetit!

Garden Vegetables with Red Pepper Aioli

In food processor, whirl red pepper and garlic until finely chopped. Add beans and salt and whirl to a pulpy puree. Add mayonnaise, lemon juice and cayenne and whirl to blend. Season to taste with pepper. Scoop aioli into serving bowl and set aside for 30 minutes to allow flavors to meld or cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.

In medium saucepan, cover potatoes with cold water to a depth of 2 inches and cook over medium-high heat until potatoes are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Set large saucepan of water to boil over high heat. Fill large bowl with ice water. Cook zucchini for 1 1/2 minutes, remove from boiling water using slotted spoon and cool squash in ice water. Drain well. Following the same steps, and in this order, cook string beans for 2 minutes, asparagus for 1 1/2 minutes and cauliflower for 2 minutes.

To serve, arrange vegetables around aioli serving bowl on large platter.

*If possible, roast pepper yourself. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place seeded pepper half, cut-side down, on oiled baking sheet and roast 20 to 30 minutes, until skin is well-blistered. Place pepper in small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 20 minutes. Using fingers, remove skin. Roasted peppers may be tightly covered and refrigerated for up to 4 days.

Makes 4 servings

Per serving: 200 calories, 5 g total fat ( 0.5 g saturated fat), 32 g carbohydrate,
9 g protein, 8 g dietary fiber, 440 mg sodium.

Something Different is written by Dana Jacobi, author of 12 Best Foods Cookbook and contributor to AICR’s New American Plate Cookbook: Recipes for a Healthy Weight and a Healthy Life.

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The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) is the cancer charity that fosters research on the relationship of nutrition, physical activity and weight management to cancer risk, interprets the scientific literature and educates the public about the results. It has contributed more than $87 million for innovative research conducted at universities, hospitals and research centers across the country. AICR has published two landmark reports that interpret the accumulated research in the field, and is committed to a process of continuous review. AICR also provides a wide range of educational programs to help millions of Americans learn to make dietary changes for lower cancer risk. Its award-winning New American Plate program is presented in brochures, seminars and on its website, www.aicr.org. AICR is a member of the World Cancer Research Fund International.