Cheesey veggies

Here is a simple dish that one can throw together either for a quick lunch, or as a side dish at dinner time.


4 tablespoon butter
4 tablespoon flour
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

2 tablespoon oil
1 medium sized onion
2 garlic cloves
1 zucchini
1 large carrot
1 pound broccoli florets
about two cups cauliflower florets
2 celery ribs
2 tablespoon lemon juice
about 1/2 a pound of Swiss cheese slices

Bechamel sauce:
Heat butter, stir flour into it and keep stirring for a few minutes. Lift it off the heat and slowly stir in the milk. Put it back and whisk it until it thickens a little. Do not bring it to boil completely. Add the parsley and stir a bit more before removing it from the stove.

Now put the carrots and the cauliflower on the stove in an inch of water, bring it to boil and let it simmer for 7 minutes, at which point pour the veggies into a colander and rinse them with cold water to stop the cooking.

In the meantime saute the onions in the oil until softened, then add the cruched garlic and stir it until it becomes fragrant, about 2-3 minutes altogether. Add the zucchini, broccoli and celery, season with salt and pepper, add the lemon juice and cook for 7-8 minutes.

Oil a baking dish and set the oven for 350F. Mix the carrot mix with the zucchini mix and the sauce. Dump the whole thing into the baking dish and cover the surface with the cheese slices. Bake it for 15-20 minutes, until the top turns golden.

I also added some asparagus. It is out of season now but I had one of those tall slim bottles of white asparagus in the cupboard. If you can get fresh asparagus, use about 1/2 a pound, and cook them together with the carrots and cauliflower.

Finally I placed a few sprigs of thyme on top for decoration and a little extra fragrance. They are growing in the backyard. Not for long though, it looks like we are in for an early and cold winter this year.