These are NOT Your Grandma's Pickles

I was watching a new morning show on Hallmark.  "What Ever"   Martha Stewart has apparently taken over the channel with all her new shows.  I think it was the first show with her daughter Alexis and friend Jennifer, when Alexis started complaining about all the vegetables her mother had delivered to her apartment.  She was a little cranky while explaining how she had spent her whole evening roasting the vegetables to process them all.  Okay follow me now...;)  early last week I had watched a cooking show on pickling veggies with Jamie Oliver... I think.  Then I read a recipe for pickling on the internet...just to get the basic vinegar, water, salt, sugar ratio's.  That recipe suggested a marinade for veggies after they were pickled.  I thought the idea was brilliant, instead of leaving the veggies sitting in all that brine and getting soggy.

Sooo my creative right sided brain goes into action and some how I come up with all these amazing veggies combos.   I roasted two pans.  One pan with peppers, tomatos and onions.

Then the other pan with brocoli, carrots and cauliflower. I tossed them both with olive oil, salt, pepper, and freshly minced garlic.  On the one with peppers I sprinkled dried oregano and basil.   When the veggies came out of the oven I squirted them all with fresh lemon juice.

The peppers and onions I am using for a pasta salad tomorrow night.  The cauliflower, carrots and brocoli we ate tossed over some brown rice with some shredded pork I had simmering in the crock pot. YUM

 I still had some more cauliflower and lots of cucumbers to do something with.   So I did two separate batches of pickling water.  I just didn't go heavy on the vinegar or sugar.  I did throw in a few mustard seeds, and a pinch of salt.  When they were both gently cooked, I drained them and cooled them off in a marinade of olive oil and garlic.  I tossed fresh basil and cherry tomatoes in with the cucumbers.  Then with the cauliflower I used fresh oregano!!!  That was key.  I usually don't use my fresh oregano...I don't know why. I think I will quickly find more uses for this fresh herb.

For lunch that day I tried all my veggies over some low fat cottage cheese.  It was sooo delicious.  I am  never going to do the canning thing, but I must say both of these methods are a great snappy way to use up all those excess veggies coming our way this harvest season.