Joel's veggie school

Our own taste expert, Joel Waje, teaches you how to cook the best veggies of the season.

It is easy to cook green!

Many of us want to eat more vegetables, but it's not always easy to know what to do with it. Here's our top tips for cooking with this season's vegetables.

Pointed cabbage

Cabbage is a very underestimated vegetable that can be so much more than pizza salad. With the correct cooking method and flavouring, the cabbage can be mouthwatering even to the most picky eater. Cabbage is used diligently by skilled chefs, probably because it's a simple vegetable that with some easy moves can be lifted into something absolutely amazing. Scroll down and read how!

How to cook pointed cabbage

Oven baked

With oven baked pointed cabbage it brings out a nice, balanced and natural sweetness flavour. Pre-heat the oven to 225°C. Cut the cabbage into 4-6 pieces, keep the stalk to prevent the cabbage from falling apart. Rub the cabbage with oil, salt or a good spice mix and bake in the oven until the cabbage gets a nice color and is soft with some resistance in the middle.

Boiled

Boiling a pointed cabbage in a good broth is a great way to cook it. Season a good broth and simmer the cabbage until it is soft but still have some resistance in the middle. Remember to keep some of the stalk so that the cabbage does not break apart when cooking. A tip is to fry the boiled cabbage in a hot pan with a little butter.

Raw marinated

The pointed cabbage is also good for eating without hot cooking. You will get the best result if you slice it thinly and marinate with some acid eg. lemon or vinegar. The acid breaks down the structure of the cabbage slightly and softens it. Add more vegetables and enjoy the raw marinated cabbage as an accompaniment or as a fresh salad.

Celeriac

This naturally umami rich root has many uses and helps to naturally enhance the taste of the food. We want the celeriac to have a common place at home in your fridge and in your dishes. Eating it raw is a bit pungent, but cooked it has a sweet and round flavour. Below you will find our best tips and tricks to cook this knotty root fruit.

How to cook celeriac

Ovenbake whole

Baking a whole celeriac in the oven is super easy and gives it a nice round and sweet taste. The method is simple: peel the celeriac and rub with salt and oil and bake in the oven at 150°C until the celeriac is soft all the way through. Slice up the celeriac and serve as an accompaniment. It may take up to 2 hours to bake a celery whole, but it is definitely worth it!

Puree

Celeriac, are like potatoes, perfect to make into puree. Cut the celeriac into smaller pieces and cook with milk and butter until it is soft and breaks apart. Drain and mix smoothly with some of the cooking liquid. Season with salt. Celeriac puree is perfect for both fish, meat and vegetables.

Roasted

Roasted celeriac is incredibly tasty. Roasting it on high heat gives it a slightly caramelised sweet taste. It is done this easy: set the oven to 220°C. Peel and cut the celeriac in desired size pieces. Mix with oil and salt and roast until the celeriac has a nice colour and is soft all the way through. Serve in a salad, like an appetizer or as an accompaniment.

Butternut squash

Pumpkins are available in many shapes and sizes, but in common they all have the wonderful sweet and nutty flavour. Perhaps the butternut squash is not the obvious choice in the vegetable variety, but here you get inspiration and help with cooking methods and recipes. Read more below on how to cook your butternut squash.

How to cook butternut squash

Pickled

It is possible to pickle most vegetables, including the butternut squash: cut it into small cubes. Boil a 1,2,3 syrup, add the butternut squash and remove from the heat. Let it cool. Spice up the syrup with black pepper, bay leaves and herbs. Serve the pickled butternut squash as a topping for both hot and cold dishes.

Oven roasted

It is very nice to roast the butternut squash in the oven. Then the natural sweetness appears fine. Peel and core the butternut squash and cut in any size. Salt and mix with oil. Roast in the oven at 200-220°C until it is soft but has a little resistance. The butternut squash is ideal for almost any other dish.

Purée

Making a purée of butternut squash is a tasty and colourful accompaniment. Peel, cut and boil the butternut squash in water with a big knob of butter. Drain and mix until smooth with a hand blender with another big knob of butter. Add salt to taste. A good tip is to shred some lemon peel into the purée to enhance the taste - lemon and butternut squash work really well together.

Joel Waje

Joel Waje is one of several taste developers at Santa Maria. He comes from a family filled with professional and hobby cooks and cookbook writers, and he knew early on that food would be the focus of his career.
Joel has a long experience as a restaurant chef and his philosophy is to put the vegetables in focus and to choose meat, fish or poultry more as an accessory. As a child, Joel gladly helped his parents with the vegetable cultivation and for him it is important to not let anything go to waste; Even a crooked carrot is a good carrot.

Santa Maria UK Ltd ∙ Nimbus House, Maidstone Road ∙ Kingston, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK10 0BD ∙ Telephone numbers: UK careline: 01908 933109 ∙ ROI: 1800 577 449

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Herbs & Spices

Latest recipes

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Vegetarian Recipes

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Your shopping list

Joel's veggie school

It is easy to cook green!

Pointed cabbage

How to cook pointed cabbage

Oven baked

Boiled

Raw marinated

Celeriac

How to cook celeriac

Ovenbake whole

Puree

Roasted

Butternut squash

How to cook butternut squash

Pickled

Oven roasted

Purée

Joel Waje

About Santa Maria

Recipes

Products

Our responsibility

Joel's veggie school

It is easy to cook green!

Joel Waje

About Santa Maria

Recipes

Products

Our responsibility

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