Steamed vegetables with flavoured butters

Name: Steamed vegetables with flavoured butters
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 1 pinch cumin seeds; 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves picked; 60 g unsalted butter softened; 450 g carrots cut into thick strips; ½ tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary; 3 anchovy fillets finely chopped; 60 g unsalted butter softened; 350 g broccoli cut into florets; ½ lemon finely grated zest of, plus 1 tablespoon of juice; 60 g unsalted butter softened; 350 g mangetout trimmed; 1 clove garlic chopped; ½ red chilli deseeded and finely chopped; 2 sun-dried tomatoes in oil drained and finely chopped; 60 g unsalted butter softened; 500 g baby turnips quartered if large; 1 pinch sugar; ¼ orange finely grated zest of

A little bit of oomph for your veg

Gluten-freegf

“Keep these easy flavoured butter recipes handy to perk up your favourite greens and veggies ”

Serves 6

Cooks In20 minutes

DifficultySuper easy

Vegetables Christmas Dinner Party Vegetable sides Starters

Nutrition per serving

Calories 100 5%
Fat 8.5g 12%
Saturates 5.3g 27%
Sugars 3.6g 4%
Protein 1.0g 2%
Carbs 4.4g 2%

Of an adult's reference intake

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Ingredients

1 pinch cumin seeds
1 tablespoon fresh thyme , leaves picked
60 g unsalted butter , softened
450 g carrots , cut into thick strips
For the broccoli
½ tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
3 anchovy fillets , finely chopped
60 g unsalted butter , softened
350 g broccoli , cut into florets
For the mangetout
½ lemon , finely grated zest of, plus 1 tablespoon of juice
60 g unsalted butter , softened
350 g mangetout , trimmed
For the turnips
1 clove garlic , chopped
½ red chilli , deseeded and finely chopped
2 sun-dried tomatoes in oil , drained and finely chopped
60 g unsalted butter , softened
500 g baby turnips , quartered if large
For the carrots
1 pinch sugar
¼ orange , finely grated zest of

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Method

Steaming is a great way to cook veg. It keeps in so many of the vitamins lost by boiling, and can be done in stacked steamer baskets. Best of all, though, it only takes up one ring of your cooker!
The butters are easy to make and can be done way ahead. Keep any leftovers in your freezer and use a slice when you cook a steak. Don’t cook all the vegetables or you’ll have far too many – just pick your two favourites.
Make the flavoured butters. If you are making the turnips, pound the garlic, chilli and sun-dried tomatoes to a paste in a pestle and mortar. Add seasoning and the butter and pound well. Dollop onto a sheet of greaseproof paper and roll into a cylinder, twisting the ends like Christmas crackers. Place in the freezer to firm up.
For the carrots, pound the sugar, zest, cumin seeds and thyme; for the broccoli, the rosemary and anchovies; for the mangetout, mix the lemon juice and zest. Then add the seasoning and butter, pound and roll into Christmas cracker shapes, as before.
Put the veg in a 2-layer steamer. Carrots should be nearest to the heat, then baby turnips, then broccoli florets, then mangetout. Steam for 10 minutes and serve each vegetable with circles of flavoured butter melted over the top.