Taking photos and writing for this food blog is a difficult process. Inspirations come randomly (almost). I don´t tend to plan things much, so a lot of good cooking often fails to reach this blog.
Often or not, I would finish photographing the ingredients for a particular dish, then go off cooking/baking. Before I know it, meal time comes when I haven´t taken photos of the final dish. Or, I would manage to save some leftover for shooting later. But it is too dark, and there is no natural light left. And I am too lazy to set up my lighting gear.
The bottom line is I often end up with really tasty food and no photographs. It´s still a win situation in my book if you ask :P.
So when I took these photos for my food column a few months back, I thought they were good enough to share around here. (side note: my family is not a huge fan of raw vegetables. For some reasons my in-law often overcook their vegetables. A big no for me, and I´m changing that habit overtime!)
Let´s start with roast mini eggplants. I was lucky enough to get really good supplies of mini purple eggplants of various sizes. Cut into halves, they are roasted quickly in the oven with a generous drizzle of olive oil, thyme and sea salt. They go so well with a simple dip of natural yoghurt, crushed garlic and a pinch of salt. (I wish I had pomegranates available back then. The addition of colour and texture would be awesome).
Gotta say I am loving yoghurt garlic dip at the moment. It´s good with roast vegetables. I sometimes add a swirl of tahini to the mixture, too. Delicious!
I also love a simple tomatoes salad. When I took these photos, it was late summer. Tomatoes were abundant then, and I remember loving the crisp flavours of green tomatoes. They are almost like eating apples! Throughout the summer, I made a lot of tomato salad. A particular favourite is the quinoa, bread and tomato salad from Plenty. It has such amazing texture and flavours. Go, and make it, those who are in the northern hemisphere.
Last of the bunch is the fool-proof steamed vegetables with miso dressing/dip. This is an absolute winner! I love this dressing so much since it reminds me of the northern Vietnamese fermented bean sauce (tuong ban), which cannot be found overseas. It´s nutty with the balance of sweet-salty notes. I have been known to eat the miso dressing with lots of things – vegs, pour over salad, and even use as a dip for fried tofu.
How to make miso dip – mix together 1-2 tablespoons of white miso with a bit of sugar (1-2 teaspoon), and some water. Mix well and adjust the taste to your liking. Finish off with a few drop of toasted sesame oil.
So, what is your favourite way of eating vegetables?
Love the look of the mini eggplant! I'm currently loving simply steamed vegetables tossed in pepper and goats cheese, or roasted cauliflower
All your vegetable dishes look wonderful. I know what you mean about the difficulty in photographing everything you cook.
Love the photographs! So pretty and vibrant.
Those are some of my favorite veggies too! The first shot is amazing.
I love all of these vegetables! really love them. and there is so much you can do with an eggplant. I do not understand how someone cannot "Like" an eggplant:) really pretty chopstick you have.
My favorite way would be stir-fry. Roast eggplant would be so much healthier.
Such pretty veggie dishes, Anh! Love the look of that simple roasted eggplant…and I'm adding eggplant to my grocery list now! 😉
i love your roasted mini egglants. <3 eggplants!
I am just grateful your photos make it to us:)
Absolutely stunning photos Anh! I especially love the look of the simple tomato salad. There is nothing better than fresh tomatoes.
I m a big veggie lover..mostly survive on cukes and tomatoes in summers.The way you have cut the vegetables is so neat and professional.
Looking at your photos I just don't get how some people just don't like veggies. Gorgeous, every one of them.
Love the roasted egg plant. I wonder if your Vietnamese fermented bean sauce would be quite similar to the Chinese version. I have no one favorite way of eating vegetables – some are good roasted, some on salads, some swimming in soup but one thing's for sure, I wish I'm eating more of them in my daily diet.
You make veggies looks like a work of art!!! Wonderful!
They look yummy! So many humble, simple ideas about seasonality and veggie dishes / accompaniments you've suggested. Thank you.
I always end up not taking photographs of my food either for the same reasons as you! 😉 I love almost all veggies cooked in any way, especially tomatoes 😀
Those are some great recipes! I know what you saying, I think the best of my recipes are not yet on the blog.
I haven't had eggplant in such a long time, thanks for the inspiration, that yoghurt garlic dip to go with it sounds terrific too.
Love the pics Anh! I'm especially loving the tomatoes! They look so wonderful and vibrant!
Love all the vegetable shots and the steamed veg with the miso dressing definitely sounds like a winner. I know, I am so dependent on natural light (don't even have lighting gear lol) but at least we still get to eat the tasty food
Oh, I also wanted to say I love those blue chopsticks in the last shot 😀
I haven't met a vegetable I haven't tried to roast. So easy and seems to intensify each vegetable's unique flavour. With a full time job, I do most of my cooking at night and without a photography set up in my kitchen, I agree that my photos lack that airy light professional look. I didn't think to save a portion of leftovers for daytime photographing.
You have that magical touch on your photographs, they all appear beautiful…. just like this roasted eggplant shot…
these photos just take my breath away!!! I look forward something big and prosperous happening to you soon 😉 Well-cooked (or for you, over cooked
veg is deeply rooted in chinese (or cantanese at least) food culture, i am only able to start appreciate the raw and crisp veg these years.
I really like what you did with the eggplant! Beautiful
Anh…your photos are gorgeous! The tomatoes look divine.
Oh these vegetables look beautiful! I can't wait to sample more of the season's bounty! Thank you for sharing with me today! I hope you are having a lovely holiday. Have a week full of good food, laughter and love!
I think the older generation tends to overcook vegetables compared to us. Yours all looks pretty perfect. I never eat eggplant, but your gorgeous shot would convince to eat it.
Hello my dear many times we dont see each other and I see your pictures are amazing like always, love your vegetables! gloria from Canela Kitchen
I just love LOVE your photos. They keep getting better and better.
Beautiful photos! These dishes all look wonderful. Veggies are always on top of my list.
Gorgeous photos! I hate overcooked veggies! I reckon overcooked and or bland vegies are the main reason you hear about kids not liking their veggies. I never have that problem. Love the look of that green tomato too!
Everything looks so beautiful. This post definitely has me in the mood to eat healthy :D
What a beauuuuuuuuuutiful photo. Well you probably hear enough but I just wanted to add. Amazing. Simple food like yours can be hard to take pictures, but not by you. I love this post!
Hello! I'm from Philippines! I just started blogging about food. Please follow me and I'll follow you too!
http://eaternalfeast.blogspot.com
Your photography is stunning! I'm especially excited about the miso dip – I love miso anything.
Beautiful clicks, Anh! I love the tilt of the tomato slices and the different sizes of eggplant. Wish I could find those sizes :).
Delicious round-up! I consume so much veggies it's a bit ridiculous… I love them raw on their own or in salads, in soups, casseroles, stews, you name it!
Hi,thank you for visiting my blog which I thought only the Japanese come and see…anyway, I love your beautiful photos!
Even people who hate veggie will have to change their perception. You are so good in playing with colour.
Gorgeous pictures especially the egg plant one! And all my fav veggies as well.
I actually enjoy steamed veggies but never tried a dip with them. Good idea!
Steamed brocolli and miso go so well together! Your miso dip recipe is a little similar to what we'd usually have at home:) It's really yummy and healthy isn't it?
Beautiful!! I LOVE eggplant.
i love orasted eggplant and with the idea of garlic yogurt- omg yum!
great photos – vegetables are so gorgeous when not cooked out of shape! I know what you mean about photos of the process and not the main dish – but worse is when you have the photos and the dish is so-so. You are doing your in-laws a great favour in teaching them to enjoy their vegetables
Learned something new!
I know what you mean about a lot of stuff not actually making it to the blog. Sometimes life must take precedence over blogging.
My first time here and I am loving it!
your fotos are amazing! I love all of them. I'm also a Vietnamese food lover. Just started to cook few months ago. I thought that my compact camera is good enough for taking foto of my food but it is absolutely not. Do you have any advice for basic camera or lens to start with?
Wow .. amazing pictures dear.
Those roast mini eggplants look positively heavenly! I can't wait for mine to grow in my back yard so I can try this recipe out!
Beautiful vegetables! I especially would like to try the eggplant.
Beautiful photos and delish sounding dishes! I'm collecting summer veggie recipes at my site – stop by and link up your faves!
Oh Anh, you are so right about overcooking vegetables! I am also having the problems of good food but no photographs.. Anyways.. your photographs are beautifull!
The images are simply breathtaking….wow! Keep it up!!!!