Sauces to enhance your favorite vegetables

We've been hearing more in the last few years about eating more vegetables. They are a definite source of vitamin nutrition and most people have at least one favorite vegetable. Naturally, we know that vegetables aren't a big favorite of children!

Many people tend to eat their vegetables with little or no additional toppings, except for butter and perhaps cheese. I'd like to pass along three sauce recipes that can add more flavor to plain vegetables and may even encourage children, as well as adults, to enjoy their vegetables more often. The first recipe is for a "Basic White Sauce" that goes very well with all cooked vegetables, especially green ones. It's a very basic cream sauce that can also be flavored with with Parmesan or Gruyere cheese, if you prefer a "Mornay Sauce". The second recipe is for a classic sauce, called "Hollandaise Sauce". This is a lemon and butter sauce that's also great on vegetables, but also on fish and meat dishes, so it's quite versatile.

The white sauce can be made as thick as desired. The basic recipe is a thin sauce. For a thicker sauce, the amounts of butter and flour are increased, according to the desired thickness. For the Mornay Sauce, the cheese and additional butter, which is optional, is added to the hot sauce. Then, it's ready to go on top of your favorite vegetables.

The "Hollandaise Sauce" is more involved, yet it's wonderful and well worth your time and I find it even fun to make. This sauce requires cooking over a low heat, since this has egg yolks in it. Too high a heat would cause the yolks to scramble. This takes more time to make, but if you're having company for dinner and would like to impress your guests, serve this sauce with the vegetables or meat!

I did an article last year on including more vegetables in your diet that included some vegetable recipes. To get to the article, follow this link:

http://www.examiner.com/article/eat-more-vegetables-2012

Give ordinary vegetables a topping of either of these sauces and see if you find yourself enjoying vegetables more often!

BASIC WHITE SAUCE

• 1 tablespoon butter (see notes below)
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (see notes below)
• 1 cup milk
• salt to taste

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Off heat, add the flour and stir well. Return the pan to low heat and cook for 2 minutes. Add the milk, whisking rapidly (a wire whisk comes in very handy here). Increase heat to medium and bring to boiling, allowing sauce to thicken, which will take about 10 minutes. Add salt to personal taste. Makes 1 cup

NOTES: For a medium-thick sauce, use 2 tablespoons each of butter and flour. For a thick sauce, use 3 tablespoons each of butter and flour. Prepare as directed above.

MORNAY SAUCE

• 1 cup Basic White Sauce
• 2 tablespoons Parmesan or Gruyere cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter (optional)

Add the cheese and butter to the hot white sauce and stir until cheese has melted. Makes 1 cup.

HOLLANDAISE SAUCE

• 1-1/2 sticks butter
• 3 egg yolks
• a pinch of salt
• the juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tablespoons water

Reserve 2 tablespoons of the butter and melt the remainder in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and set aside. In a second heavy saucepan, beat together the egg yolks with the salt, lemon juice and water. Place the pan over low heat and stir constantly and rapidly with a wire whisk. As the egg yolks begin to thicken, add 1 tablespoon of the reserved butter. Continue cooking, but don't allow the mixture to become too hot for the egg yolks will scramble. As the butter melts, add the second tablespoon of reserved butter. Continue cooking until butter has melted completely. Remove the pan from heat and add the melted butter in a slow, steady stream, stirring constantly and rapidly. The egg yolks will thicken the butter into a sauce. Once all the butter has been added, taste the sauce for salt and lemon juice, add more according to personal taste. Serves 6.