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The [Gluten Free] Cooking Thread
Schrodinger
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Welcome to the Gluten Free cooking thread, a thread for people looking to break away from American style wheat-heavy diets. It’s a place to share ideas for recipes, meal planning, shopping, kitchen setup, etc. If you have an intolerance to wheat, or if you’re cooking for people with an intolerance, then welcome to this thread.
What is Gluten?
Gluten is a protein that gives wheat it’s stickiness. If you’re making pizza, this is a good thing, because it means bigger bubbles. If you’re making tempura, then this is a bad thing, because it can make your batter very gummy. Different levels of gluten will result in different results. Things that increase gluten formation: High protein flours, high moisture levels, mechanical work, and time. Modern wheat is also very different from the wheat of 100 years ago, engineered for higher protein, higher yields, etc.
Why is Gluten a bad thing?
It turns out that the gluten molecule might be very hard on the digestive system. In recent years, many people have been diagnosed with Celiacs, or gluten intolerance, where wheat can trigger an autoimmune response. Since wheat is found in pretty much everything, they end up feeling sick all the time, and never realize it until they ween themselves off of it.
No one in this thread can diagnose you with gluten intolerance, only a doctor can. However, even if you don’t have Celiacs, you can still benefit from a Gluten Free diet.
How hard is it to go Gluten Free?
Surprisingly tricky. Gluten is found in nearly everything because it’s cheap, tasty, and has good shelf life. It’s often added in small amounts in food where you wouldn’t expect it to be for the sake of texture or flavor. And even if wheat isn’t on the ingredients list, there’s always a risk of “cross contamination” if it’s produced in the same factory. For instance, oats are naturally gluten free, but the oats you buy at the supermarket probably aren’t.
The good news is that there are many, many gluten free options available on the shelves, made from gluten free flours. The bad news is that these tend to be very expensive. On a recent visit to a gluten free store, the baked goods averaged to be about $1/oz. The cheapest and easiest way to go gluten free is a) go low carb, and b) cook for yourself.
If you live near a Winco, I’ve found their bulk bin section to be a good source of affordable gluten free flours. They also sell xanthan gum in the spice section.
Variations of Gluten Free Dieting:
The Gluten Free Food culture overlaps with many other food cultures. Here are some main ones to consider:
Now that we've established the ground work, let's get started!
What is Gluten?
Gluten is a protein that gives wheat it’s stickiness. If you’re making pizza, this is a good thing, because it means bigger bubbles. If you’re making tempura, then this is a bad thing, because it can make your batter very gummy. Different levels of gluten will result in different results. Things that increase gluten formation: High protein flours, high moisture levels, mechanical work, and time. Modern wheat is also very different from the wheat of 100 years ago, engineered for higher protein, higher yields, etc.
Why is Gluten a bad thing?
It turns out that the gluten molecule might be very hard on the digestive system. In recent years, many people have been diagnosed with Celiacs, or gluten intolerance, where wheat can trigger an autoimmune response. Since wheat is found in pretty much everything, they end up feeling sick all the time, and never realize it until they ween themselves off of it.
No one in this thread can diagnose you with gluten intolerance, only a doctor can. However, even if you don’t have Celiacs, you can still benefit from a Gluten Free diet.
How hard is it to go Gluten Free?
Surprisingly tricky. Gluten is found in nearly everything because it’s cheap, tasty, and has good shelf life. It’s often added in small amounts in food where you wouldn’t expect it to be for the sake of texture or flavor. And even if wheat isn’t on the ingredients list, there’s always a risk of “cross contamination” if it’s produced in the same factory. For instance, oats are naturally gluten free, but the oats you buy at the supermarket probably aren’t.
The good news is that there are many, many gluten free options available on the shelves, made from gluten free flours. The bad news is that these tend to be very expensive. On a recent visit to a gluten free store, the baked goods averaged to be about $1/oz. The cheapest and easiest way to go gluten free is a) go low carb, and b) cook for yourself.
If you live near a Winco, I’ve found their bulk bin section to be a good source of affordable gluten free flours. They also sell xanthan gum in the spice section.
Variations of Gluten Free Dieting:
The Gluten Free Food culture overlaps with many other food cultures. Here are some main ones to consider:
- Low Carb: Calories come from three sources: Fats, carbs, and proteins. The body starts to feel sick if you get more than 20% of your calories from protein. This means that your diet can be low fat or low carb, but not both. Low fat / High carb diets have been the standard for the last 50 years, while low carb / high fat diets have gained traction in more recent years. If you’re planning to go gluten free, then a low carbohydrate diet will make It easier.
- High Carb: Not surprisingly, gluten intolerance tends to hit people who are used to eating a lot of it, which means people who are used to eating a carb heavy diet full of baked goods and sweets. Many of them will have a hard time making the transition, so they look for recipes to replicate their guilty pleasures. Vegetarians with celiacs will have a hard time switching to a diet emphasizing on meats, and children tend to prefer simpler convenience foods that are designed to be addictive.
- Paleo: This is an extreme variation of the low carbohydrate diet. The idea of the paleo diet is to only eat foods that were available before modern agriculture, and foods that can theoretically be eaten raw. So no grains and no beans. They also tend to avoid dairy, which might be too extreme for most people. For baked goods, paleo enthusiasts will usually use coconut flour or almond flour, which are naturally low in carbohydrates. However, paleo does allow for carbs in the form of starchy vegetables, like potatoes.
- Offal: While American diets tend to emphasize on muscle meats, many low carb and gourmet enthusiasts have been increasingly turning to offal, or the organ meats that usually get leftover and turned into hot dogs. These have a lot more nutrition and can pack a lot of flavor, but can be much trickier to master. If you’re going to be eating more meat, why not make sure you’re using the entire animal? If you're going to cut yourself off from eating gluten, why not try something new?
- Other allergies: Such as soy, corn, rice, casein, etc. Many people who are intolerant to gluten are often intolerant to other foods as well, and it’s important to keep that in mind when finding recipes.
Now that we've established the ground work, let's get started!
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If you want to go gluten free without breaking the bank, then you’re going to need to cook for yourself, and that means having lots of equipment. Here are some ideas:
Appliances:
Cooking:
Now that you’ve decided to go gluten free, the next step is to stock up your kitchen. Here are some kitchen staples that I always like to keep on hand in my kitchen. We will add to this list as things progress.
Cooking Fats:
If you’re going to go the low carb route, then you need to be eating as much fat calories as possible, so you might as well make sure that the fats you’re eating are healthy. The paleo diet recommends staying away from cheap vegetable and seed oils that have only been around for the past century (Canola, soy, corn, etc). They also recommend saturated fats over unsaturated fats, since those are the fats that the human race ate in primal times. I personally agree with this, so I try to keep my cooking fats more traditional:
Dry Goods:
Most recipes became standardized for wheat flour, and attempting to replicate those same properties without wheat can be very difficult, and very expensive. Here is a basic kitchen setup:
Canned Goods:
Kept blank for now. Will add as to this section as people start posting recipes.
And with that, I'm off to the store to buy some ingredients!
I disagree (somewhat) that going gluten free is surprisingly tricky, but it can certainly feel overwhelming at first. I don't think it is trickier than other diets that rely un cutting out certain things (instead of lowering total calorie intake). It will require some sacrifices, but a varied menu can easily be developed. Unprocessed meat is always glutenfree, as is potatoes, rice, and corn. Also all veggies.
I was diagnosed with celiacs disease roughly three decades ago so feel free to ask me anything about living with celiacs disease, either here or PM. I am certainly not a doctor or dietitian, but I have picked up a few things over the years.
http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthy-kitchen-11/truth-about-gluten
Celiacs hasn't been shown to be caused by gluten either
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/celiac-disease/basics/causes/CON-20030410
Obviously, if you must avoid gluten due to medical concerns or just don't want to eat gluten for <reasons> then by all means, avoid it. But also avoid misinformation.
It also means I've had the "pleasure" of trying out the occasional gluten-free product. Some of them aren't that bad. Like pies or cakes, if I didn't know it was gluten-free, I'd probably just assume it was a little dry or something. Other stuff, like some breads, or the flour she bought and tried to make yorkshire pudding with... Good lord. Some of the most disgusting shit I've ever put into my mouth. The best gluten-free bread I've tried, it actually tastes like bread! But like a piece of bread that's been lying on the counter for a few hours, and is in that halfway point between fresh and stale. And on top of that, it's 7 bucks a loaf, compared to the dirt cheap .99 cents of a normal loaf.
Anybody who has to go gluten-free, I would give you a big hug. Because you totally deserve it.
This statement is kind of confusing and could be interpreted as borderline misinformation.
Celiacs hasn't been proven to be caused by gluten, but all the negative consequences of celiac disease are only brought to effect when gluten is present in the diet.
I understand and respect your point though - there is a lot of gluten misinformation out there right now
So if you have Celiac's disease, you can't eat gluten. Doesn't that logically mean you can still eat wheat? Or wheat products that just haven't been mixed enough to create an abundance of gluten? Anything really doughy like bread is probably out, but crackers should be ok?
This podcast has some good information about the misinformation related to gluten: http://www.theskepticsguide.org/podcast/sgu/419
You can look down in the news items and find some good reading too. Basically, it's not a problem unless you're intolerant, and if you were you would definitely have known it by now. We're not talking mild discomfort.
no - you basically just can't eat wheat. i don't think water has anything to do with it
e: you can isolate gluten from wheat with water. but wheat itself will still contain the gluten that will cause symptoms if consumed
maybe i'm streaming terrible dj right now if i am its here
I'm trying to find another episode where it was explained a lot better, but Alton Brown basically lays it out as: Protein in flour + water + mixing = gluten. It's not just some absolute that exists in wheat, it's created through the mixing process. So shouldn't you be able to tweak the mixing process and limit the gluten?
Crackers are definitely not okay.
I could try to come up with an explanation based on my knowledge of biochemistry, but then someone else will come along and rightfully call me an idiot for trying. But the short version is this: No, you can't do it.
What I will say is that gluten forms every time wheat comes in contact with water. Say, the saliva in your mouth. While kneading the dough can speed up the process, it's technically not necessary (See: No knead bread).
But there's probably a more in-depth explanation that's above my pay grade.
Word. I'm cool with a gluten free cooking thread because obviously people who react badly to it deserve to enjoy food but disclaimer that shit. if someone wants to avoid gluten for whatever reason I'm like whatever but let's not base threads on pseudoscience.
Especially if this thread is to be about the cooking. I applaud cooking. But I call bullshit on misinformation so either make another thread for it or prepare to have this thread not be about cooking.
It's basically like an allergic reaction. There is a difference between the cause of the reaction and the cause of the condition. The cause of the condition in this case isn't gluten, but the cause of the reaction is gluten.
The first link seems to just say, "Be careful about going gluten free, because that means that you're going to be missing out on the nutritional value of wheat," without actually saying what the nutritional value of wheat actually is.
Like I said, no one in this thread is qualified to diagnose anyone with anything.
People who go gluten free and who want to eat it affordably are going to make massive changes to their diet. Any improvement people experience could be for any number of reasons. It could be because you're going low carb, or because you're allergic to wheat for reasons that have nothing to do with gluten, or because your digestion was struggling with wheat but not to the point of auto-immune response.
It's also possible that everything is a placebo. However, since gluten free fits in with many other diet plans (Low carb, paleo, etc), there are many reasons to try this diet out even if you don't have an intolerance to the protein itself.
However, the purpose of this thread isn't to convince people to go gluten free. I have intentionally avoided making any health claims, because I don't want this to be a sales pitch. It's simply for people who are interested in this diet plan to learn about cooking in this style.
I get that this is a cooking thread. My post (which I didn't mean to start an argument with) was only directed at the single segment of your triple post that said "Why is gluten a bad thing?" Because there's misinformation in there. Misinformation which I believe is addressed in a reasonable way on the mayo clinic page I linked to. But that's absolutely the last I'll say on the subject. It's a cooking thread. Enough said.
Literally the only health claim in this thread for non-celiacs is that gluten is hard to digest.
From the link:
No you said it might be very hard on the digestive system. Which is an entirely different thing. At the moment according to most research gluten isn't hard on the digestive system for most people. I digest that shit just fine
As jeep said, the only problem here is the part of your first post where you claim some nonsense about gluten and it's effect on the digestive system. The rest is totally fine and I actually endorse less gluten eating than we currently in our society find acceptable (if only for the reduction in carbs).
You can't have a line in your post say "Why is gluten a bad thing?" and expect us not to call bullshit and then pretend you didn't imply some bullshit.
Not everyone digests everything equally well. Regina's own link states that people who don't have an auto-immune response can still have sensitivity issues, says that gluten has no health benefits, but discourages people against going gluten free because it wants people to eat more whole grains.
Something can be hard to digest without triggering a full auto-immune response. Beans, for instance. That doesn't mean that beans will kill you, but they can cause you some discomfort.
Here, let's check in with Harvard:
http://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/getting-out-the-gluten
If you have a very light sensitivity to gluten it might be enough to help, no-mix dough recipes for instance absolutely have less gluten than a properly kneaded dough. You can also mix the dough and then wash it off / soak it in water a little bit, which washes off a bit of that gluten as well (easier to just not mix it much, though).
It's hardly the only kind of intolerance where sensitivity ranges the gamut, after all: lactose intolerance isn't an all-or-nothing proposition either, and environmental factors can often play just as big a role as genetics.
Celiac disease is genetically based though, and afaik(?) is a reaction to one of the basic gluten-forming proteins, so you would just have to avoid any wheat-containing products altogether and you most definitely can't acclimate yourself to it. It's not a disease caused by gluten though, any more than tree nuts caused my allergy to them or sunlight causes light-sensitivity disorders. Just because tree nuts make me to swell up like a grape doesn't mean there's something inherently unhealthy about them.
I recently tried out Alton Brown's recipe for oatmeal cookies. Not low carb, but they're for a friend with kids. I froze half the batch, so I'll bake up some new ones and take photos later this week.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/oatiest-oatmeal-cookie-recipe/index.html
Modification: Some people complained about the cookies not sticking right, so I added about a quarter cup of coconut flour, a dash of xanthan gum, and 4 eggs. Added chocolate chips and sunflower seeds instead of raisins, and I replaced two tablespoons of the butter with crunchy peanut butter. Next time, I'm thinking about keeping the oat flour and replacing the rolled oats with sunflower seeds. Similar texture, but fewer carbs. Slivered almonds would be healthier, but expensive. Oh, and I used brown butter instead of regular butter, then added 2 tablespoons of water to replace the loss in moisture. They turned out pretty tasty.
I also tried this recipe for peanut butter cookies:
http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/cookies/coconut-flour-peanut-butter-cookies.html
Modification: I used 1 cup of brown sugar instead of 1.5 cups of natural sugar, and crunchy peanut butter instead of smooth. That was last week, though, so I don't have any pictures. Cookies turned out okay, but this was my first time making peanut butter cookies, so they're somewhat difficult to mold. I'd recommend chilling them. Not as tasty as the oatmeal, but fewer carbs.
I recently made some cheddar biscuits as well.
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/05/gluten-free-tuesday-cheddar-biscuits-recipe.html
3/4 cups of milk doesn't seem to be nearly enough, so I had to keep adding more. I didn't have sharp cheddar, and 2 oz didn't sound like enough, so I used 4 oz of a medium cheddar jack blend. Used butter instead of shortening, but next time I'll just use lard and see if it works better. Added a garlic butter sauce at the end. Overall, the recipe seemed a little bland and one-note. They're okay, but no "wow" factor that will make you want to keep eating them. It's been so long since I've been to red lobster that I'm not sure how well they compare to the original. Would probably add a homemade herb/spice blend in the future for more depth flavor.
I just recently cut up some eggplant for Alton Brown's eggplant pasta. I started with 1.5 pounds of japanese eggplant (available at Asian markets, easier to slice uniformly), and the ended with .5 pounds after I squeezed out the excess moisture.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/eggplant-pasta-recipe/index.html#!
Tomorrow I'm going to make the eggplant pasta. I've made it before. This time, I plan to add bell peppers and mushrooms. I'm considering using tomato sauce instead of diced tomatoes.
I also have a spaghetti squash I'm going to try roasting. The first time I tried spaghetti squash was a disaster, so I'm going to cross my fingers and home for the best.
My recipe for gluten free crepes:
50grams of glutious rice flour.
150grams of buckwheat flour.
500grams of milk.
2 eggs.
vanilla sugar.
Everything is poured in a bowl standing on a balance or kitchen scale, then mixed. I use grams of milk so I don't have to dirty a litre can. Chtulhu knows what kinds of unholy measurements your american cooking style requires, but a balance should get you through
Use butter for baking. They don't keep very well, so eat fresh.
As for pasta I've found a brand of pasta I like that mixes corn and rice flour.
For bread, I like the Schar (big German brand) pre-baked breads (ciabatta, focaccia) but not their loaf bread. Any loaf bread is going to be dry in my experience.
I've made tortillas with hominy, but it requires some art to get them thin enough. If you like tortillas apparently there's a press that can do this for you. I baked them in my pancake pan.
Pizza dough can be made with the above flour mix, I've also added hominy. This gives you a chewy frozen pizza base. I'll try for a fluffy 'al taglio' base one of these days, too.
Xanthan Gum: I have a bag, and have used it, and never will again. It's just rotten stuff. The bread I mentioned above uses it extensively, and my bowels don't like it. Use the glutinous rice flour instead.
Asian cooking. Is really good on account of all the rice flour, but then they all switched to wheat ages ago. Rice pancakes are bound to have wheat in them. I haven't found a brand or a recipe. Instant noodles have wheat. Glassy rice noodles however are fine, just check the ingredients.
Soy sauce. I stick with Kikkoman, which is a bit of mismatch for Thai cooking, but I haven't found any gluten free non-japanese soy sauce.
Sausages. Basically all ground meat should be suspect. But my favourite Austrian KaseKraner sausages are gluten free. Many frankfurter ones are too, using potato starch. Salami sausages need checking.
Meat balls fall under ground meat. Buy a gluten free loaf bread, toast it in the oven, grind it for crumbs. Now use the crumbs and some gluten free ground meat to make your own meatballs. The bread will have xanthan gum, so the meatballs will be icky after having had a few.
Stock. Try and find a gluten free brand and stick with it.
Really important
some people will get cramps and diarrhea from the slightest speck of crosscontamination. For these people there's the gluten free indication, which means there were no gluten around when the product was produced. Most people will be fine if there's no gluten in the ingredients list. You can figure out which you are by experience. Statistically you'll be the robust type.
I've found I can eat some wheat (say a bun) on one day, and then have to tiptoe around gluten for a week, and be fine. Having accidental gluten contamination (such as flour on fries, in mayonnaise, and in soy sauce-) can go either way but seems to accumulate.
Don't ask me how much of this is psychosomatic.
Oh, and if I get an alnighter gluten party surprise, I have to stay of lactose for a week. This is quite common. I also get joint pains with my diarrhea. That's also not unheard of.
Finally, here's a recepy for a delicious banana bread. It's in french because I translated it out of German for my colleagues. Given more time I'll translate it to English.
140g farine sans gluten (ex. Schar)ou farine
100g farine d' amandes
1 cuiller de thé poudre levure chimique
½ cuiller de thé bicarbonate de soude
50g beurre
Une pincez de Sel
1 packet sucre au vanilla
3 grandes bananes
150 g sucre
2 oeufs
100g de chocolat noir
Bien mélanger les amandes, farine, bicarbonate, et levure. A coté mixer la beurre avec le sucre, puis ajouter les œufs, les bananes (découpes) et ajouter un pincez de sel. Ajouter le mix de farine cuiller par cuiller en mixant. Dernièrement ajouter le chocolat; c'est également possible d'y ajouter des noisettes.
Cuisson a 180° entre 30 et 50 minutes, c'est au meilleur encore un peu collant.
Bon appétit!
If you are trying to make Dish X, where x is normally loaded with the substance you don't want to eat, but a gluten-free/vegan/vegetarian version of it you are going to have a shit time of it. Particularly true if you are cooking for other people. The main exception with regards to gluten is in sauce thickening and binding.
you can probably make a pretty decent gnudi binding it with something other than wheat flour, but if you are trying for fettuccine its going to end up all kinds of wrong.
Beef bourguignon thickened with not-flour sure, croque monsieur without the yum of the fluffy white bread no thanks.
@Schrodinger what issue did you have with spaghetti squash? It's a pretty straight forward thing: split, seed, roast in the oven.
I have coeliac disease and this is basically correct. The autoimmune reaction is triggered by a short amino acid sequence in gliadin which is a protein that makes up gluten in wheat, barley and rye. It has a genetic basis, though only a small number of people with the particular genetics do develop the disease.
I also agree with the sentiment that there's nothing 'wrong' with gluten as far as I'm aware. I don't understand the people who choose to cut gluten out their diet as some do, though I am kind of grateful as the advances in bread and other products have really come on. Even in the past 4-5yrs I've been diagnosed bread has gone from a weird powdery cake-like substance into something rather palatable!
Whilst gluten isn't bad, cutting it out of your diet will probably make you lose weight. However this is mostly because you're removing your ability to consume almost all ready meals, frozen food, pizzas, fast food, cakes, pastries, biscuits and so forth. You know, all the tasty stuff!
I don't have any specific gluten free recipes to hand, but this cookbook has some great recipes:
The Gluten-free Baker
This is a thread for people to post gluten-free recipes and talk about said recipes. Posts containing stuff that is not a recipe or discussion thereof will be clipped and the posters infracted. If someone wants to talk about the science of gluten or some such, they can start a new thread dedicated to just that, so that all the people who don't want to wade through a lot of argle-bargle can elect to steer clear.
Happy dining!
I think I poked holes in it and then roasted it, and it ended up being to thin/watery to hold shape.
I love winter squash, I just always fail hard at them.
The difference is slicing it in half, that allows water to evaporate. Ideally the exposed flesh should form a crust and the interior should still be moist.
I'd actually go a step further and slice it into (long ways) quarters before roasting, and then when it comes out of the oven slice each spear several times to chunk the squash. You can separate the squash from the skin and serve or serve the spears on the skin (but don't eat the skin it's really not good).
If you quarter the spears like I suggested and then roast them, after you pull them out of the oven make horizontal slices down each spear and scoop out each serving with a tablespoon. If the squash is cooked all the way this should be easy to do without mangling the squash. As for not burning yourself, use an implement in your left hand to hold the squash spear while you scoop with your right. Or a silicone oven mitt.
"American" style pancakes:
I've never had pancakes in the states, so i cannot vouch for how close to the real thing these might be. However, they're not the crepes style pancakes you tend to get in Europe, so i guess that's what counts. Also, I've fed them to non-Celiac's and they didn't violently wretch which is the universal sign of success in gluten free cooking.
Ingredients:
3 Large Eggs
115g/4oz gluten free plain flour (if you don't want to use preblended flours, I've found the following ratios of these flours to work pretty well - 79g Rice flour, 29g Potato flour and 12g tapioca so a 6:2:1 ratio, roughly.)
1 heaped teaspoon gluten free baking powder
140ml/5Floz milk
A pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon Xantham gum (ignore this if the gluten free flour you're using has it added already)
Method:
1] Separate the eggs, whites in one bowl, yolks in another.
2] Add the flour, baking powder, gum (if used) and milk to the egg yolks and mix into a batter
3] Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks
4] fold half the whites into the batter, and mix until combined. Then add the second half and repeat.
Now just cook them like you would with normal pancakes. Hopefully, you'll find them to be quite light by gluten free standards, but once again, no idea how the compare to the real thing.
Just tried to slice open a raw spaghetti squash. Dear lord, I sharpened my knives twice, and it still took over 25 minutes. The entire time, I was scared out of my mind to make sure that I didn't lose a finger in the process of hacking through it.
this is because you guys are doing it wrong
takes less than 20 minutes
you don't get the browning that you do with roasting, but if you're incorporating the squash into another dish that's not going to matter much
when I brought this recipe to work as leftovers it made the breakroom smell amazing as it heated up.
http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Harvest-Spaghetti-Supergrain-8-Ounce/dp/B000LKTB90
Seriously, folks. I don't even need to avoid wheat, and I like this pasta more. My girlfriend has a serious case of celiac, so I got to try a variety of awful wheat substitutes over the years... but this is not one of them.
And they make a broad variety of noodles. I made a kickass lasagna with this stuff a few times.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
Anyone know any Asian style spaghetti sauce recipes? I found one for a peanut noodles, but I'm wondering if there are other options.
That's actually the first method I started with.
I'm thinking that next time I might just microwave it until the skin softens, then cutting it in half.
I always cook zucchini in a microwave with some dill and butter. It's seriously fast and tasty.
I have to peel my taters now for my kids, but really the peel has all the worthwile nutrients. So chopping and cleaning only takes a minute or two more. TLDR: healthy food on the table in under 20 minutes. This is a blessing when you're a parent.
Another 'recipe' is broccoli. Rinse, place in bowl upside down, cut out the stem, sprinkle with garlic, nuke for 7 minutes. All the flavour will still be in the vegg.
Carrots need some oil becauce one thing to watch out for is vegetables drying out at the edges, and even catching fire. Carrots, cut fine, are the worst offenders. 4 minutes, stir regularly.
For all of these you should add the salt at the end, though. Beans you should not try outside of the 4th of july.
Now, I'm going to be honest with you, the flavours will not mix and boost each other like when you're doing an oven baked dish. But they're stronger flavoured than boiled veggies, and don't need stirring, and are done real quick. Quick enough that you can dump them in a frying pan, add oodles of your favourite fat, and in a minute and a half mix those flavours and get some browning/caramelizing going.