Question:Colorful Vegetable Medley:Oct00p190

[Norma]

If anyone has tried this, did you serve it as vegetables and dip or did you mix it all together for a vegetable side dish. I am fixing it for tonight and I intended it to be a side dish. Sounds like maybe if I mixed it up the beets would turn everything pink. Has anyone made this one?

[Marcie]

We served it as a side dish, but put a dollop of the aioli on top of each serving rather than mixing it together beforehand. The veggies all ended up being tinted red anyway from the beets (which didn't bother me - thought it was pretty). Maybe you could mix a spoonful into a few of the veggies and see what you think before committing to the whole dish? And let us know how it turned out.

[Norma]

Marcie, thanks for the suggestion. I did serve it as a side but it didn't meet with much approval. My husband ate some of the veggies and took a small bit of the aioli. Our granddaughter was here. She only took her favorite, broccoli, and then didn't eat it because she said it tasted like beets. The carrots did turn sorta red and they were pretty. I liked it pretty good but I doubt I will ever make it again. It's kinda discouraging making things that no one else cares much for. I didn't think I'd ever get the beets cooked. I must have cooked them 3 times longer than it said to. It must be my microwave. Anyway, I am lukewarm on this one.

[Norma]

Well, I feel I must amend this review. Eating these leftover veggies with the aioli that has set a couple of days has changed my mind. I am really enjoying snacking on the cold veggies and the aioli as a dip. This has turned out to be a good find for me since I snack too much, and now I can snack and get more veggies too.

One thing I would definitely do next time. I would steam/blanch the veggies separately and cool them in cold water to set the color. This would make them much more attractive and appetizing. They are not all that beautiful having been microwaved and sitting a couple of days, but they taste good.

I just thought I would share this in case someone else is contemplating this one. I will definitely make this one for a snack/appetizer thing again serving it cold. I think I will try one tablespoon of lemon juice in the aioli instead of two. It's pretty tart. I like it but hubby doesn't like tart stuff.