The other day near Milan I had lunch in a restaurant and the ‘salad’ bar had a load of cold cooked veg like broccoli, green beans, peppers etc. Aside from being cold they were delicious, they were apparently dressed in some way.

I’m guessing olive oil was involved and salt and pepepr – any ideas? Or indeed any other ways to make plain veg more tasty?

Olive oil, lemon juice and rind, salt, cracked black, fresh herbs.

Veg could be roasted or steamed to maintain flavour.

When I was in Iraq there was an Italian cook who would use a mix of mayonnaise, olive oil, lemon juice, parmesan, salt, pepper and Italian herbs (dried, we didn’t really have access to supermarkets for fresh ones), and used this to coat everything from cold cooked veg, pasta salads, salads etc. 30 years ago and still stands out as some of the best food I have had.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/salsa-verde