Seattle chef puts veggies front and center

What’s the difference between “hard char” and “burnt”?

Burnt is a mistake, while a nicely charred vegetable is the product of a deliberate act that caramelizes the natural sugars to produce a bittersweetness.

A vegetable like that can take the center of a $15 plate in a restaurant like Tom Douglas’ new Carlile Room in downtown Seattle.

“It’s hard to get the idea of ‘hard char’ across so you don’t feel freaky about it,” Douglas said Monday as he showed off a slice of pineapple bearing a solid charred crust.

Douglas — Seattle’s leading restaurateur, with 20 restaurants, bakeries, taverns, pizzerias and a cooking school — spoke to culinary students at Kapiolani Community College about the growing trend of the “vegetable- forward menu.”

At his 8-month-old Carlile Room, named for his favorite Seattle singer, Brandi Carlile, “we put our energies into putting vegetables in the entree position,” Douglas said.

The Carlile is not a vegetarian restaurant. Meat dishes are on the menu, and many of the vegetable plates include a small portion of protein.

But it’s not meat-centric, either, what Douglas describes as the kind of restaurant where roasted Brussels sprouts are buried under a pile of bacon (at the Carlile those sprouts are served with apple and mozzarella, flavored with vinegar).

Success comes through layers of flavor, via prime produce, bold spices and the use of multiple techniques in a single dish, such as deep-frying, pickling and charring.

You want a plate far more complex than a big plate of steamed broccoli, Douglas said.

“The goal is you’re still full, you’re still happy, you’ve been good to yourself, good to the planet.”

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The Art of the Char

Tips for kicking up the flavor of vegetable dishes, from Seattle chef Tom Douglas:

A pound of firm vegetables — such as carrots, cauliflower and turnips — are diced and combined with 1/2 cup cooked chickpeas and tossed with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon berbere spice (an Ethiopian blend with plenty of heat). Spread out the vegetables so they roastevenly on all sides. If they’re touching they’ll steam instead. Roast at 500 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Bake Okinawan sweet potatoes until cooked through but still firm, then place directly in hot coals to char. Wipe off ash and cut into pieces. Serve with a mixture of equal parts honey and butter, heated with a sprig of thyme and seasoned with salt and pepper.

Char slices from a whole pineapple on a hot grill or in a cast-iron skillet coated with vegetable oil. Fruit should be blackened and dry, “like a briquette, almost.” Cut away and discard core, chop fruit. Combine with 1 teaspoon olive oil, shaved onion, 1/4 teaspoon minced jalapeno and 1/8teaspoon lemon zest. Stir into 1 cup plain yogurt.