Sette Vegetale

One night in Chicago, after a cocktail hour following a conference on technology mapping, brain dead from making conversation with earnest engineers, I headed out and found an Italian restaurant only blocks from the hotel. It was a warm June night. I chose an outside table and ordered an appetizer called "sette vegetale" and a glass of wine.
The waiter brought me a heaping plate of vegetables of many different colors and textures, all cut approximately the same size and shape. I was enjoying my light dinner and, intrigued by the recipe, I pulled one vegetable cube after another to the side of the plate and counted them. The waiter give me a sidelong glance. But I'm glad I spent the time not only enjoying the meal but inspecting it. It's become a favorite basic recipe.
I have no idea which vegetables I ate that night. But I have made some simple rules for composing sette vegetale.
1. Always use seven vegetables. Why? It stretches you. And you do have seven on hand. You have fresh broccoli or asparagus or beans or peas or brussel sprouts. You have peppers and mushrooms and carrots. You have onions, and you might have tomatoes or watercress or cucumbers or jerusalem artichokes. If your fresh supply doesn't come to seven, you can add canned artichokes or chick peas or in a pinch even a can of corn, well drained. Or maybe you have a box or a bag of frozen peas. Sometimes I cheat and count the garlic, but more often garlic goes in as a "no count-em".
2. Choose the smallest vegetable -- for instance, peas or beans -- or choose a basic shape if all your vegetables are on the large side. This will be the template for the size and shape of all the vegetables. If peas are your smallest vegetable you'll cut the others into small cubes. If you choose string beans, you might cut them into one inch lengths and then cut the other vegetables into small inch long rectangles. (This is a good rule for lots of other dishes -- stir fries, cobb salad, and so on.)
Those are the two basic rules. Having chosen your seven vegetables (and no more), prepare each according to its needs or your preferences. Canned vegetables simply need to be drained; frozen vegetables need to be steamed briefly, rinsed in cool water and drained. Fresh vegetables might be steamed or served raw.
Next, dress the vegetables. One might be happiest in a balsamic vinagrette. Another might do well tossed with a little soy sauce. Some might go in naked, or tossed with a bit of parsley or garlic or olive oil. The safe thing is to dress them all alike, like bridesmaids. The more interesting tack is to vary the dressings and let them come together when you mix the whole lot together.
I have often arrived home with no clue what we were going to have for dinner and searched out seven vegetables to serve with a glass of wine and a loaf of bread. I have also brought this to pot lucks, and served it as a salad dish as part of a grilled summer meal. Sometimes, but not often, I buy the vegetables specifically for the recipe. This is most fun in the summer when the local farm stands are overflowing.
Here are a few more rules. It's OK to use beets, but add them at the last moment. Add fresh chopped herbs at the end. Add garlic any time, and lots.
Try it, and let me know what you used and how it worked!