Category: Vegetables and Salads

Posted on November 6, 2018

This recipe is endlessly adaptable and customizable. No okra? Cool, use zucchini instead. No sweet potatoes? Go with pumpkin instead. You get the picture. What’s constant is the creamy, coconut-y curry that brings it all together — and the crispy shallots that add an extra dose of umami. Don’t skimp on those.

Ingredients:

1 13-ounce can coconut milk
1 1/2 tablespoons red curry paste
1 tablespoon palm or brown sugar
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
5 cups seasonal vegetables, cut into pieces (I used okra, bok choy, zucchini, and sweet potato here)
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon peeled and shredded ginger
1/2 cup fried shallots

1. In a large saucepan, heat the coconut milk over medium heat and bring to a boil. Add the curry paste, sugar, fish sauce, and turmeric and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to a simmer.

2. Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat and separately blanch each vegetable, setting aside to drain each time. You want each vegetable mostly cooked but still slightly firm so that they’ll finish cooking in the curry.

3. Meanwhile, thin out the curry with the chicken broth. Once the vegetables have finished cooking, stir them into the curry along with the ginger and simmer for a few minutes until warmed through and combined.

4. Serve alongside warm rice and garnish with fried shallots.

Posted on November 2, 2018

This simple salad is my new go-to when the weather starts getting chilly: it hits all the right notes: savory, earthy, and bitter, with a hit of acidity to boot. Hearty radicchio adds heft and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese makes this salad go faster than you’d expect.

Make a double portion of this one and thank me later.

Ingredients:

3 cups arugula
1 radicchio, thinly sliced
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
3 teaspoons olive oil
Salt
Pepper

1. In a large bowl, toss together the arugula, radicchio, and Parmesan cheese. Dress with vinegar, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Lightly toss again and serve with a little bit of extra grated Parmesan cheese on top.

Posted on November 1, 2018

A couple years ago, my cousins brought be a bag of plump, juicy sun-dried tomatoes from their trip to Nice, France. Wanting to make the tomatoes last, I preserved them in olive oil. I still dip into them here and there, like for this recipe.

For this winter side dish, endives are grilled to a tender sweetness and tossed with a piquant sauce redolent of summer flavors. There’s something about grilling greens that transforms them from boring to sublime.

The recipe is originally Spanish, the tomatoes are French, and the endives are, of course, from California.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup chopped kalamata olives

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for brushing

One 3-inch strip of Meyer lemon zest, julienned

1 teaspoon chopped thyme leaves
8 endives (1 3/4 pounds), halved lengthwise 

Salt
Pepper
Sage leaves, julienned, for garnish 


1. In a medium bowl, mix the sun-dried tomatoes with the olives, the olive oil, the lemon zest and the thyme.


2. Preheat a grill pan. Brush the endives with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill over moderately high heat, turning once, until crisp-tender and lightly charred, about 
7 minutes. Transfer the endives cut side up to a platter and spoon the sun-dried tomato dressing on top. Garnish with sage leaves and serve.

Posted on October 31, 2018

Broccoli is kind of like the muzak of the vegetable world. Unoriginal, run-of-the-mill, bland.

Or so I thought.

Roasting broccoli transforms it into something sublime: crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside, and drizzled with an umami bomb of brown butter, capers, and fish sauce. Yes, fish sauce. It’s the not-so-secret ingredient that’ll have you wishing you doubled this recipe.

Sorry I ever doubted you, broccoli. Let’s be friends again?

Ingredients:

1 pound broccoli, cut into florets

1 red onion, cut into 1-inch wedges

2 teaspoons olive oil

Salt
Pepper

2 teaspoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon capers

1 teaspoon fish sauce


1. Preheat the oven to 450F degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the broccoli and red onion with the olive oil. Spread in an even layer and season with salt and pepper. Bake until the broccoli is just tender and browned, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a platter.


2. Meanwhile, in a small skillet, melt the butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter browns and smells nutty, about 5 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat, and stir in the capers and fish sauce. Drizzle the brown butter sauce over the broccoli and serve.

Posted on October 28, 2018

I don’t like green bean casserole. There, I said it. Every Thanksgiving, I’d steer clear of the green beans on the table, feeling guilty for allotting less real estate for vegetables on my plate but hey, mashed potatoes count, right?

This year, though, I’m turning a new leaf. This green bean dish is electrified with a bright, piquant dressing that has me converted. Think Caesar salad meets green beans. It might just be my new favorite Thanksgiving side dish — and it’s versatile enough to serve all year.

Ingredients:

1 pound green beans, trimmed and cut in half
1 cup parsley leaves with tender stems
3 cups baby spinach
3 drained oil-packed anchovy fillets
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Salted toasted sunflower seeds, for garnish

1. In a pot of salted boiling water, blanch the beans until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Using tongs, transfer to an ice bath to cool; drain well. Place the beans in a bowl.

2. In a blender, pulse the parsley with the spinach, anchovies, cheese and mustard. With the machine on, drizzle in 4 tablespoons of water and oils and blend until combined. Season with salt.

3. Add the dressing to the beans and toss to coat. Garnish with sunflower seeds.