Sorry guys, this is a zucchini blog now. Iranian ghaliyeh kadoo, meet your Palestinian cousin, ghaleyet kousa. Just as delicious a zucchini dish, ghalayet kousa is a little mintier, a little spicier, and sans turmeric. If you love zucchini like I do, you’ll be making this easy dish all summer long.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil
6 zucchini, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 serrano chili, minced
1 teaspoon dried mint
Salt
1. Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the zucchini and saute for 3 or 4 minutes. Add the garlic and chili and let the zucchini cook down, stirring occasionally. Season with salt.
2. After about 10 minutes, add the mint and mix with the zucchini. Serve warm or at room temperature.
I first made this Palestinian zucchini, yogurt, and tahini dip last summer when we had way too much zucchini on our hands and didn’t know what to do with it. One bite of the creamy dip flecked with garlic, lemon, and mint, and I was hooked. So naturally, I ended up making this a hundred or so times last summer — and plan on doing the same this year, too. Like Iranian ghaliyeh kadoo, you can serve mutabal kousa with flatbread, or if you’re like me, you can eat it straight out of the bowl.
Ingredients:
1/3 cup olive oil
4 or 5 zucchini, cubed
1 garlic clove, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
1 serrano chili, minced
1 teaspoon dried mint
Salt
Flatbread to serve
1. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and saute the zucchini with 1 teaspoon of salt, until golden grown. Remove from the heat.
2. Smash the zucchini in a bowl with a fork to achieve a chunky texture. Add the garlic, lemon juice, tahini, yogurt, and salt, if needed.
3. Add the chili and dried mint and mix to combine. Serve cold or at room temperature.
Ghalieh kadoo is one of those dishes whose sum is greater than its parts. This Iranian garlicy stewed zucchini never comes out 100% like my maman’s (does anything ever come out like our mamans’?) but it’s delicious nonetheless. Serve it with flatbread, or eat it plain like I do, because it’s really that good.
Ingredients:
10 zucchini, diced
Salt
1 head garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons turmeric
Pepper
1. Salt the zucchini in a colander for a couple of hours to release excess liquid.
2. In a saucepan, lightly sauteÌ the garlic in the olive oil until just starting to turn golden. Add the turmeric, then add the zucchini. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until reduced, about 20 minutes.
3. Add pepper to taste, cover, and simmer on low, stirring every once in a while for another 10 minutes, adding a bit of water if needed to keep from scorching. Serve warm or at room temperature.
I never really loved burgers (outside of the ones my maman makes) until Gott’s Roadside came along. A Napa institution, Gott’s has made its way around the Bay Area. The produce is fresh, the meat is local, and there are no iffy secret ingredients. We occasionally have Gott’s as a treat, and this is how I’ve come to love burgers. And now I make a homestyle version myself, and truth be told, it’s the sauce that really carries these burgers. Don’t skip the chipotle peppers here — they’re what take these burgers over the top.
Ingredients:
1 cup finely chopped dill pickles
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 chipotles in adobo and sauce from a can
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more
1 1/2 pounds ground beef (20% percent fat)
4 hamburger rolls
1/2 head of romaine or iceberg lettuce, leaves separated, torn into pieces about the size of the buns
1 onion, very thinly sliced into rings
4 thin tomato slices
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 thin slices cheddar cheese
1. Heat a cast-iron griddle over high until heated.
2. Make the sauce: mix together pickles, mayonnaise, ketchup, adobo sauce, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl; set special sauce aside.
3. Divide beef into 4 6-ounce portions (don’t form into patties). Place portions between 2 sheets of parchment paper, spacing 6 inches apart, and, using a meat mallet, firmly smash to create patties, about 5″ across. Transfer to a baking sheet.
4. Quickly warm the hamburger buns in the hot skillet, turning once, until buns are warmed through, about 1 minute. Spread sauce over cut sides of buns. Place 3–4 pieces of lettuce on bottom buns and top each with some onion and a tomato slice.
5. Add oil to skillet. Season patties lightly with salt. Place patties in skillet, seasoned side down, and season top sides lightly with salt. Cook, undisturbed, until outer edges are brown and undersides are crisp, about 3 minutes. Flip and place a slice of cheese on top of each patty. Cook until cheese is melted, about 1 minute. Transfer patties to buns with toppings.
You probably already have a favorite classic lasagna recipe. I do too. But also, now I have two. I mean, there’s no such thing as too much lasagna.
This lasagna is straightforward but does take some time to put together. It’s worth it, because you’ll have leftovers for days. Delicious, cheesy, leftovers.
Ingredients:
Sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup finely chopped peeled carrots
2 tablespoons minced garlic
8 ounces ground beef
6 ounces Italian sausages, casings removed
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1. Make the sauce: Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, carrots and garlic; saute until softened, about 10 minutes. Add beef and sausages to pan; saute until cooked through, breaking up meat with back of spoon, about 7 minutes. Add remaining sauce ingredients. Cover and simmer until sauce measures about 5 cups, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Discard bay leaf and let sauce cool.
2. Make the lasagna: Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Cook noodles in large pot of boiling salted water until almost tender, about 7 minutes. Drain and cover with cold water.
3. Combine ricotta and 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese in medium bowl. Mix in spinach. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix in eggs.
4. Drain pasta. Spread 1/2 cup sauce over bottom of 13×9-inch baking dish. Place 5 noodles over sauce, overlapping to fit. Spread half of ricotta-spinach mixture evenly over noodles. Sprinkle 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese evenly over ricotta-spinach mixture. Spoon 1 1/2 cups sauce over cheese, spreading with spatula to cover (sauce will be thick). Repeat layering with 5 noodles, remaining ricotta-spinach mixture, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella and 1 1/2 cups sauce. Arrange remaining 5 noodles over sauce. Spread remaining sauce over noodles. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese evenly over lasagna. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.) Cover baking dish with aluminum foil. Bake lasagna 40 minutes; uncover and bake until hot and bubbly, about 40 minutes. Let lasagna stand 15 minutes before serving.
