Eat More Veg

1 head of Romaine lettuce washed and torn to bite size pieces ¼ medium onion thinly sliced
¼ pound thin green beans blanched and cut into 3” pieces
4 Campari tomatoes cut in to quarters
4 skin on red potatoes large diced and roasted*
4 hard boil eggs sliced
⅓ cup pitted kalamata olives halved
1 6 oz can premium de-boned salmon preferably oil packed  flaked
1 TBS capers
 
* to roasting red potatoes: pre heat oven to 375*. In a medium sized bowl toss large diced potatoes in a 1 ½ TBS olive oil, a  generous pinch of salt and pepper, a ½ tsp dried rosemary.  Place on a baking sheet and roast for 25-35 or until nicely browned and fork tender.
 
To Assemble Salad
 
In a bowl large enough to host the beautiful display of veg, place the prepared romaine in the bottom. In no particular order carefully place the veg in a single sections along the rim of the bowl. In the center add your salmon and top with capers. Dress and toss or eat in delicate little bites; you choose.
Ingredients for Dressing

1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup red wine or apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
 
Directions
Whisk together shallots, mustard and vinegar in a medium bowl. Drizzle in oil while whisking constantly, then season with salt and pepper.

Serves 5 as a main course

Need a quick fix for a perfect “in house” date night? Cook this up in the time it takes to boil some noodles. With a homemade infused oil, some fresh veg, and a glass of White Rajah and a spicy night lies ahead. Mix in a Wes Anderson film and it’s a sure thing.  Enjoy!

Ingredients
 

8 oz bag of lo mein noodles
½ cup seasme oil
¼ cup veg oil
2 tsp crushed red pepper (you can double or triple this if you want some serious heat.)
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup honey
2 TBS seasoned rice wine vinegar

½ cup shredded carrots
2 green onion chopped, both green and white parts
1 cup roughly chopped peanuts
a handful of cilantro chopped  (2-3 TBS)

Directions
Infuse the oil
In a small sauce pan heat oils with crushed red pepper on a med low heat for 2-3 minutes, taking care not to burn.  Turn off heat and allow to cool. Strain out red pepper and reserve the oil. To the reserved oil whisk in soy sauce, honey, and rice wine vinegar. Set aside.

Cook lo mein noodles according to the package directions. Drain and rinse. Toss the noodles with seasoned oil and the remaining ingredients. It’s up to you but this is when we cover ours in Sriracha sauce!

“You know, when you get your first asparagus, or your first acorn squash, or your first really good tomato of the season, those are the moments that define the cook’s year. I get more excited by that than anything else.”
~ Mario Batali

I do wonder why people reserve acorn squash only for holiday dinners. It really does have a lovely presentation; throw in some dried cranberries and pecans and now you’re practically a Pilgrim. For me, squash is harvested in the fall and enjoyed for the duration of winter. In fact, I still have one butternut squash left from our summer garden in our storage. I plucked it off the vine in late September and it is still good to eat, I think that is pretty cool. 

This is a real simple side dish to any fall or winter dinner. I like to roast them two ways. One sweet and one savory. My reason for doing two? My children prefer the sweet, I prefer the savory and my husband will enjoy either; a real win-win. Besides, it only takes a few minutes to prepare. It does require a bit of time in the oven so plan accordingly.  The sweet and savory squash can be roasted side by side in the same dish. Two squash will easily feed 4-6 people as a side.

For the Savory:

1 acorn squash, halved and seed 

a bit of olive oil

1/2 tsp each

kosher salt,

ground pepper

rosemary

onion power

dried oregano

dried basil

crushed red pepper

If you have a mortal and pestal, crush seasonings together then sprinkle equally over a halved and seed acorn squash. If not, just mix seasonings in a small bowl before diving among the squash. Drizzle with olive oil. Place Squash in a deep baking dish side by side and fill dish with an inch of water. 

Bake at 375* for 1 hr or until fork tender. 

For the Sweet

1 acorn squash, halved and seed

2 pats of butter or drizzle with veg oil for vegan version*

2 TBS brown sugar

2 tsp cinnamon 

pinch of nutmeg 

pinch of ginger

pinch of salt

Add a pat of butter or oil to each halved and seeded acorn squash. In a small bowl combined the spices and the sugar and salt then sprinkle evenly over each squash. Place squash in a deep baking dish and fill dish with an inch of water. 

Bake at 375* for 1 hr or until fork tender. 

One of my favorite Christmas gifts from a few years past is a wonderful cookbook by Amanda Hesser.  Not only does it include a history of published recipes in the New York Times, it is an intriguing look back on the way food in America has changed over the last 200 years. Everything from the influx of immigration to the invention of the refrigerator have all taken their place in the history of American cuisine. The earliest recipes often did not even contain measurements or descriptions of sizes for pots or bakeware. It was assumed that the cook had the common knowledge to understand the “how to” part of a recipe. Cooking was more of a means of survival in the 1800’s and if you didn’t know how to cook, well, you went hungry.  Sadly, so few people know how to cook simple food and worse…they don’t even want to know how. So tragic. I hope that, like my mother did for me, my 3 boys will not only know how to follow a recipe but have the common knowledge to know what to do with a few good ingredients. Once you feel confident in the kitchen with a handful of tried and true recipes there will be no stopping you. Cook on!

Please enjoy this wonderful vegetable soup, “a French version of minestrone” so to speak.  Don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients, it’s only veg. You will be utterly amazed at how adding a simple pesto in final steps will suddenly flood your kitchen with such a delectable scent you will be instantly whisked away to Paris in early spring, if only in your mind.

Pistou Soup

Ingredients
 
1 TBS veg oil
1 small onion, small dice
1 turnip, small dice
1 lg carrot, peeled and small dice
4 cups water
2 cups chicken broth or veg broth*
1 TBS salt or more to taste
2 lg white potatoes, peeled and small dice
1 lg leek, white and pale green parts only, thinly sliced
1 small zucchini cut into small dice
2 small handfuls of think green beans cut into 1” peices
 

for the pesto

2 TBS finely chopped flat leaf parsley
2 TBS finely chopped basil
2 lg cloves garlic minced
2 lg tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1TBS olive oil
1 can drained and rinsed cannelloni beans
1 handful of thin spaghetti broken into thirds
freshly ground pepper
 
Put it together
 
1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes. Add the carrot and turnip and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the water and broth and bring to a boil.  Reduce and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Add the salt, potatoes, leeks, zucchini, and green beans. Simmer for 20 minutes.
3. While the soup simmers, combine the parsley and in a medium bowl. Stir in tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. Set aside.
4. Stir in beans and pasta into the soup. Simmer for 8 mintutes.
5. Stir in pesto mixture and season with freshly ground pepper and salt  if desired.
 
Serve hot or at room temperature.

Recipe adapted from The New York Times Essential Cookbook.

Preheat the oven 375*

Ingredients 

1 pound skinny green beans

1 TBS olive oil

1/2  teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

In a large bowl toss 1 pound cleaned skinny green beans with olive oil, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Coat evenly and spread onto prepared rimmed cookie sheet in a single layer. Preheat oven 375*. Roast for 10 min and toss beans, roast another 5 min or until nicely browned.

At a birthday dinner party last Sunday, I had the fortunate experience to be seated by a girl named Alex whom I had never met.  As it turns out, Alex is a pastry chef at The Sugar Cupcakery in Milford Ohio so food became the subject of much of our conversation. Alex had recently been commissioned out to prepare and serve a complete dinner for a group of friends. As a first course she served Curried Butternut Squash and Pear Bisque. I am grateful that before our dinner was over Alex was kind enough to bookmark her resource for this recipe on my phone.  Exactly 2 days later, wah-la, I have made the soup and it is even better that I imagined. 

Butternut Squash and Pear Bisque

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut in 1-inch cubes
1 large pear, preferably Bosc, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons mild curry powder
4 cups rich chicken stock

 2 cups water 

1 cup half and half

In a 6-quart soup pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Sauté the onion, stirring often until soft and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the squash and pear, and season with salt and pepper.
Decrease heat to low, and cook, stirring occasionally until squash is soft and caramelized, about 15 minutes.
Add the mild curry powder, stirring for about 1 minute. Pour in the chicken stock and water;  simmer until squash is cooked through, about 30 minutes.
Stir in the half and half  and return soup to a simmer. Check the seasonings, and add more salt and pepper, if needed. In batches, carefully purée the soup in a blender, until smooth. Serves 8. 

Adapted from memoriesinthebaking.blogspot.com

A nickel will get you on the subway, but garlic will get you a seat.  ~Old New York Proverb

With neighbors with names like Piccolo, Fiore, Maniscalco my street in the suburbs of Chicago smelled like olives and garlic; mix in a few Greeks and some nice Jewish families and you have my neighborhood. My best friend, an Italian triplet, had a father who would feed you calamari salad and good crusty bread for simply knocking on the door when he was home. He always said I was too skinny but called me a “cutie, cutie movie star”.  I loved that family. I was so impressed that they could spend an entire weekend making sausage in basement with Zia Maria or Zia Anna or Zia whoever.  Other weekends were swallowed up with curing olives. To my girlfriend Diana this was just another family affair. But to me, this was magical. I wish I had an Italian somewhere in my bloodline, no such luck. 

I have not lived on Ivy lane in over 20+ years. Sadly, I haven’t had an Italian neighbor since moving to Kentucky. Who’s shocked? What has not changed is my affection for Italians and their food. I have goofed around with recipes for years before landing on this ridiculously easy and full of fresh flavor sauce. I eat this at least once a week.  I think you will too.

Tomato+Basil+Red Wine=Saucy Love

Ingredients

3 TBS of olive oil

1 med onion roughly chopped

1 28 oz can Italian tomatoes/chef’s cut*

4 cloves minced garlic

2 glugs of red wine. (glug, glug…enough.)

1 TBS anchovy paste (omit for vegan version)

a handful of fresh basil

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a deep skillet, over medium low heat add olive oil and onions. Cook slowly for 6-8 minutes. We are not looking to caramelize these just soften well. Add garlic, cook for 1 minute more. Increase heat to medium and add the tomatoes, anchovy paste(optional) and your glugs of wine. Simmer for 10 minutes. Ladle this sauce into your blender.  Add a handful of fresh basil.  Please make sure that the lid is on well, blending hot liquid can be dangerous. Zip that around until well blended, 30/40 seconds or so. Return sauce to skillet simmer 10 more minutes.  Salt and Pepper to taste. Don’t be shy with the salt, tomatoes love salt. Pour over your favorite pasta. Love that saucy sauce.

*Please use good canned Italian tomatoes. There is a notable difference between Italian tomatoes and regular American canned tomatoes. They are also more expensive but do the math: even at $3 a can you make make a decent dinner for 6 for under $10. 

This dish showed up at my house on Thanksgiving with my brother Jonathan.  Understand, my family loves food. We eat off each other plates. We find it incredibly insulting if you don’t taste what we are eating, right off our forks. It’s a common fact that my interest in what you are ordering at a restaurant is solely because I plan on enjoying at least one bite of it with you. So when this dish’s deliciousness was offered at Thanksgiving I made sure everyone had at least one bite. It was the star of the show. Anyone who thinks they do not like brussels sprouts needs to try this. I guarantee to make a believer out of anyone. The turnips add a magical bite that is so subtle but perfectly balanced.  Oh, and one more thing, it is SO good for you. Go on, make this and then force some loved ones to each right off your fork, you won’t get cooties. And if you do get cooties….I hear eating turnips are the only cure. 

Ingredients

3 Tbs olive oil
3 cloves garlic minced
1 pound washed Brussels Sprouts halved
1 med Turnip cut to 1” cubes
1 handful of red pearl onions or ⅓ diced red onion
a ¼ cup chicken or veg broth (or better splash of dry white wine) your choice
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

In a deep sided skillet heat olive oil over med. When oil is hot add garlic for 1 minute, taking care not to burn. Add brussels sprouts, turnips, and onions. Season generously with salt and pepper. Cook covered for 6-8 minutes over med heat, turning occasionally. Uncover and add the broth or wine and cook for an additional 2 minutes.  For the love of Brussels Sprouts, give thanks for this awesome veg.

Simple, simple, simple. There is no excuse not to add this tasty little side dish to your dinner tonight or for lunch with some brown rice or quinoa.  This has only 4 ingredients and takes under 10 min to make. Did I mention how good it is good for you?  PF Chang’s has this little number on their menu; they call it “Garlic Stir Fried Spinach.” This is a guaranteed rival.  Hit it with some Sricacha before ya put in your mouth, oh mama!

Ingredients

1 pound fresh baby spinach
3-4 garlic cloves chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
 
Directions Heat vegetable oil and sesame oil in a large pan
Add garlic and cook briefly.
Add spinach and cook until the spinach is mostly wilted.
Add soy sauce to taste and continue cooking just until the spinach has all wilted.

I make a lot of “no knead bread.” This does not make me a baker, this makes me someone who knows the easiest bread recipe, dare I say, in the history of the world. It is a rare instance that we have any leftover from the day it is baked; when we do I make crostini. (My mouth just watered a bit). You can top crostini with just about anything you taste buds will signal your brain to conjure up. For practicality sake I use whatever I can scrounge up in the veg drawer. Today I made mine with tomatoes, flat leaf parsley, and feta. I dressed it up with a splash of fresh lemon juice and olive oil. Tomatoes in winter can be tricky, not to mention costly. I spare no expense and use Campari tomatotes, winters best. These made for a delicious crostini but try other ingredients like avocado, red onion, cilantro and lime for example. 

If you are not the type to make your own bread just get a nice  crusty baguette or a ciabatta.

INGREDIENTS

4-5 Campari Tomatoes diced

1/4 cup chopped Italian Flat leaf Parsley

1/4 (or more) Crumbled Feta

juice of 1/2 of Lemon

2 TBS EV Olive Oil (plus more for brushing bread)

dash of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

6 to 8 half slices of your best crusty bread, sliced to 1/2 thickness

Preheat your oven to 375*. Mix the first 6 ingredients  together in a small bowl and set a side. On a cookie sheet lay out your bread and brush evenly with some olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Place the cookie sheet into the oven for 10-12 minutes or until nicely toasted and golden brown. Top with the tomato mixture and eat them all because you will not be able to stop at just one.

Makes 6

for the bread this is the recipe I use. http://steamykitchen.com/168-no-knead-bread-revisited.html

This dinner was a genuine pain in the ass. It took entirely too long to construct and bake. (Keep in mind the kitchen is my favorite place to spend time, right behind being on my mountain bike or kayak.)  The worse part, after one bite myself and 2 of my kiddos realized that we are apparently allergic. Tingly lips and itchy roof. Yeah.

Most vegetarians tell me that this is one of their favorite dishes. I was really excited to knock this one out of the park but the for all the effort involved I can only say that it tasted pretty good. Not great, but pretty good. My friends who came as dinner guests messaged in the morning to tell me that it was ”excellent”  for breakfast the next day. I am thankful I sent the entire dish home with them.  They had nothing but praise as did my husband. My conclusion: I will NEVER make this again. 

If you are still reading this and you really want to try it out, allow me to share the recipe with you. I am a strong believer in one making up one’s own mind.  

Ingredients

• 2 medium eggplant (about 2 1/4 pounds), cut into 1/2-inch-thick round slices
• Kosher salt, as needed, plus 1 tablespoon
• 5 cups fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Vegetable oil for frying
• All-purpose flour for dredging
• 6 large eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
• Olive oil, as needed
• 7 cups QUICK MARINARA SAUCE, recipe follows
• 2/3 cup grated Parmesan, divided
• 1 pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

Arrange the eggplant slices on several baking sheets and sprinkle generously all over with kosher salt. Set aside to let the bitterjuices weep from the eggplant, about 1 hour.

Transfer the eggplant to a colander in the sink, and rinse well under cold running water. Transfer eggplant to a work surface and blot very dry with paper towels.

In a large bowl, whisk together the 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, breadcrumbs, oregano, thyme, and season with pepper.

Place the flour in a medium lipped plate or bowl. In another medium bowl, whisk the egg and milktogether. Dredge an eggplant slice in the flour, then dip it in the egg, and finally dredge it in the breadcrumb mixture. Shake off any excess breading and transfer the eggplant to a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining eggplant.

In a large straight-sided skillet, pour the oil to a depth of 1/2 inch. Heat the oil over medium heat until it registers 400 degrees F on a deep frying thermometer. (The oil must be heated to 400 degrees F. so that the breaded eggplant, when added, will drop the temperature of the oil to the proper frying temperature of 375 degrees F.)

Working in small batches, fry the eggplant slices, turning once, until golden brown, about 3 minutes per batch. Using tongs, transfer to a paper towel-lined baking sheet and season with salt to taste. Repeat with the remaining eggplant.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly brush a 15 x 10- x 2-inch-baking dish with olive oil. Cover the bottom of the baking dish with 1/3 of the marinara sauce and arrange half of the eggplant over the sauce. Cover the eggplant with another 1/3 of the sauce. Scatter half of the Parmesan and half of themozzarella over the sauced eggplant. Repeat with the remaining eggplant, sauce, Parmesan, and mozzarella. Bake until hot and just beginning to brown, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

• QUICK MARINARA SAUCE
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, diced (about 1/3 cup)
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 7 cups whole, peeled, canned tomatoes in puree (about two 28-ounce can), roughly chopped
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 2 sprigs of fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute the onion and garlic, stirring, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the herb sprigs and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.

Remove and discard the herb sprigs. Stir in the salt and season with pepper to taste. Use immediately, store covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.

Yield: about 3 1/2 cups

This is credited to www.foodnetwork.com