I divide my side dishes into two groupings. I can make a meal out of an assortment of my favorite vegetables, especially when my garden in Vermont is burgeoning. In any case, many main courses such as roasts require a vegetable-based side dish. Then come what I call “meal builders”—these feature starches such as potatoes, quinoa, teff, and polenta.
Unless the main course is a pasta dish loaded with vegetables or a stew, it will require an accompanying vegetable dish, with or without a permissible starch.
This side dish is not spicy but smoky. If a spicier flavor is desired, Tabasco or finely chopped chili peppers added when cooking or another chili pepper sauce added at the end can suit your palate. Serve hot, warm, or cool.
2 pequín or bird chilies
3 ancho chilies
1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1½ cups)
1 tablespoon canola oil
3½ pounds peas in the pod, shelled (about 4 cups)
1¼ cups sterile-packed diced tomatoes, passed through the finest disc of a food mill
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Bring 1 quart water to a boil. Pour the boiling water over the dried chilies in a medium bowl. Cover and soak for 1½ hours. Remove the seeds and stem ends from the chilies. Purée the chilies very well in a blender. In a large, nonreactive pot, soften the onion in the oil over medium heat, about 4 minutes. Stir in the peas and cook for 2 minutes. Add the chili purée and the tomato purée. Reduce the heat to low; cook for 20 minutes or until the peas are soft. Remove from the heat and add salt and pepper to taste.
MAKES 4 CUPS
Sugar is optional in this classic recipe, depending on how sweet and fresh the peas are.
¼ cup olive oil
1½ pounds peas in the pod, shelled, or 2 cups frozen
¼ cup mint leaves, cut across into thin strips
½ head Boston lettuce, cut into ¼-inch strips (about 1½ cups)
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon sugar (optional)
Heat the oil in a small pan over high heat. Add the peas and cook for 2 minutes. Cover and reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 3 minutes or until the peas are tender. Stir in the mint. Cook for 2 minutes longer. Add the lettuce. Cook until the lettuce has wilted. Remove from the heat and add the salt and, if necessary, the sugar.
MAKES 2 CUPS
Quick and flavorful, this can be made with yellow summer squash in the fall.
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
2 pounds young zucchini, cut into ¼-inch-thick rounds
½ cup chopped dill
Juice of 1 lemon
Kosher salt
Heat the oil in a 12-inch sauté pan. Add the zucchini, dill, and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until the zucchini is cooked, but still slightly crisp. Add salt to taste.
SERVES 6 TO 8
As starches, peas love fat. An excellent example is the Italian preparation Piselli alla Romana, using olive oil and ham. Romans use prosciutto. I prefer the Spanish serrano as it is less likely to dry out and is less salty. This dish was given to me by Giuseppe, the attentive owner of New York’s excellent Sistina restaurant. In the spring I have been known to make a whole meal of these peas.
3 large shallots, minced
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
3½ pounds peas in the pod, shelled (about 4 cups)
2 slices prosciutto or serrano ham, cut into thin strips, then crosswise into small squares
6 cups romaine lettuce, ribs removed, shredded into thin strips
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Slowly cook the shallots in the olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over very low heat until wilted, 3 to 4 minutes. Increase the heat to low. Add the peas. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring a few times. Add the ham and lettuce. Cook for 10 minutes more. Season with the salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle with olive oil.
MAKES 4 CUPS
Rhubarb completes a spring trio as a vegetable rather than a fruit when cooked with asparagus and mushrooms. I spread this on top of grilled Firm Polenta (page 171) as a first course or as a side dish with roasted chicken or fish.
And to those who think of rhubarb as a stringy, hard-to-eat vegetable, here’s a tip: slice the stalks diagonally and thinly across.
2 tablespoons safflower oil
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 pound asparagus, woody stems snapped off, remaining portion peeled and cut across into 1½-inch pieces
⅓ pound oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus), trimmed and cut lengthwise through the stem into 2 pieces for small clusters or 3 pieces for large
4 medium stalks rhubarb, trimmed and cut diagonally into ¼-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon sugar
Lots of freshly ground black pepper
In a large skillet, heat the safflower and sesame oils over high heat until shimmering. Stir in the asparagus and mushrooms. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. The bottom of the pan will begin to brown.
Stir in the rhubarb. It will create enough moisture for the food not to stick or burn. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes more. Remove from the heat and stir in the salt, sugar, and pepper. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
SERVES 4
Only the bok choy here is Chinese. This is cooked simply and is a perfect side dish with chicken, veal, or fish. It is amazing how much flavor the bok choy has without being gussied up with Asian seasonings.
2 tablespoons safflower oil
8 pieces baby bok choy (a little over 1 pound)
6 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
1 cup Extra-Rich Chicken Stock (page 204) or Fake Chicken Stock (page 204)
Pick a saucepan just large enough to hold the bok choy in a single layer. Heat the oil until shimmering. Using tongs, lay in the bok choy and allow it to sizzle for about 2 minutes. Turn it over and turn down the heat to simmer. Toss in the garlic cloves and turn from time to time. Cook for 4 minutes. Turn the bok choy over and cook for 4 minutes more. Turn the heat to high and pour in the chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook at a slow boil for 5 minutes or until the thick part of the bok choy is pierced easily with a knife. No seasonings needed. Serve with a little of the cooking juice over each piece.
SERVES 4
The triumphs of tomatoes are usually tenderness and perfume. Mostly they are bright red, although there are now heirloom varieties that are green when ripe, striped, red-brown, and various shades of yellow—to name only a few. True green ones are usually eaten raw unless they are fried coated in cornmeal as in the American South. This recipe breaks all the rules, which seems to be a specialty of mine. The assuredly unripe tomatoes are cooked into a savory side vegetable. This is definitely not a salad; it is a warm to hot side dish. I invented it due to a cold snap and inundation of tomatoes that would go bad rather than ripening. I decided to balance the acid of the green tomatoes with well-cooked onions, which achieves a rich sweetness.
⅓ cup olive oil
1¼ pounds small white onions about 1 inch in diameter, cut into thin wedges—cippoline will do nicely (about 3 cups)
4 pounds unripe green tomatoes, cored and cut into wedges about 1 inch wide
¼ cup basil leaves, cut across into thin strips
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Choose a saucepan large enough to hold the tomatoes and still leave room for stirring. Add the olive oil to the pan and stir in the onions. Cook, stirring from time to time until the onions are fairly brown—about 15 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring, over low heat until liquid begins to ooze out—about 15 minutes. Turn the heat up to medium and cook, stirring, for 15 minutes more. Stir in the basil. Cooking can stop here. When ready to serve, bring the tomatoes back to medium heat and add salt and pepper to taste.
SERVES 4 TO 6 AS A SIDE DISH, 8 AS A PASTA SAUCE
An unusual set of seasonings, but the tomatoes seem to enjoy them. I do.
2 pints stemmed cherry tomatoes (ample 4 cups)
1½ tablespoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
5 strips orange zest, each ¼ inch wide and 3 inches long
5 cloves garlic, smashed, peeled, and each cut lengthwise into 4 pieces
10 cardamom pods, hit with the flat of a knife to liberate about 2 teaspoons seeds
Heat the oven to 500°F with a rack in the center.
Put the tomatoes into a shallow 9-×-13-inch roasting pan. Add the olive oil and roll the tomatoes in it until thoroughly coated. Sprinkle with the salt. Roast for 10 minutes. Shake the pan to turn the tomatoes around. Add the orange zest, garlic, and cardamom pods and seeds around the tomatoes so that they are resting on the pan. Roast for 15 minutes.
SERVES 4 TO 6
I am very happy with this dish, with its complex, rich, meltingly deep taste. It can be a first course, allowing two or three per person, or it can be served as part of a main course. I originally devised it to go with a simple fish and polenta (see page 170) with the sauce from the endive moistening the whole. For that occasion, I used a very gelatinized, firmly set fish stock (see page 205). However, any gelatin-rich stock can be used.
Of course one can make a smaller number of endives. I did six the first time; but they keep well and are delicious. For this number of endives a very large sauté pan or braising pan (about 14 inches wide) is needed. Most large sauté pans do not come with lids, and the endive must be cooked covered. I use a cookie sheet.
If some of the outer endive leaves flop loose during the browning, don’t worry, the dish will be fine. I find that tongs are necessary for turning the endives.
1 cup olive oil
14 medium heads Belgian endive (about 3¾ pounds), root end trimmed just to clean
2 cups Extra-Rich Chicken Stock (page 204)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan or braising pan until shimmering, not smoking. Put in the endives in a single layer. This is most efficiently done with the tips pointing toward the center. A few can go in the middle. Turn each endive over with tongs every 5 to 10 minutes so that they brown on all sides. It will take a good 30 minutes.
Pour the chicken stock over the endives. Cover the pan and turn the heat to low. Cook for about 1 hour or until a knife slips easily into the heavy end of an endive. They will not be mushy. Stir in salt and pepper to taste and serve.
SERVES 6 OR 7
I once gave the name “Corn of Plenty” to an article I wrote about corn because it provides us plentifully with animal feed, oil, dry ground grains for grits, masa, and polenta, and even fuel. In the summer it is in its full glory as a fresh vegetable. You can see the tassels turning russet and brown, letting you know the corn is ripe.
Sadly, it does not keep its natural sweetness for long when harvested. The sugar turns to starch. There are the supersweet corns, but I loathe them. They don’t taste juicy and fresh. Unlike good standard corn, they are cloying and weary.
I eat as many quickly microwaved, steamed, boiled, baked, and grilled ears as even greed permits. They cook brilliantly in their husks when microwaved, baked—as in a clambake—or grilled. The husks preserve the moisture and add a fresh green flavor.
The kernels can be cut from the husks and added, raw or cooked, to salads and soups or combined with young lima beans to make succotash. The shucked ears can be cut across into 1-inch wedges to add to Central and South American soups and stews. Each row of kernels can be sliced lengthwise and then have the pulp scraped out with the back of a knife to make creamy soups and chowders.
After my appetite is satiated, it is time to think of the meals ahead. One of my favorite ways of keeping corn is in relish. The relish can be frozen or canned for the future.
3 cups golden corn kernels (from about 6 ears)
3 cups green cabbage in ½-inch squares (from about 1 small head)
1 cup finely chopped onion (from about 1 onion)
1 cup red bell pepper in ¼-inch squares (from about 2 large peppers)
1 cup green bell pepper in ¼-inch squares (from about 2 large peppers)
2 tablespoons prepared American brown mustard
3¾ cups white vinegar
2¼ cups sugar
3 tablespoons dry mustard
3 tablespoons kosher salt
2 heaping teaspoons hot red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon peeled and finely chopped ginger (about 6 quarter-sized pieces)
4 garlic cloves, smashed, peeled, and finely chopped
2 tablespoons arrowroot
Place all the ingredients, except ½ cup of the vinegar and the arrowroot, in a saucepan. Heat until the mixture just comes to a full simmer. Blend the arrowroot and reserved vinegar together and stir into the mixture. Remove from the heat, cool, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours for flavor to develop. Eat, can, or freeze in 1 pint amounts.
MAKES A GENEROUS 2 QUARTS
This is a simple way of preparing chard of any color. It can be multiplied as often as wanted and frozen in ½-cup amounts to use as a vegetable or in a soup.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1½ pounds chard with stems if tender or 1½ pounds leaves only, cut across into thin strips
Warm the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Gradually add the chard. After all the strips are in, cook for 10 minutes.
MAKES 1½ CUPS
VARIATION
Chard with Mashed Potatoes
Consider adding the chard to mashed potatoes—½ cup cooked chard to 4 cups mashed potatoes.
This is a gentle dish that went well with pork chops one evening. It is not so exotic that I didn’t have the Sautéed Zucchini with Dill (page 154) on the same plate. In fact, a green of some kind is a good idea as the eggplant, although delicious, is drab to look at. I suppose that some chopped cilantro on top would not be amiss.
It may seem odd that I use a saucepan rather than a frying or sauté pan for this, but the eggplant shrinks so much that it is liable to burn in a pan of larger diameter.
¼ cup plus 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 large eggplant (about 1 pound), sliced in half lengthwise, then into 1-inch strips lengthwise and across into 1½-inch lengths
2 tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce
2 tablespoons mirin
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
Heat the oil in a 4-quart saucepan until shimmering but not smoking. Cook the eggplant, turning it with tongs from top to bottom. Do not stir or you will have mush. Allow it to color slightly. Add the soy, mirin, and vinegar and mix from time to time until the eggplant is tender.
SERVES 4 TO 6
Ruby chard has green leaves but red stems and ribs. Its flavor is beetlike. Sautéeing the stems of ruby chard in an anchovy and garlic paste makes for a Mediterranean dish that is sweetened just a bit by raisins.
1 pound ruby chard stems (leaves reserved for another use), trimmed and cut across into ¾-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
¼ cup raisins
2 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
1 teaspoon kosher salt
One 2-ounce can oil-packed flat anchovy fillets, rinsed
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup pulp from a large peeled tomato, seeded and chopped, or canned whole tomatoes, drained, squeezed, and roughly chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
Bring 10 cups water to a boil. Add the chard stems. Cover and cook over high heat until the water returns to a boil. Uncover and cook for 10 to 12 minutes. Strain in a colander, reserving ½ cup of liquid. Run the stems under cold water to refresh. Leave in the colander to drain for 10 to 15 minutes. May be prepared 3 to 4 hours ahead up to this point.
Soak the raisins in the reserved ½ cup liquid for 15 minutes.
In a mortar, crush the garlic with the kosher salt to make a paste. Add the anchovies and fennel seeds. Crush until fairly smooth. Place the raisins with the liquid in a microwave oven and cook for 1 minute or simmer on top of the stove until softened. Drain the raisins.
In a medium saucepan, combine the olive oil with the blanched stems, garlic-anchovy paste, raisins, tomato pulp, and pepper to taste. Cook over low heat, stirring, until warmed through.
SERVES 4 TO 6
I often make these to accompany the Grilled Flank Steak (page 106).
About ½ cup olive oil for every pound of mushrooms
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Portobello mushrooms, stemmed and wiped clean of dirt with a damp paper towel
Preheat a grill until quite hot. Combine the oil in a bowl with salt and pepper to taste. Turn the mushrooms in the oil until well coated. Place around the edges of the grill, top side down. Longer-cooking vegetables, meat, or fish can be cooked over the central, hottest part of the grill.
The length of time needed to cook the mushrooms will depend on the heat of the fire and the size of the mushrooms. When the mushrooms are about half cooked, brush the underside with oil and turn over. Brush any remaining oil over the skins as required and continue grilling until cooked through. Remove from the grill and season with salt and pepper to taste.
SERVES 5 OR 6
Good with a salad of any sort or as a side to roasted or grilled meats.
2 cups dried large lima beans
¼ pound white onion, cut into chunks (about 1 cup)
2 large cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups vegetable broth (homemade, page 206, or good commercial stock)
Large pinch dried sage leaves, crumbled
½ teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Soak the beans in plenty of skin-temperature water overnight.
Chop the onion and garlic in a food processor until the onion is very finely chopped. Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet. Add the onion mixture and cook until the onion is translucent, about 4 minutes.
Scrape the onion mixture into a slow cooker. Drain the beans and add to the slow cooker. Add the stock and enough water to cover the beans by an inch (about 2 cups). Stir in the sage and thyme.
Cook on low heat for 8 hours, until the beans are tender and the liquid just covers them. If there is too much liquid, transfer the beans to a serving bowl. Tilt the slow cooker and ladle the liquid into a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook until there is just enough liquid to cover the beans.
Stir in salt and pepper to taste, and serve.
MAKES 4 TO 5 CUPS
I tend to do things the way I have always done them; but looking at the mountain of kale in my kitchen, I thought there had to be a better way than removing the stems and cutting them across in thinnish strips, to sauté, steam, and purée if desired. This recipe is my quick and easy solution. A little salt turns it into a good vegetable.
3 to 4 large bunches kale, stemmed and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt
Working in batches, put the kale leaves in a food processor and process until they are very finely chopped. There should be about 4½ cups. Place the kale and olive oil in a large saucepan and cook for 45 minutes over medium heat. Season with salt to taste.
MAKES 3 CUPS
VARIATION
Kwik Kale Soup
Two cups cooked Kwik Kale plus 2½ cups stock makes this a good soup. If not thick enough, stir in 2½ teaspoons arrowroot or potato starch that’s been mixed with 1½ tablespoons cold water to make a slurry.
SERVES 4 TO 6
Many green vegetables—beans, chopped spinach, Brussels sprouts, and the tops of broccoli—profit from being mixed with some white vinegar and brown sugar, in equal proportions. Slivered almonds on top of the dishes add élan.
This sweet and sour dish, which is made with lentils, takes a little longer to prepare but is worth the trouble because no one leaving your house is going to meet it the next day at someone else’s.
1½ cups dried brown lentils
1 medium onion, cut into ¼-inch dice
4 cups Extra-Rich Chicken Stock (page 204)
2 tablespoons chicken fat or olive oil
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons sugar
Paprika
Boil the lentils and onion in the stock for 45 minutes, until tender. Drain the liquid into another pot. Put the fat in a casserole over medium heat, and add the salt, pepper, lemon juice, and sugar. Cook for 1 minute, then add ½ cup of the reserved stock. Can be made in advance to this point.
Heat the oven to 350°F.
Add the lentils to the casserole. Put in the oven and bake for 15 minutes (20 minutes if made in advance). Sprinkle with paprika and serve. This dish can be made in advance, except for the baking, and then heated in the oven for 20 minutes.
MAKES 4 CUPS
This is a typically sweet and sour dish that I usually think of as German or Russian. I was making it to go with roast duck (see page 98). Gazing around the kitchen while thinly slicing the cabbage I sighted a bottle of balsamic vinegar. I had an “aha” moment. Why not use it as both the sweet and the sour? It worked perfectly and required no added sugar. I substituted anise seeds for the usual caraway and found it an improvement.
¼ cup olive oil
2 red onions (about 1 pound), thinly sliced (about 3 cups)
Large head red cabbage, halved through the stem end, cored, and thinly sliced across (15 to 16 cups)
⅓ cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons anise seeds
Kosher salt (optional)
Heat the oil in a heavy pot large enough to hold all the ingredients (10 to 11 inches across). Add the onions and cook over medium heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Add the cabbage and cook for 20 minutes more, stirring from top to bottom. Add the vinegar and cook for 20 minutes. Stir in the anise seeds and cook for 10 minutes. Taste and add salt if desired.
MAKES 9 TO 10 CUPS
I have never liked rutabaga. Recently, however, a blog friend pointed out that it was a great favorite in German-speaking countries. I determined to try again. I tried to order small ones; instead, I received two that weighed 3 pounds each. To peel them, I had to take a heavy knife, push it into the stem ends, and cut across by picking up the knife and joined vegetable together and smacking them hard onto the butcher block. That got rid of all four ends.
Then I took a sharp new vegetable peeler and peeled. I repeated the smashing technique to cut each one into quarters. At that point it was easy to cut them across into ¼-inch slices. There were 16 cups that I put into a very large pot and covered with water and a lid. After bringing the rutabaga to a boil, I cooked it for 20 minutes, until I could slip in a knife. I tasted it and still didn’t like it. Then the fun began. It became delicious.
16 cups sliced rutabaga, prepared and cooked as described above
½ cup olive oil, or more as needed
1 cup coarsely chopped soft tips of a very large bunch dill
2 tablespoons kosher salt
Drain the rutabaga and purée through the fine disc of a food mill. Combine well with the oil, dill, and salt. If it seems dry, add more olive oil to taste. Stirring well, heat for 20 minutes when ready to serve.
MAKES 8 CUPS; SERVES 12
VARIATION
Tamed Rutabaga Soup
Reserve the broth as you drain the rutabaga. After thinning to the desired consistency with more broth, this dish is an excellent soup, serving 15 people.
These are not al dente crisp vegetables. These are browned, intensely flavored, and fully cooked until soft.
3 tablespoons olive oil or safflower oil
1 pound small white onions (about 1¼ inches in diameter), peeled
½ pound small to medium carrots, peeled and cut across into 1-inch slices—larger carrots should be halved lengthwise (about 1 cup)
1 bunch broccoli, cut into small florets (about 4 cups)
1 pound yellow summer squash—not zucchini—quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh marjoram leaves (optional)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Heat the oven to 500°F with a rack at the lowest level.
Put the oil into a 14-×-18-×-2-inch or slightly smaller roasting pan. Swirl the oil so it coats the bottom of the pan. Put in the onions and shake so that they are coated. Roast for 10 minutes. Shake to turn over. Move the onions to the center of the pan and surround with the remaining vegetables. Roast for 15 minutes. Turn over. Roast for 15 minutes longer. If using marjoram, add it 3 minutes before the end of the roasting time.
Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve hot. If serving tepid or cool, add a little more olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar.
MAKES 4 CUPS
Heat the oven to 500°F with the rack in the center. Use 1 medium to large turnip per person. Peel and cut each into 6 wedges. Rub on all sides with safflower oil—about 2 teaspoons for each turnip. Roast for about 30 minutes, shaking twice to turn the wedges. They will be lightly, spottily browned. Serve immediately.
I never used to be a lover of turnips, but since I discovered mashing them on their own—not with potatoes—I have been converted. I prefer the white kind, the best being Gilfeather. Gilfeather is a farm up near me in Vermont, and these turnips are milder in taste and less fibrous than most. If you can, try to get seed and grow them. They like the cold; I pull them in late fall. Like winter squash, they will keep for a long time, or they can be made as in this recipe and frozen; they will take less room. Gilfeathers can get huge—1½ to 2 pounds. Mashed, they don’t serve that many.
1½ pounds white turnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (see Note)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Put 4 cups cold water in the bottom of a steamer. Lay the turnip cubes in the steamer basket and cover. Bring the water to a boil and cook for 20 minutes. Put through the medium disc of a food mill. There will be about 2 cups. Reheat when ready to eat; stir in the olive oil and salt.
SERVES 4
NOTE
It may be necessary to make a cut in the peeled turnip and—with the knife in the cut—slam the turnip and knife onto a cutting board.
Turnips can vary. This is a somewhat unusual recipe for the ordinary white and purple turnips. I developed it for a friend who is a vegan. It is a real sign of friendship to create meals for vegans. Turnips can be rather acrid, but not in this preparation. It is a good addition to a vegan assortment or as a side dish for fish or smoked meat. The recipe can be doubled.
1 pound turnips, peeled, cut into quarters, and thinly sliced
½ cup mirin
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Combine the turnips, mirin, vinegar, and sesame oil in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and cover. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 40 minutes or until the turnips are cooked but not mushy. Season with salt and pepper to taste. The turnips may not need additional salt and pepper. Serve drained, using the cooking liquid to cook other mild vegetables or fish or white meat of chicken.
SERVES 4
VARIATION
Sort-of Caesar Dressing
The leftover liquid also makes an excellent salad dressing, mixed two parts to one with mayonnaise. I used about ½ cup liquid and cut 3 hard-boiled eggs into the mixture. It doesn’t make up for missing out on Caesar salad, but it is a substantial and satisfying dressing.
Good, simple, and colorful with any roast.
1 acorn squash (about 2 pounds), cut in half through the stem and seeded
⅓ cup coconut milk
Pinch cayenne pepper
Kosher salt
Place the squash halves, cut side up, on a large platter. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 10 minutes. Pierce the plastic with the tip of a sharp knife to release steam. Scoop the flesh out of the halves and place in a food processor with the coconut milk. Purée until the mixture is completely smooth, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with the cayenne and salt to taste.
MAKES 2½ CUPS
We Intolerants can eat this group of starch recipes with impunity. I think they are terrific and I hope they encourage invention and the use of some unfamiliar foods.
I have always loved mashed potatoes. As a child, I would make a hollow in my mound of potatoes and fill it with gravy. I thought that pleasure was over forever. Well, I have come up with a version of mashed potatoes without butter or cream. I didn’t believe they could be this good.
I have tried using various kinds of potatoes. The least good have been those I used to use—the Idahos, russets, and Maine or boiling potatoes. By far the best are potatoes without too much starch. The clue to trying them came from superstar chef Joël Robuchon. He was named “chef of the century” in 1990, has twenty-six Michelin stars (more than any other chef in the world), and makes the most fabulous mashed potatoes I’ve ever had. His are made with Rattes, a variety of waxy potato that originated in the north of France and is still popular with French chefs. I don’t claim that these are the equal of Robuchon’s; but they are very good and have the advantage that they can be reheated, unlike his, which are made at the last minute (if you are fortunate enough to dine at one of his restaurants and see the kitchen, be sure to look for the poor cook whose sole task is to make mashed potatoes all night long).
Don’t make the garlic oil too far ahead or reduce the amount of garlic.
This recipe can easily be doubled, and the potatoes reheat fairly well (even days later), though they will not be as tasty as freshly made. The garlic flavor also gets stronger with time. See photo and serving suggestion.
12 cloves garlic, smashed, peeled, and cut into ¼-inch slices
½ cup olive oil
2 pounds red or fingerling potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks (about 4 cups)
Kosher salt
Place the garlic and oil in a small saucepan over very low heat.
In a medium saucepan, bring 2 quarts water to a boil. Add the potatoes and reduce the heat to simmer. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until the tip of a sharp knife easily pierces a potato. Drain. Place the potatoes back in the pot to dry out for 2 minutes.
Pass the potatoes through a food mill fitted with the fine disc into a large bowl. Strain the garlic oil into the potatoes. Mix with a whisk and season with salt to taste.
MAKES 1 SCANT QUART; SERVES 4 TO 6 AS A SIDE DISH
VARIATION
Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes
Omit the garlic.
This is yet another reason to enjoy the stock that comes from roasting duck. It can, of course, be served with a grilled duck breast; but, oddly, it goes very well with a simple fish or chicken.
3 cups cooked black rice (see page 228)
1 cup duck stock, or more if needed (see page 98; use chicken stock if duck is unavailable)
1 bunch scallions (about 4 ounces), trimmed and cut across into ¼-inch slices (1½ cups)
2 teaspoons Lemon Zesty Spice Mix (page 202)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Place the cooked black rice with the duck stock in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to simmer, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the scallions and spice mixture, turn the heat to medium, and stir well. If the rice appears dry, add more duck stock as needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
MAKES 1 SCANT QUART; SERVES 4
Poor buckwheat has gotten a bad reputation due to the “wheat” in its name. In fact it is not a wheat at all, but rather a nutty-tasting grain known to Jews as “kasha.” It is a wonderful accompaniment with almost all full-tasting meats, from beef and pork to quail, venison, and squab.
2 cups chicken stock (any of the homemade stocks, pages 203–4, or sterile-pack)
1 bay leaf
1 cup buckwheat (kasha)
1 tablespoon safflower oil
1 small onion, minced (about ½ cup)
4 large mushrooms, trimmed and cut into ¼-inch dice (about 1 cup)
2 large stalks celery, peeled and cut into ¼-inch dice (about ½ cup)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Put the chicken stock and bay leaf in a 3-quart stockpot and bring to a boil. Add the buckwheat, reduce the heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 8 minutes.
Heat the oil in an 8-inch sauté pan over medium-low heat. Sauté the onion until soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and celery and continue cooking for 3 minutes. When the buckwheat is fully cooked, stir in the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
MAKES 3⅓ CUPS; SERVES 6
This is a dressing, not a stuffing, as it doesn’t go inside the bird. It is delicious and is a justification for the idea of progress in food—even packaged food. It is now possible to buy jars of peeled, roasted chestnuts, unsweetened. Chestnuts have long been an ingredient in stuffing for fowl, but here they are the main component. Turkey stock will give a sense of a stuffing, if available. Chicken stock can also be used, and if water replaces stock, it is a perfect dish for vegetarians or vegans at the feast.
This recipe can be doubled using an ordinary food processor. The only fiddly parts are chopping the leaves and dicing the peeled celery. Add salt carefully. Celery is really very salty.
1 pound celery stalks
1 large bunch parsley, stemmed
One 15-ounce jar peeled, roasted chestnuts, more or less
¼ cup chestnut flour
¾ cup turkey stock, chicken stock (any of the homemade stocks, pages 203–4, or sterile-pack), water, or apple juice
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
½ cup walnut pieces
Peel the celery stalks and reserve the leaves. Cut the stalks into ¼-inch dice and set aside. Coarsely chop the parsley and celery leaves; lightly packed, there should be about ½ cup.
Pulse the chestnuts in a food processor until coarsely chopped. From time to time, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. In a very small saucepan, whisk together the chestnut flour and stock until there are no lumps. Cook over very low heat, whisking until slightly thickened. Scrape into the chestnuts. Add the chopped leaves and diced celery. Process just until mixed. Taste for salt and pepper. Add the walnut pieces and process just until mixed.
The dressing can be made ahead and reheated on top of the stove, in a microwave, or in a regular oven, wherever space can be found. It doesn’t need cooking, just heating, and I think it actually improves with a day or two of aging.
MAKES 3 CUPS
This good-to-eat seed (grain) that I often serve as a side dish, or as a replacement for rice when I want a risotto but am short on time, is a nutritional wonder.
To cook quinoa, use twice as much liquid as quinoa by volume (2 cups water to 1 cup quinoa, for example). I usually add a little olive oil to the water. It can also be seasoned when cooked.
Bring the liquid to a boil. Add the quinoa. Stir and reduce the heat so that the quinoa bubbles. It will take from 15 to 20 minutes to cook, depending on the heat.
Recipes like Ultimate Quinoa for Fish and Chicken (opposite) use more liquid, which is not a mistake. The added ingredients require it.
I can just hear someone shouting “Oh, no, not quinoa again,” but this is really good. I made it for friends who cannot eat onions or garlic. Looking around for a solution, I found that the freezer had two plastic containers of Boletus mushrooms that I had picked, cooked, and frozen in the summer. If—as is probable—fresh Boletus are not available, use another good mushroom. Even if you don’t forage as I do, you will find an expanding selection of flavorful mushrooms in shops—labeled “wild” only to differentiate them from regular mushrooms. Prepare as on pages 208–9. They need not be frozen. In fact, they will need to be defrosted if frozen. See photo and serving suggestion.
Don’t worry if this makes more than you need. My friends took home the remains, and so will yours.
3 cups chicken stock (any of the homemade stocks, pages 203–4, or sterile-pack)
1½ cups quinoa
3 medium stalks celery, peeled and cut into ¼-inch dice (about 1 cup), leaves reserved
1 cup wild mushrooms, cut into pieces and cooked (see pages 208–9)
½ cup lightly packed celery leaves, finely chopped
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
In a medium saucepan, bring the stock to a boil over high heat. Add the quinoa and diced celery, return to a boil, reduce the heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 12 to 14 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms, cook for 1 to 2 minutes, and stir in the celery leaves. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
MAKES ABOUT 7 CUPS
As good as quinoa is as a healthful nutty grain on its own, there are times when a little gussying up is a welcome idea, especially with milder-tasting main courses such as fish and chicken. A liberal dose of vegetables, a change in liquid, and some herbs do the trick. Choose your stock or stock mixture according to what the quinoa is being served with. I used half fish and half chicken to go with black bass, a mild-tasting fish. Each fish served two. There was some leftover quinoa, which in my continuous kitchen mode is very nice the next day for lunch or as a starter.
1½ cups Fish Stock (page 205)
1½ cups chicken stock (any of the homemade stocks, pages 203–4, or sterile-pack)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1½ cups quinoa
6 ounces red onion, cut into ¼-inch cubes (about ¾ cup)
6 ounces mild white onion, cut into ¼-inch cubes (about ¾ cup)
2 medium cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and cut into ¼-inch cubes (about ¾ cup)
¾ cup finely chopped dill, or ¾ cup lovage or flat-leaf parsley thinly sliced across
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil (optional)
Bring the stocks to a boil. Stir in the salt and quinoa. Reduce the heat to a low boil. Cook for 10 minutes. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes. If need be, add water. Add the cucumbers, dill, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot or warm or at room temperature in the latter case, toss with olive oil to taste.
SERVES 6 TO 8
Teff will probably have to be ordered online, but it’s worth it. This flour cooks quickly and makes an all-purpose side dish that takes well to one’s favorite seasonings. Think of it as a rapid polenta.
This side dish uses the tiny teff grains ground into a flour (for more information, see page 232). It is increasingly available in stores. The flavor will be slightly nutty—not strange.
½ cup teff flour
Kosher salt
Bring 1½ cups water to a boil in a small saucepan. Whisk the teff flour into ½ cup cold water, then whisk the mixture into the boiling water until well combined. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt to taste.
MAKES 2 CUPS
Teff can be made into an alternative to mashed potatoes or polenta that’s a pleasing nut brown. Cook carefully to avoid lumps.
One intelligent friend said this would make a good breakfast. I don’t eat much in the morning, but leftovers would be a good start to the day. Try slicing a banana on top.
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons safflower oil
2½ tablespoons ground cumin
1½ cups teff flour
One 14-ounce can coconut milk
Freshly ground black pepper
Combine 4 cups water, 2 tablespoons kosher salt, the safflower oil, and the cumin. Bring to a simmer. Beating with a whisk, pour in the teff flour. Beating constantly, bring to a low boil. Add the coconut milk. When thickened, remove from the heat and continue to beat until smooth. If there are lumps, purée in a food processor. Taste for salt and pepper. Reheat carefully.
MAKES 5½ CUPS, PLENTY FOR 6
There are many variations of the preparation of corn; some of them are on pages 220–21. Polenta with Oregano and Olive Oil is a special favorite.
For corn and polenta basics, see pages 219–21. We gave the Italians corn, and they returned the favor, with polenta. It replaced the millet that the Roman army had used. Soft, it is an ideal side dish or base for stews.
¾ cup yellow or white cornmeal
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Combine 4 cups water with the cornmeal and salt in a 2-quart soufflé dish. Cook, uncovered, in a microwave oven on high for 6 minutes. Stir well, cover loosely with paper toweling, and cook for 6 minutes more.
Remove from the oven. Uncover and stir in the olive oil and pepper. Let stand for 3 minutes. Serve hot.
MAKES 5½ CUPS; SERVES 8 AS A SIDE DISH
VARIATIONS
Soft Polenta for One or Two
Quarter all the ingredients (use 3 tablespoons cornmeal). Proceed as directed, cooking in a soup bowl for 1 minute and 30 seconds, uncovered, and then for another 1 minute and 30 seconds, covered.
Soft Polenta for Three or Four
Combine 2½ cups water, ½ cup cornmeal, and 1 teaspoon salt in an 8-cup glass measure. Cook as directed for 5 minutes. Stir and continue to cook for 5 minutes longer. Finish as directed, stirring in 2 tablespoons olive oil and a pinch of pepper.
Polenta is the name Italy gave cornmeal when the country adopted it. The polenta can be firm (recipe follows) or creamy, as here, where it makes a wonderful accompaniment to almost anything—even stews that are a little thin like one I made by poaching chicken thighs with cut-up chanterelles. No recipe for that because I am afraid to tell anyone how to forage. But if you can get store-bought chanterelles, three skinned thighs will take a cup of cut-up mushrooms and enough chicken broth to cover. I find myself eating the polenta on its own—even cool.
5½ cups Soft Polenta (preceding recipe)
1 bunch oregano, stemmed and roughly chopped (2 tablespoons packed)
¼ cup olive oil
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Kosher salt
Mix all the ingredients except the salt together. Season with salt to taste. The polenta can be refrigerated and then reheats well over low heat with stirring.
MAKES 5½ CUPS
Firm polenta is usually made, allowed to cool, and then cut into pieces for sautéing or grilling.
1¼ cups yellow or white cornmeal
2 teaspoons kosher salt
¼ cup olive oil
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Combine 4 cups water with the cornmeal and salt in a 2-quart soufflé dish. Cook, uncovered, in a microwave on high for 11 minutes, stirring once.
Remove from the oven, stir in 3 tablespoons of the oil, and add the pepper. Let stand for 3 minutes.
Lightly grease a 7-×-4-×-2-inch loaf pan with half the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Pour the polenta into the pan and brush lightly with the last of the oil. Let stand until cool.
Cover and refrigerate until chilled. To serve, slice the polenta about ½ inch thick and fry or grill.
SERVES 8 AS PART OF A FIRST COURSE OR AS A SIDE DISH