Spiced Yogurt: Two Versions

Each makes about 1 cup

Plain yogurt, particularly thick Greek yogurt, is an all-around teammate, an ingredient that can step in when you’re looking for something to cool down a dish, blend into a soup, lighten a dressing or add zip to vegetables that have been roasted, grilled or simply steamed. Chefs figured this out years ago, which explains why so many dishes come to the table on a bed of artfully swirled yogurt. Unadorned yogurt — or perhaps yogurt with a gloss of good olive oil — is lovely, but there are times when you want a little more excitement; those are the times you’ll turn to these two blends. One is seasoned with smoked paprika (sometimes called pimentón) and the other gets its lingering flavor and fragrance from a blend of spices most associated with the Middle East and North Africa: cumin, sumac, za’atar and harissa. Both are terrific with beets, carrots, cucumbers, eggs, greens and even grains.

• Harissa Yogurt
• 1 cup (240 ml) plain yogurt, preferably Greek
• ½ to 1 teaspoon ground cumin (to taste)
• ½ teaspoon harissa powder or ¼ to ½ teaspoon harissa paste
• ½ teaspoon ground sumac or grated zest of ½ lemon
• ½ teaspoon za’atar or dried oregano
• Fine sea salt
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, or more to taste
• Smoked Paprika Yogurt
• 1 cup (240 ml) plain yogurt, preferably Greek
• 1 tablespoon honey
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika (sweet or hot), or more to taste
• ¼ teaspoon piment d’Espelette or cayenne pepper
• Fine sea salt
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, or more to taste

Working Ahead

You can refrigerate the yogurt in a tightly sealed container for 2 to 3 days; stir before using.

For either yogurt, mix all the ingredients except the salt and olive oil together. Season with salt, taste and see if you’d like more of any spice. Depending on how you want to serve the yogurt, you can stir in the oil now or drizzle it over at serving time.

bean basics

My pantry is always stocked with cans of beans — chickpeas, black beans, cannellini, pinto — and I also store bags of best-quality dried beans and cook them when I’ve got time. Nothing beats homemade beans for flavor and texture. And when you prepare beans at home, you get a bonus: bean broth, so good as a base for soups.

I cook beans in a pasta pot (the kind with a perforated insert) — it makes draining them and reserving the broth easy. It also means that whatever aromatics I use won’t have to be picked out of the beans once they’re cooked; they stay in the bottom of the pot. You can use any large pot. If you want to cook the beans in a pressure cooker, Instant Pot or slow cooker, follow the directions that come with it.

I learned the following method from Rancho Gordo, the company that makes the beans I prefer. I buy a dozen bags at a time and have them shipped from San Francisco; they’re also available in specialty stores.

You can soak the beans overnight in the refrigerator — it shortens the cooking time — but I rarely do this. If you’ve soaked them, keep the soaking liquid and use it for the beans.

If you’re cooking in a pasta pot, remove the insert. No matter the pot you’re using, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat and add 1 thickly sliced onion, rinsed and patted dry; 1 carrot, scrubbed, trimmed and thickly sliced; 1 celery stalk, thickly sliced; 2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled; a bay leaf; and sprigs of thyme and/or rosemary, if you’ve got and like them. Stir to coat with the oil and cook, stirring now and then, for about 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are softened (they can color or not).

Meanwhile, rinse the beans well and discard any debris.

Fit the pot with the pasta insert (if you’re using that kind of pot). Add the beans and cover with the soaking liquid or cold water, to a depth of 2 inches. Turn the heat up to high and bring to a boil. Keep the heat high and the bubbles strong for 10 to 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting you can, cover the pot and relax — depending on the type, quality and age of your beans, this can be hours. It’s impossible for me to give you a time, so cook beans when you know you’re going to be around.

Check on the beans every once in a while to see that the simmer is low, and lift the lid occasionally to let out steam. If it’s easier to keep a simmer with the lid partially open, do that — just be sure that the beans are always amply covered with water. It’s best to add boiling water when you need to top off the pot.

When the beans are al dente or a little softer — I’m sorry; I can’t be precise here — remove the lid and start adding salt, a little at a time. The beans won’t take in the salt immediately, so start with about ½ teaspoon and keep adding it at 5-minute intervals. Cook until the beans are just the texture you like.

Drain, reserving the cooking broth and discarding the aromatics. Use the beans now or store them, covered in broth, in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator. They’ll keep for up to 5 days. They can also be frozen airtight and kept for up to 1 month.