Characteristic: ginger
Spicy Tomato Bacon Noodles
These are ridiculously good and simple to make. The sauce is plenty for 12 ounces of fresh ramen noodles and stretches fine for 1 lb of spaghetti. If you can get Umi Organic Noodles by all means do.
You can use fresh tomatoes here as well and skip the added water.
This a great dish for green garlic or garlic scapes in the spring time.
--inspired by Bon Appetit
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Chicken (or Tofu) and Vegetable Teriyaki
[caption id="attachment_19384" align="aligncenter" width="660"] Chicken and lots of veg in this version.[/caption]
My son loves this dish and it's a pretty quick weeknight dinner. It's a great way to use (up) any number of vegetables. It calls for a higher ratio of vegetables than might be typical and you can certainly use fewer.
[caption id="attachment_21828" align="aligncenter" width="660"] Straight chicken version with lots of scallions and cilantro.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_17922" align="aligncenter" width="660"] Tofu version[/caption]... Read more »
Fresh Cranberry Sauce
I ate half a batch of this just standing at the counter, long before Thanksgiving. It's tangy, a little spicy, just barely sweet and wonderful. It keeps for at least 2 weeks so make it well before Thanksgiving and save yourself the time day-of. It only takes about 10 minutes to make though so if you forget, no problem! And even if you're a raisin skeptic, give them a try here--they sweeten the sauce nicely and add some variety in texture without standing out.
It's also delicious on toast with a little cream cheese or sharp cheddar.... Read more »
Tomato Broth Ramen
I had a bowl of the last of the season's tomatoes on the counter and some fresh ramen noodles in the fridge and 30 minutes later this dish materialized. It's a keeper! I have not tried this with canned tomatoes but aim to test it and add notes about that option.... Read more »
Red Lentil and Winter Squash Dal
There are dishes that are quick to prepare, there are those that take a long time and then there is the occasional one that tastes like it took a long time to make but was actually pretty quick. This falls in the latter category. It’s doable on a weeknight if you have the ingredients (more or less) on hand.
Yes, the list of ingredients is long but most of them are spices and the dish comes together quite quickly once you've chopped everything.
Here’s a tutorial for “butchering” winter squash.
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Aloo Gobi (Spiced Cauliflower and Potatoes)
Fragrant, light yet complex, this Indian dish is beloved far and wide and varies from cook to cook. Scale it up or down or vary the ratios as needed. Just be sure to use plenty of garlic and ginger.... Read more »
Ramen Noodle Vegetable and Mushroom Stir-fry
Stir-fried noodles are a delicious, quick weeknight, or any-time dish. Here in the Pacific Northwest we're lucky to have these fresh ramen noodles which cook in 2 minutes, but use whatever long noodle you'd like.
[caption id="attachment_16951" align="aligncenter" width="600"] I cook the eggs and leafy greens right in the same pot as the noodles. I put the eggs in the boiling water for 3-4 minutes, then add the fresh noodles and greens for 2 more minutes and then drain all together and rinse with cold water briefly.[/caption]... Read more »
Eggplant and Tomato Curry
This is savory, complex and delicious and uses Thai red curry paste to create a lot of flavor quickly. You can serve it over potatoes instead of rice.
Variation
Green beans would be a wonderful addition here. Add them at the same time you add the tomato sauce and coconut milk.
If you don't have time to make tomato sauce and have fresh tomatoes, add fresh, chopped tomatoes to the curry paste after you've fried it for a few minutes and let reduce a bit before adding the eggplant and remainder of the coconut milk.
Use green curry paste if you don't have red
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Meatballs with Tomato Ginger and Garlic Sauce, Braised Greens, and Rice
This sauce is a little sweet, a little savory and gently spiced from the ginger and garlic. You can amp it up with hot peppers/sauce if you’d like. It’s versatile, boosting any basic starches, vegetables or meats with lots of flavor. It also makes a great variation of a beef and bean chili.
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Tomato Coconut Milk Curry (Makhani Curry)
This sauce is so delicious and can be used with/on any manner of vegetable, protein, grain or bean even--it's delicious with chickpeas. Here I served it first (above) with rice and salmon and lots of cilantro and scallions and then (below), thinned out with a bit of cream and water with the black "forbidden" rice, some scallions and an egg.
Makhani curry (a North Indian dish) is classically made with butter and cream. I use olive oil and coconut milk here but substitute butter and cream if you'd like. I often stretch the sauce on the second day with cream and a little water.
If you have a few extra minutes you can toast spices and grind them for the garam masala. The flavor is fabulous but a store-bought version will be just fine.
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Fried Rice
The only thing you need to have thought of in advance is to have made more rice than you needed for an earlier meal so that you have leftover rice ready, whether in the fridge or freezer. It matter little whether you use white or brown rice, short or long grain. I always make more rice than I need at any given time and then freeze the rest for the fried-rice-nights. Or make it in the morning and leave it sitting out all day and then you’ll have nicely dried out rice for the fried rice that evening.
Variations
You can use most any vegetable you have on hand such as, broccoli, celery, Brussels sprouts, daikon, bell pepper, radish, and/or water chestnuts. Watery vegetables, like zucchini and tomatoes, are less well suited.
Use a handful of radishes, chopped or a few salad turnips, chopped, in place of the carrots.
If you don't have turnip tops, use beet greens, bok choi or any leafy green, you have.
Snap or snow peas are great instead of shelling peas.
Add any leftover meat you'd like or dice a couple slices of bacon or half a chicken breast and cook with the vegetables before adding rice.
Add toasted peanuts or cashews for crunch and heft.
Delicious herbs to add, in place of or with, cilantro are mint or basil
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Komatsuna (Summerfest) and Beef Stir-fry with Rice Noodles
This is pretty quick to pull together and you can use whatever Asian green you have. You can also skip the rice noodles and serve the stir-fry over rice or soba or ramen noodles.
Variations
You can use tatsoi, bok choi, mustard greens or even turnip tops, if you don't have komatsuna.
Use lamb or pork instead of beef or use tofu, marinated in the sauce.
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Salad Roll Salad
This salad came about on a hot evening when I didn't feel like neatly rolling salad rolls but had most of the ingredients I typically use to make salad rolls. Instead of dressing the salad in a peanut sauce (which I would normally make to accompany proper salad rolls) I just added roasted peanuts to the salad and made a lighter/brighter dressing. Don't be put off by the handful of steps--it comes together fairly quickly.
This salad is begging for variations: add snap peas, blanched green beans or edamame, cooked shrimp or chicken, diced cucumber, even halved cherry tomatoes or sliced red peppers. Have fun with it and use what you have on hand and use fewer herbs if you don't have the volume I suggest. Shiso would be a delicious addition here as well.... Read more »
Coconut Miso Broth with Spring Raab and Noodles
This is a delicious bowl of food. You can use broccolini or broccoli raab or any other raab you have. The tender turnip raab I've used here cook in the same time as the fresh ramen--2 minutes--which makes it extra simple to use the same pot of boiling water. If your greens and noodles have different cooking times just pay attention and set a timer for adding the quicker cooking item a bit after the first.
You can use soba noodles or rice noodles instead of the ramen here or even spaghetti. Feel free to spice it up with your favorite fresh hot chilis or chili sauce.
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Tomato, Chard and Peanut Stew
This comes together quickly and is rich (though vegan), and fragrant and suitable for many different leafy greens--mustard greens, collards, kale or turnip greens. You could substitute chickpeas for the potatoes or sweet potatoes.... Read more »
Cabbage and Sausage Fried Rice
This is a simpler fried rice than my typical ones--no eggs, no soy or fish sauce--just ginger, garlic, pepper, cabbage, pork and rice, basically. It's extra pretty with red cabbage but delicious with red, green or savoy.
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"Kimchi" Salad
This dish uses many of the fermented Korean cabbage dish ingredients but without the fermentation. Napa cabbage is traditionally used to make kimchi but I prefer savoy or regular green cabbage for this dish. If you have Napa cabbage, you can make the same dish but only blanch the cabbage for about one minute.
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Potato and Tomato Korma
Korma is a loose term originating in Southeast Asia, given to meats and/or vegetables braised in a spiced sauce to which yogurt or cream are added towards the end. This is a deeply flavorful version that can accommodate different vegetables (winter squash, kohlrabi, turnips) or chicken. It also comes together quite quickly.... Read more »
Daikon and Watermelon Radish Pickles
--inspired by Epicurious
This is a quick, fresh and tasty winter time pickle. It is quite pungent when you open the jar but the flavor is sweet and mellow so just open a window!
Serve it as a condiment with rice or stir fried meats or fish, eggs, or anything rich that needs a cool, fresh complement.... Read more »
Cauliflower, Rice and Coconut Milk "Casserole"
This is a warming, flavorful one-dish dinner. You could substitute green cabbage for the cauliflower or add some diced potatoes or sweet potatoes for heft. Use a vegan alternative to the yogurt topping, if you'd like.
If you have already cooked rice this comes together quite quickly.... Read more »