Characteristic: main dish

Acorn squash lends itself to baking and stuffing. Its thick skin is impossible to peel raw and therefore keeps its shape nicely when stuffed. The filling is very flexible, as the squash and filling are cooked separately and just combined for a final trip to the oven. You want the filling to be well-seasoned and flavorful, so taste it before you fill and adjust as needed.   This template isn't too time consuming and can come together for a weeknight meal. In addition to Acorn Squash, Sweet Dumpling or Jester or any small-medium squash with a nice cavity and enough flesh to make a sturdy shell will work well.   Here's a black bean and chili stuffed version for a different flavor profile.... Read more »

Tahini makes this sauce creamy and rich and the lemon and chilis give it a kick but you can use just as much gochujang, fermented Korean chili paste or other hot sauce, to create the right spice level. It’s a very versatile sauce; delicious on raw or cooked vegetables, with eggs, grains, etc. ... Read more »

This is a fairly quick, flavorful curry and you can use whatever leafy greens you have (feel free to increase the quantity of greens). I needed to use up some leeks when I made the above version, which adds sweetness. Adding the fresh, mashed garlic at the very end adds a nice dimension.... Read more »

This is a great dish to use up whatever bits of vegetables you have as well as cooked beans, tomato sauce and random bits of meat either already cooked or cooked in the sauce. It's more technique than recipe: cooked saucy vegetables/meat + creamy polenta with cheese, baked until bubbling!   In this particular version I used cabbage, kohlrabi, onions, kale, black beans, leftover tomato sauce, garlic and thyme. I like to chop the vegetables fairly small for this dish. ... Read more »

  --Inspired by Plenty More by Yotam Ottolenghi   This an ideal cook-with-what you have template. Saute onions, garlic and maybe some carrots and celery; add whatever vegetable you have--in this case chard, stems and all, and add broth, lots of fresh herbs, some cheese and rice-shaped orzo pasta and bake it all until cooked and set.   ... Read more »

This is a beautiful, fairly quick and highly adaptable dish. Unlike this Stuffed Pumpkin recipe, you steam the small squash on the stove top which speeds things up considerably. If your squash are smaller or larger than the ones pictured scale the filling accordingly.  ... Read more »

[caption id="attachment_20035" align="aligncenter" width="660"] A thicker version with lots of leeks and not much chicken (but plenty of good chicken broth).[/caption] [caption id="attachment_17874" align="aligncenter" width="660"] The brothier version without noodles . . . wonderful either way.[/caption]   My son loves chicken noodle soup, whether made just with chicken stock and lots of vegetable (no chicken meat) or made with veggie bouillon broth and a bit of chicken meat. And you can of course skip the noodles as well and use more vegetables.   Note: You can cook the noodles right in the soup if you plan on eating the soup in one sitting. If you think you'll have leftovers, cook the noodles separately and add to each portion when serving. If the noodles sit in the soup for very long they'll swell up and soak up all the broth.  ... Read more »

One early summer night  I found a few zucchini in the fridge, half a Walla Walla Sweet, and a bit of bacon. I happened to have a ball of Grand Central Bakery's whole wheat pizza dough on hand. I love to make my own dough but don't as often as I used to with good dough easy to find. If you have time to make your own dough, by all means do so, see recipe below.... Read more »

--adapted from Heidi Swanson's 101cookbooks.com    Kormas refer to curry-like dishes that have yogurt or cream (or coconut milk) stirred into them towards the end of cooking. There are hundreds of variations, with or without meat. This is a simple vegetable-based version that you can easily make on a weeknight.  This one gets some heft from either tofu or chickpeas. You might be tempted to skip the toasted almonds or not be a fan of nuts in savory food, but don't if you can help it. Even just a few add a lot to the finished dish.   Variations You can vary the vegetables as you see fit. Green beans, sweet peppers, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, leafy greens, turnips, parsnips, are all delicious. Add meat of your choice if you like, or stick with tofu/chickpeas ... Read more »

This can be adapted in any way you want. If you like spice by all means add more jalapenos or Czech Black peppers. Feel free to add lots of chopped cilantro and/or parsley.  ... Read more »

This is one of my favorite ways to eat parsnips. It takes about 10 minutes—start to finish! Scale it up as needed.   Serves 2... Read more »

Lovely tender little parsnips baked with a bit of milk, some potatoes and leeks make for a sweet and fragrant dish. I make this in an 8 x 13” dish and we eat it over several days but by all means halve the recipe if that seems like too much.... Read more »

I have made variations of this Thai-inspired curry for many years. It's not an authentic green curry but a tasty, quick adaptation.   The curry is even better if you have makrut lime leaves--sometimes found in grocery stores and typically in Asian grocery stores. They freeze perfectly so if you see some buy plenty and freeze for future curries. But don't worry if you don't have any. A squeeze of fresh lime juice to finish is a nice alternative.  ... Read more »

--adapted from Tender by Nigel Slater   This is a very quick, satisfying dinner. It's delicious with regular broccoli but even better with the tender purple sprouting broccoli that shows up in later winter/early spring at markets and year-round CSA shares. If using purple sprouting broccoli be sure to use the stems and leaves as they are part of the charm and are tender and sweet.  ... Read more »