Characteristic: sauce/dressing
Avocado Herb Sauce
This sauce is creamy, herby and addictive! It's delicious with collard wraps, tacos, burritos, nachos, grain bowls, dolloped on eggs, etc. Get creative with how you use it. It also stores well and surprisingly doesn't discolor too quickly.
-inspired by Pinch of Yum
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Pea Microgreen and Mint Sauce
My CSA offers pea microgreens early in the season. These sweet, tender little greens can be used plain as a garnish for a soup or risotto or tossed in any salad or chopped up with herbs like mint and chives to make a little salsa verde of sorts. Stir this sauce into eggs or beans, add to quesadillas or burritos, serve it alongside a simply grilled steak. Or you mix in some feta and you have a lovely sandwich spread or part of a cheese plate.
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Steak with Spicy Tahini Sauce, Pea Shoots and Rice
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 »
Spicy Tahini Cilantro Sauce
This bright and robust sauce is a variation of this one. Spice it to suit your taste and make it thinner/thicker to taste as well. I like it on the thicker side to top bowls of rice or add to wraps, as pictured, and thin it down to drizzle over roasted vegetables, fish or meat, etc.
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Kale Pesto
This was part of the menu of the very first cooking class I taught in 2008. It remains a favorite. Whether much of it makes it into a dish--of pasta, eggs, beans or simply spread on toast--remains a question. By the spoonful at the counter, however. . .
Variations
Kale or collard rapini work well too as does chard or beet greens
Use hazelnuts, walnuts or even toasted pumpkin seeds if you don't have almonds
You can skip toasting the nuts if you're in a hurry
Substitute Parmesan or an aged Asiago if you don't have Pecorino.
Add a little lemon zest if you'd like
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Tahini Parsley Sauce
This is delicious on winter squash or eggplant or most any vegetable, as well as with chicken or lamb, grains, beans, or greens.
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Ginger, Lime and Cilantro Sauce
This sauce/dressing is delicious on so many things: Slaw, veg (steamed, boiled, roasted), cucumbers, grilled/broiled eggplant, rice, tofu, seafood, meat, rice, etc.... Read more »
Mint and Hazelnut Pesto
The combination of toasted nuts, cheese, oil, garlic and herbs, leafy greens or even beets, processed into a chunky loose sauce or a smooth puree elevates most anything. This version with lots of fresh mint, toasted hazelnuts and lemon zest and juice and plenty of new garlic is good with chicken, beef or roasted beets or tossed with spring onions and potatoes for a twist on potato salad. This pesto oxidizes quickly so the color will fade but you can cover it with a layer of olive oil and stir it up well before using for a brighter color.
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Garlicky Spinach with Chickpeas and Miso Tahini Sauce
If you have home cooked or canned chickpeas on hand, this comes together very quickly. The sauce is versatile and keeps for a week so make plenty to use in other ways. Use other tender greens like mustard or turnips greens or even mizuna or tatsoi if you don't have spinach.
You can scale this up but don't skimp on the greens. You want plenty per serving and they cook down so much.
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Bean, Grain, Veg and Herb Bowl with Chili Tahini Sauce
Make this your own with whatever cooked beans and/or grains you have on hand. You can keep it simple with just some cilantro and beans and the sauce or add an egg, or lots of vegetables or bacon or other meat, etc. The sauce is good on noodles, cooked or raw vegetables, plain rice and pretty much anything, and it is inspired by the wonderful folks at Umi Organic (Noodles).
Variations
Any cooked grain, such as rice, quinoa, barley, etc., complements this template very well.
You can use red, green, napa, and/or savoy cabbage to give this meal a wonderful crunch and flavor.
Lovely herbs that give this recipe a great depth of flavor are cilantro, mint, basil, or whatever tender herb you have.
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Roasted Roots with Rosemary Citrus Vinaigrette
This is delicious with most any combination of winter vegetables and roots. Cut the vegetables into fairly small dice but if you don't have the time, bigger chunks will work fine too; they'll just take a bit longer to roast.
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Roasted Poblano Pepper, Pumpkin Seed & Yogurt Sauce
This sauce is similar to this one but the creaminess and tang of the yogurt takes it in a slightly different direction. The heat level will vary dramatically based on your poblanos. You can always add heat with a bit of jalapeno, serrano or dried red pepper, added to the mix. It's delicious as a sandwich or crostini spread, on a bowl of quinoa and beans or chickpeas, as a dip, in fish tacos. . . .... Read more »
Fresh Sorrel and Cilantro Sauce
This bright, tangy sauce comes together in a couple of minutes. It's delicious with salmon or other fish or any pretty much anything that needs brightening up a bit.... Read more »
Spring Nettle and Herb Sauce
Having a flavorful sauce/spread on hand makes a quick meal a snap, whether you use eggs, quick-cooking grains, beans or meat to round things out. You can use parsley instead of cilantro here or play with other herbs too--mint would be great. You can skip the yogurt and just use a bit more olive oil or increase the yogurt for a really creamy, tangy sauce.
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Nettle Pesto
Nettles are earthy and grassy tasting and do quite well in pesto form. A little splash of lemon juice or vinegar brightens the pesto up nicely. You can spread the pesto on toast, stir it into eggs or add it to a frittata or dress cooked grains or beans with it.... Read more »
Cabbage and Celery Root Slaw with Orange Vinaigrette
This is such a bright and luscious wintry salad and you can adapt it to what you have on hand. You can just use cabbage or combine different kinds of cabbage, add or substitute some kale or just use celery root, add grated carrots, etc. The dressing will carry all variations.
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Beet "Tzatziki"
Dill, garlic, and nice creamy yogurt combined with yogurt makes Tzatziki, above left. Substitute cooked beets for the cucumbers and you get a fuchsia-colored version that's rich and earthy yet bright.
This cool, creamy dip/dressing is delicious on any kind of cracker, bread or toast. It's nice with boiled or roasted potatoes and hard cooked eggs. It's lovely as a part of an appetizer spread or a meal made of many little things.... Read more »
Green Harissa
I love harissa--the spice paste/sauce common in Tunisia and Morocco and many other countries--made of dried and fresh red peppers and various spices. I decided to try a "green" version using the same key spices (cumin, caraway, coriander) with Anaheim chilies as well as Jalapenos and Serranos and lots of fresh cilantro and mint. The sauce is looser because of the fresh roasted chilies but it's rich and delicious and just as versatile.
You can increase the spice level with more Jalapenos and Serranos. This version I'd call medium hot and of course these peppers themselves vary in their heat level so taste as you go.
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Sauteed Bok Choy with Ginger Dressing
The stems retain their bite, the leaves soften and the tangy vinaigrette livens up the whole thing. Good on rice or as is. And it takes about 7 minutes start to finish.
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Basil Oil
I love pesto but sometimes something lighter and more pourable is in order. This is nothing more than finely chopped basil, olive oil, salt and a squeeze of lemon juice or dash of vinegar. Use a fairly mild olive oil. Many can be a bit too grassy and bitter for this usage.
I stir this oil/sauce into beans, eggs or drizzle it over vegetable fritters or quesadillas or over pasta or a bowl of rice. It's wonderful with any kind of grilled meat or fish too.
I use a parsley version in this fava bean dish.
You can toss in a handful of parsley or oregano or add chives or do the whole thing just with parsley. It's just a template for a very flavorful condiment.... Read more »