Characteristic: vegan
Sunchoke Cauliflower Soup with Quick Parsley Walnut Pesto
This soup is simple and comforting. The sunchoke flavor shines through, but the cauliflower mellows it just slightly. Potatoes or another mild root veggie would do the same thing. The pesto is optional of course, but it adds a nice zing to the soup.
Variations:
Swap a few potatoes or parsnips for the cauliflower
Use leeks or shallots in place of the onion
Omit the optional cream for a vegan soup
Top with any pesto or bright, herby sauce you have on hand
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Grated Vegetable Sauté with Peanut Sauce
This is a simplified version of this and can be adapted to suit your needs. I often make more peanut/tahini sauce than I need for a specific dish and then use leftover sauce on these quickly sautéed vegetables. This recipe makes a lot of sauce so feel free to halve it if you want. It stores well for 5 days, covered, in the fridge.
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Cook-with-what-you-Have Green Salad
Salads are superb templates. Sometimes all you need is a few greens lightly dressed. But sometimes a slightly more substantial green salad with crunch, a little sweetness, and maybe a little spice is in order. In the winter you might make this heartier one.
You will need to taste and adjust your version to balance the tart and sweet and crunch as ingredients vary widely. Add a pinch of sugar if your dried fruit is quite tart.... Read more »
Spiced Cauliflower Steaks
These are beautiful, delicious and very quick to make. Here's a similar but plainer, version.
You will end up with a few beautiful steaks that hold together and lots of smaller bits--they'll taste just as good. I suggest adding a little water to the pan when cooking the second side to make sure the cauliflower is tender and crisp but not burned. You can omit the water and watch the heat carefully but the water speeds things up a bit.... 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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Warm Brussels Sprout Salad with Walnuts and Cilantro
This is bright and tangy and wonderful! If you don't have walnuts, toasted almonds or peanuts would work too.... Read more »
Roasted Squash Halves with Herbs
If you see this cute, golden acorn-type squash, buy it! It's called Gill's Golden Pippin and is incredibly flavorful--much more so than most acorn types. The skin is very hard and brittle so I just crack it in half and scoop out seeds and roast. And it's fun to serve, in it's little boat-like shell.
You can enjoy them as is or serve them filled with anything from been or beef chili to cooked grains or even other cooked vegetables.
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Fennel, Peppers and Farro
This is hearty, savory and very adaptable. This dish materialized thanks to already cooked farro and a variety of vegetables in need of using up, including cauliflower leaves. If your grains are already cooked this comes together quite quickly. I had some homemade harissa on hand which elevated it further. I topped this particular version with meatballs.
Variations
Make this your own with whatever grain you'd like--spelt, barley, rye, wheat berries and different spices.
Vegetables like collard greens and kale are great to use in place of or with the cauliflower leaves and spices.
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Seared Young Fava Beans and Garlic Scapes with Lemon
When you have young/small fava beans you can eat the whole pod, either grilled or just seared in a heavy skillet, in this case alongside some shelled ones and garlic scapes and scallions. The whole pod gets tender and when well seasoned with salt and lemon, is just delicious. You can cook them all whole or shell a few for contrast and fun-either way is delicious.... Read more »
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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Winter Squash with Crispy Breadcrumbs and Thyme
This is delicious hot, warm or at room temperature. The crispy bread crumbs are key as is the splash of vinegar at the end. You want to use a squash that keeps its shape when cooked, like butternut, delicata, sweet meat or hubbard varieties.
This could almost stand in for stuffing at a Thanksgiving table. It's savory and comforting but not at all heavy.... Read more »
Green Tomato, Winter Squash and Lentil Salad
This a hearty but bright side dish/salad that is beautiful to boot. The tang of the green tomatoes offsets the sweetness of the squash.... Read more »
Radicchio and Celery Root Remoulade with Parsley and Walnuts
This is a colorful and hearty variation of the classic Celery Root Remoulade. You can substitute a vegan mayo and/or yogurt.... Read more »
Miso and Cider Vinegar Roasted Winter Vegetables
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Miso Roasted Kale and Mushrooms
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Charred Zucchini with Zhoug and Feta
Zhoug is an herb and green chile sauce/paste from Yemen but popular in Israel as well and other parts of the Middle East.
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Baba Ganoush
This smoky dish of roasted eggplant, pureed with tahini, garlic and lemon is one of my favorite dishes. It's good with/on most anything. And if you have a decent broiler you can have this on the table in about 30 minutes. If your broiler is no good you can just roast them at high heat. You can alternatively cook the eggplants on the barbecue and get a nice smoky flavor.
You can also use summer squash in stead of or in combination with eggplant for a delicious variation, using the exact same process though you can of course skip the peeling part.
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Black Radish, Carrot, Collard Green and Apple Salad with Toasted Walnuts
I love this combination of disparate flavors. Toast the walnuts a bit longer than you might typically--the hint of char is delicious here.
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Ribollita (Tuscan Kale and Bean Soup)
This simple but thick and luscious soup is a mainstay of Tuscan cooking and used to be made by re-cooking (ribollire) yesterday's minestrone and simmering it over stale bread in this second incarnation. I make it all in one go, as do many Italians, but it is even better the next day. It takes a while to make unless you are using already cooked beans, but it is worth the time.
Ribollita calls for a modest list of ingredients and the bread and some good olive oil are important. And it's extra good if you have some roasted tomatoes to use, but canned is just fine.
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Kale and Mustard Green Salad with Peanut Dressing
This salad is strong, vivid and almost rich thanks to the peanut dressing. You can use a variety of greens in this flexible template (see Variations below).
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