Characteristic: vegan

--inspired by Richard Stewart from The Gumbo Shop   Gumbo Z'herbes or Gumbo Zav or Gumbo Verte are all names for the the green gumbo often made during lent in New Orleans. There are dozens of versions of Gumbo Z’herbes, some with meat, some without, some with up to 13 kinds of greens.   This makes a big pot of soup but it’s hardly worth making a smaller batch. And it gets better with age and freezes well. This takes about 60-90 minutes to make (excluding the bean soaking time), including all the washing and chopping, depending on how fast of a chopper you are. You can also used canned beans in a pinch.   Serves 12... Read more »

The stew is delicious with butternut, red kuri, hubbard or buttercup squash. I wouldn’t use delicata as it’s not meaty enough.  This stew is rich, nutrient dense, sweet, savory, just a little spicy and vegan. Garnish with green onions and crushed roasted and salted peanuts for an extra kick.   You can also add carrots or substitute carrots for some of the squash.... Read more »

This is a gently spiced stew that improves on day two.   ... Read more »

Like a few other dishes on this site, I learned this in Calabria, in Southern Italy. This is served with good crusty bread (almost like a spread) and eaten with a green salad and a chunk of cheese or some cured meats as a simple supper on hot days. This is a very spicy dish that I make far tamer than they do in Calabria. In Calabria it takes on a reddish/pink hue from all the Calabrian peperoncini that are used to season it. Adjust the heat to your liking. You can start with ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes and move up from there. And you can certainly use fresh or dried cayenne peppers or other hot peppers.... Read more »

  --inspired by two different recipes from 101cookbooks.com   Serves 4   This slightly unusual combination of ingredients and flavors is crunchy, cool, sweet/tart and rather addictive.... Read more »

Easy, crunchy, sweet and sour and delicious and a good way to experiment with pickles with a smallish batch--with the amount of pickling cucumbers you might get in your CSA at the height of pickling cuke season.... Read more »

--adapted from Pure Beef by Lynne Curry   This recipe is from a wonderful cookbook by Lynne Sampson Curry of Joseph, OR. This salad is perfect alongside a good hamburger or some thinly sliced flank steak or meatloaf (as Lynne does). ... Read more »

A friend shared this recipe and it is a perfect summer dish when cucumbers are prolific. It's a nice one-dish meal with minimal fuss.   It serves quite a few so halve the recipe if you’d like. I like to make it with cucumbers and green beans but carrots cut into matchsticks or thin half rounds, briefly cooked, would make a great substitute if that's what you have. ... Read more »

Combining roasted and fresh vegetables is fun. And if you don't want to turn the oven on you can cook the vegetables on the stove top in a cast iron pan over fairly high heat and achieve similar results. Just don't crowd the pan otherwise they'll steam rather than browning nicely.  ... Read more »

Succotash was created by the Naragansett Indians and remains popular especially in the South and there are dozens of interpretations of the dish. I think of corn as the essential ingredient and that all the vegetables are chopped quite small. Lima beans are the classic bean to use but I've used many different kinds and sometimes substitute or just add blanched, green beans (as I did here). It's a great technique to employ with CSA/market/garden vegetables since you can adapt it with what you have (summer squash, turnips, chard stems, etc.) and vary the ratio of vegetables as you like.   I make it with and without bacon and both versions are wonderful.... Read more »

-inspired by Julia Moskin   This theoretically serves 2 but of course scale up as you like. I eat this whole dish by myself with ease. If the dish is a bit rich, finish with a good squeeze of lime juice or some sherry vinegar. Corn varieties really vary in the their sweetness so taste it and see what you think.... Read more »

This is crunchy sweet and bright and a lovely refreshing addition to any grilled or roasted meat or fish or heartier, warm dish or just as a salad with some good bread and cheese.   Scrub your turnips and peel if using purple top or Gilfeather turnips/rutabagas. No need to peel if you're using Hakurei/Japanese Salad Turnips. Grate however many turnips you want to use. Sprinkle with sea salt and toss with a little rice or champagne vinegar or lemon juice or a combination. Toss in some chopped parsley if you have it and some chili flakes and a good splash of olive oil. Adjust seasoning and add some freshly ground black pepper.  ... Read more »

You can vary the vegetables in this to suit what you have on hand. This comes together quite quickly. If you start cooking the rice the minute you come in the door you can be eating dinner 25 minutes later. I used some leftover cooked chicken in this version and potatoes instead of turnips. Firm tofu is a great addition as well.... Read more »

  Quick Turnip Pickles Here is a variation on a theme of a salad called sunomono that you get in Japanese restaurants.  You can use Japanese Salad Turnips (Hakurei turnips), purple topped ones or Gilfeather Turnips.   Yields about 1 pint   1 bunch Japanese Salad turnips, trimmed and scrubbed but not peeled or 1 large purple top or Gilfeather turnip 2 medium carrots, well scrubbed but not peeled (can omit and use more turnips) 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt 1/2 cup rice vinegar 1/2 cup water 2 tablespoons sugar   Use a mandolin, if possible, to slice the turnips as thinly as you can and keep them whole if they're small. Quarter them if using larger ones.  If you do not have a mandolin, I recommend slicing the top and bottom flat so you have a firm base and the turnip does not roll. If using the carrot, slice the carrot as thinly as the turnips. Use the same shape or shred into thin shreds.   Sprinkle the vegetables with the salt, toss to coat evenly and massage the vegetables a little.   While the vegetables wilt, combine the water, vinegar, and sugar in a jar and shake until the sugar dissolves.   When the vegetables have begun to wilt and have lost their “raw”-ness add the vegetables to the dressing and allow to marinate at least an hour. Chill the pickles, then serve cold.... Read more »

Tomatoes, olive oil, salt. That’s it. When the tomatoes are good it’s honestly all you need. And I make sauce with slicer and heirloom tomatoes, not just sauce types, all the time. It takes a little longer to cook down because they’re so juicy but with a little patience and high heat it’s pretty quick too.   Olive oil Fresh tomatoes, diced (I don't bother pealing or seeding them) Salt A little butter, to finish (optional)   Coat the bottom of a wide skillet with olive oil. Heat over high heat until shimmering. Add tomatoes and a few pinches salt. Stir well, turn down to medium high and simmer, stirring often, until sauce thickens to your liking. Taste, adjust seasoning with salt and a tablespoon or two of butter, especially if the sauce is quite acidic.  Butter is THE perfecter of tomato sauce. Serve over spaghetti with Parmesan and fresh basil. ... Read more »

--adapted from Tender by Nigel Slater   My version of this fragrant, rich stew is significantly simplified but still involves a few steps and a bit of time.  You can break up the process and make it manageable and I think you will enjoy the resulting dish for several days or freeze some for a future meal.... Read more »

This is my go to cook-with-what-you-have process. Toss most any vegetable together with some fresh herbs and a good dressing and to make things even better in my bean-loving opinion, some cooked beans. Late summer this is a particularly satisfying thing to do with corn, black beans and fresh tomatoes.... Read more »

This is the classic Tuscan bread salad made at the height of tomato season. Tuscan bread goes stale very quickly so there are lots of recipes to use it up in flavorful ways. The success of the dish depends on using really flavorful, ripe tomatoes and a good olive oil. And you can use fresher bread if you don’t have stale—see directions below.   Panzanella in the United States often employs toasted chunks of bread more like croutons, tossed with tomatoes, etc. Give this version a try. The texture is completely different and so delicious.... 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 »

  NOTE: never refrigerate your sweet potatoes (or other regular potatoes for that matter). Sweet potatoes get starchy and loose their sweetness. They like being warm so just keep them in a bowl or basket on your counter.   You can make a lot for a party (good Super Bowl snack food if you need something of that nature) or use up a just a few sweet potatoes you might have on hand. Adjust the amount of seasoning to your taste and to the quantity of sweet potatoes you’re using. They are starchy and soak up quite a bit of spice/salt. I serve this for a light dinner with a salad on the side or fried eggs or a frittata.  And if you don’t have time to make homemade mayo you can liven up store-bought mayo with lime and chopped cilantro and a little chili powder for heat, if you’d like.... Read more »