Sides & Salads – Page 3 – Not Eating Out in New York

19 Oct 2015

Green Beans Braised with Tomatoes, Olives, Capers & Herbs

by Cathy Erway | posted in: Beans, gluten-free, Recipes, Sides & Salads, vegan, vegetarian | 5

I know what you’re thinking. Green beans cooked well past crisp-tender is unideal; their sodden, saggy skins remind you of bad leftovers and TV dinners, an accident, not something you would set out to make. Yet though they might not snap in that satisfying way, slow-simmered green beans retain an impressive structure, plumped with juice and fat from olive oil, and all the flavors therein, transforming into something very different, but still mildly sweet. And in case I’m not waxing poetic … Read More

23 Sep 2015

Shredded Vegetable Dumplings

by Cathy Erway | posted in: Dumplings, Recipes, Sides & Salads, vegan, vegetarian | 4

There are a lot of initiatives around hunger lately, with World Peace Day just behind us and a long winter ahead, but when one happens to involve dumplings, I cannot sit idly. The New York Dumpling Festival (#dumplingfest2015) is this Saturday, and it benefits one of my favorite charities, the Food Bank for NYC. To salute this group and shout-out the event, I thought I’d go orange with this dumpling recipe, a blend of hearty vegetables from my CSA.

27 Aug 2015

Fresh Tomatoes with Anchovy Dressing

by Cathy Erway | posted in: gluten-free, Recipes, Sides & Salads | 3

Having juicy, red tomatoes at the peak of summer ripeness is a question of integrity (yours, not theirs, which is pristine): Do we adulterate these fine specimen by adding other flavors and ingredients, which may make them seem less-than or tagalong, or do we seize upon the day to celebrate only the virtues of a very good thing while we still can? I wonder if people indicted in the #AshleyMadison hack are pondering their initial choices when they decided to vacation from their spouses for a gutsy adventure with … Read More

11 Aug 2015

Peachy Salad with Savory Toasted Oats

by Cathy Erway | posted in: gluten-free, Recipes, Sides & Salads, vegan, vegetarian | 2

Breakfast salad. It’s not something you hear as often as breakfast sandwich, breakfast burrito, or maybe even breakfast lasagna. And no, it doesn’t have eggs to give it that smack of “breakfast” approval. I just had some beautiful peaches and nectarines, and leafy lettuce from my CSA, and I didn’t feel like eating them separately. Or having yogurt with those peaches and perhaps some granola. Then I realized that this crispy oat-flecked topping could be great on a salad instead … Read More

30 Jul 2015

Summer Squash “Risotto” with Bacon and Shallot

by Cathy Erway | posted in: gluten-free, Recipes, Sides & Salads | 6

A brief history of non-risotto “risottos”: At one point, everyone was making risotto with barley instead of short-grain (commonly Arborio) rice. This was undermining the term orzotto, a similar Italian dish made with barley. Then we began to see “risotto” being made with all kinds of other “whole grains for health,” appreciating the nuances of nutty flavor and bite from the likes of spelt, oats, quinoa, wheatberries and more—and I was not one to miss out on the fun. So then it seemed absol-otto awesome … Read More

9 Jul 2015

Heirloom Bean Salad with Roasted Garlic Scapes

by Cathy Erway | posted in: Beans, gluten-free, Recipes, Sides & Salads, vegan, vegetarian | 1

So after this year’s Fourth of July barbecue, where I consumed lettuce wraps packed with meat, a hot dog, a chicken burger, a kielbasa, and some wings, I decided to go easy on my lunches the following week. I propped my kitchen stool below the highest cupboards to look for some whole grains to make a refreshing salad with—maybe quinoa, maybe spelt, or some neat-o ancient grains would be found there, I thought. But I didn’t find those.

3 Jul 2015

Guacamole à l’Obama

by Cathy Erway | posted in: gluten-free, Recipes, Sides & Salads, vegan, vegetarian | 4

It’s been a while since I’ve dedicated a recipe to our Commander-in-Chief. I figured it’s good timing, with the 4th of July upon us. But more importantly, because President Obama took a moment to Tweet about his guacamole persuasions on Wednesday.

21 May 2015

Shaved Asparagus and Radish Salad

by Cathy Erway | posted in: gluten-free, Recipes, Sides & Salads, vegan, vegetarian | 3

In a pinch, I’m a sucker for slicing ’em up raw. No, not a raw foodist, and yes, hate it when restaurants charge $15 for a plate of a few slices of freshly shaved zucchini or mushrooms drowned in olive oil and call it something like “carpaccio” because I know they only sliced maybe a fifth of one zucchini or just one mushroom to make a whole plate of these delicate little slivers. I know it because I can also … Read More

5 May 2015

Smoked Bluefish and Potato Salad

by Cathy Erway | posted in: gluten-free, Recipes, Seafood, Sides & Salads | 7

There’s something so Nordic and satisfying about this: boiled potatoes and smoked fish. Simple, but delish. Wholesome yet zesty, combined as one. Kind of like the Nordic pop princess, Robyn herself, whose beats I can’t resist bopping to, especially if I hear them on a car trip and my body is bored and just needs to move—a lot, and suddenly, thanks to her.

10 Apr 2015

Popcorn Mushrooms with Fried Basil

by Cathy Erway | posted in: Events, gluten-free, Recipes, Sides & Salads, vegetarian | 5

There’s a street food that everyone’s obsessed with in Taiwan, and it involves boneless nibs of chicken marinated in five-spice, battered and crispy-fried, dusted with white pepper, and tossed with fried basil leaves. How can you improve upon this irresistible snack? You can’t, really. But you can take the same formula and make other foods irresistibly tasty, too. And one ingredient that works very well with it is juicy chunks of king oyster (or trumpet) mushrooms. At least, that’s what … Read More