What do you do when it’s too hot to cook, but you only have vegetables that don’t work so great raw? You stir-fry them, and stick them in a fridge to cool down. It only takes a few seconds of cooking, promise. And they’ll taste great with cold, slippery noodles coated in sesame oil.
Who needs rice with black beans when there’s sweet corn, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, Swiss chard, and if not peppers just yet, then new, sweet-tasting potatoes, in season now? That’s my summertime take on the Latin American classic, with the black beans on the bottom this time.
I find the mild flavor, mild texture, and outrageous color of roasted beets so enjoyable that I’ll pop them into my mouth whole like popcorn. Only, it’s not all the time that I get to roasting a few beets, especially when it’s been as warm as the last few weeks in New York. However, I did roast a lot of very good beets the other day — good, because they were just in season at the farmers’ market (rather than … Read More
Last week, I got a beautiful, billowy head of napa cabbage in my CSA share. There were only about three other people picking up their shares at the same time as me, but I was able to overhear the same concerns: “What do I do with napa cabbage?” Naturally, I was determined to find a crowd-pleasing application.
I’ve been hearing the term “warm salad” being tossed around a lot lately, and feel it might be a new menu buzzword. Perhaps it inspires curiosity, still carries an unlikeliness that hasn’t been as indoctrinated into our culture as, say, “chilled soup.” Sometimes it makes perfect sense (roasted beets, dressed in a light vinaigrette), other times, seems more of a stretch (sorry, sauteed vegetables are just that). I’ve used the term for this dish because of its middle-road temperature. The … Read More
I’ll admit, I’ve been feeling a little overwhelmed by all the greenery that’s coming in from my CSA — and growing on the roof. I hit a breaking point when my friend Wen-Jay (of Local Roots CSA) offered me some leftover stinging nettle from a pick-up day, and I found myself biking home with two swinging backs full of stinging weeds, wondering how I was going to stuff them in my fridge. I thought of buying a juicer — a … Read More
Zucchini and summer squashes are so versatile, and so various in size, color and shape, that they’re endlessly fun to create with. From pattypan to eight ball-shaped globes of delicate flesh, we’ve come to see a lot more heirloom types of these over the last few years, thanks to farmers who’ve saved their seeds. This recipe can be made with any of them, sliced thinly and arranged in layers to stand in for lasagna sheets — and soak in all … Read More
I’ve been eating in the style of mezze a lot lately — a small pile of sauteed snap peas here, some roasted beets there, etc. So many vegetables are suddenly in season, and piling up thanks to my CSA share, that preparing them all in some congruous fashion can get taxing — and somewhat self-defeating, as most are so good on their own. So rather than plopping a big, messy pile in front of me, I like to scatter a … Read More
Green peas in June, shucked fresh from the pod, are such a rare and delicate treasure that I’m swayed to disbelieve they’re the same things I grew up pushing around on my plate. Whereas the latter version were frozen and already shelled, the presence of the pod makes the legume that much more three-dimensional and full of life to me — tedious as they may be to shell. The flavor of sweet, fresh peas is sublime, and they need little … Read More
I had a hell of an eating weekend. I spent most of Memorial Day lazing on Prospect Park’s great lawn, soaking in sun and smoke from the hibachi grill that friends had rolled in to char up several chickens and some good, marinated steak. The previous two days were spent celebrating my brother’s commencement in Providence, a family reunion filled with food outings each step of the way. My uncle determined, on our way back, that he was going to … Read More