Posts filed under 'Veggie Sides'
It may have disturbed my boys to even look at their bowls filled with this stew, but I loved it! This is a fantastic vegetarian crock pot recipe, and I feel lucky to have found it. Of course, you need to like mushrooms to enjoy it — their flavor is deep and intense here, and pairs perfectly with the hearty barley and lentils for a chilly weather dinner.
This is my kind of crock pot recipe: dump all the ingredients in the crock pot, turn it on and leave it. That’s it. I served it with Pumpkin Dinner Rolls.
Mushroom, Barley & Lentil Stew
Adapted from Allrecipes.com
2 quarts vegetable broth
8 oz. Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced
1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms, broken into small pieces
3/4 c. uncooked pearl barley
3/4 c. dry lentils
1 c. onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 bay leaves
ground black pepper
12 leaves fresh basil, chopped
Add all ingredients except the fresh basil to your slow cooker, and stir to combine. Cover and cook on HIGH for 6 hours. Remove bay leaves. Stir in chopped basil just before serving.
November 18th, 2008
A Chick in the Kitchen reader, Heather, sent me this recipe for Winter Lentil Soup. She was right, it’s exactly the type of soup I like to make at this time of year, and as a bonus it used up the last of my kale.
The recipe combines canned tomatoes (I used diced, per Heather’s suggestion), sweet potatoes, leeks, kale, and lentils — plus fresh basil — for a slightly sweet, chunky soup that just needs some fresh bread to make it a meal. Although I liked the delicate flavor of the leeks, I think a little garlic would perk it up next time. And I would double the lentils, which take a backseat in this soup regardless of their prominence in its name.
The only thing I didn’t like about the recipe is that it really needed the 2 teaspoons of salt specified. Normally I leave the salt out altogether, but the soup tasted very flat without it, even with all that basil and thyme (I used a half teaspoon of dried instead of fresh).
J. and I both liked it; he deemed it “good” and “definitely edible” which is his version of an enthusiastic double thumbs-up. I’ve got a ton of it ready to go into my freezer, but I’m happy to share if anyone local would like a quart bag — just let me know.
November 16th, 2008
This is a post I started over the summer, when we were receiving lots of cilantro from our farm share.
J. and I both make guacamole similarly, which is unusual for us — we tend to each have our own way of doing things, and we also have our own areas of specialty (he wouldn’t bake; I don’t grill — could we fall into more stereotypical gender roles?).
Every time we receive a big bunch of cilantro from our CSA, I can’t help but think: guac! Of course, I’ve found plenty of other dishes to make with cilantro: Spicy Sauteed Chickpeas, Beef & Cilantro, Corn, Avocado, & Tomato Salad, Vegetable Jalfrezi, and Tandoori Tofu are just a few. Still, guacamole remains my favorite. This is how we make it.
Guacamole
3 Haas avocados, peeled, pitted and cubed
1 small onion, minced (about 2 Tbsp.)
handful fresh cilantro, minced (about 2 Tbsp.)
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 lime, juiced
1-2 jalapenos, seeded and minced
kosher salt to taste
Lightly toss all ingredients in a bowl, leaving the guacamole as chunky as you like (we don’t break up the avocado much at all). Serve immediately, or bring to room temperature after refrigerating if you must make it ahead.
November 13th, 2008
Lately, I have not been reading recipes all the way through before I’m ready to cook. I’m not sure what I was thinking when I bookmarked Mashed Potatoes With Kale — not only is it dairy (both milk and butter are added, so not a match to serve with chicken), but the instructions seem unnecessarily complex for a dish that’s so basic. What I took away from the recipe was that I wanted to combine the red potatoes and Toscano kale I had from my CSA, with scallions for a punch of flavor.
I microwaved four medium potatoes until tender and set them aside, and simmered the kale (once the ribs had been removed) in salted water for about 5 minutes. I ran the kale quickly under cold water just to cool it down, then squeezed out as much moisture as possible with my hands and threw it in my food processor. Using a chopping blade, I pulsed the kale a few times until it was finely minced. Then I mashed the skin-on potatoes with the kale, plus a small bunch of finely-chopped scallions, some olive oil, and salt and pepper. It was really delicious — really, how could mashed potatoes not be? J. liked it too, but the boys wouldn’t touch it. It was good as cold leftovers today, too.
The best news of the evening, though, was that both boys ate the roasted chicken! G. has been hit or miss eating “big chicken” — aka drumsticks — lately. He ate the better part of both drumsticks this time. A. normally will not eat chicken at all, but tonight when I put it on his plate he tried it and said he’d like more! Specifically, he asked for more “smooth chicken” — I’d pulled some medium-sized, skinless pieces of meat off the bone for him. It was incredibly satisfying to me to have them both eat and enjoy the main part of this dinner.
November 4th, 2008
My friend Alison, who is known for making gorgeous, decorated cupcakes, cookies and other desserts, also cooks a lot for her family, as I try to do. She forwarded this recipe to me recently, and I thought J. would love it — I was right.
Triple Tomato Sauce uses fresh tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, and tomato paste for a super-simple uncooked sauce that is whipped up in a blender or food processor, and mixed right into hot, freshly-cooked pasta.
This sauce has a really fresh, herbal flavor thanks to the uncooked tomatoes and fresh basil, which gives it a totally different taste than a cooked sauce, even one that’s homemade. I thought it was even better before it went over the hot ziti, which led me to wonder out loud if it would be nice for a cold or room-temperature pasta salad in warmer weather. J. insists absolutely not, but I still might try it next summer.
November 2nd, 2008
I intended to follow ZestyCook’s recipe for sweet potato fries tonight, but I didn’t read it all the way through this morning, and didn’t leave myself enough time to soak the potatoes. Instead, I improvised.
When I think of sweet potato fries, I think of Luna Grill & Diner in Washington, DC (I lived nearby there more than a decade ago!). They serve their hot sweet potato fries with cool sour cream, and if that is not a divine combination I don’t know what is. I don’t recall anything particularly special about the preparation of the fries, just that they were a reason to head to Luna.
Tonight I cut up just one sweet potato from my CSA, and it yielded an entire toaster oven full of fries. This single spud was 9 inches long, and 9 inches in diameter at its widest point. Huge! It’s also a relatively pale potato as far as the sweets I usually see — a light orange rather than deep and golden.
I peeled the sweet potato and cut it into large wedges, then tossed the pieces with a drizzle of olive oil, some fine-grain sea salt, and a little cinnamon. They went into a toaster oven at 425° for 30 minutes, and I turned them twice while they cooked.
I thought they were tasty (and even had a slightly crunchy exterior), but the boys wouldn’t touch them. If I hadn’t needed to get dinner on the table, I might have baked them for another 5-10 minutes to really develop a crust on the outside. And next time, I’ll remember to buy some sour cream for dipping.
October 30th, 2008
When I planned my menu for this week, I had no idea a huge, cold, rainy, windy storm was upon us. Wet leaves are whipping around my yard, I’m chilled to the bone. It is a perfect day for soup.
I noted in the title that this soup is vegetarian, because many of the recipes I found with kale included sausage. Take Mark Bittman’s Pasta With Black Kale, Shiitakes and Italian Sausage, for example. While I do cook with sausage every now and then, I was looking for something without meat for tonight — I was trying to avoid going to the butcher for another week!
This soup turns out rich and creamy thanks to the navy beans being blended into the soup. It has a fresh but hearty flavor, and if you’re not a huge greens fan this is a good way to eat them since their flavor is not overbearing. Substituting sweet potato or squash for the navy beans would also be a delicious variation.
I use Spike seasoning because I have it in the house, but any spice blend that you enjoy (Mrs. Dash, herbes de Provence, etc.) will work fine. I served Alexia Ciabatta rolls with the soup, which were delicious. Just pop them in the oven for 10 minutes straight from the freezer, and you have freshly-baked rolls ready for dinner.
Vegetarian White Bean & Kale Soup
Adapted from Bean Soup With Kale
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large sweet onion, diced
3 tsp. crushed garlic (or 6 cloves, minced)
2 carrots, peeled and diced
3 c. fresh Toscano kale, rough-chopped (about 8 large leaves, stems removed)
4 c. vegetable broth
2 15-oz. cans navy beans, undrained
4 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 tsp. Salt-Free Spike seasoning (or any general spice mix you like)
1/2 tsp. salt (adjust based on your spice mix)
ground black pepper (I used about 15 grinds)
Parmesan cheese (optional, to sprinkle on top)
Heat oil in a large soup pot, and cook onions, garlic, and carrots over a medium-low heat until they are caramelized (about 10 minutes). Add remaining ingredients, stir well, cover and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low and simmer the soup, covered, for 20 minutes. Using an immersion (stick) blender, blend soup until almost smooth. BE CAREFUL not to splash hot soup on yourself! Cover and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
Adjust seasonings and serve hot, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.
October 28th, 2008
I remember the fennel I cooked from last year’s CSA very fondly, when I roasted bone-in chicken pieces on top of it and other root vegetables. Look away if you’re a vegetarian: the drippings from the chicken mixed with the vegetables, giving them delicious flavor and adding just the right amount of fat to the dish. (I would do that roasting differently now, putting the chicken in first and adding the vegetables around the chicken after 20 minutes or so, then roasting them both together for another 40-50 minutes. It’s a technique Merrie taught me!)
I was really excited to cook with fennel again. This time I followed Elise of Simply Recipe’s suggestion to toss the fennel in balsamic vinegar and olive oil before roasting. I also sliced a medium sweet onion into the same thickness as the fennel slices, and sprinkled the whole thing with a little sea salt. I don’t care for raw or even still-firm cooked fennel, so I roasted my fennel and onions for closer to 45 minutes, until they were soft and caramelized.
My mom, J. and I all enjoyed this preparation, but I still prefer the fennel roasted with chicken.
October 23rd, 2008
I first made this beet salad recipe as a side dish for Thanksgiving in 2005. It’s an easy, tasty, and colorful dish that you can make ahead and doesn’t need any reheating — ideal for a holiday meal. It won’t convert you to a beet-lover (sorry, Carol!), but if you already like beets I think you’ll enjoy this marinated salad, too.
I work off this Marinated Beet Salad recipe, but I recommend using whole grain mustard and decreasing the sugar a tiny bit. Red wine and apple cider vinegar work equally well, and I think adding back the reserved beet liquid is unnecessary.
I used my fresh beets from the farm this time, boiling them the night before and then peeling and slicing them when they cooled. Canned beets are fine too, and a lot less messy!
October 14th, 2008
My family once ate at Baang in Greenwich, CT to celebrate a birthday. I remember sharing the crispy spinach, which was simply fresh spinach, deep-fried and salted. It was delicious and certainly memorable — our dinner there was probably ten years ago.
This roasted kale is the same idea, but with much less oil. I followed directions I found online, but reduced the salt by half. (Even J., who is a total salt lover, thought it was plenty salty as I prepared it.) You’ll wind up with a nice big pile of greens, thin and crisp, almost like papery kale fries.
That’s one nice thing about cooking the kale in the oven: you don’t lose a lot of the bulk of the greens, even as they crisp up. I’m always disappointed by the yield when I saute my greens — a huge bunch gets reduced down to a few tablespoons, it seems. Not so with this recipe. At the end of the day, though, it’s still a huge plate of kale. This recipe doesn’t keep well, as the kale gets soggy and tastes way too salty as it cools. We made our way through about half the batch, and that was enough for us.
October 10th, 2008
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I'm Dara, the chick in the kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two boys, ages 3 and 5, and husband. Trying to feed my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Reach me at .