Posts filed under 'Veggie Sides'
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
It is indeed possible to make a vegetarian collard greens dish. As I’d mentioned last week, the vast majority of recipes for collards include a ham hock or two; some kind of smoky meat to cut the bitterness of the greens. Turns out sweet is just as good a complement as smoke.
I made this recipe almost as originally published (Collards, Golden Raisin, and Almond Saute), except I cut the olive oil down to 2 tablespoons from half a cup. Half a cup of oil to saute greens? It’s making me a little ill just thinking about it. Two tablespoons is more than enough. I also added a bagful of chopped arugula to my single bunch of collard greens.
My mom may be the only person I know that says she really likes braising greens, collards, and the like. I don’t mind them, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat them, either. This is a very accessible greens preparation because the sweetness of the raisins neutralizes any unpleasant bitterness from the vegetables. And there was plenty of the raisin and almond mixture to go around — I probably could have doubled the amount of arugula and collards that I used and still have had a nice, balanced dish.
Overall a very pretty, healthy, and easy dish. It was well-received at our Rosh Hashanah dinner Monday night.
October 1st, 2008
This was one of the sides I made for Rosh Hashanah dinner Monday night, and it was a big hit — beautiful for a holiday table, and delicious as well. The delicata squash has an edible skin, which makes for easier prep (no peeling) and some nice visual interest (cute stripes!). The maple syrup (I used Grade A Dark Amber, which is very flavorful) caramelizes and creates a candy-like coating on the squash. What could be bad?
I tried flipping a few of the rings half-way through the cooking so that both sides would caramelize, but I couldn’t do it without squashing the rings. Since I wanted to preserve their shape, I left well enough alone and baked the majority of the squash on one side only.
Edited to add: you can see the squash whole in my farm share haul for the week.
Maple-Glazed Delicata Squash Rings
4-6 delicata squash
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
1/2 tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 400° F.
Rinse the delicata squash thoroughly — the skin is edible and you will leave it on. Then slice each squash into 1/2-inch rings, and remove the pulp from each ring with a spoon or paring knife. Place rings in a large mixing bowl.
Drizzle olive oil and maple syrup over squash, and sprinkle on the salt. With clean hands, toss the squash until all the rings are well-coated.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (the glaze will be super-sticky once cooked — you will not want to scrub it off your pan). Place the squash rings in a single layer on the pan, and bake for about 40 minutes, until squash is tender and the underside of the squash is caramelized. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, but remove from pan while still warm (otherwise they’ll stick to the foil).
September 30th, 2008
The original recipe for this salad calls for green beans as well. However, I’d double-booked the beans from my farm share when I planned my menu for the week, and used them all up the night before on the Spicy Green Bean & Tofu Stir Fry. Oops. Regardless, this quick and easy side dish is delicious and fresh-tasting. I served it with oven-roasted chicken.
White Bean & Tomato Salad with Honey Vinaigrette
Adapted from Bean & Tomato Salad with Honey Vinaigrette
1 15-oz. can cannelloni beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 medium red onion, minced
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsely, chopped (about 1/4 c. chopped)
1/4 c. cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. canola oil
salt & pepper to taste
Combine first four ingredients in a bowl, and set aside. Use a small whisk to combine the vinegar, honey, and oil in a small bowl, and pour over the tomatoes and beans. Toss and season with salt and pepper.
Tastes best if allowed to sit for at least an hour. Serve cold or room temperature.
September 17th, 2008
I’m backlogged — this was Tuesday’s dinner. I made Spicy Sauteed Chickpeas, Beef & Cilantro, but adjusted it a bit, inspired by some feedback from Ranee. I added sauteed onion and sweet red pepper, and omitted the vegetable stock. It was delicious, although I think I like how the chickpeas soften a bit more when there’s more liquid in the pan. It’s an easy recipe to adjust based on what you have in the house. The only thing I think is absolutely necessary is lots and lots of cilantro.
On the side, I roasted yellow squash, which was simply cut into rough chunks and tossed with salt, pepper, a smidgen of olive oil, and lemon juice (from a lemon-shaped plastic bottle, I confess). The citrus flavor was a nice addition, and seemed perfectly matched not just with the light, fresh flavor of the squash but also its sunny color.
September 12th, 2008
Last night’s dinner took entirely too long to prep. Thankfully, my family was over so the boys were entertained, but there was just too much chopping involved for a regular weeknight meal.
First, I cut up the Bon Bon squash from our CSA. I found it hard to peel, plus the stem had started to get moldy, and the smell of decay was overpowering. (The flesh of the squash was fine, though!) I mixed the raw chunks of the squash with similar-sized pieces of potato (last week’s share), tossed them in a little olive oil, and sprinkled them all with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. They were roasted in the oven at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes. Delicious! The squash was creamy and sweet — no one could keep from sneaking a hot piece off the baking sheet as the rest of dinner was prepared.
The chicken breasts were boring. Sprinkled with some curry powder and cinnamon and baked. I also made a few drumsticks for G., which I hadn’t gotten to the night before. He was talking about his “big chicken” for hours before dinner, and gobbled down four small drumsticks! He even went back to the ones he’d already finished to look for more meat. I’m totally stumped by why he will eat this chicken on the bone when the rest of his repertoire pretty much includes only crackers and applesauce. But I’m thrilled to have something healthy to make for him.
Broccoli rabe can be bitter, so I thought I would pair it with the sweet Carmen peppers from Roxbury Farm in this dish — it worked nicely. I sauteed some chopped onion (frozen) and the peppers in olive oil, and then added the chopped broccoli rabe (and a tiny head of broccoli). I cooked it over high heat until the greens wilted and there was no moisture left in the pan. It was seasoned with just some salt and pepper. Broccoli rabe is not my favorite vegetable, but paired with the sweet peppers I thought it was a decent side dish.
Too involved for a Thursday night, but yummy nonetheless.
September 12th, 2008
I was cutting up tomatoes and basil for a simple salad when I realized the colors and size of the tomato slices would make pretty flowers. The boys seemed unimpressed with my handiwork, but we had less resistance than usual to trying something new.
Surprisingly, A. opted to try the basil leaf first, and then decided that he liked the Golden Rave tomatoes better than the red Juliets — the yellow ones are slightly sweeter and less acidic. We got G. to actually chew once while a tomato slice was in his mouth, which we took as progress. He is very fond of placing an item in his mouth for a second — avoiding as much contact with it as possible — then removing it and telling us that he tried it and didn’t like it.
August 24th, 2008
I’m so pleased with this recipe — not only is it a solid vegetarian crock pot meal, it also took advantage of a lot of my CSA haul for the week. Plus, as the original recipe notes, ratatouille is very multi-purpose. Use it over pasta, as I did, or on pizza, in a baked potato, scrambled into eggs, etc. I used half and froze the rest for another meal.
J. thought this ratatouille was very good (he had it over spaghetti). Neither boy would try it, but G. was thrilled by the baked chicken I made alongside it, saying “Thank you for making me chicken!”
If I had had zucchini from my farm share, I would have added it, too.
Slow Cooker Ratatouille
Inspired by Ratatouille in the Crock Pot
2 small onions, thinly sliced
2 medium eggplants, skin on, diced
2 large green bell peppers, seeded, diced
1 small red pepper, seeded, diced (I used a Carmen pepper)
6 plum-sized tomatoes, quartered (I used yellow Golden Rave tomatoes)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. salt
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
large handful fresh parsley, chopped
large handful fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Layer ingredients through the 1 tsp. salt in your crock pot, in the order listed. Then dot the tomato paste on top, and cover. Cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours.
Remove lid and stir to combine. Add fresh parsley and basil, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve hot, room temperature, or straight from the fridge.
August 22nd, 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 .