Somehow, after last Tuesday’s sharebox, I wound up with three different kinds of eggplant. A few of the tender, wee ones found their way into a mixed sauté of zucchini, tomato, and onion. But come Monday, a day ahead of this week’s CSA delivery, the others, though still in great shape, were taking up valuable fridge real…
Tag: vegan
Whizbang Summer Salsa
When it comes to homemade salsa, in high tomato season, anyway, I’m usually more of a pico de gallo gal. Finely diced fresh tomato, onion, garlic, and pepper, finished with a little lime, salt, and cilantro. No cooking, but lots and lots of chopping. Last week, though, I saw Deb Perelman’s post on a three-ingredient…
Grilly Beans
A few Thanksgivings ago (wow, now that I think about it, it’s more like ten), I started roasting haricots verts until they blistered, then zapping them with grated lemon zest on their way from oven to table. Ever since, that’s become my go-to potluck veggie dish. In fact, I rarely prepare string (or stringless) beans any…
Miso en Place
My meals are often made out of sequence. Well, partially made, anyway. On the days I work the closing shift, if I want to boost my odds of eating a better dinner than carry-out slices or a bowl of cereal or a scrambled egg or two (and believe me, that happens often enough), I have to…
Meat-radish carpaccio
“Green Meat Radishes.” Huh? LFFC’s weekly share-contents email had me headed straight to Google. Turns out I did know what they were—I’d just never heard them called that. They’re a green version of the gorgeous Watermelon Relish, which—who knew?—is also called a Red Meat Radish. Raw, the flavor reminds me of Daikon, with just a…
Here Comes the Sunchoke
Our inaugural Winter Season CSA box arrived this week, and more than a couple Pennsauken picker-uppers were perplexed by the small bag of sunchokes in the shares. Also called Jerusalem Artichokes, not because they came from Jerusalem (they’re native to North America), but through a linguistic bastardization of the Italian for sunflower, girasole (“jeer-ah-SO-lay”), these…
Haiku Carrot Soup
Simple. Really. I mean, 5-7-5 simple. Infused with ginger and thyme, this is a subtly spicy-sweet soup that’s downright velvety—even without dairy—and perfect for a fall lunch or light supper. Start to finish, it’ll take you about 40 minutes, and most of that’s idle time while the carrots are roasting and the stock is simmering. Though…
Pesto alla Trapanese
Thanks, Zeppoli. Until dinner there one night last week, I’d forgotten how much I like Trapanese, the Sicilian pesto that subs almonds for the pine nuts in its ubiquitous, basil-laden Genovese cousin. Such a brilliant, simple, fresh dish. I’ve seen lots of variations – in proportions, in peppers (some use vinegar-cured pepperoncini, some use the…
You say tomato smoothie, I say gazpacho
Sure, you could go formal (here’s the classic—Hemingway’s favorite—from Casa Botin). But when the tomatoes are softening on the counter before your very eyes, why not take a couple of the ugly ones and turn them into something beautiful? Lunch. In less than 10 minutes. Single-serving gazpacho 2 small, ripe tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped…
O Caponata! My Caponata!
The blue ribbons in this week’s sharebox were actually purple: Six perfect, wee eggplants. I dispatched three of them straight away Monday night (a Meatless Monday), sauteéing a quick pasta topping that included onions, patty-pan squash, Malabar spinach, and a confetti of cherry tomatoes, all from this week’s share. The remainder I earmarked for a…
Boxing Day 