Category: Side Dishes – Veggies

Bacon and Butternut Pasta

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This was really yummy, but we are a household (mostly) of veggie-loving folks. If you already love kale and butternut squash, you’ll love this pasta (the nutty Gruyère and luscious crème fraîche are a fantastic and classic combination). If you don’t, this recipe isn’t going to be the one to convert you (try this or this, instead). This recipe isn’t the simplest or the quickest (there is decent amount of peeling and chopping of kale, squash and onions and many of the components must be cooked individually first, before assembling the casserole,) but it was quite good. The red pepper flakes add a nice kick, too.

Flexitarian Note: I simultaneously prepared a veggie version of this for The Girl. I made a 1/4 batch (one pound of pasta, in total, for both versions) for her, cooking the onions in butter instead of the bacon grease. I cooked all of the pasta, kale, squash and sauce (substituting veggie broth, instead of chicken) together, then separated out 4/5ths of the mixture and just added the bacon and bacon-fat onions to that to create the carnivorous batch. I baked it in a smaller dish, but for the same amount of time.

If I haven’t scared you off, the recipe can be found here.

Seared Scallops and Herb Butter Sauce

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These scallops (recipe here) were really easy and tasty. I don’t know why, though, the recipe says to use a separate saucepan to make the sauce. I would take advantage of all of the crusty caramelizing in the shallot pan and just make the sauce in there. I suppose since this sauce is kind of an ersatz beurre blanc, they were trying to keep it lightly-colored and delicate, but I would always fall on the side of incorporating more flavor (and washing less pots and pans!) The side dishes I made with this were easy (Farfalle with pesto and toasted pine nuts and sautéed zucchini), but they did make the plate look very white and green. I wish I had added some roasted red pepper strips or cherry tomato halves to the pasta or some yellow squash to the zucchini (or both) just for a little color variety.

Bread and Butter Pickles

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These pickles (recipe hehttp://www.nytimes.com/recipes/12579/Bread-and-Butter-Pickles.htmlre) are SO easy and delicious. They perish quickly, but don’t last long, at least not at our house, so it hasn’t been a problem. I haven’t tried the ketchup and mustard recipes (also included in the article) but am planning to try soon. I do occasionally make my own mayonnaise, which is absolutely transcendent (and surprisingly easy), so I’ll post that recipe and photo the next time I make it.

Mustard-Roasted Fish, Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli, Dill Fingerling Potatoes

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Recipes here.

I made all of the recipes out of this episode of Ina Garten’s show, except for the dessert, and they were all wonderful. I’ve always had good luck with her recipes and I really did have this on the table, start-to-finish, as Ina promised, in one hour.

Black Bean Salsa from our friend A.F.

Black Bean Salsa

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1 16 ounce bag frozen sweet corn, thawed to room temperature and drained

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

3 cans black beans, rinsed and drained (or 2 cups dried black beans, soaked overnight, cooked until tender and drained)

1 large (or 2 small) white onion, finely chopped

one 10-ounce package cherry or grape tomatoes, coarsely chopped

leaves from 1 large bunch cilantro, chopped

3 large jalapeño peppers, minced (Remove seeds from 1 or 2 of the peppers before chopping to control the spiciness; the “heat” is in the ribs and seeds.)

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

salt to taste (start with about 3/4 tsp)

Heat the butter over high heat in a large sauté pan until foamy. Add the corn and cook, stirring occasionally, until corn is browned and very fragrant.

Place corn in a very large mixing bowl and add all remaining ingredients. Toss gently to combine. Adjust seasonings to taste. Feel free to add a little cumin or a minced garlic clove or a little Adobo seasoning or chili powder, if that suits your taste. Of course, you can always adjust the proportions if you prefer less onion, more
tomato, etc.

Serve with tortilla chips (these are fun and hold lots of chunky salsa) or use
in quesadillas, soft tacos or nachos.

This recipe makes a HUGE batch, fit for a large BBQ or potluck, but it keeps well in the fridge for a couple of days or the quantities are easy to adjust, if you’d prefer to make a smaller batch.

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Saag Paneer

Saag Paneer

Recipe here. Saag paneer is one of our favorites dishes when we go out for Indian food, but this is the first time that I’ve made it at home.

This recipe was really easy and quite yummy. I skipped the step of chopping the spinach beforehand and just gave the mixture a few pulses with the immersion blender, instead, after adding the buttermilk and yogurt.
I added a bit more seasoning than the recipe called for, because we really love the Indian spice palette.

I forgot to buy some naan, so just served it over rice, instead. Very nice.

Puy Lentil Galettes

Recipe here.

Yum.  Loved these.  A definite make-again.  I acknowledge that the way my family (especially my daughter and I) feels about lentils may not be the norm, but we love them and can’t get enough.  They are delicious (especially the French du Puy variety) and peppery and filling and wholesome and healthy and hearty.  This is a fantastic recipe to incorporate them.

Awesome Salad (Arugula, Roasted Tomato, Gigante Bean, Sauteed Zucchini and Arugula)

Yum Yum Yum.

This is a concoction inspired by a salad that I had once at the Nordstrom Cafe.

Basically, just layer slow-roasted tomatoes (I made huge batches of these and keep them in ziploc bags in the freezer – they thaw in seconds and are great in salads, pastas, on bruschetta, etc.), sauteed zucchini, and gigante beans (I won’t tell if you substitute canned cannellini beans) on a bed of baby arugula.  Top with slivers of fresh basil and a little balsamic vinaigrette, if you’d like.  Shaved Parmesan (use a potato peeler) or leftover slices of steak would also be fantastic.  Serve with sliced, warm ciabatta bread.  Mmmm…wish I had some of this right now.

Vegetarian without the steak, vegan without the cheese (as shown).  Gluten-free without the bread, or with GF bread.