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Author: Seth

Dilly Beans

1 and one half cups water
2 cups green beans (purple and yellow work too)
2 Tablespoons chopped dill
2 large garlic cloves
quarter teaspoon red pepper flakes
third cup cider vinegar
half teaspoon sugar or honey
half teaspoon olive oil (optional)

Boil water in a small pot with a good lid. Add the beans and cook until bright green add barely tender, 3-5 minutes. Drain the beans and toss them with the dill while they are still hot. Combine garlic, red pepper, vinegar, sugar/honeyin a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 2 minutes

Pepperonata

Quarter cup of olive oil
2 diced onions
3 garlic cloves, sliced thin
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon thyme, chopped
6 bell peppers –red and/or green, sliced
Salt and fresh pepper
4 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced

Heat the oil in a large skillet and add onions garlic, bay leaves, and thyme. Sauté over medium heat until the onions soften and color. Add the peppers and a pinch of salt; raise the heat and cook vigorously until the peppers begin to soften. Add the tomatoes and lower the heat. Simmer until the excess water from the tomatoes has steamed away and season with pepper.

Oven Roasted Peppers

Preheat oven to 400. Cut the tops from the peppers and halve them lengthwise. Remove the veins and seeds; brush the skins with olive oil and lay out flat on a cookie sheet with the skin side up. Bake at 400 or broil 5-6 inches from the top element/burner in your oven until the skins are wrinkled but not charred, 10-20 minutes. Remove and stack peppers to steam in a pile for 15 minutes.

At this point you can rub off the skins with your hand or the help of a paper towel. A cold water bath can help this process but washes away a lot of flavor.

These flat peppers are easy to freeze by stacking them with wax paper between each layer and slipping them into ziplocks. Remove as much air as possible and freeze flat.

Potato Latkes

2.5 pounds russet potatoes, peeled
3 eggs or 1 egg and 2 whites, beaten
1 white onion, grated or chopped finely
Quarter cup flour, toasted bread crumbs, or cracker crumbs
Salt and fresh pepper
3 Tablespoons clarified butter, vegetable oil, or a mixture

Coarsely grate peeled potatoes into a bowl of water. When ready to cook drain the potatoes and squeeze out excess water with a towel. Add them back to the dry bowl with eggs, onion, flour, 2 teaspoons of salt, and pepper to taste. Mix into a batter.

Preheat the oven to 200. Heat a heavy skillet on medium-high heat with a film of butter/oil. When hot, drop in large spoonfuls of batter and cook over medium heat until browned, about 6 minutes. Turn over and cook until browned on the second side. Put the finished latkes on a plate in the warm oven while you prepare the rest. Serve with sour cream and apple sauce.

Rutabaga Fries

Preheat oven to 400. Peel rutabagas and slice into fries a quarter to a half and inch thick. Soak in water for 30 minutes, drain and towel dry Toss in vegetable or peanut oil to coat lightly along with a few pinches of salt. Spread them out on a sheet pan without the fries touching. Bake until golden and tender, turning occasionally. Toss them with a bit more salt and fresh pepper and enjoy.

Roasted Parsnips

2 Tablespoons butter or nutty oil

3 medium parsnips, washed and cut diagonally across the root
into 1 inch pieces

1 Tablespoon honey or maple

Pinch of cayenne or a dash of hot sauce

Salt and Pepper

Heat oven to 375. Melt butter in a medium saucepan or skillet that will also fit your cut parsnips.
Soak the parsnips in hot water to bring them up to room temp.
Once butter is melted, turn off the heat, add the honey and blend the two.
Drain the parsnips and empty them onto a dishtowel to remove the excess water.
Add the parsnips, cayenne, salt and pepper to the pan and turn it all over until everything is mixed and coats the parsnips.
Empty the contents into a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes.
Turn with a spatula and increase the oven temp to 400 degrees.
Turn again in ten minutes and cook for another 10. The parsnips should be browning around the edges and soft through.

Serve hot. Carrots can be added to this preparation with no changes.

Steamed Broccoli and Garlic Scapes

1 Tablespoon oil
2 garlic scapes, minced
½ pound broccoli, florets separated into ¾ inch pieces and stem chopped into ½ pieces
Dash of sea salt, fresh pepper and lemon

Heat oil in a small skillet over medium heat and once hot, add minced scapes. Sauté for 3-5 minutes and set aside.

Steam broccoli slowly, leaving the steamer lid slightly off. Remove from heat when bright green and starting to become tender. Toss with the oil and scapes, add salt pepper and lemon to taste.

Two Coleslaws

Creamy Coleslaw

1 pound of cabbage (about ½ to ¾ of a head)
Shredded or finely chopped (quarter first, then core and lay the quarter flat to chop)
2 carrots, grated and unpeeled
2 teaspoons kosher salt or 1 teaspoon table salt
½ small onion, minced
½ cup mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
black pepper

Toss cabbage and carrots with salt and let sit in a colander over a medium bowl. Let sit at least an hour and up to 4. Dump cabbage and carrots into the bowl and rinse thoroughly with cold water. Place back into the colander and press them, but don’t squeeze, to drain. Pat dry with paper towel and set aside. (You can store this overnight in an airtight container in the fridge if you like).
Combine in the bowl cabbage, carrots, onion, mayo, and vinegar. Toss to coat everything and season with black pepper.

Sweet and Sour Coleslaw

1 pound of cabbage (about ½ to ¾ of a head)
Shredded or finely chopped (quarter first, then core and lay the quarter flat to chop)
2 carrots, grated and unpeeled
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt or 1 teaspoon table salt
¼ teaspoon celery seed or 1 teaspoon toasted cumin
6 Tablespoons sesame, peanut, or vegetable oil
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
black pepper

Toss cabbage and carrots with salt, sugar, and celery/cumin seed and let sit in a colander over a medium bowl. Let sit at least an hour and up to 4. Pour away the liquid in the bowl and add in the carrot/cabbage mixture. Pour in oil and vinegar and toss to coat. Add black pepper to taste. Can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

A basic and incredibly versatile Balsamic vinaigrette

Drizzle this on just about everything in the world of vegetables….the red wine vinegar cuts the sweetness of the balsamic

4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar (other fruit vinegars work well too)
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 shallot finely diced (1 clove of garlic can work here too for those who like full flavor)
salt and fresh pepper

5 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Combine vinegars, shallot, salt and pepper and let sit for at least 15 minutes. Whisk in olive oil. Drizzle on to greens, tomatoes, green beans, whatever.

Carrot Soup

This is a basic soup that can be complemented with several flavors to keep everyone interested. Try the following additions: Sautéed, shaved ginger
Roasted peanuts
Caramelized onion
Roasted red pepper

2 Tablespoons butter, olive oil, or a mixture
1 Onion, sliced thin
1 lb. Carrots, sliced thin
1 Bay leaf
2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
3 Tablespoons white rice
1 Teaspoon paprika
1 Teaspoon cumin
Half teaspoon coriander
Salt and fresh pepper
7 Cups water or vegetable stock

Heat butter/oil over medium heat in soup pot. Add onion, carrots, bay leaf, parsley, and rice cook until onion softens, about 5 minutes. Add spices, half teaspoon salt, and a pinch of pepper. Cook for five more minutes. Add the water/stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, partially covered for about 25 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf. Take 2 cups of soup and puree until very smooth and set aside. Puree the remainder of the soup, leaving some “texture”. Put the two portions together and add salt/pepper as desired or other additional complementary ingredients.