A few medium potatoes
Olive oil
Salt, coarse kosher works best
Preheat the oven to 425. Wash and halve the potatoes. Oil the bottom of a cookie sheet or shallow baking pan. I often use a pie pan. Oil the potatoes as well and roll the skins in salt, set the potato cut side down in the pan. Dust them with fresh pepper and slide them into the oven. Bake for 30-45 minutes –the longer the better.
Pull them out when they are golden on the bottom and the skin pulls away from the flesh.
One medium size Kohlrabi, peeled and jullienned
Two Tablespoons crème fraiche, sour cream or whole milk yogurt
One teaspoon to one table spoon prepared horseradish
One teaspoon Dill
Salt and fresh Pepper
Steam kohlrabi for 5-7 minutes and set in the fridge to cool for an hour. Toss remaining ingredients together with chilled kohlrabi and enjoy as a cool compliment to picnic or light dinner meals
2 delicatas
1 ½ tablespoons peanut or olive oil
salt and pepper
chopped parsley
ground cumin
Peel the squash (optional), cut off the ends and halve. Cut into slices about a third of an inch thick. Heat the oil in a wide skillet and add the squash, frying over medium heat until beginning to brown (7-8 minutes). Turn and cook on the second side until tender. Add salt, pepper, parsley and cumin and toss to coat.
One medium cauliflower, broken into bite sized florets
Three Quarter cup bread crumbs
3 tablespoons olive oil or butter
2 tablespoons finely grated hard cheese (parm, asiago, etc.)
Salt and fresh pepper
Steam cauliflower for 5-7 minutes. Brown bread crumbs over medium heat in oil or butter. Toss cauliflower with bread crumbs, cheese, salt and ample pepper.
2 pounds new potatoes
Salt and fresh pepper
4 medium tomatoes
¼ cup olive oil
2 onions, quartered and sliced thinly
¼ cup dried thyme
3 garlic cloves, sliced
¼ lemon, sliced thinly
1/3 cup kalamata or nicoise olives, pitted and chopped (optional)
Preheat the oven to 400. Boil potatoes in salted water for 4 minutes and pull them out –don’t dump the water! Rinse potatoes in cold water to stop them from cooking further. Plunge tomatoes in the hot water for 20 seconds each and rinse with cold water. Peel off the skin, quarter, and remove the seeds. Coarsely chop ¾ of tomatoes and thinly slice the rest.
Heat half the oil in a skillet and add the onions, thyme and pepper. Sauté until the onions wilt completely and begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Add this mixture to the bottom of a baking dish and layer in all the ingredients, finishing the top with more salt and pepper as well as the remaining oil. Cover and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and finish for another 20-30 minutes or until the potatoes and fully tender.
This is the old-time classic recipe…
1 acorn squash
1 onion
1 Tablespoon nut-oil –peanut or walnut are 2 favorites
2 Tablespoons Maple syrup or 1 tablespoon brown sugar
Dash of nutmeg
Salt and fresh pepper
Preheat oven to 375. Split the squash from stem to tip and spoon out the seeds. Brush the inside and the cut edge with enough oil to just coat and lay cut side down in a baking dish. Add about half an inch of water to the dish and bake for about 30 minutes. While this is underway halve the onion and slice thinly. Sauté slowly in a pan over medium heat with the remaining oil and a pinch of salt until the onion begins to become soft and translucent. Add half of the maple or brown sugar to the pan and continue to sauté, turning regularly, until the onion softens fully and begins to brown. Add the cooked onion to the inside of the baked squash and drizzle/sprinkle with the remaining maple/sugar over the whole thing. Top with nutmeg and fresh pepper. Slide the whole thing back in the oven and broil until the squash and onion bubbles and sizzles. Serve hot.
A great change from the basil standby…
3 cloves of garlic, boiled for 45 seconds and then run under cold water
quarter cup pine nuts or walnuts, toasted in a heavy skillet for 4-5 minutes
1 cup packed arugula leaves, crushed in your hand to bruise the leaves
1 cup packed parsley, crushed in your hand to bruise the leaves
7 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt
1 pat of soft butter (optional)
quarter cup finely grated parmesan cheese
Place all ingredients except cheese in a food processor and chop until smooth, scraping down the sides between pulses. Remove to small bowl and fold in the cheese. Flatten out the finished pesto with a spatula and cover the surface with plastic wrap or a layer of olive oil to avoid browning. Keeps in the fridge for up to five days.
Another great way to have this veggie…
1 head of cauliflower, separated into florets
half teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons peanut oil , sesame oil, or butter
half an onion chopped finely
Preheat oven to 375. Sauté cumin, paprika, and onion in oil/butter over medium heat for 3 minutes. Toss the cauliflower in this mixture and transfer it to a low dish/pan and put in the over for 20-30 minutes. Turn three or four times and remove when you can put a fork through the thickest floret and they are all starting to brown. Finish with salt and fresh pepper.
2 Cukes, peeled and seeded if you desire, and sliced thinly
on the bias (diagonally)
half cup seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
Toasted sesame seeds
Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar and toss the sliced cuke in the mixture. Chill for about and hour and top with sesame seeds and a dash of salt when serving.
4-5 large potatoes, halved if they are baseball size or larger
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Fresh pepper
Paprika
Preheat oven to 400. Wash and dry potatoes. In a shallow bowl toss them in the oil, making sure they are completely covered, especially the cut edges. Place them in a baking dish cut side down if you have cut them. Dust the outside with salt, using more than you think you should. The salt helps pull moisture out of the potato as it cooks. Sprinkle pepper and paprika on as well and push the whole thing into the oven. Check them in about 20 minutes and every five after that until a skewer runs through them easily and then cook them for 10 minutes more. The skin should be pulling away from the flesh and if you have a cut side, it should be really crispy. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes before slicing thinly. Leave the salty skin on and enjoy.