The Vegetable Plate

Years ago, when I was a full-time vegetarian living in the South before vegetarianism was an accepted thing, I got accustomed to ordering the vegetable plate when going out to dinner. At many diners and home-style restaurants, the vegetable plate is usually a plate of three or four sides, often accompanied by a roll, biscuit or piece of cornbread. It was offered because no one knew how to do vegetarian entrees back then, at least not in non-ethnic restaurants in the South.

I actually enjoyed the vegetable plate a lot, because it enabled me to sample several different sides, which can make for a more interesting dinner. Now that I do eat meat (but not a lot of it), I find myself gravitating back toward the vegetable plate — but as a way of eating at home, usually for lunch, rather than when I go out. I enjoy the variety of flavors, textures and colors on one plate, and I feel virtuous for eating my vegetables. (Well, they taste good too.)

It can seem onerous to the home cook to make four side dishes for a weeknight meal. The idea behind the home-based vegetable plate is to cook one or two dishes a day that will keep well and can either be reheated or served cold. As the week goes on, the options for the vegetable plate increase. I also try to prep and pre-cook plain vegetables ahead of time so I can quickly assemble a full plate when I’m ready to eat.

Salads of all descriptions are a natural choice for the vegetable plate, especially non-green salads. Homemade salad dressings usually keep for a week or more in the refrigerator, and can be used to quickly assemble a salad from any pre-cut or grated vegetables on hand. Surprisingly, cooked greens like spinach and kale make a great cold salad when dressed with some lemon juice or vinegar.

Roasted and grilled vegetables reheat well or make tasty ingredients for cold salads. If you’re firing up the grill or preheating the oven anyway, throw on more cut-up veggies than you think you can possibly eat. Gratins also reheat well, and a little cheese makes everything taste better.

Vegetable soups are another option. Of course, they must go in a bowl instead of on the plate, but they are easy to make ahead in quantity and often taste even better reheated. Combining a vegetable soup with a salad or two makes a very satisfying meal.

It’s usually nice to have some crusty French or sourdough bread in the house to accompany the vegetable plate. I also plan to experiment more with incorporating whole grains into my made-ahead options, such as farro or wheat berries. Pasta salad is a natural addition, but I am trying to reduce my pasta consumption these days in favor of whole grains.

Since I started doing this, I feel like I am eating better and taking more advantage of seasonal vegetables as they appear in the markets. I don’t feel like I am cooking that much more, but it seems like I am throwing out spoiled vegetables far less often, because I am eating a little bit at every meal, rather than trying to use it all up on one meal. It’s also fun to try different vegetables and different ways of preparing them.

You don’t have to be a vegetarian to enjoy the vegetable plate. I think it’s making a comeback.

Braised Vegetables with Bacon

Continuing to post some of my favorite recipes, this particular side dish is a simple one from Mark Bittman‘s book, Food Matters. I love this recipe because it is quick, easy and completely adaptable to almost any vegetable. Just throw whatever vegetables you have in the pot together to create a unique side dish.

Even picky eaters will enjoy this dish because everything tastes better with bacon in it. If you don’t have bacon, though, or you’re looking for a change of pace, you can substitute prosciutto or pancetta.

Braised Vegetables with Bacon

• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 lg. onion, sliced
• ¼ lb. chopped bacon
• Salt and pepper
• 2 lbs. any vegetable (alone or in combination)
• 2 cups stock, wine or water
• ½ cup chopped parsley or other herbs

Put 2 tablespoons of the oil in a Dutch oven and turn the heat to medium. When hot, add the onions and bacon. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to color, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat down a bit and keep cooking, stirring once in a while, until the color deepens, another 5 minutes or so. Remove everything with a slotted spoon.

Trim and peel the vegetables as needed, and cut them into 2-inch chunks. Return the pot to medium-high heat, add the remaining oil, and when it’s hot, add the vegetables. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until they start to brown a bit. Return the onion mixture to the pot, add the liquid and bring to a boil. Lower the heat so that the mixture gently bubbles, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, anywhere from 5-30 minutes. Garnish with parsley or other chopped herbs to serve.

Vegetable Gratin

At this time of year, we can be positively overrun with fresh, tasty vegetables. This side dish provides another option for enjoying them, and it is an appropriate accompaniment for almost any meal. A vegetable gratin is also one of the most delicious ways to serve eggplant. A little cheese makes everything taste better! Leftovers also taste great the next day, at room temperature, as a salad.

Vegetable Gratin

• 2 small onions, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 small or 1 medium eggplant, cut into thin rounds
• 4 small or 2 medium zucchini, cut into thin rounds
• 5 small or 3 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and cut in half
• 2 tsp. fresh minced herbs
• Salt to taste
• ¼ cup olive oil
• Grated Parmesan cheese to taste (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously rub the bottom of a gratin dish with the cut sides of the garlic. Add the onion to the dish in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and herbs, and drizzle with some of the olive oil. Continue layering with the eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes, again sprinkling each layer with salt, herbs and oil, finishing with a generous layer of Parmesan. Cover with aluminum foil and bake until the vegetables are very tender, about 1 hour. Remove the foil and broil for 2-3 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Super-Simple Chicken Soup with Vegetables and Pasta

I have been trying to eat more soup recently, and not just because it’s winter. There are so many reasons why soup is a great meal that we should strive to eat every day. Soup is easy to make and adaptable to whatever ingredients are available. It’s easy to get a daily serving of veggies in — just throw them in the soup pot. Also, soup is satisfying and filling, a boon if you are trying to eat less and lose weight (which many of us are after the excess of the holidays).

Chicken soup is a classic that everyone loves. I don’t follow a recipe to make this soup, but rather use the vegetables I already have on hand. With small pasta such as orzo or macaroni and boneless chicken breasts, this soup can be prepared in less than 30 minutes.

It’s perfectly okay to use store-bought stock for this soup; I prefer the organic brands, such as Swanson’s or Pacific Natural, which are sold in aseptic containers. However, it is easy to make chicken stock, and it only takes about an hour. Homemade stock tastes much richer than any stock you can buy, so why not make your own?

To make a quick chicken stock, cut up a three- to four-pound chicken and put the pieces in a large pot. Roughly chop 1 large onion, 1 large carrot and 1 celery stalk (don’t bother to peel), and add them to the pot, along with 1 bay leaf and a few whole peppercorns. Pour in 14 cups water. On high heat, bring just to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer. Cook for at least one hour and no more than two hours. Cool slightly and strain out the solids. Reserve the chicken breasts to use in any recipe calling for cooked chicken meat. If you are not making soup right away, refrigerate the stock and use within three days, or freeze it for up to three months.

Now, to make the soup, peel and chop several kinds of vegetables into small pieces. Carrots, celery and onion are classic choices, but use whatever you have available. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pot over medium-high. Saute the vegetables to lightly brown them. Add 1 garlic clove, minced, and saute another minute or two. Add 4 cups chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cut 1 boneless chicken breast into small pieces and add to the pot, or if you made your own stock, shred the cooked breast meat and add that. Also add ¼ cup uncooked orzo, macaroni or other small pasta. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer, covered, until the chicken and pasta are cooked, about 15 minutes.

Turn Leftovers Into Soup

I’ve been trying to eat more soup lately. It’s the season for soup, but it’s also one of the best foods you can eat if you’re trying to lose weight or eat more healthy foods. Broth-based soups fill you up and leave you feeling satisfied without adding a lot of calories. They also are a good way of getting a lot of vegetables into your diet.

Often, I’ll try to make a big pot of soup on the weekend and then freeze the leftovers for lunches. But I have to admit that I don’t often think ahead. I either don’t take the container out of the freezer to thaw in time, or I skip making the soup altogether.

I usually have a lot of cooked vegetables left over from weeknight dinners, though, and I hate to throw food out, but eating reheated vegetables doesn’t always appeal to me. This week, the lightbulb went on. I don’t know why it never occurred to me before to turn those leftover vegetables into soup. All you really need to keep on hand is some stock, which is easy enough to make ahead of time, or you can buy it pre-made (I prefer the kind that comes in the aseptic containers, as those brands seem to have less salt).

All I did was simmer the cooked vegetables with some stock to cover for about 10-15 minutes. Roasted and braised vegetables seem to work best, but any veggies will do. If the vegetables get too soft and mushy, just puree the soup in the blender or with an immersion stick blender, and you have cream of whatever soup. Season well, but make sure the seasonings you add don’t clash with whatever seasoning might already be on the pre-cooked vegetables.

A little grated cheese or a dollop of plain yogurt makes a great garnish. You could also toss in whatever bits of leftover cooked meat there might be, such as roasted chicken or some crumbled bacon. Voila! A quick and healthy lunch is on the table, with very little pre-planning required.

Adding Flavor to Simple Recipes

Well, it’s clear that I haven’t had a chance to post much here recently, and I haven’t been doing many cooking challenges lately either. Sometimes life gets too hectic. With that in mind, I am returning my focus to simple recipes, and I will post a bunch of them here.

By simple recipes, I mean recipes that have only a handful of ingredients, no more than five total, including salt, pepper and oil. Or quick but complete dinners that you can put together in one pan. These are the kinds of recipes that you will memorize after making them two or three times, so that you can easily whip one up on a weeknight even if you’re dead tired, or you can pull out when you’re not sure what to make with that ingredient you picked up on sale.

These recipes are great to add to your repertoire, but the problem is that they can become boring after a while. That’s why it’s a good idea to have a ready-made arsenal to add pizzazz to any recipe. You can vary the flavors depending on your mood and what you have available.

Here is my list of sure-fire ways to quickly and easily boost the flavor quotient in a simple recipe:

• Garnish it with fresh herbs after cooking.
• Sprinkle in a little citrus juice or vinegar at the end of cooking.
• Add minced chiles or red pepper flakes for heat.
• Substitute heavy cream, sour cream, plain yogurt or melted butter for some of the oil.
• Sprinkle with grated Parmesan or other cheese or with crumbled bacon (you can substitute bacon grease for some of the oil as well).
• Mix in slow-roasted tomatoes, roasted red peppers, pesto or other ready-made ingredients from the pantry.
• Substitute or add similar vegetables.

As I post some of my favorite tried-and-true simple recipes, I’ll provide examples of these flavor boosters. But never be afraid to experiment. Cooking is more fun that way!

A Few Simple Pasta Sauce Recipes

I have a new challenge post coming up soon (finally). In the meantime, I want to share with you a list of simple recipes for pasta that you can throw together, usually in the time it takes to cook the pasta. Many of these recipes are particularly suitable for this time of year, when you (a) don’t want to spend a lot of time in a hot kitchen, and (b) have access to abundant fresh produce and herbs.

Pasta, Risotto-Style: I like this with orzo but it will work with almost any pasta shape. Saute diced onion in butter over medium-high. Add 1-1/2 cups orzo or other cut pasta. To make a complete meal, you can add other vegetables or pre-cooked meat. Stir and season with salt and pepper. Add 3 cups stock. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Stir every few minutes until tender, about 15 minutes, adding more stock if needed. Garnish with grated Parmesan and minced herbs.

Quick Vegetable Sauce: Puree cooked vegetables. Thin with cream or stock and heat gently. Top with grated cheese, as appropriate.

Pesto: Puree 2 cups basil or other herbs, 2 cloves garlic, 1/2 cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts or other nuts and 1/2 cup Parmesan until smooth.

Raw Tomato Sauce: Chop 1 garlic clove with a handful of basil. Combine with 2-3 diced tomatoes. Toss with 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar and 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.

Canned Tomato Sauce: Saute 1/2 minced onion or 2 minced garlic cloves in olive oil or butter over medium-low until golden. Add 1 14-ounce can diced or crushed tomatoes, or the equivalent in fresh tomatoes, cored and chopped. Stir in 1 tablespoon tomato paste, if a thicker sauce is desired. Cook about 10 minutes and season with salt and pepper. You can eat it now or simmer up to an hour. This sauce takes well to all kinds of additions so experiment by adding any cooked veggies or meats, pesto or fresh herbs, some soft cheese, a little wine, etc.

This list was first posted on Quora.

Happy Anniversary! A Simple Italian Meal

This past Sunday was our wedding anniversary (six great years!). We held our wedding at a charming Italian restaurant in downtown Raleigh, NC, called Caffe Luna. The main reason we chose Caffe Luna was because we love their food. They feature simple but delicious Italian cuisine that changes according to the seasons. I’ve always had a great meal there.

For my challenge last weekend, my husband wanted me to make some food we might have had at our wedding. You see, we didn’t actually get to eat much of the lavish buffet Caffe Luna put on for us. We were too busy being bride and groom that we barely sat down. But we heard from everyone else how great the food was, and it certainly looked good.

The problem with this challenge was that I couldn’t recall any specific dishes that were on the buffet. I remembered vaguely a few things — mixed vegetables, smoked salmon, poached salmon — but nothing more specific came to mind. Unfortunately, Caffe Luna’s website is not a big help. While they do have a catering menu online, it’s pretty bare bones: cheese and crackers; marinated chicken; marinated flank steak. That’s as much description as you get. To tell you the truth, I don’t think the menu is set in stone, but is rather based on what’s in season and available, which is how it should be. I remember that the buffet table was groaning with food. There certainly was a lot more than seems to be listed on the website menu.

So I turned to my mainstay for Italian cooking, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. If you like Italian food and you don’t have this cookbook, you are not cooking the best Italian dishes you could be. Every recipe I have made out of this book has been molto squisito. These recipes are very simple, as good Italian cooking should be. They let the ingredients shine and highlight the flavors with restrained additions, such as olive oil, fresh herbs, wine, salt and pepper.

Unfortunately, because these dishes are so simple, my husband thought I cheated in last weekend’s challenge when I presented him chicken in white wine and lemon and a platter of baked vegetables. But even though the dishes weren’t a challenge to cook, they are a model of restraint, and the results were mouth-watering. They also reflected what I remember of Caffe Luna’s food at our wedding: good food and lots of it, simply prepared, wonderful to eat.

First up, the vegetables. Nothing could be easier. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Select an assortment of seasonal vegetables. I chose Yukon gold potatoes, red peppers, tomatoes and onions, but almost any vegetables will work. Peel the potatoes, peppers and onion. Cut everything into wedges (discarding the seeds and ribs from the peppers). Arrange on a large, oven-proof platter. Drizzle all over with very good olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss gently to make sure everything is well coated. Roast for 25-30 minutes, until the potatoes are browned on the edges and tender. The oil and juices from the vegetables combine in the bottom of the platter to make a delicious sauce, so don’t forget to drizzle the juices over the vegetables before serving.

While the vegetables are cooking, prepare the chicken. You can use bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces or boneless chicken breasts for this recipe, although bone-in chicken will take longer to cook. In a large pan, heat some olive oil and butter over medium-high. Brown the chicken pieces on both sides, about 2-3 minutes per side. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add to the pan 3 peeled garlic cloves, the minced leaves from one rosemary stalk, salt and pepper. Pour in about ½ cup dry white wine. Partially cover and let cook, turning the chicken pieces once or twice, until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken to a serving pan. The juices remaining in the bottom of the pan should be thickened and browned. Add the juice and zest of 1 lemon. Stir and scrape up any browned bits. Spoon this sauce over the chicken to serve.

Nothing could be simpler. But serve with good, crusty Italian bread, and you’ll have a meal fit for an anniversary celebration.

What’s in Season? A Handy Chart for North Carolina

What is the most you would pay for an ingredient? Not one you planned to use for a special-occasion meal, but just for your everyday cooking.

For me, the ceiling seems to be about $5 (except for meat, of course). Yesterday, I was thinking about making an onion soup that calls for a broth made from dried porcini mushrooms. It sounded good to me. Except one tiny bag of the mushrooms cost $6.99. Um, no thank you. I’m also going to avoid the pine nuts (at $23/pound right now).

In a recent post, I posited that you would spend less money on fresh fruits and vegetables if you made an effort to eat seasonally. To help us do that, the North Carolina Dept. of Agriculture & Consumer Services provides this very attractive chart (there is also a printable version for the refrigerator). I see that, other than peanuts, the only vegetable that’s in season all year round is the sweet potato, which explains why I’m always struggling to come up with new ways to cook them. If you don’t happen to live in the great state of North Carolina, perhaps you might find similar information at your state’s Dept. of Agriculture.

How to Make a Gratin

For dinner last night, to accompany a simple poached salmon, I made a classic potato gratin. This one turned out a lot better than the gratin I attempted at Thanksgiving, and it didn’t take nearly as long to cook. Here’s what I learned about making a good gratin.

A gratin is generally a vegetable dish that is characterized by its browned crust of cheese or cheese mixed with breadcrumbs. Gratins are typically baked in a shallow dish and served in its baking dish. While usually made with vegetables, macaroni and cheese is also a type of gratin. Seafood is often cooked this way, as well.

A gratin requires three ingredients: one or two vegetables; a cooking liquid; and a grated hard cheese. Within those parameters, there really is a lot of leeway. The classic gratin is potatoes, cream and gruyere, but you can get quite creative.

First, the vegetables. As I said, potatoes are classic, and that’s what I used last night, but I also layered in slivered kale and collard greens that melded nicely with the sauce. The most important thing about the vegetables is to slice them thinly so that they will cook quickly. Choose enough vegetables to make two layers — no more than two! — in a shallow gratin or casserole dish. Any more layers than that and the gratin will take too long to cook.

The liquid can be heavy cream for a very rich gratin, but you can also lighten it with substitutions such as half cream and half milk; stock or half stock and half wine; bechamel sauce; or even tomato sauce. You’ll need about 1 cup. Unless you’re using cream, bring the liquid to a simmer beforehand to cut the cooking time.

Finally, the cheese — any hard grating cheese will do. I used Irish cheddar, and it was delicious. The classic choice is gruyere or emmenthal. Parmesan is another good choice. How much cheese you use is up to you. For a more cheesy gratin, you might put ¼-½ cup grated between each layer. For a lighter dish, add just enough cheese on top — combined with breadcrumbs, if you like — to get the browned, chewy crust that makes a gratin a gratin.

Here’s how to assemble the gratin:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bring 1 cup of cooking liquid to a simmer.
2. Toss the thinly sliced vegetables with olive oil and slivered garlic.
3. Arrange the vegetables in two layers in a gratin dish or shallow casserole dish, seasoning each layer and sprinkling grated cheese between the layers, if you like.
4. Finish with a final layer of cheese, mixed with breadcrumbs, if desired.
5. Pour enough liquid over so that all but the topmost layer is covered. When you press down on the top layer, the liquid should ooze up but not cover the top layer.
6. Bake until the vegetables are tender, the cheese is melted and browned, and the liquid is almost fully absorbed. This takes about 1 hour for potatoes, less for quicker-cooking vegetables.
7. If the top isn’t browned enough, turn on the broiler for a few minutes to finish cooking.
8. Serve in the baking dish.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Jamie Oliver recipe: leek gratin (telegraph.co.uk)
• Root vegetable recipes: Gratin of parsnip, potato and wild mushrooms (telegraph.co.uk)
• How To Make Gratin Dauphinois (thekitchn.com)