Side Dishes
Mom’s Brushed Eggplant
Growing up, we ate our fair share of frozen vegetables: corn, peas, French green beans with toasted almonds (fancy!), the dreaded limas, etc. But every so often my mom would step out and experiment with fresh vegetables. She made a mean vinaigrette, and we always kept a jar of this…
Sauerkraut with Caraway Seeds
Two 14 1/2 ounce cans sauerkraut, drained 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar 1/3 cup cider vinegar 2 tablespoons caraway seeds 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 3 medium onions, finely chopped Serves 8 to 12 Combine the sauerkraut in a large saucepan with the sugar, vinegar, caraway seeds, and 2 cups…
Provençal Tomatoes
Nothing beats fresh tomatoes in season. Usually I just slice them, salt them, drain them, and eat them straight up with avocado and basil and a drizzle of olive oil. (My sister-in-law Janis introduced me to this perfect lunch one summer vacation.) But even perfection gets boring after a while,…
Couscous Tabbouleh
Here’s a wonderfully refreshing summer salad that can take the place of potato salad or pasta salad at a backyard barbecue. The classic tabbouleh, a Middle Eastern salad is made with bulgur (cracked wheat) not couscous. But I prefer this version, which is based on a recipe developed many years…
Spring Spaetzle
Soon after I started making spaetzle as a side dish at home on a regular basis, it occurred to me that you could dress up and sauce this German pasta much as you would any other fresh pasta—an inspiration that automatically promoted spaetzle from a side dish to an entrée.…
Shredded Root Vegetable Latkes
Here is my latest recipe for latkes from Sara Moulton’s Everyday Family Dinners. Sometimes in the fall I buy a bunch of root vegetables for a particular recipe and fail to use them all up. Suddenly there’s a lone parsnip or turnip hanging out in my vegetable drawer. How to…
Creamy Baked Polenta
I have recently been getting a lot of requests for this recipe from Sara’s Secrets for Weeknight Meals. The cornmeal mush known as polenta, one of the national dishes of Italy, emerged in its original form as the field ration of the Roman soldier. Although pulmentum was made of millet…
Butter-steamed Broccoli with Soy
One of the first restaurants I worked in was Cybele’s in Boston’s Faneuil Hall. We were on a very tight budget, so instead of making 1 or 2 special vegetables for each dish we would serve a one size fits all starch and vegetable and plop them on every plate.…
Homemade Pan Gravy
I always get lots of questions about making gravy, so I thought no matter what meat or poultry you are cooking, this recipe would come in handy when you head for the kitchen. I recommend making 1/2 cup gravy per person. You need that much gravy to pour over everything, and…
Grilled Asparagus with Lemon Truffle Vinaigrette
Posted with permission of author, from Girls at the Grill by Elizabeth Karmel The flavors of fresh lemon juice and white truffle oil are the perfect compliment to grilled asparagus. I didn’t think grilled asparagus could get any better until I created this “truffle lemonade” to dress up my favorite…