Glazed Carrots with Cardamom and Ginger

Recipe by Shawn McClain from Food & Wine

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
4 cardamom pods
3 pounds carrots, sliced on the diagonal 1/3 inch thick (you can also use baby carrots left whole)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup fresh carrot juice
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper

In a large skillet, melt the butter. Add the ginger, garlic and cardamom and cook over moderate heat until fragrant but not browned, about 2 minutes. Add the carrots and sugar and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Add the carrot and orange juices and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

Cover with parchment paper and a tight-fitting lid and cook the carrots over low heat until tender, about 12 minutes. Uncover and cook over moderate heat until the carrots are glazed, about 5 minutes longer. Discard the ginger and cardamom pods, transfer to a bowl and serve.

The carrots can be refrigerated overnight. Rewarm before serving.

Castilian-Style Potatoes

Recipe from Penelope Casas The Foods & Wines of Spain

3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons minced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
3 large potatoes, cubed
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon paprika
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 bay leaf

Heat the oil in a shallow casserole. Saute the onion and garlic until the onion is wilted. Add the potatoes and saute 5 minutes more. Sprinkle in the flour and paprika, stirring to coat the potatoes. Barely cover the potatoes with hot water. Add salt, pepper, and bay leaf and cook, covered, until the potatoes are tender and most of the liquid absorbed, about 20 minutes.

Cauliflower with Garlic and Anchovy

Recipe by Mark Bittman in The Minimalist Entertains

1 large head cauliflower, at least 2 pounds, trimmed of green parts and cut or broken into florets
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
5 to 10 anchovy fillets, to taste, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste, optional
Minced fresh parsley leaves

Place the cauliflower in a steamer above an inch or two of boiling salted water. Cover and cook until it is just tender, about 10 minutes, then plunge into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.

Combine the oil, anchovies, garlic, and crushed red pepper, if you are using it, in a large, deep skillet and turn the heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the anchovies begin to break up and the garlic begins to color, about 5 minutes.

Add the cauliflower and raise the heat to medium-high. Continue to cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes more, until the cauliflower is coated with the oil and heated through. Garnish with the parsley and serve hot or at room temperature.

Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan

Recipe by Mark Bittman in The Minimalist Entertains

1 thick slice good bread
1 small chunk Parmigiano-Reggiano, about 1 ounce
1 1/2 pounds thin asparagus, more or less
3 tablespoons butter, extra virgin olive oil, or a combination
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat oven to 500 degrees; while it heats, put bread in, and check frequently until it is lightly toasted and dry. Coarsely grind or grate bread and cheese together (a small food processor is best), and keep crumbs larger than commercial bread crumbs.

Rinse asparagus, and break off woody bottoms. Lay stalks in a baking dish that will hold them in two or three layers. Toss with bits of butter or the oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and place in oven.

Roast 5 minutes, then shake dish to redistribute butter or oil. Roast 5 minutes more, then test for doneness by piercing a spear with point of a sharp knife; it should slide in but meet a little resistance. (Up to this point, the recipe can be made as much as two hours before serving; just leave asparagus at room temperature).

Turn on broiler and place rack as close as possible to heating element. Top asparagus with cheese-crumb mixture and run under broiler to brown, a minute or two. Serve hot or at room temperature.

This recipe is easily varied. For instance, forget the topping and toss the spears with 1 tablespoon of minced garlic when you add the oil, then roast. Skip the broiler step. For roast asparagus with soy and sesame, use 1 tablespoon peanut oil instead of olive oil or butter. Halfway through roasting, add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce to the asparagus, toss gently and finish roasting. When the spears are cooked, top with about 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds and run under the broiler until they pop, about 1 minute. Finish with a teaspoon or two of soy sauce.

String Beans With Ginger and Garlic

Recipe from The New York Times

Salt
2 1/2 pounds string beans (French-style slim haricots verts work especially well), trimmed
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup minced fresh ginger (about 6 inches ginger root, peeled)
4 medium-size garlic cloves, minced

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and fill a large bowl with ice water. Working in two batches, boil beans until just tender but still crisp and bright green. Start testing after 4 minutes or so, being careful not to overcook. When done, plunge beans into ice water to stop cooking, lift out immediately when cool and drain on towels. (Recipe can be made to this point up to a day in advance and kept refrigerated, wrapped in towels.)

When ready to cook, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a wide skillet over high heat. Add half the beans, half the ginger and half the garlic, and cook, stirring and tossing constantly, until beans are heated through and ginger and garlic are softened and aromatic. Sprinkle with salt, and remove to a serving dish. Repeat with remaining oil, beans, ginger and garlic. Serve.

Honey-Roasted Squash

Recipe from O, The Oprah Magazine

5 pound(s) mixed winter squash
1 piece(s) (2 inches) ginger, peeled
1/4 cup(s) honey
2 tablespoon(s) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon(s) kosher salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees, and position rack in middle of oven. Line a jelly-roll pan with foil. Cut each squash in half and scoop out seeds and fibrous flesh from inside. Then cut each half in half again and transfer cut side up to the prepared pan.

Thinly slice ginger and then slice again into thin matchsticks and set aside. In a small saucepan, stir together honey, butter, ginger, and 1/4 cup water. Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a simmer. Brush over squash and drizzle any remaining mixture on top. Sprinkle salt over squash.

Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour, turning and basting squash every 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown and fork-tender. (Add a few tablespoons of water to pan as squash roasts if it seems to be burning.)

Place squash on a serving dish and drizzle evenly with pan juices.

Stuffed Artichokes

Recipe from Daily Candy

4 artichokes
½-¾ c. bread crumbs
4 tbsp. good, sharp Parmesan cheese
2 heaping tsp. fresh oregano, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, quartered
Olive oil for drizzling

Trim artichokes by cutting one inch off the top of the artichoke and cutting off the stem at the bottom (so the artichoke can sit upright).

Use kitchen scissors to trim the pointy tips off each petal. Discard petals that are split or bruised. Set aside.

Combine bread crumbs, Parmesan, and oregano in a bowl.

Loosen the petals of a artichoke from the center (so that it looks like a flower in bloom). Fill in each petal with a little of the bread crumb mixture, making sure it’s packed relatively tightly. Push a piece or two of garlic right into the center of the artichoke. Drizzle lightly with olive oil.

Place the artichokes (stems down) in a pot. Make sure they fit snugly so the artichokes will remain upright. Fill the pot with an inch or two of water and put a tight-fitting lid on the pot. Steam over medium heat for 40 minutes or until the petals can be pulled from the center of the vegetable without too much tugging.

Green Beans with Almonds

1/2 pound green beans, trimmed
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup blanched whole almonds, finely ground or sliced

Cook beans in 3-qt. saucepan of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes, and drain. Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over moderate heat, then cook garlic, stirring, until it just begins to turn golden, about 1 minute. Add almonds and cook, stirring, until they begin to color slightly, about 2 minutes. Add beans and cook, stirring, until tender and heated through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Zucchini Cakes

Recipe from Real Food Has Curves for The New York Times

4 medium zucchini
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 small yellow onion, peeled
1/2 cup low-fat ricotta
5 tablespoons whole-wheat flour
1 large egg, beaten with a fork in a small bowl
1/2 teaspoon mild paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil

Trim the ends off the zucchini, then shred them into a colander, using the large holes of a box grater. (You’ll need about 4 cups shredded zucchini.)

Sprinkle the zucchini shreds with salt, toss well and set in the sink for 15 minutes to drain.

Rinse the zucchini shreds under cool water in the colander. Then pick up handfuls and squeeze them over the sink to get rid of almost all of the moisture. Set the shreds in a large bowl.

Grate the onion into the bowl using the large holes of the box grater.

Stir in the ricotta, whole-wheat flour, egg, paprika, dill and pepper, just until the mixture is uniform and there are no streaks of dry flour anywhere.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Swirl in the oil, then use a 1/2-cup measuring cup to scoop up the zucchini mixture and plop it into the skillet, scraping out any mixture left in the cup. Flatten the mixture into a thick cake with the bottom of the cup and continue making more.

Cook until lightly browned, about 4 minutes, then turn them with a large spatula and continue cooking until lightly browned on the other side and a little firm to the touch, about 4 more minutes. If you can’t fit all six into your skillet, you’ll need a little more oil for the second batch.

Yield: Serves 6

Rajas con Crema

6 chiles poblanos
1 onion, sliced
Butter or vegetable oil
l/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cream

Place the chiles on a large griddle over medium-high heat. Roast until the skin blisters and turns black. Remove chiles from griddle and place in a plastic bag, allowing them to sweat for 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool. Peel and discard the outer skin of the chiles; halve length-wise and remove the seeds and veins. Slice into thick strips. Set aside. 

Heat the butter or vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat; cook the onion until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the poblano strips, salt and cream to the saucepan. Cook at a simmer until hot, about 5 minutes more.

Optional: add corn kernels and/or sliced mushrooms to the rajas.

Garlic Roasted Potatoes

Recipe from Ina Garten for the Food Network

3 pounds small red or white potatoes
1/4 cup good olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons minced garlic (6 cloves)
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut the potatoes in half or quarters and place in a bowl with the olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic; toss until the potatoes are well coated. Transfer the potatoes to a sheet pan and spread out into 1 layer. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until browned and crisp. Flip twice with a spatula during cooking in order to ensure even browning.

Remove the potatoes from the oven, toss with parsley, season to taste, and serve hot.