Best of all, these require no effort other than peeling and cutting. They will hold in the oven for awhile, so if they are done before the rest of the meal is cooked, they will keep without getting dried out. Guests love them and they couldn’t be easier to make.

The carrots cook down quite a lot, so I usually allot at least 2 whole carrots per person. This recipe will serve 4, but for each additional person just add more carrots and more oil and seasonings.

You might be tempted to use the pre-cut “baby” carrots instead of peeling and cutting larger carrots. Now I am all for making life easier but I will honestly say that for some reason, they just don’t taste very good when prepared this way. If you’re rushed for time, you can try using them, but I don’t really recommend it. Still, any carrots are better than no carrots!

Recipe: Easy Oven-Roasted Carrots
serves 4 as a side dish

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 large carrots
• a couple glugs of olive oil
• 1 to 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 large pinch ground cinnamon
• coarse salt (like Kosher salt) to taste

METHOD:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Peel carrots and rinse them off, or if you prefer to leave the peels on, just scrub and rinse very well to remove all dirt. Cut off ends. Cut into 3 inch segments, then quarter each segment (you can half the smallest pieces if quarters seems too small.)
• Put carrots in an oven-proof metal or ceramic pan like an 8 inch square or round pan. Add a few glugs of olive oil, spices, and salt to taste. Toss with a wooden spoon to coat.
• Cook for about 1 hour, stirring once. Serve immediately or turn off the oven and leave carrots in until serving time.

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Warm out of the oven, they are little wedges of heaven. The next day you can pop them in the toaster to imitate that fresh-baked feeling. Either way they are great for brunch, tea, or in lieu of biscuits with a fried chicken dinner. I was on the verge of adding crispy bacon to the mix, so if that floats your boat, don’t let me stop you.

The key to flaky scones is to leave the butter pieces reasonably large so they melt and bubble and create little air pockets in the scones during the baking process. I like to mix this up with my fingers so I can feel the butter pieces, but you can use a pastry blender if you prefer. The ideal size and shape is either little balls, like small lentils, or flat pieces about the size and shape of cornflakes.

Recipe: Buttery Cheddar and Scallion Scones
makes 8 scones

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1/2 cup butter, cold and cut into small cubes
• 6 green onions, trimmed and finely chopped, white and light green parts only
• 1 cup medium or sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tblsp half and half or heavy cream

METHOD:

• Preheat oven to 400F and prepare a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat.
• Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cayenne.
• Add butter and use your fingers or a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour mixture until the butter pieces are the size of small lentils. There can also be flat pieces of butter about the shape and size of a cornflake.
• Add cheese and green onion and mix to combine. Stir in 1/2 cup of half and half or cream just until dough comes together. If it’s too dry, add a little more.
• Move dough to a floured surface and fold over on itself just once or twice to totally combine. Pat into a circle about 7 or 8 inches in diameter. Cut into 8 wedges. Transfer to baking sheet, leaving about 1/2 inch between each scone.
• Brush top of each scone with remaining 2 Tblsp cream. Sprinkle with coarse salt and additional cayenne pepper (optional.)
• Bake 20 minutes, until golden brown on the bottom and top. Serve warm.

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As luck would have it, it turned out to be a very, very good salad that I will be making many more times. When my guests asked for the recipe, I had to demur. I had not even written down the ingredients. So I promised to re-create it as soon as possible and pass along the recipe.

I am not a big fan of raw kale by itself or in big pieces, but shredding it and balancing it with cabbage makes a salad that’s pretty, good for you, and great tasting. I used clementines but if you can’t find them, you can use oranges. At home, I don’t normally supreme my citrus (by which I mean take off all the pithy white bits) but if you want to do that then I recommend this tutorial from Coconut and Lime. I think you could top this with grilled steak or chicken for a main course salad. Enjoy!

Recipe: Kale & Cabbage Salad with Miso Dressing 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 bunch kale (I used Tuscan, but any kind is fine)
• 1 small head cabbage
• 1-2 avocados, cubed
• 4-5 seedless clementines, peeled and segmented
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 3 Tblsp olive oil or vegetable oil
• 2 Tblsp white miso paste
• 2 Tblsp rice vinegar
• 1 Tblsp honey
• 2 tsp very hot water
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp smooth Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

METHOD:

• Wash and dry kale well. Grasp each kale leaf at the bottom of the stalk between your thumb and forefinger, and run your fingers up the stalk to separate the leaf from the stalk. Discard the stalks and stack the leaves. Fold the leaves lengthwise and  shred finely with a large knife. Place in a large salad bowl
• Remove outer leaves and stalk of cabbage, then cut into quarters. Use a large knife to shred as finely as possible. Add to the bowl with the kale. Combine with your hands or salad tongs.
• Top kale and cabbage with clementine segments, almonds, and avocado.
• In a small bowl, whisk remaining ingredients together well, ensuring miso is well broken up and combined. Toss about half the dressing with the salad. Add more dressing if desired. Serve immediately.
• Note: you can make the dressing up to 24 hours in advance if desired. Store in the fridge and whisk well before serving.

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Do you ever see these things in the store and think “what the hell is that? And how do you eat it?” This is the unattractive and underloved celery root, which is the root of the celery plant. It kind of tastes like celery, but better and with a completely different texture. Once you peel away all the knobbly Hobbit-y bits you get a white, starchy root vegetable that looks like a potato.

The celery flavor goes really well with a hearty, saucy beef or pork dish, like short ribs or pork stew.

Recipe: Celery Root and Cauliflower Puree
serves 6-8

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 whole celery roots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 head cauliflower, leaves trimmed, roughly chopped
• 4-6 Tblsp butter
• 1/2 cup creme fraiche

METHOD:

• Put vegetables into a pot of salted water. Bring to a boil then cook about 15 minutes, until celery root is tender when you stick a knife in.
• Drain vegetables and put them in a food processor or food mill. Add butter, creme fraiche, and salt and pepper to taste, and process or mill until smooth.
• Serve immediately.

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I always make mashed potatoes a little differently, so I’m not here to share a specific recipe – but rather a group of the most important scientific potato facts and chef tips gleaned from years of experimentation and experience. Armed with this knowledge, you will never need a recipe to make fabulous mashed potatoes under any circumstances.

Boiling the potatoes

My favorite food science nerd Harold McGee has some complicated reason why you should put potatoes in cold water and then bring them to a boil, instead of putting them directly into boiling water – it’s something about the heat forming a starch crust on the potatoes. Whatever the reason is, you should do what he’s says because he’s always right. Don’t serve people crusty potatoes. Start with cold water and bring them to a boil. After about 15 minutes, test with a sharp knife to see if it enters the potato very easily. If not, cook longer and keep testing.

Science says: add fat first, liquid second

Some recipes tell you to add butter and milk all at the same time, but that is also a big mistake. A while back I read an article from America’s Test Kitchen that really opened my eyes on this topic. They noted that the starchy structure of the potatoes absorb molecules in a specific way. If you add the milk first and then the butter, the potato molecules get filled up with milk molecules and the butter just floats around on the outside – giving you grainy mashed potatoes. However, if you add the butter first, the fat molecules get all up in the potatoes first, making them creamy and buttery. Then you add the milk to thin and smooth the mixture.

How do restaurants get them so rich and creamy?

You know those potatoe purees you get in a super fancy restaurant, that are so rich, velvety, and smooth they barely taste like potatoes at all? At the risk of being banned from the secret club of former chefs, I am going to reveal a somewhat shocking secret. Those may be in the ballpark of being literally half butter. Yes, I mean 2 parts potatoes to 1 part butter. They’re also usually put through a potato ricer. So if you’re interested in getting more of a potato puree texture, add copious amounts of butter (and some heavy cream and lots of salt while you’re at it) and keep the cardiologist on speed dial.

The tools

If you are anti-lump, your best bet is a potato ricer. You can use a standard masher but you will have to work very hard to get no lumps. If you want fewer lumps, use one that looks like a grid (like this) not one that looks like squiggly lines (this) – the squiggly one is almost impossible to use for super smooth mashed potatoes.

You can use a stand mixer or handheld mixer, but you should be careful because you can get glue-y mashed potatoes which are so bad, they are actually worse than no mashed potatoes at all. If you’re using a stand mixer, start with the flat blade, then switch to the whisk attachment to get out all the lumps. With a handheld mixer, I like to pre-smash the potatoes a bit before adding the power of the mixer, as a precaution against overmixing.

Avoid a food processor and an immersion blender at all costs, unless you were that weird kid who actually liked eating the library paste, or need something to affix wallpaper with – the speed of the blades will smash that starch into a sticky mess of glue before you can say “gravy.”

What potatoes to use? 

There is a lot of discussion about this and I’d love to tell you that there is no right answer, but that would be a lie. The best potatoes to use are Yukon golds. The combination of starch and density makes the best mashed potatoes. If you can’t get them, use white potatoes. If you can’t get those, use russet potatoes, but if you have enough time, peel and cut them the night before and leave them in a bowl of water in the refrigerator overnight to remove some of the starch before cooking.

Preparing the potatoes

Cut the potatoes such that each piece is roughly the same size and thickness so they boil evenly. Otherwise, they will cook unevenly and you’ll get some hard ones and some soft ones.

If you’re lazy and don’t want to peel the potatoes, that’s OK, but make sure to wash and scrub them well with water before cooking and roughly chop them. If you leave skins on, you might want to rename the potatoes “smashed potatoes” or call them “rustic” or “country-style” or something to act like you did it on purpose and hide the fact that you were just being lazy.

Thomas Keller thinks that for a potato puree you should boil potatoes whole in their skins, then scoop out the flesh and throw away the skins. I have tried this and can discern no taste difference, but if you hate peeling but don’t want peels, this might be a good solution for you.

How to make them ahead

You can make good mashed potatoes a whole day in advance of serving them – and that will involve butter and cream cheese. Here is a recipe that utilizes this technique in case you’re an advance planner.

Mashed potato add-ins and substitutions

You probably know that the basic mashed potato components are butter, milk or cream, and salt and pepper. (Some people like to add a pinch of nutmeg, but I think those people are crazy.) Boil the potatoes per above instructions, drain well, and mash with cut cubes of butter (and/or some of the add-ins below – like sour cream, cream cheese, or what have you.) Add milk, half and half, or cream a bit at a time, plus salt and pepper, and keep mashing and adding until you get the desired smoothness.

There are lots of other ways to change it up, though – whether you’re vegan, lactose-intolerant, or just want some complimentary flavors going on.

In addition to/in place of the butter, try:

• cream cheese
• sour cream
• browned butter
• creme fraiche
• soft cheese like a mild brie
• olive oil
• soft goat cheese
• mascarpone

In addition to or in place of the milk/cream, try:

• chicken broth
• buttermilk
• almond milk
• soy milk

Things you can mix in:

• caramelized onions
• roasted garlic
• horseradish
• dijon or whole grain mustard
• wasabi paste
• grated parmesan or other hard cheese
• grated cheddar
• crispy bacon pieces
• roasted red peppers
• sundried tomatoes
• chopped fresh herbs
• chives
• parsley
• chopped sauteed kale or cabbage
• curry powder
• chili powder
• pesto
• orange zest or lemon zest (works well with parsley)
• truffle oil

 What’s your favorite way to make mashed potatoes? Did I miss any tips or add-in ideas? I would love to hear them! 

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It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and a lot delicious. You can put it on toast with a little ricotta or cream cheese, you can put a little dish of it on a cheese platter, you can put a dollop on a pork chop or some chicken, or you can eat it straight from the jar. No judgment here.

If you just make it and put it in the fridge, it will keep for about a week. I like to make a sextuple or octuple batch and pressure-can it so I can save it for later and give little jars as gifts. If you want to make a big batch, you can bargain with your local tomato seller- they’ll usually sell you a bunch of the overripe ones for a much cheaper price.

Sweet and Spicy Tomato Jam

makes about 1/2 pint

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I also think barley is an unsung hero among better-known grains. While newer arrivals to the scene like quinoa and wheat berries are getting all the play, good ol’ barley has been around for ages, the workhorse of the whole grain world, just minding its business and keeping quiet in the background. This recipe is an old one that my Mom has been making for years, and it still wows guests as a savory, creamy, satisfying side dish.

Easy Oven Barley Risotto
serves 6 as a side dish

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 Tblsp butter
• 1 yellow onion, chopped finely
• 2 large or 3 small cloves garlic, chopped finely
• 1 1/2 cups crimini or brown mushrooms, chopped finely
• 1 1/2 cups pearl barley
• 4 cups chicken broth, mushroom broth, or vegetable broth

METHOD:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Heat an oven-proof dish, melt the butter and add onions, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook, stirring, until onions are soft and translucent and mushrooms are browned. Add barley and saute to toast, stirring, about 3-5 minutes more.
• Add broth and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and put a lid on the pot.
• Put the pot in the oven and cook for about 1 hour, until barley is soft and cooked through.
• Stir the barley and remove to a serving dish. Serve immediately.

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There are several watermelon/feta salad recipes out there, but many of them use balsamic vinegar, which I like with feta but not with watermelon. Some use no dressing at all which is just crazy. This one uses a light dressing of lime juice, olive oil, and a pinch of cayenne, as a nod to the chili-and-lime-on-sweet-fruit thing that you often get in Mexico. The sweet/salty/spicy combination is pretty much perfect.

You could replace half of the watermelon with sweet, flavorful heirloom tomatoes for another layer of flavor, color, and texture. If you’re serving this alongside grilled chicken or lamb, tomatoes would be a fantastic addition.

Watermelon Salad with Feta and Mint
serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 lbs seedless watermelon (I used half a watermelon)
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
• 1 1/2 cups baby spinach leaves
• juice of 2 limes
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt
• cayenne pepper or other hot spice of your choice
• 4 oz good quality feta

METHOD:

• Remove rind from watermelon and cut flesh into 3/4 inch cubes. Put cubes in a bowl.
• Chop mint leaves finely and add to bowl. Chop spinach leaves and add to bowl.
• In a separate bowl, whisk lime juice and olive oil together to combine well. Add salt to taste (about 2 large pinches worked for me) and cayenne to taste (1 large pinch for me.) Add to watermelon and toss gently with a spatula.
• Remove to serving plate and crumble feta on top. Serve immediately.

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Roasted Sweet Potato & Cauliflower Puree

Serves 4-6 as a side dish

Ingredients:

• 1 head cauliflower
• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• 3/4 cup thick Greek yogurt (like Fage – nonfat, 2%, or full fat is OK)
• 1/4 cup milk
• Olive oil, salt, pepper, and ground cumin to taste

Method:

• Heat oven to 400 F.
• Cut cauliflower head in half. Remove leaves and use your knife to cut a V-shape and remove the tough inner core. Cut into rough florets.
• Peel sweet potatoes and cut lengthwise, then into chunks roughly the same size as the cauliflower pieces.
• On a baking sheet, arrange sweet potatoes in a single layer in the center and cauliflower at the outer edges. Drizzle with olive oil (about 1-2 Tbsp total) then sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper, and ground cumin.
• Roast in the oven for 30-45 minutes, until cauliflower is browned on the bottom and sweet potatoes are very soft.
• Put cauliflower and sweet potatoes in food processor and pulse to chop finely. Add yogurt and continue to process.
• Add milk and process until smooth. Taste and add more salt, pepper, and cumin as needed.
• Serve immediately.

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Padron peppers are one of the most exciting vegetables you can buy, because about 95% of them are sweet and delicious, with maybe just a hint of spice, while the other 5% are super spicy. You can’t tell which is which, though, until you take a bite. This makes them fun to share with friends, and the risk/reward really livens things up. They are almost always served in some variation of the same preparation: sauteed in a pan. When I saw them at the Farmers Market recently, I bought a whole mess, rinsed them off, and quickly seared them with salt in a hot pan of olive oil. They only take about 5 minutes, and you just eat them whole off the stem.

So thanks, restaurant mafia- without you, I may have died not knowing what a padron pepper was or how to eat one. They’re so easy and tasty, and their spice variance provides a nice conversation point. These are definitely becoming part of the regular last-minute side dish repertoire.

This is too easy to be an actual recipe, so I’ll just explain how you make them. Rinse whole padron peppers off well and leave to dry in a colander. Heat a little olive oil in a pan on high heat and heat to very hot. Add peppers and season with salt. Cook, tossing or stirring often, for about 5 minutes, until peppers have some blistered and blackened bits and they are soft enough to eat. Serve immediately with an empty bowl on the table for discarded stems.

A quick note: I don’t really like bell peppers, especially green ones, but I like these.

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