Category — Side Dish Recipes

When I walk by those cute little baby artichokes in the store, I can’t resist them. They are adorable! Plus, unlike fully mature adult artichokes, they don’t actually have a “choke” to contend with, so they’re a bit easier to prepare. I like them parboiled and sauteed, then simply tossed with balsamic vinegar, a squeeze of lemon, a splash of tabasco, a handful of parmesan, and some savory garlic chips.

[Read more →]

Today was a really weird day. But that’s a long story. Suffice it to say, around 4 PM on a work day I found myself… making two kinds of cheese and sour cream souffles? Really? Yes, really.

[Read more →]

I can never resist an unexplored food product I come across (tiny rice, anyone?), so when I spotted these black chickpeas last week, they were in my grocery cart before you could say “garbanzo.”

[Read more →]

Purple potatoes and Yukon golds, butter, salt, pepper, a hot oven, and… you get Pommes in a Pile.

[Read more →]

In my home kitchen, I use a lot of shortcuts and tricks gleaned from my checkered pants past. From time to time I will pull one out of my toque and share it with you! If you have questions or requests, leave them in the comments and I’ll tackle them in a future post.

Have you ever made risotto with an elderly Italian woman? Be warned: she might yell at you for doing it wrong. Here are some things you can do to get top marks with the signoras!

• In the first part of the process, toast the rice well in the olive oil before adding any liquid. The rice should be a nice golden brown before proceeding to the liquid phase.
• You don’t have to heat the broth before adding it in. I swear. Don’t believe the broth-heating hype, you’re just making more work for yourself!
• While Arborio rice is the commonly recommended risotto rice, many chefs and grandmas prefer Carnaroli rice – try it if you can find it.
• If you’re adding things to the risotto, like sauteed vegetables or bacon or shrimp, cook them separately and fold them in at the very end.
• Also: I once read that Thomas Keller folds whipped heavy cream into his risotto at the end, to finish it. I have tried that and it’s not worth the effort – a splash of unwhipped cream or a knob of butter does the trick just as well.

It bears noting that I don’t use a recipe to make risotto, and I don’t think you need to either. It’s one of my favorite things to make when I need to make a good side dish and I don’t want to go to the market, because you can add most anything to it. The whole process takes about 20-30 minutes, and shouldn’t be made ahead because it will ruin the texture.

[Read more →]

Have you ever heard of white soy sauce? I hadn’t, but when I saw this box at my local store I found myself shielding my eyes from the $18 price tag and bringing it home, eager for a soy sauce unboxing.

[Read more →]

This is my new favorite potato salad recipe. It’s tangy and delicious with a vinegary bite that sneaks up on you. It’s also not full of mayonnaise or other fattening things. With all the celery in it, you can practically consider it health food. I make a batch and bring it to work for a healthy, balanced, and filling lunch.

The recipe is from Martha Rose Shulman’s Recipes for Health series in the New York Times–a source of recipes I have turned to many times with great success. I have not tried a bad recipe from the series yet. All have turned out fantastically and been reasonably easy to prepare. I like them so much that I just ordered the physical cookbook–which is something I almost never do. I own very few cookbooks.

P.S. I use Fage nonfat plain yogurt to lower the calories further.

P.P.S. Maybe you are thinking it’s weird to talk about potato salad in December, but if you live in California you are not calibrated to think about potato salad only in the summer!

Want to get rid of all that skanky produce in your CSA box or bottom fridge drawer? Want to get all your vitamins and minerals in one meal? Want to shrink your muffintop? Boy, have I got good news for you. Here’s how it works:

Heat your oven to 350. Put a piece of foil or parchment on a rimmed baking sheet. Add peeled and roughly chopped root vegetables like carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, potatoes, rutabagas, etc. They can be kind of gnarly and skanky and overripe–it’s OK! Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour.

Now, add softer vegetables, like onions, tomatoes, leeks, and garlic cloves. (I used way overripe, mushy, squirty, bruised tomatoes, that I would otherwise have had to throw away.) Drizzle with oil again and salt and pepper again. Roast for another 30 minutes to an hour, until vegetables are soft and starting to brown.

[Read more →]

I make brussels sprouts a lot but I never use a recipe. Sometimes they come out delicious! Other times, a bit lackluster. I decided to bring some discipline into my life and actually follow a recipe from White on Rice Couple because these guys never disappoint. Hey, whaddaya know? That turned out to be an excellent idea. This is now my go-to brussels sprouts recipe. When I serve it to friends, they always ask for the recipe.

[Read more →]

Last week, we had a terrific meal at Picán Restaurant in Oakland. One of the highlights was a seasonal tomato and peach panzanella (bread salad). I did my level best to re-create it at home and it made for a hearty, simple, summery side dish. Of course, the one at Picán had bacon in it, so that’s always an option…

[Read more →]