Sunday night pasta

This year we're growing a lovely Italian heirloom zucchini called Ortolana di Faenza. (We bought the seeds from Renees Garden. And yes, we're also growing the climbing zucchini Trombetta di Albenga. It is not fruiting yet because it's still working on world domination.)

Ortolana di Faenza has pale green striped zucchini that we've been picking at about 6 inches long. I sliced some into very thin strips and tossed them with hot pasta with black olives, walnuts, fresh herbs and lots of garlic for a great Sunday supper from our garden.

Here's what I did:

Fettuccine with Zucchini and Herbs
1 3/4 lb slender zucchini
1 tsp sea salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp minced black olives
1/2 tsp dried crushed chiles
1 lb fettuccine
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped
1 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup basil, thinly sliced
1/4 cup mint, thinly sliced
2-3 zucchini flowers, thinly sliced

Cut the ends off the zucchinis and cut them in about 3 inch chunks. Carefully slice them lengthwise into thin ribbons — I used a mandolin. Then cut each ribbon into narrow strips. Put them in a colander over a large bowl and sprinkle with the sea salt. Toss gently and let sit for 10 minutes. Then rinse the salt off and drain the zucchini well. Finally, spread them on a kitchen towel, cover with another towel, and roll them up. Press gently then set them aside so the towels absorb a lot of the moisture.

In a large serving bowl, combine the garlic, olives and chiles. Bash them together a little to form a paste.

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until just tender. Drain, reserving a half cup of the pasta cooking water.

Add the pasta to the serving bowl with the olive oil and 1/4 cup pasta water. Toss well. Add the zucchini, walnuts, half the parmesan, and all the basil and mint. Toss again and season with salt and pepper. Add more pasta cooking water if the dish is too dry.

Sprinkle the zucchini flowers on top and serve the extra parmesan on the side.

Serves 4

zucchini flowers, purple basil and mint

Greek Salad

Our tomatoes are starting to really produce. I used them in this Greek style salad the other night. Sadly our cucumbers are suffering from drought. Fortunately the organic farmers at the Hollywood Farmers Market have my back.

The key to a good Greek salad is crunchy vegetables to offset the soft tomatoes, feta and olives. I vary them depending on what's available. This is my standard recipe. If you have mint in the garden, it makes a great addition.

Greek Salad
1/2 red onion
1 tsp white vinegar
3 medium or large tomatoes
1 cucumber
1/2 green pepper
romaine lettuce
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
5 tbsp olive oil
2-3 oz feta, crumbled
2-3 tbsp chopped fresh mint
12 kalamata olives, pitted if desired

Cut onion in slivers. Place in a bowl and cover with cold water. Add the white vinegar. Let sit at least 10 minutes.

Chop the tomatoes. Peel and seed the cucumber. Cut in bite-sized pieces. Cut pepper in slivers.

Drain the onion.

Chop the lettuce and put in a large bowl. Add the drained onion, cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers. Whisk together the red wine vinegar and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add a little more oil if desired, but it should be a sharp dressing. Toss the dressing with the vegetables.

Put the vegetables on a platter. Sprinkle the feta, mint and olives over top.

Serves 3-4

Grilled Zucchini and Onions

The zucchini plants we grew from seed have started producing, which is exciting. Expect many zucchini recipes to be showing up this summer, because zucchini tends to be prolific. Fortunately there are many ways to enjoy them.

The other day I barbecued chunks of zucchini and slices of red onion. Tossed with fresh mint and thyme from the garden, they made a great dinner alongside corn on the cob, potato salad and homegrown cherry tomatoes. Larry grilled some shisito peppers for us to munch on while the main courses were cooking.

Fresh vegetables eaten in the fresh air — summer is great.

Grilled Zucchini and Red Onions

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp chopped mint
1 tsp finely chopped thyme

1 small clove garlic, finely chopped

salt

3/4 lb zucchini, sliced in 1 inch rounds

1 large red onion, sliced in 1/2 inch rings

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mint, thyme, garlic and a little salt. Set aside.

Barbecue the zucchini and onion until they're starting to brown. Turn them over and cook another few minutes. Put them in a large bowl.

Pour the dressing over the hot vegetables and toss to coat.

Cover the bowl and let the vegetables marinate in the dressing for about 10 minutes — this really increases the flavor. Toss the vegetables again and serve.

Serves 2-3

Bean and Barley Salad

It was hot on Sunday but I was determined that we would eat lunch outside.

So as the main course I served a chilled bean and barley salad. Fresh herbs added zest to the complete protein of beans and grains. I had planned to scatter feta over the top, but I forgot. It was still yummy. (I would have used about 2oz diced feta.)

Barley is best known as a soup grain, but it makes a lovely salad — more interesting and less dry than rice.

This salad is also good with black beans. And the herbs and vegetables can be swapped out for whatever is in your fridge.

The salad lasts well for a few days - I'll be eating the leftovers for lunch this week.

Bean and Barley Salad
2/3 cup chickpeas or other beans (or 2 14-oz cans)
1 cup barley
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup chopped mint
1/2 cup diced celery
1/3 cup chopped red onion
1 tsp grated lemon rind
3 tbsp lemon juice

Cook the chickpeas until tender. (In a pressure cooker it will take 22 minutes. In a pot of boiling water, 2-3 hours.) Drain and set aside to cool. (Or drain and rinse the canned beans.)

Cook barley in simmering water until tender, about 45 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine cherry tomatoes, cucumber, garlic, parsley, mint, celery and red onion. Stir in the chickpeas and barley. Toss with the lemon rind and juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper (more salt than you might think — the barley can take a lot).

Chill until ready to serve.

Garnish with watercress, nasturtium flowers and feta if desired.

Cauliflower and Beet Salad

Continuing the theme of vegetable salads, this beauty showcases the contrasting colors of beets and cauliflower. Decorative hard boiled egg and fresh sprouts up the protein without making it too heavy to eat on these warm summer evenings.

If you've only ever eaten mushy canned beets, try buying fresh beets and roasting them. It will be a revelation. They are tender yet firmly hold their shape. And they have an earthy flavor that goes beautifully with zesty lemony dressings like this one.

The cauliflower and beets are cooked separately and seasoned, then arranged together on a plate with the dressing poured over.

It's a pretty and nourishing supper. Leftovers are good the next day too.

Cauliflower and Beet Salad
3 medium beets, about 3/4 lb
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 egg
1 head of cauliflower (about 1 1/2 lbs)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sliced shallot
2 tbsp parsley
1 tbsp mint
radish sprouts to garnish (opt)

If your beets came with greens, cut them off and save them for a dish of wilted greens. Scrub the roots well and bake them in a 400° oven until they are tender. This will take roughly 45 minutes to an hour depending on how big the beets are. Set them aside to cool a little, then peel if desired (not necessary but maybe prettier) and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices. Toss with a couple of teaspoons each of olive oil and red wine vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Pierce the thick end of the egg lightly with a pin (so it doesn't explode) then place in a small pan of boiling water and cook 10 minutes. Drain and fill the pan with cold water to let the egg cool a little. When you can handle it, crack and peel the shell off, and dice the egg finely.

Cut the cauliflower in inch-size (or slightly larger) florets. Steam until tender, about 6-8 minutes. Put in a bowl and toss with another couple of teaspoons of olive oil and the lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

Marinate the sliced shallot in 2 tbsp red wine vinegar in a small bowl for 5 minutes. Add the parsley, mint, and 5 tbsp olive oil. Fold in the chopped egg and again season with salt and pepper.

Arrange the beets around the edges of a platter. Pile the cauliflower in the middle. Spoon the egg dressing decoratively over the salad and scatter sprouts or more herbs decoratively.

Serves 3-4

Spring Seasoning

Our mint is thriving and the lemon tree has more lemons than leaves. Combining the two makes one of my favorite seasonings for plain cooked grains. I like it with barley and brown rice, and the other night I made it with oat groats.

Oat groats are the whole grain of the oat - they look very similar to brown rice. Although we most often think of oats for breakfast, I sometimes cook them for dinner as a change. They have a little inherent sweetness, but the lemon and mint override it.

I served these oats the other night with Balsamic Bean Stew and steamed broccoli.

Oats with Mint and Lemon

2/3 cup whole oat groats

1 1/3 cups water

1/4 tsp salt

scant sprinkle of turmeric

2 tbsp chopped mint

1 tbsp chopped shallot

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp whole cumin seeds, toasted

Combine the oats, water, salt and turmeric in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cover with a tight-fitting lid, bring to the boil, and simmer over low heat about 40 minutes until the oats are tender. Stir occasionally to make sure the groats are not sticking to the bottom of the pan. All the water should be absorbed. When they're cooked, remove from the heat and let sit, covered 5 minutes.

Stir the mint, shallot, lemon juice and cumin seeds into the oats. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4

Pomegranate Relish

Since I decided to serve cranberries in a salad instead of a sauce, I was left with the need for a relish to go with the ham. I decided slightly sweet and minty would fit the bill, and served up this accompaniment of pomegranate seeds tossed with fresh mint. The slight crunch of the pomegranate seeds was a nice contrast to the Goat Cheese and Spinach Phyllo Extravaganza as well.

Plus it lasted a few days in the fridge - good with all the leftovers. It's colors are so festive I'll probably serve it again at Christmas.

Pomegranate Relish
1 tsp minced shallot
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 cup chopped mint
salt and pepper

I combined everything in a small bowl and served it. Yum.

Makes about 1/2 cup of fresh sweet-tart relish.

Orange and Cranberry Salad

I've never really warmed to cranberry sauce. My mother used to cook cranberries with orange zest and a little cardamom and they sat on the table and were returned to the kitchen untouched (at least by me). I didn't like the texture of the cooked berries. Of course, the stories of jellied cranberry sauce being slid out of the can and presented on a plate weird me out even more.

So I struggle to serve cranberries at Thanksgiving.

This year, however, I served them in a salad, and they were great. This is not the jello salad of the '70s with cranberries, tinned mandarin orange slices and miniature marshmallows. This is a healthy yet delicious updated version. No jello (not vegetarian) required.

 I combined chopped cranberries with crisp celery and sweet juicy oranges and served them on a bed of greens. The oranges provided sweetness without jammy-ness, and the lightly-sweetened cranberries were pleasantly tart but not overpowering. The salad provided a nice contrast to the creamed corn and scalloped potatoes.

I added a few home-grown arugula and nasturtium leaves to the butter lettuce for a little variety. Salad mix would be fine too. The mint adds a really nice perk, but if you don't have any, the salad will still be good. Also, olive oil can substitute for the walnut oil if needed.

Orange and Cranberry Salad
1 cup fresh or thawed frozen cranberries
2 oranges
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)
2 tbsp chopped red onion
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp grated ginger root
butter lettuce
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
1 tbsp walnut oil

Pulse cranberries in food processor 5 times to coarsely chop. Transfer to a bowl.

Cut the tops and bottoms from the oranges. Cut the peel and white pith from them, then hold them over the bowl and cut the sections from the membranes, letting juice and fruit fall into the bowl. Stir in celery, onion, sugar, lemon juice and ginger root. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour, or up to 2 days.

Toss lettuce and mint leaves with oil. Place on a serving platter. Top with the cranberry mixture.

Serves 4

Fava Beans with Mint

Our fava beans are producing well this year. I'm pretty proud of this, because I grew the plants from seeds we saved from last year's crop. I think this is the one vegetable I have good garden success with.

Up until now, Larry has not been impressed with fava beans as food. I pod them and blanch them and peel off the tough skin, and still he says meh. But when I served him these fava beans sautéd in olive oil with a little fresh mint from the garden, he said they were delicious. He even had a second helping.

So if your fava beans are not being appreciated by your family, give this recipe a try. It has the Larry stamp of approval.

Fava Beans with Mint
1 cup shelled fava beans
1 tbsp olive oil
1 handful mint

Blanch the fava beans in boiling water for 2 minutes, drain, put in an ice water bath, drain again. Pop the tough outer skin off each bean until you are left with bright green beans - most will split in half. Set these aside until just before dinner.

Warm the olive oil in a medium skillet. Add the fava beans and mint, and let warm over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until warmed through. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Serves 2

Roast Cauliflower

"Cauliflower steaks" seem to be popular at the moment, so when I saw organic cauliflower at the Hollywood Farmers Market, I picked one up to make into "steaks".

I used the oven-roasting technique Marie Simmons describes in her book Fresh & Fast Vegetarian. It's still cool in the evening these days, so turning on the oven felt good.

The "steaks" are actually thick slices of cauliflower. This only works in the center section of the cauliflower. The outer florets fell off and got put back in the fridge to be steamed another day as a side dish.

Roasting the cauliflower until tender, then seasoning with lemon juice and mint from the garden, made for a really delicious side dish. I served it along with roast asparagus alongside a dish of millet and arugula. Vegetables are great!

Roast Cauliflower
1 medium cauliflower (about 1 lb)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped mint
1/2 lemon

Place a cookie sheet in the oven and preheat to 450°F for 10 minutes.

Rinse the cauliflower and place it, stem side down, on a cutting board. Cut straight down into 1/2 inch slices. The edges will probably crumble into florets. That's okay - save them for another dish. I got three good steaks out of my cauliflower. Brush the steaks on each side with olive oil.

Remove the hot cookie sheet from the oven and place the cauliflower steaks on it. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Roast until the cauliflower is getting golden on the bottom, about 10 minutes. Turn it over carefully using a wide spatula, and bake another 10 minutes until golden on the other side and tender.

Put the cauliflower on a serving dish. Sprinkle with mint and lemon juice.

Serves 2-3

Green Beans with Hazelnuts

Finley Farms at the Hollywood Farmers Market has had excellent green beans this fall. The Finley children enjoy them raw. We've eaten them cooked but plain - simmered for 9 minutes in boiling water - no butter or salt or pepper required.

Cooking is really easy when you start with good produce.

The other night, however, I decided to dress up the green beans with some hazelnuts I found in the freezer and some mint and a lemon from the garden.

It is still an easy side dish - it can even be made ahead and served at room temperature - so it would be good for Thanksgiving.

Green Beans with Hazelnuts
1/4 cup hazelnuts
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
1 tbsp grated lemon peel
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt (or more to taste)
4 tbsp olive oil
3/4 lb green beans

Toast hazelnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat until they smell good and are golden when you break one open. Tip them onto a kitchen towel, and when they're cool enough to handle rub them with the towel to remove as many of the brown skins as possible. Chop coarsely and set aside. (This can be done hours or days ahead.)

Stir together the mint, lemon peel, lemon juice and salt. Whisk in the olive oil. Taste and add more salt if desired.

Cook the beans in boiling water until just cooked - 7-9 minutes.

Now you can choose whether to serve them right away as a warm vegetable side or later as a room-temperature salad.

I served them warm by tossing the beans with some of the dressing, putting them on a serving plate, and sprinkling the hazelnuts on top. I served the small amount of extra dressing on the side.

To serve them as a salad, when the beans are tender plunge them into ice water to cool, then drain and set aside. When ready to serve, toss with the dressing, sprinkle with the nuts and serve.

Serves 2-3

Warm Cherry Tomatoes

Hunting through the fridge the other day, I found a container of organic cherry tomatoes that I'd bought at our local grocery store. We've been enjoying locally-grown cherry tomatoes recently, and these well-travelled ones had been pushed to the back of the fridge. They were a little wrinkled from dehydration but otherwise fine. I didn't want to compost them, but they were not very appealing to eat raw. Instead, I warmed them in a little butter with mint. They rehydrated and turned into plump juicy minty morsels that added color to the dinner plate.

Warm Cherry Tomatoes

2 tbsp butter

1 small shallot

2 tbsp chopped fresh mint

3/4 lb cherry tomatoes

Warm the butter in a skillet. Peel and chop the shallot and add it to the pan along with the mint and tomatoes. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat until the tomatoes are warmed through, about 5 minutes.

Serves 2-3

Grilled Eggplant Salad

I know summer is the season of barbecuing, but I actually prefer to use my grill pan. I take an electric hot plate out on the patio, put my cast iron grill pan on it, and turn out great dishes like this eggplant salad.

Feel free to barbecue the eggplant if you prefer (especially if the barbecue is lit for another reason).

The greens on top of the eggplant are a combination of spicy arugula and lemony sorrel. If you can't find either, use more basil and mint and parsley. The idea is to have a fresh zesty contrast to the soft eggplant and salty feta.

I adapted the recipe from Jeanne Kelley's decidedly non-vegetarian book, Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes. (Warning - there's at least one dead animal picture in it.) However, the vegetable flavors she puts together are really good.

Grilled Eggplant Salad
1/2 lb eggplant
olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 small clove garlic
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup arugula
3/4 cup sorrel
1 cup mixed basil, parsley and cilantro
1 oz feta

Wash the eggplant, slice off each end and discard. Slice the rest into 1/2 inch thick circles. Brush them with oil and grill about 5 minutes per side until browned and tender. Remove from heat to a platter, and let cool to room temperature.

Whisk together the lemon, garlic, cumin and olive oil. Drizzle half over the cooled eggplant.

Add the greens to the remaining dressing and toss well. Put the greens on the eggplant, and scatter crumbled feta over the top.

Serves 2-3

Carrot Salad

On these warm days, it's nice to have a variety of salads to pique the appetite at dinner time.

The other day I blanched some carrots, tossed them in a simple vinaigrette, and let them cool to room temperature. They had a little heat, a little zest, and made a nice addition to a simple meal.

Carrot Salad
6 oz carrots, peeled
1 1/2 tsp cumin seed
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp sriracha or other hot sauce
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
4 green olives, pitted and sliced

Blanch the carrots for 4 minutes in boiling salted water. Drain.

Toast the cumin and coriander seeds in a cast iron pan over medium heat. When aromatic, remove from heat and grind in a spice grinder.

Whisk the ground seeds, olive oil, red wine vinegar and hot sauce together. Stir in the garlic and carrots. Toss the carrots to coat, then let cool.

Just before serving, add the mint and green olives.

Serves 2

Mango and Watercress Salad

Our local supermarket has been selling organic mangoes recently, and I can't resist buying them, eating them, and then planting the pits in hopes of growing a mango tree.

We mainly eat them in our morning fruit, but the other day I made this Asian-inspired salad with watercress picked from a pot on our patio (near the pot of soil containing yet-to-sprout mango pits) and a dressing of soy sauce and roasted sesame oil.

It sounded a little weird when I described it to Larry, but he was game, and we both thoroughly enjoyed it.

I think it would be good even without the mangos, although they do provide a sweet counter-balance to the heat of the watercress and the salt of the soy sauce.

Mango and Watercress Salad
1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 tsp roasted sesame oil
2 tbsp lime juice
2 drops tabasco
2 tsp soy sauce (preferably tamari)
salt and white pepper to taste
2 cups sliced romaine lettuce
2/3 cup loosely packed watercress, coarse stems discarded
1/4 cup grated carrot
1 tbsp cilantro, leaves torn
1 tbsp mint, leaves torn
1/2 mango, peeled, pitted and diced

In a small bowl, whisk together oils, lime juice, soy sauce, tabasco, and salt and pepper to taste.

Toss the romaine with a little dressing and spread on a large plate. Arrange the watercress and cilantro in layers on top, then scatter the herbs over top. Finish with the diced mango.

Serve the dressing on the side.

Serves 2

A Simple Eggplant Dinner

We stayed outside until dark the other day, sitting on the stoop in the garden, letting the dusk settle around us, feeling the heat dissipate, listening to the crickets start their evening song.

Then we realized we hadn't eaten dinner.

Fortunately I had picked a couple of eggplants, and I cooked them up with tomatoes, tofu and mint for a light yet satisfying meal. The fresh mint really enhanced this dish, giving it a perkiness that basil or oregano would not have done.

Tofu is a good quick protein source. Slice off a couple of pieces and fry them for a few minutes on each side. It doesn't get easier than that. Always buy organic tofu -- the non-organic kind is probably made from genetically-modified soybeans.

I used a can of diced tomatoes, but 2 cups of fresh ones would have been great too. (Although then the decision of to peel or not to peel comes into play, and it was still too hot in the kitchen to think about peeling tomatoes.)

The spice combination comes from Marie Simmons in her book Fresh & Fast Vegetarian. Her recipe was a little more complicated than this, but the spice combo is a winner.

I cooked the tomatoes in a stainless steel skillet and then added them to the eggplant and tofu in my cast iron frypan. While it's not recommended to cook acid foods like tomatoes in cast iron because they break down the surface of the pan, 10-15 minutes does no harm. I figure a little cast iron in my food is not a bad thing anyway.

I used a long white eggplant -- Doughboy -- and a round fat one -- the label has disappeared, but I think it's an Italian one. I didn't salt and drain them. I just sliced them and added them to the pan. An advantage of using cast iron is I could use just a little oil, and then let the eggplant sear in the hot pan after they'd absorbed the oil.

Quick and delicious. It doesn't get much better than that.

Eggplant Tofu with Mint
14-oz can tomatoes
1 tsp curry powder
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp salt
sprinkle of hot chile pepper flakes
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
3/4 lb eggplant, sliced in 1/2 inch rings1 tbsp oil
2 1/2-inch slabs of tofu

Combine the tomatoes, curry powder, garlic, ginger, cinnamon stick, salt and chile pepper flakes in a saucepan and cook until warm and thickened. Stir in 1 tbsp mint.

Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the eggplant and cook about 5 minutes until lightly browned. Turn the eggplant slices over and cook another 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Wrap the tofu in a folded dish towel and press it with your palm for 30 seconds to squeeze out extra moisture.

Put the tofu in the hot pan, adding a little more oil if necessary. The tofu should sizzle for about 3 minutes. Turn it over and cook another 3 minutes.

Add the eggplant and tomato sauce to the pan with the tofu. Stir together and let cook until warm.

Sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of mint and serve.

Serves 2

Charred Zucchini and Onion Salad

Cooking vegetables in a cast iron frypan without oil is similar to barbecuing. The vegetables char and blacken and develop great flavor.

I usually use this technique when making Mexican food - it adds a smokey flavor to tomatillo salsa and enchilada sauce.

This recipe, however, is more Italian in nature, using basil, thyme and balsamic vinegar to season the blackened zucchini and onions.

It's from Peter Berley's interesting book The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen. It's a little too heavy on the seitan and tempeh for me, but has some good ideas like this one.

(There's nothing wrong with seitan and tempeh, but they are usually used to imitate meat. I don't like meat so I'm not interested in trying to replicate it.)

I cut the zucchini in 1-inch rounds. It looked a little weird, but I was happy with the chunkiness of the finished product. You could cut the slices lengthwise instead if you prefer.

Charred Zucchini and Onion Salad

3/4 lb green or yellow zucchini

1 large red onion

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp chopped basil

1 small clove garlic, chopped fine

1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped fine

pinch of red pepper flakes

salt to taste

Cut the zucchini in 1-inch slices and the onion into 1/2 inch rings. Heat a cast iron fry pan over high heat until very hot (water should sizzle when a few drops are tossed on it). Lower the heat to medium and place the zucchini and onion on it. Cook for 6-10 minutes per side, turning each piece when it is brown in spots and beginning to char. Don't let it get too black.

The vegetables need to be in a single layer, so do a few batches if you have too much for your pan.

When cooked on both sides, put the pieces in a large bowl.

In a small bowl, combine the oil, vinegar, basil, garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes. Whisk well. Pour over the hot vegetables and toss to coat. Cover the bowl and let marinate at least 10 minutes. Toss again and salt to taste before serving.

Serves 2-3

Mint is good in place of the basil. The salad lasts well in the fridge for a couple of days.

Thanksgiving Dinner Menu

This was our Thanksgiving day menu:

Halftime appetizer:
Pumpkin empanadas with cilantro-mint dipping sauce

Dinner:
Honey-baked ham (for Larry and Trace)
Homemade bread with honey butter
Green bean and mushroom casserole
Baked kabocha squash
Spicy brown rice with mushrooms and chipotles
Kohlrabi greens and roots with garlic
Beets with mint
Salad with persimmons and pomegranate seeds

Dessert:
Lemon pudding cake with cranberry syrup

Mmmm beets

I know, most people don't say mmmmm when they think of beets.

But they should. Because they are a gorgeous color and a nutritional powerhouse (anti-tumor, good for eyes, high in fiber, etc.)

Plus, they don't really taste of anything but the earth, so they are great foils for other flavors.

Here I tossed them with lemon juice, mint and cilantro to make a sprightly side salad.

I steamed the beets instead of roasting them. Partially because I roasted beets when I was staying at my mum's house in July and she is still trying to clean the pan. Steaming is much less messy. Also, it's just too darned hot to turn on the toaster oven. But feel free to roast (recipe here) and then use the cooked beets in the dressing.

Beet Salad with Lemon and Herbs
1 lb beets
grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp diced red onion
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp chopped mint leaves
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
3 tbsp olive oil

Trim the greens from the beets and use them in wilted greens. (The raw greens will last a couple of days in the fridge if you are not ready to cook them.)

Scrub the roots, and steam them until tender, 20-40 minutes depending on the size and age of the beets. Pierce a beet with a slender knife - you want it to be tender but not too soft.

Remove the beets from the steamer. When they are cool enough to handle, peel off their skins and cut off the thick stem end and the root end.

Cut the beets in bite-sized pieces.

Whisk together the remaining ingredients and season to taste with salt and pepper. Turn the beets into the dressing, then taste a beet to check for seasoning.

Good at room temperature or chilled.

Serves 3-4.

Carrots with Lemon and Mint

This is a great salad that keeps well for a couple of days in the fridge. The key is to cut the carrots in matchsticks to keep their texture. This is more work than I usually like to do, but it's worth it.

Start by cutting the carrot crosswise into 1 1/2" lengths. Then cut it lengthwise in thirds or quarters (depending on the size of the carrot). Then stack a few of these slices and cut them lengthwise again in thirds or quarters. You should have matchstick-like carrots sticks. It's not worth obsessing about perfection, but it's fun practice for knife skills.

And as you enjoy this lemony minty salad you will forget the labor involved.

Carrots with Lemon and Mint
3 large carrots
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp dijon
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp mint

Peel the carrots and cut as above. Blanch them in boiling water until just tender, about 30 seconds. Drain and place in ice water to stop cooking.

Combine the lemon juice and mustard. Slowly whisk in the olive oil so it emulsifies. Stir in the mint, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Toss the carrots with the dressing. Chill until ready to serve.

Serves 2-3.