Rice and vegetables

Having leftover rice in the fridge is like having dinner almost ready.

The other night, I sautéed some onion, green pepper and zucchini. Then I stirred in leftover cooked rice and some frozen peas.

It make a pretty main course that I served with some steamed vegetables for a good dinner.

Fast food is a working person's friend.

Zucchini and Peppers with Feta

It is so easy to make yummy and visually appealing vegetable side dishes during harvest season.

Last night I reheated a bean and rice casserole for dinner. While it was warming in the toaster oven, I made this colorful vegetable sauté.

While a little olive oil warmed in a small skillet, I chopped a small red onion and slivered a half an orange pepper I found in the salad drawer of the fridge. I added these to the oil with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and let them sauté while I chopped a zucchini and diced a half tomato left over from lunch. These went in too with a little more salt and pepper. Then I cooked it over medium heat until the zucchini skin was tender. (Late season zucchini often has tougher skin, I find.)

As a finishing touch, I sprinkled some feta over the vegetables, turned off the heat and covered the pan. I let it sit while I took the casserole from the toaster oven and set the table.

It was a colorful companion to a delicious but brown rice and bean casserole.

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

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

Potato Salad with Pickles

Usually when we barbecue I make my standard potato salad — cooked potatoes with a buttermilk dressing and a roasted poblano for zing.

But this Fourth of July, I tried something a little different. I found a jar of bread and butter pickles in our fridge and decided to add them to the potato salad. These weren't just any old pickles — I made them last year when our zucchinis were out of control.

I had planted seeds of an heirloom zucchini called Trombetta di Albenga from Renee's Garden Seeds. It's a vining zucchini plant that likes to grow up into trees. The zucchini then grow stealthily down among the branches. Fortunately, they are still tender even when they're three feet long.

Needless to say, I gave away a lot of zucchini. People still talk about the zucchini I gifted. And yet, we still had way more than two people can eat. I diced, blanched and froze. And then I made bread and butter pickles.

I am once again growing Trombetta di Albenga. (Really, they are the most entertaining vegetable plants I have ever grown.) They are not flowering yet, but I know what is coming. Emptying a jar of pickles into the potato salad seemed like a prudent move.

And I have to say that the potato salad tasted really good. It was slightly grey from the pickle juice I added to the dressing, but it was yummy. (I would have added a lot of colorful parsley if the birds hadn't eaten it all.) The potatoes were German butterballs from Flora Bella — the first time I've used them in potato salad and they tasted nicely creamy and held their shape well.

It's a good thing I'm growing more zucchini so we'll be able to replenish our pickle supply. This potato salad is one we'll want to make again.

Potato Salad with Pickles

1 1/2 lbs German butterball potatoes (or other waxy potatoes)

2 eggs

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tbsp juice from the pickle jar

2 tsp dijon

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup kefir or buttermilk or yogurt

6-8 radishes, diced

1/2 cup chopped bread and butter pickles

Peel the potatoes and cut in quarters (about 1 inch pieces). Put in a pot, cover with cold water and a pinch of salt, and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Bring a small pan of salted water to the boil. Pierce a small hole in each egg with a safety pin. Lower into the boiling water, stirring so the eggs rotate a few times after entry. Cover and let simmer 10 minutes. Drain and cover with cold water. When cool, peel the eggs and separate the whites from the yolks. Chop the whites and add them to the bowl with the potatoes.

Put the cooked egg yolks in a blender with the vinegar, pickle juice and dijon. Whir together. With the machine running, slowly drizzle in the oil, then the kefir. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Pour most of the dressing over the potatoes and egg whites. Toss to combine. Add the radishes and pickles. Toss again and season to taste.

Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Serves 4-6

Trombetta zucchini.

Sautéed Zucchini

I served a cooling lunch of barley-chickpea salad and heirloom tomato salad on Sunday. Then I added a quick warm dish to add contrast.

I thinly sliced a few small zucchini and sautéed them in a little olive oil with a whole clove of garlic that I then discarded.

Sprinkled with parsley and adorned with a nasturtium flower, they made a nice slightly crunchy addition to the meal.

Treasures from the Freezer

When we have leftover cooked rice, I stash it in the freezer for when I want to serve a simple casserole for dinner.

Also in the freezer are roasted poblanos, organic corn, and bags of diced zucchini from last summer's over-enthusiastic vegetable garden. This year's zucchini plants are starting to flower, so the pressure is on.

Fortunately, all these ingredients combined into a fabulous casserole. Some aged cheddar on top added the finishing deliciousness.

I combined leftover white take-out rice and leftover brown rice, just because those were the first two containers I found. Freshly cooked rice would be great too, of course.

I used 4 poblanos for a very spicy casserole. You can cut back the heat by using fewer poblanos if you like. Also, you could use fresh poblanos and skip the roasting, just dicing and adding to the skillet. But the roasting does add a yumminess. (See how I do it here.)

Poblano and Zucchini Rice Casserole
1 tbsp oil
1 cup corn, defrosted
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3-4 poblanos, roasted and peeled and diced
3 cups diced zucchini (from 4 medium zucchini)
4 cups cooked rice
aged cheddar

Warm the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté the corn for a few minutes until it starts to brown, stirring regularly so it doesn't burn. Add the onions, garlic and poblanos. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft. Add the zucchini and season with salt and pepper. Cook over low heat until the zucchini is tender.

Stir into the cooked rice. Pour into a large casserole dish and top with a few slices of cheese.

Bake at 350°F 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and everything has melded well.

Serves 6

Vegetarian Posole

I got an awesome gift for Christmas: dried blue posole from Rancho Gordo.

I had never cooked posole before. In fact, I hadn't even eaten it, because local versions always include some meat.

But I found a recipe for vegetarian posole on the Rancho Gordo website, and dove right in.

(If you have not visited their site, it's worth it just for the photos of their beautiful dried heirloom beans - real bean porn. Then you'll probably feel the need to buy some of their beans, and then you will have the foundation of many wonderful meals.)

Posole, like hominy, is corn that is dried, then cooked, then treated with calcium hydroxide (lime) so the skins come off when they're rubbed. The corn is then dried again. This is a traditional process that makes dried corn - hominy, posole - that cooks up into a fabulous thick soup.

This is a soup with endless varieties. Start with the dried posole and some dried beans. Add a few vegetables. Simmer it all together and you'll have a fabulous stick-to-the-ribs meal. Serve it with warm corn tortillas for pure heaven.

I used zucchini in my posole even though it's winter. My freezer is full of blanched diced zucchini from plants that grew vigorously in my garden last summer. I grew four seeds of the Italian heirloom Trombetta di Albenga, and the vines romped up and over my rain barrels, through the fig tree and the neighbor's yucca, producing yard-long zucchinis that were tender and delicious, but a little overwhelming to this family of two. Fortunately, zucchini freezes well, so we've been enjoying it this winter in soups and stews like this one.

If you do not have a freezer full of zucchini, you could use green beans in this recipe instead.

Vegetarian Posole
1 cup Rancho Gordo dried blue posole
1 cup dried yellow beans (or pinto or other heirloom beans)
1 1/2 cup vegetable stock
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp red chile powder (the kind that is pure chile)
1 1/2 tsp cumin seed
3/4 tsp dried Mexican oregano
1 tbsp oil
1 1/2 to 3 cups diced zucchini
14 oz can chopped tomatoes, drained
cilantro and warm corn tortillas to serve

Soak the posole in water to cover for 6 hours. Drain. Cook in plenty of fresh water, simmering but not boiling, for about 2 hours until tender.

Meanwhile, rinse the beans and put them in water to cover by a couple of inches. Let soak for 6 hours, then pour them with their water into a large pot. Do not drain them.

To the beans in their soaking water, add the vegetable stock and enough water to cover the beans by 2 inches. Bring to the boil and simmer until the beans are tender, an hour or two depending on the age of the beans. Do not drain. Turn off the heat and set aside until the posole is ready.

Sauté the onion, garlic, chile powder, cumin seed and dried oregano in the oil until tender, about 7 minutes. Add the zucchini and tomatoes. Cook another 5 minutes.

Add the cooked vegetables to the pot of beans. Then stir in the drained posole. Simmer about 30 minutes, adding water if it's too thick.

Serve in bowls, sprinkled with cilantro, with warm corn tortillas on the side.

Serves many. Fortunately it freezes well.

This zucchini grew on top of my rain barrel, which is why it has this great shape.

Grilled Zucchini Sandwich

Continuing the theme of thank goodness there are farmers to grow my food for me, I planted zucchini seeds in our vegetable garden this afternoon and then served a simple supper of grilled vegetable sandwiches made with zucchini from Finley Farms. I am optimistic that in a couple of months I will be serving home-grown zucchini, but in the meantime we won't starve.

These sandwiches taste of summer - tomato, basil, arugula for kick, and the grilled zucchini adding substance. It's best to serve these on whole wheat sandwich bread that you can squeeze together so the filling doesn't slide out. I have used Whole Foods rosemary boule before, which adds more flavor but also more difficulty in handling the finished sandwich. Toothpicks are helpful.

I was happy to find first-of-the-season organic tomatoes at the Givens Farmstand. While the arugula adds enough interest that flavorful midsummer tomatoes are not necessary, this sandwich won't taste good with a flavorless winter tomato.

I served the sandwich with potato salad and iced tea - a true summer meal in mid-May. Kind of amazing.

Grilled Zucchini Sandwich
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp minced basil
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 small zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices
2 slices red onion, about 1/4 inch thick
4 slices bread
1 cup arugula, thick stems removed
1 tomato, thinly sliced

Combine mayonnaise, basil and lemon zest. Set aside. (This is more than you will need for the sandwiches, but it's good on pretty much anything you would use mayonnaise for.)

Warm a grill pan over high heat. Brush zucchini and onion with oil and grill until tender but still slightly crunchy, 3-4 minutes per side.

To assemble the sandwiches, spread mayonnaise on the slices of bread. Top two with zucchini, onion, arugula then tomato. Season with salt and pepper. Top with the the remaining bread slices.

Makes 2 sandwiches

Creative Cooking

Someone asked me the other day why I used green cabbage instead of red in my spicy coleslaw.

Red cabbage is often considered healthier than green because of the additional protective phytonutrients in the red pigment. However, each variety of cabbage - red, green and Savoy - contains a different combination of health-promoting nutrients, so a variety of cabbages in the diet is a good thing. Diversity is the key to health.

That's the highfalutin' reason I made my coleslaw from green cabbage.

The real reason is that the farmer I bought my fresh organic cabbage from at the Hollywood Farmers Market only had green cabbage for sale. I choose to support local organic farmers, and that means eating what they grow, not necessarily what I planned to cook.

For example, last week I planned to make ratatouille. Sunday morning at the market I picked up organic red peppers and tomatoes, and went on the hunt for eggplants. There were none. For weeks I've been buying eggplants, but now they had disappeared.

I considered going to Whole Foods for an organic eggplant, but I prefer to put my grocery dollars in the hands of the people who grow my produce.

So I turned to Plan B. Instead of ratatouille this week, we're eating stir-fries with the red peppers. I'm making a chili sauce with the tomatoes. Last night I used the zucchini in this kamut pilaf.

And maybe next week the eggplant will have returned and I can make a ratatouille.

This kamut dish is an easy one to put together on a warm summer evening. Cook the kamut ahead and let it cool to room temperature. Then 20 minutes before you want to eat, finish the cooking quickly in a skillet. It has a slightly Asian flavor. Add more tamari if you are used to saltier food. Look for organic rice vinegar and toasted sesame oil at your local health food store. They're a great addition to the pantry.

Kamut with Zucchini
3/4 cup kamut
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp minced ginger root
2 cloves garlic
1 1/4 lb zucchini
2 tbsp mirin (or dry sherry)
1 tbsp tamari (soy sauce)
2 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp toasted sesame oil

Cook the kamut in plenty of boiling water until tender, 30-40 minutes. It's cooked when it's lost its crunch but still has texture - like al dente pasta. Drain and set aside.

Warm the canola oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the ginger and garlic and cook a couple of minutes until fragrant.

Chop the zucchini in roughly 1/4 inch dice. Add to the skillet and cook about 5 minutes until it is tender.

Add the mirin, tamari and kamut and cook until warmed through. Stir in the rice vinegar and toasted sesame oil.

Serves 3-4

Arugula and Zucchini Salad

We had corn risotto for dinner Sunday night.

Tomatoes and basil from our garden, organic corn from Finley Farms -- it was a great Sunday night meal. You can read the recipe here.

Risotto requires attention, but not as much as most recipes indicate. Besides stirring every few minutes and adding stock as necessary, it cooked itself while I prepared a salad.

Risotto is creamy and soft, and this particular one is sweet with corn and tomatoes, so I decided we needed a crunchy lively salad on the side. Arugula and zucchini with a little parmesan and olive oil made a great accompaniment.

This is another one of those incredibly simple recipes. The key is to use the right ingredients.

I bought young wild arugula from Kenter Family Farms. The tame arugula found in bags at the grocery store has barely more bite than spinach. Wild arugula is peppery. Young arugula has tender stems so the whole leaf is delicious and edible.

Finley Farms had tiny little zucchini -- 3 inches long and barely an inch in diameter. Sliced thin on my mandolin, they added a little crunch. Bigger zucchini would have needed to be salted, drained, then rinsed and dried, before being added to the salad.

For this simple recipe, it's worth hunting for the young wild arugula and baby zucchini.

Arugula and Zucchini Salad
1 1/2 oz arugula (2 large handfuls)
1 tsp olive oil, divided use
1 tbsp parmesan, divided use
5 oz zucchini

Wash and dry the arugula. Toss with 1/2 tsp olive oil and half the parmesan. Put on a platter.

Slice the zucchini thinly and place on the arugula. Drizzle with 1/2 tsp olive oil and sprinkle with the remaining parmesan.

Serves 2

Simple Summer Vegetables

Larry decided to barbecue last week. He cooked potatoes in the coals, and grilled a steak for him and a portobello mushroom for me. (See his mushroom technique here.)

I was in charge of the vegetables, and it was a wonderfully simple job on this summer day.

I picked a tomato from the garden, sliced it thinly, drizzled it with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, and scattered fresh basil on top.

I lightly steamed some green beans and tossed them with a vinaigrette of 1 tbsp olive oil to 2 tsp red wine vinegar. I sprinkled a few chopped scallions on top.

And I grilled some zucchini on my grill pan. I could have waited and shared Larry's barbecue, but I was putting all these together a couple of hours before dinner, and it was easier to use the stove.

I sliced the zucchini in half across, and then in lengthwise in slices. I brushed them with olive oil and grilled them 4-5 minutes until tender, then flipped them for a couple more minutes. Then I sprinkled them with salt and pepper and squeezed on a little lemon juice.

I combined them all into a salad platter with the zest and texture to complement the main course.

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.

Zucchini Salad

Zucchini is a pretty bland vegetable. It is good filler in brown rice casseroles, ratatouille and grilled vegetable sandwiches. But it needs some help to take the starring role.

In this simple salad, the zucchini is marinated in lemon juice, giving it zest, and then layered with parmesan cheese, making it delicious.

Only make this if you have small zucchinis - maximum 6 inches long. Any larger and they get spongy inside and even more bland-flavored. A mixture of green and yellow is nice, but remember that yellow zucchini go bad in the fridge very quickly, so use them within a day or two of purchase.

This salad is quick to make and keeps a couple of days in the fridge. When serving it as leftovers, squeeze a little more lemon juice over the zucchini to perk it up.

Zucchini Salad
3 small yellow and green zucchini
1 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
parmesan cheese

Trim the ends off the zucchini and discard. Slice them thinly lengthwise using a mandoline. Toss with the olive oil and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and paper. Thinly shave some parmesan on top.

Serves 2-3.

Zucchini and Carrot Salad

Zucchini and basil are thriving now. Why not combine them in this easy summer salad?

Basil protects chromosomes from radiation damage and protects the whole body from unwanted bacteria. We should probably eat it daily in the summer.

Zucchini helps lower cholesterol, and has beneficial fiber that protects against forms of cancer. Walnuts are good for the cardiovascular system. Carrots are great for the eyes.

Yes, this is a healthy salad. But it actually tastes good too. It's a great accompaniment to a sandwich or bean burger. Combined with a green salad it makes a nice light meal when appetites are suffering from the heat. I adapted it from Season to Taste by Jeannette Ferrary and Louise Fiszer. I hope you enjoy it.

Zucchini and Carrot Salad
1 zucchini
1 carrot
2 tbsp basil, packed
2 tbsp walnuts
2 tsp capers
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp dijon
salt and pepper to taste

In a food processor (or on a grater if you prefer) shred the zucchini and carrot. Turn out into a bowl.

Shred the basil. Toast the walnuts lightly in a heavy frypan for 4-5 minutes until they are fragrant. Chop them coarsely. Add the basil and walnuts to the bowl, along with the drained capers.

Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice and dijon. Season to taste. Pour over the salad and toss well.

Serves 2

Memorial Day Cookout

We invited Tracie to join us for a cookout on Memorial Day. I wrestled the barbecue away from Larry and instead of the traditional burgers, beans and potato salad, I served up a Mediterranean-inspired lunch.

I grilled tomatoes, garlic, zucchini, onions, peppers, fennel, asparagus, mushrooms - everything I could get my hands on.

And I am proud to say that unlike most barbecued vegetables, these were not burned on the outside and raw on the inside.

Instead, they were delectably juicy and smoky.

The key to barbecuing vegetables is to boost their fat content with marinades and basting sauces. It's the fat in meat that makes it cook so well. (Compare the shoe-leather quality of  extra-lean hamburger to the juiciness of fattier meat.)

Because vegetables are naturally fat-free, they need a little help.

Also, because some vegetables are crunchy, I parboiled them ahead of time and then marinated them so they would cook quickly over high heat. (I measure heat by holding my hand 5 inches over the coals. If I can keep it there 4-6 seconds, it's medium heat. 2-3 seconds is hot - the best for getting grill marks and smokiness.)

In my experience, barbecuing does not stick to a rigid timetable. So I planned a leisurely meal with non-barbecue appetizers to sustain us while the vegetables cooked to perfection. A raw vegetable platter, some good organic mixed olives, and a piece of rosemary-olive oil infused asiago cheese eased the hunger pangs, which grew more intense as the aroma of roasting garlic wafted through the air.

The main course was grilled vegetables served as they came off the grill, a roasted tomato and white bean salad, a green salad with citrus dressing, and a fresh foccaccia (way too easy to make, could become addictive).

Everyone groaned when I brought out dessert - strawberry shortcake complete with fresh blueberries from our garden. It was great for breakfast the next day.

Here's what I barbecued and how. The basic marinade is olive oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. It should be oily but also tangy. Toss the vegetables in and leave for a couple of hours before cooking so they soak up some oil and flavor.

Garlic: I sprinkled a head of garlic with olive oil, then wrapped it in foil and tucked it among the flames for 15-20 minutes. When it was squishy when I squeezed it with the tongs, I passed it to Trace to peel. Hot and messy. But wow, it was great in a salad of white beans and barbecued tomatoes.

Asparagus: blanched for 3 minutes in boiling water, then plunged into ice water. Tossed in the marinade and refrigerated for a couple of hours. Barbecued for 2 minutes over high heat.

Fennel: blanched until tender, about 10 minutes, then plunged into ice water and drained. Marinated a couple of hours. Barbecued 8-10 minutes on high until soft.

Zucchini: Cut lengthwise into 2-3 pieces each. Marinated a couple of hours. Cooked 10-12 minutes on medium or high.

Portobello mushrooms: cleaned and stemmed (so they balance better on the barbecue). Marinated in a mixture of balsamic vinegar, soy sauce and a little dry sherry stirred into a base of olive oil. Let stand one hour before cooking. Basted while cooking 10-12 minutes on medium-high. I sliced these into wedges before serving.

Onion: Sliced crosswise in thick rings. Brushed with leftover marinade while cooking 8-10 minutes over high heat.

Tomatoes: Placed whole on the coals. Cooked about 10 minutes with the cover on. Let cool a little before peeling. They were very mushy, which was fine because I put them in a white bean salad along with the mushy roasted garlic and some fresh basil.

Peppers: Cut in half and removed cores and seeds. Brushed with marinade and cooked 6-8 minutes on high. Cut in wedges to serve.

Smashed Zucchini Spread

We had a great full moon dinner by the fireplace last weekend, starting with this smashed zucchini spread on fresh baguette.

I had found green garlic at the farmers market. It looks just like green onions, but the leaves are flat whereas the leaves of green onions (scallions) are round. (I know this because the farmer pointed it out to me when I picked up a bunch of garlic thinking it was onions.)

The green garlic is a little milder than the regular kind, and has not formed into cloves. I used a whole bulb of the garlic in place of a clove of the regular dried kind.

I consider this spread healthy because it is mostly zucchini with a little spicy kick from the chiles and mint. Cut back on the chiles for a milder spread.

I made it a few hours ahead and let it sit on the counter until dinner time. The top got a little dried-out looking, but I stirred it in and it tasted fine. It would have been good served warm out of the pan as well.

Smashed Zucchini Dip
1 scant tbsp olive oil
1 bulb green garlic or 1 small clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp dried red chili flakes
1/2 lb zucchini, sliced (2 small)
salt and pepper
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
squeeze lemon juice

Green garlic and green onions

Warm garlic and chiles in oil over moderately high heat, stirring until garlic is golden, about 2 minutes. Stir in zucchini. Cover and cook over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, until very tender, about 25 minutes. It will stick on the bottom, but the brown bits add to the flavor, and the steam will release them from the bottom. Use a potato masher to smash it into a lumpy spread. A little texture adds character. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the mint and lemon juice, and season to taste.

Serve warm or at room temperature with sliced baguette. Drizzle with a little olive oil and garnish with mint if desired.

Serves 2 hungry people.

Vegetable Sides Day Five

Last night we had Italian beans in tomato sauce for dinner.

(I pulled them from the freezer after I got home from work, and then I headed into the garden to enjoy the waning daylight.)

When I came in from digging and pruning and feeding, I quickly made two Italian-style vegetable dishes to go with the beans. The first was chard and yellow peppers sautéed with onions, garlic and chile peppers. The second was zucchini with red onion, garlic and chile peppers.

(Health benefits: zucchini is full of anti-oxidants, cholesterol-lowerers, cancer-preventatives, and prostate helpers. Chard is good for blood pressure and blood sugar.)

Add the dried red chile peppers to your taste, or omit them completely. They add a warmth and zest to the meal, but are not essential.

The flavors of each dish are similar, but the textures are different enough that they are a pleasant contrast.

Chard with Yellow Peppers
1 bunch chard
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
1 clove garlic
sprinkle red chiles
1/2 yellow pepper, slivered

Chop the brown bits off the chard stems and discard any wilted leaves. Wash well. Then slice the stems from the leaves and chop the stems in 1/2" pieces. Chop the leaves in 1" ribbons.

Warm the olive oil in a deep pan. Add the onion and sauté until softened. Add the garlic, chiles, yellow pepper and chard stems, sprinkle with salt, and stir another two minutes or so until the stems are tender. Stir in the leaves with the water from washing them still clinging to the leaves, and sprinkle with salt. Stir, then cover the pot and let cook five minutes. Stir again, cover and cook until tender.


Spicy Zucchini
2 zucchini
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 clove garlic, minced
sprinkle red chiles

Top and tail the zucchini, and slice in 1/4 inch rounds. Warm the olive oil. Add the onion and cook a couple of minutes until softened. Add the garlic and chiles and cook one minute. Stir in the zucchini, sprinkle with salt, cover and cook 5 minutes. Stir again. Cover and cook until tender, another 4-5 minutes.

Fall Vegetable Stew in Coconut Milk

The harvest markets are abundant with corn, peppers, zucchini and herbs. I combine them with tofu and coconut milk to make this creamy, delectable stew.

If you can't find fresh organic corn, the frozen kind works fine. Vary the hot pepper to suit your taste - the coconut milk mellows out the flavor considerably. This is a slightly Thai-influenced dish, so use Thai basil if you can find it. If not, the more common Italian kind works fine.

Serve the stew over brown rice for wonderful fall comfort food. It's also great as is, served in a bowl as a combination soup / stew.

Fall Vegetable Stew in Coconut Milk
1 tbsp vegetable oil
14-oz firm tofu
2 small zucchini, diced
4 large ears of corn or 2 cups frozen
1 jalapeno pepper
1 heaping tbsp cilantro (optional)
1 bunch scallions
1 heaping tbsp fresh basil
3/4 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1 cup coconut milk
1 tsp soy sauce

Drain the tofu and dice into 3/4 inch cubes. Slice the zucchini in half lengthwise, and then into 1/2 inch half-moons.

Warm the oil over medium-high heat and sauté the tofu and zucchini 10 minutes, sprinkling with 1/4 tsp salt and shaking the pan occasionally, until the tofu is a little browned.

Cut the kernels off the corn cobs, or defrost the frozen corn. Seed the jalapeno and mince it finely with the cilantro and basil. Slice the scallions into 1/2 inch lengths, including the firm greens. Add all to the pen. Pour in coconut milk and rinse out the cup measure with 1/3 cup water and stir into pan. (Freeze or refrigerate the remaining coconut milk in the can for later use.)

Stir in soy sauce, 1/2 tsp salt, and pepper to taste. Cook 5 minutes until the corn is heated through.

Serves 4-5

Breakfast Bread Pudding

We invited our niece Tracie to watch a Redskins game with us a couple of weeks ago. It was an East coast game which started at 10 a.m. our time. Since we get back from the farmers' market at 9 a.m., I decided to make a brunch dish that could be prepared the night before and just warmed up to be ready for the start of the game.

This Breakfast Bread Pudding fit the bill. I let the melange of bread and sautéed vegetables, smothered in eggs and cheese, sit in the fridge overnight so the bread absorbed the egg and milk, and then I popped it in the oven when we got home from the market.

Served with a plate of fresh fruit, it was a simple all-in-one breakfast casserole. I got the idea from The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt - a great source for frittatas and muffins, as well as the meat-based breakfasts some enjoy.

I used an Italian loaf, cutting it into 1-inch cubes and using enough to make a double layer of tossed cubes in the baking dish. Don't worry about layers - just toss the bread in until you can't see the bottom of the dish.

Leftovers were great for lunch the next day - either reheated or at room temperature. Serve with a little salsa to give it more kick if you are so inclined.

Breakfast Bread Pudding
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
1 small zucchini, chopped
1 cup chopped mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, chopped
4 eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp salt
pepper
3-4 drops tabasco
1/2 loaf bread
softened butter
1 1/2 cups grated cheese (I used a combination of cheddar and swiss)

Sauté onion, bell peppers, zucchini, mushrooms and garlic in butter until tender, 6-7 minutes.

Slice the end off the bread and discard. Butter the cut end of the loaf, then slice of an inch and dice it into 1" cubes. Put the cubes in the greased 9"round or 8"x11" baking dish. Repeat until you can't see the bottom of the dish.

Scatter the cooked vegetables over the bread. Spread half the cheese over top.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, pepper and tabasco. Pour over the bread, making sure it is completely covered with the mixture. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Let the casserole come to room temperature while you preheat the oven to 350°F. Then bake it, uncovered, until set - about 45-50 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 6