Squash & Gourds
1180 recipes found
Zucchini Salad With Sizzled Mint and Feta
Crunchy and tart like salad-e Shirazi yet sturdy enough to sit out for a couple hours, this salad dresses snappy raw zucchini and salty feta simply, with vinegar and oil. But while summery salads can be ephemeral, this one has staying power because its seasonings — a za’atar-like combination of dried mint, sesame seeds and dried chile — bloom in the olive oil for a rich undercurrent of flavor. Serve this dish as a side or build it into a whole meal by adding cooked grains, beans or another protein.
Crispy Chicken Thighs With Charred Zucchini
Char your vegetables. Its brings the best out of many brassicas, like broccoli and cabbage, but also summer squash like zucchini. All too often zucchini can fall a little flat, but charring caramelizes the natural sugars that are present in the zucchini, enhancing their sweetness and adding a hint of smoky flavor. This is the perfect, punchy weeknight dinner, as the pumpkin seed dressing comes together entirely in the blender while the chicken finishes cooking in the oven. Save this sauce in your back pocket, as it does everything a green goddess dressing can do, but is much lighter — and equally great on a wedge of iceberg or as a dip for potato chips.
One-Pan Zucchini-Pesto Orzo
Keeping pesto on hand (store-bought or homemade and frozen) is one of the greatest kitchen time-savers, since stirring just a spoonful into a dish can add so much herby, garlicky flavor. Here, pesto builds on a pan of orzo loaded with zucchini and onions that have been sautéed together until golden brown. Cooking the orzo in vegetable or chicken stock bolsters the pasta’s flavor as the broth reduces into a silky sauce. Then, pesto is added at the very end to preserve its brightness. Finally, just before serving, a caprese-like mix of marinated mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and fresh mint is stirred into the pan. Filled with vegetables and milky cheese, this dish is especially satisfying and very easy to make.
Zucchini Tofu Udon
Fuyu, or fermented tofu, is the umami star of this quick noodle dish, delivering a briny, tangy saltiness that is also creamy. Also called furu or doufuru, it is made by fermenting soybean curds in a brine of rice wine, water, salt and spices. It has a strong flavor on its own, but when used to stir-fry noodles (or greens, as it is commonly employed in Chinese cooking), its punchiness mellows into a subtly sweet hum that is redolent of buttery blue cheese. This dish is finished with a generous amount of black pepper, giving it unmistakable cacio e pepe vibes. In a dish where black pepper is front and center like this one, freshly ground is preferred, but measuring it can be cumbersome, so if you are using a grinder, 1 teaspoon amounts to about 50 to 60 turns.
Zucchini Pasta With Crispy Capers and Pistachios
This pasta dish celebrates zucchini, cooking it two ways. Half the zucchini is thinly sliced into rounds, fried then steeped in red wine vinegar for a sweet and sour kick. The remaining zucchini is cut into large chunks and braised until it’s so silky that it seems to melt into the pasta sauce. Cooking the pasta directly in its sauce takes a little more attention than usual, especially toward the end of cooking when the liquid reduces to a sauce, so be sure to stir frequently to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot. This one-pot cooking approach allows all the starch released from the pasta to be captured in the sauce, creating a rich, glossy coating without the addition of dairy. The fried topping adds bursts of flavor and texture, turning this into a show-stopping dish. This pasta works just as well cold, so can be made in advance.
Melon and Cho Cho Salad
This melon salad, from Denai Moore’s “Plentiful: Vegan Jamaican Recipes to Repeat” (Hardie Grant, 2023) is a delight on a summer day, and a quick, surprising start to the rest of your meal. Consisting largely of sliced cantaloupe and chayote (also known as cho cho), the dish requires minimal effort: chopping, tossing and serving. The amount of acidity and herbs can be adjusted and calibrated to your preference, or the crowd that you’re cooking for. As Ms. Moore writes, “This is a salad to be eaten seasonally, as it uses so few ingredients, so it’s important that each one has the best opportunity to shine.” Nodding toward a vibrancy of flavor, confluence of textures and an eye to pleasure, it’s a salad to look forward to.
Smashed Cucumber and Chicken Salad
A few simple elements — shredded rotisserie chicken, smashed, salted and drained cucumbers, and a sweet and spicy dressing — come together quickly in this Sichuan-inspired salad. The end result: a fresh, crunchy, flavorful main, served cold with no cooking time, perfect for hot summer days when turning on a stove feels like a Sisyphean task. It keeps in the fridge for a few days and tastes even better once the cucumbers have had a chance to marinate and soak up the briny dressing overnight. For a whole other salad, add chickpeas to whatever’s left, or sandwich leftovers between a couple of slices of bread to make a far-from-ordinary lunch.
Japanese Potato Salad With Mentaiko
A classic side dish for homemade lunch boxes or bento picnics, a Japanese potato salad is made with boiled russet potatoes, vegetables, boiled eggs and, often, ham, all seasoned with rice vinegar and tangy Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise. Folding in some raw mentaiko, the salt-cured roe of Alaskan pollock, gives it a savory, briny complexity (and is a good reminder of why potatoes and cured fish eggs are so often paired together). The potatoes in Japanese potato salad are typically roughly mashed, but you can dice them if you prefer a heartier texture. Salting the cucumber in advance helps it retain some crunch when you mix it into the salad, while adding vinegar to the potatoes while they’re still hot helps them absorb more flavor.
Grilled Tofu Salad
Perfect for simple summer grilling, this vegetarian salad makes a great weeknight meal or easy-to-transport picnic fare. Grilled tofu and zucchini pick up smoky notes and light char from the grill in just 10 minutes. They’re dressed in a rich and tangy lemon-miso vinaigrette that does double duty as basting sauce and dressing. The grilled salad is brightened by a final shower of fragrant herbs, plus a raw snap pea topping that adds fresh, crisp bites. Leftovers turn into a fantastic pasta salad the next day; simply toss with cooked short pasta and finish with more olive oil and grated Parmesan.
Caramelized Zucchini and White Bean Salad
This flavorful and hearty salad makes use of one of summer’s most abundant vegetables, zucchini. You start with a big pile of shredded zucchini and onions, then might marvel at how much it cooks down as it browns and caramelizes. Next, you’ll toss that potent blend with creamy white beans and herbs to make an easy, flavorful side or main. The mint adds brightness, and it pairs well with other soft herbs, like parsley, dill and basil. The caramelized zucchini mixture makes a great base for bean salad, but it is so versatile it can be used in many other ways: Make a big batch and toss it with pasta, serve it on top of ricotta-slathered toast, or top a flatbread with it; you really can’t go wrong.
Watermelon Chow Chow
It’s spicy, it’s sweet, it’s tangy. A perfect condiment, watermelon chow chow has a bright freshness and a gentle crunch that mellows with time. It renders a sweet and spicy kick to anything it’s spooned over, whether you’re serving it with grilled meats, like hot dogs or hot links, or collard greens.
Orecchiette Salad With Halloumi Croutons
Crispy, salty, chewy cubes of sautéed halloumi add great texture and heartiness to this bright pasta salad filled with veggies, herbs and tomatoes. The tomatoes are marinated with red wine vinegar, oil, salt and pepper, which infuses them with flavor and helps them release their juices for the punchy dressing. Crunchy cucumbers, lots of fresh herbs and some optional arugula round out this hearty salad. When seasoning the pasta and vegetables, keep in mind that the halloumi is quite salty. This salad is best enjoyed the day it’s made, while the halloumi cubes are still warm.
Roasted Zucchini Pasta Salad
This pasta salad is loaded with two pounds of zucchini, roasted until golden and caramelized, then tossed in a tangy garlic-tahini dressing. Roasted sunflower seeds bring crunch and nuttiness. (Pepitas, slivered almonds or chopped walnuts are other great options.) Golden raisins add unexpected pops of sweetness that round out the tart lemon. The zucchini can be roasted a few hours ahead or even the night before. Make the pasta salad a few hours ahead and keep refrigerated; bring to room temperature and give it a final toss before serving.
Sweet Corn Salad With Buttermilk Vinaigrette
Fresh corn on the cob is given a quick blanch for this salad, an easy yet valuable technique that takes away the starchy flavor and brings out the natural sweetness in the kernels. A cool, light buttermilk dressing is spiked with sour cream, garlic and black pepper for creamed corn vibes without the heaviness. Crisp cucumbers add crunch and pair beautifully with the herbaceous dill; feel free to use any soft herb, like chives, parsley, tarragon or basil. Make the salad a few hours ahead to allow all of the flavors to meld.
Asparagus, Spinach and Leek Soup
This silky, verdant soup gets its color from a mix of green vegetables. Asparagus is the dominant flavor, with fennel and leeks adding sweetness, zucchini its plush texture, and spinach and herbs their earthy mineral character. The color is at its brightest right after puréeing and will darken as it sits, but this won’t affect its rich, complex flavor. If the soup thickens too much after cooling, add a little broth or water when you reheat it.
Edamame Pesto Pasta
While edamame are most often served in their pods and consumed as a snack, the shelled beans found in the supermarket freezer are an excellent ingredient for weeknight cooking. Edamame are young soybeans harvested before they ripen or harden, and they are an excellent source of protein. Here, they are blitzed to make a nutty ‘pesto’ — buttery but mellow, with a hint of sweetness. This is also a great way to use up whatever soft herbs you have in the fridge like basil, parsley, mint, cilantro or dill or a combination. The nutritional yeast adds a savory punch, but if you aren’t vegan, you can substitute with a grated hard cheese like Parmesan or pecorino.
Bò Né (Steak and Eggs)
Bò né (which translates from Vietnamese to “dodging beef”) is often served for breakfast, but is delicious any time of day: The meal consists of sizzled beef (bò) and fried eggs, with a smattering of pâté and butter dashed across a crisp baguette. Bò né is generally served alongside a salad plate, and offered on roadsides throughout Vietnam, and in Vietnamese restaurants all over the globe. You can partake in each component individually, or fill your baguette to make a sandwich, or figure out a third way that works best for you; there are as many routes to eat bò né as there are diners, and each of them is flawless. Purchasing the pâté and butter from your local Vietnamese market or diner would be ideal (just ask if they sell it by the pound), but whatever you can find will be solid. And if you’re short on time, simply seasoning the beef with salt and black pepper also works.
Crudités With Lemongrass-Fermented Tofu Dip
For rau củ sống chấm chao, a Vietnamese take on crudités, serve raw, seasonal veggies with a tangy, spicy, umami-rich sauce featuring chao (fermented tofu), a wondrous ingredient that’s akin to creamy, winy cheese. Fermented tofu typically punches up stir-fried greens or a bowl of porridge, but Vietnamese cooks love to let it shine as a sauce. The dynamite nước chấm chao (fermented tofu dipping sauce) could be paired with grilled goat or lamb, but it’s fantastic as a dip. For this recipe, from my cookbook “Ever-Green Vietnamese” (Ten Speed Press, 2023), choose at least three vegetables from the crudité options. The sesame seed addition isn’t standard, but adds body and richness to the sauce, uniting the ingredients. Make a double batch of sauce, if you like, so you have extra to dress grilled romaine; top it with fried shallots for a summertime salad.
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Jicama Salad
At the Brooklyn Mexican restaurant, Cruz del Sur, practically every table has this salad on it. Why? It tastes as refreshing and vibrant as it looks. The key to its greatness comes from Tajín, the mildly spicy-tangy chile-lime salt that goes into the dressing (double the batch, trust us) and also gets sprinkled on top of the finished salad. Tajín and fruit are a classic sweet-salty combination in Mexican food, but bringing herbs, chiles and vegetables like jicama and cucumber into the mix make it even better. At the restaurant, the chef Hugo Orozco varies the herbs and flowers seasonally. He also recommends adding a few slices of perfectly ripe avocado on top, if you have access to them.
Kale and Butternut Squash Bowl With Jammy Eggs
Steaming vegetables is a quick way to enjoy their inherent sweetness, and steaming eggs is the secret to perfect-as-possible jammy eggs. In this recipe, you don’t need a steamer basket for either. Cook the eggs in a covered skillet or pot of shallow boiling water, then layer winter squash, broccoli or cauliflower and dark leafy greens. The small amount of water will produce ample steam to cook the vegetables. Eat with plenty of sesame seeds for crunch and a yogurt sauce that is nutty from sesame oil and bright with lemon and ginger. The sauce is endlessly adaptable; add fresh or dried herbs or chile, ground or toasted spices, toasted coconut and more.
Butternut Squash Soup
With a combination of squash, onion, garlic and a little spice, this soup is as simple as it gets. Roasting the squash helps concentrate its natural flavors and is a step that can be done a day or two ahead. A splash of rice vinegar adds a tangy sparkle and, if you want a touch more sweetness, you can stir in some brown sugar or honey. Taste your soup before adding any — you may find your squash’s natural sugars offer just the right amount of sweetness for you.
Spicy Peanut and Pumpkin Soup
This recipe is a promise of warmth on those cool autumn nights. Habanero chiles and peanuts both feature heavily in Nigerian cuisine, and this soup is an adaptation of a long-simmered stew common to much of West Africa. Don’t be afraid of a chile with seeds: The fragrant oils from these peppers are worth every bite. The peanut butter and coconut milk mellow the warmth of the chile to a gentle, lingering heat, but you can also take the chile out before the soup is puréed. An optional spoon of honey to the soup will round out the flavors, and a dollop of crème fraîche or yogurt will further temper the heat. Serve with a baguette or sourdough bread for dipping.
Pasta with zucchini and fresh herbs
A simple and delicious pasta dish perfect for a quick summer meal.