Vegetables
1337 recipes found
Borani-yeh Esfenaj (Spinach Yogurt Dip)
There are many types of Iranian borani, or yogurt-based dishes, and spinach borani is a classic. What sets borani-yeh esfenaj apart from a simple mix of wilted spinach and yogurt is that the spinach is first cooked down with flavorful golden onions, garlic and turmeric. The preparation of the onion is the backbone of the dish and not to be overlooked. Rather than cooking the onion low and slow, as is done when caramelizing, it’s cooked quickly over a higher heat to draw out its sweet and sharp flavors. Creamy Greek yogurt is mixed with thinner regular yogurt for a balanced consistency. Use more or less of either depending on your preference: You can serve the borani thicker as a dip with pita crackers or flat breads, or thinner as a light lunch or snack alongside rice.
Crisp Smashed Potatoes With Fried Onions and Parsley
Some of you may be thinking, “Does the world need another crisp smashed potato recipe?” At least some of you are saying, “Yes, we do!” So here you go. Regular olive oil works if you don't have chicken fat around, but this recipe is so good, it's worth roasting a chicken. A few tips: Don’t over-steam the potatoes or they will fall apart, but don’t under-steam or you’ll never be able to crush them. Also, let the potatoes cool a bit before you smash them so they dry out a bit; this, too, helps them stay intact. Finally, the chicken fat (or oil) must be very hot. If it is not hot enough, it will soak into the potato rather than crisp it. These are the best. And the crispiest. Make them. You’ll be so happy. (This recipe is adapted from "Dining In: Highly Cookable Recipes" by Alison Roman.)
Grilled Cauliflower Steaks
To enjoy the full-range of cauliflower in one dish, from raw and snappy to caramelized and tender, cut a head into slabs and grill only one side. Flat sides beget more charring than florets because they provide more direct contact with the grill. To ensure the cauliflower doesn’t dry out, grill just one side. The tops will remain juicy and sweet, while the undersides will become deeply browned and nutty. Before grilling, any small bits of cauliflower that would fall through the grates are added raw to a lively sauce of dill, lime juice, chile and peanuts. Feel free to swap in another sauce you like on cauliflower or grilled dishes, like buffalo, parsley-olive or a nutritional yeast dressing.
Tomato Salad With Cucumber and Ginger
The classic combination of tomatoes and cucumbers gets new life here from a lively dressing of lime zest and juice, fish sauce and serrano chile inspired by Thai papaya salad. It’s a study in contrasts: Bracing on its own, the salty-spicy vinaigrette is mellowed by fresh summer tomatoes and cucumbers. Large pieces of fresh ginger add a punch of spice without the heat, while cilantro and basil serve as fresh, cooling elements. Enjoy with red curry chicken, coconut rice and a nice crisp beer.
Maque Choux
This classic Cajun side dish is a sweet, hot, juicy, milky, buttery combination of corn, onions and peppers. It’s often cooked in rendered bacon fat and enriched with heavy cream, but this version relies upon only butter and a little water in their place, which allow the ingredients’ flavors to sing more clearly. While it is commonly understood that Fat Equals Flavor, there is a point at which too much fat actually masks complexities in flavors and dulls their vibrancy. Try the maque choux this way and see if you notice how bold and lively it tastes. If you miss the smokiness that bacon imparts, try instead a pinch of smoked paprika stirred in at the end.
Southern Broccoli Salad
A classic sweet and savory Southern broccoli salad combines raw (or barely cooked) broccoli with sweet dried fruit (typically raisins or cranberries), crunchy sunflower seeds and savory Cheddar in a creamy, tangy mayonnaise dressing. Briefly blanching the broccoli in boiling water ensures bright green veggies with a crisp-tender texture. The salad gets better with time, so make it a few hours ahead and refrigerate it. (Reserve the crispy bacon and sprinkle it on top right before serving.) And, if your tastes skew sweet, further increase the sugar by another tablespoon.
Stuffed Mushrooms With Panko and Pecorino
These flavorful stuffed mushrooms come together quickly, which makes them great for entertaining. Crunchy panko bread crumbs, instead of the traditional sort, are combined with salty cheese, parsley and garlic, then spooned into mushroom caps and baked until crisp and golden. You can assemble them through Step 2 a few days in advance and pop them into the oven minutes before guests arrive. Pro tip: Don’t throw away the mushroom stems. Freeze them to add to your next pot of stock for unbeatable richness.
Glazed Carrots With Miso and Sesame
Miso and sesame add nutty warmth to a buttery dish of glazed carrots that’s delicious warm or at room temperature. Bunched carrots with their tops intact are always fresher than the type packed in cellophane, so look for those, or young, slender carrots. You can choose a rainbow bunch, if you wish, but orange or yellow carrots are also just fine.
Cauliflower Piccata
Piccata sauce — that buttery, briny combination of lemon, butter and capers, silky in texture and tart in flavor — is not just for chicken or swordfish. It’s also a zesty anchor for roasted vegetables. Here, cauliflower is roasted at high heat, which concentrates the flavor, adds nuttiness and encourages caramelization, before being doused with the sauce. Chickpeas make this a fuller vegetarian meal, but leave them out if you’d rather. Piccata dishes are often served with long pasta, which tangle with the tangy sauce, but this one is also great alongside rice or tender-crisp vegetables like blistered green beans. While you are at it, try this sauce with sweet butternut squash, charred broccoli, earthy roasted carrots, golden wedges of cabbage or crispy slices of tofu. To get vegetarian recipes like this one delivered to your inbox, sign up for The Veggie newsletter.
Maduros (Fried Sweet Plantains)
Tender in the middle and crisp at the edges, maduros, or sweet fried plantains, are served as a side dish throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. Plantains change color as they ripen: They are firm when green and unripe, then soften as they turn yellow, and eventually, black. Like bananas, plantains develop more sugar as time passes. For the sweetest maduros, use blackened plantains — they have the most sugar, and will yield a more caramelized result. If you can only find yellow ones at the store, buy them in advance and be prepared to wait over a week for them to fully ripen. They’re worth it.
Vegetarian Meatballs
Seasoned with Parmesan, ricotta, fennel seeds and oregano, these meat-free Italian meatballs capture all the flavors of the classic. Cremini mushrooms and chickpeas mimic the texture of ground beef, bulgur helps bind the mixture together, and ricotta keeps it tender. The balls are rolled in a light coating of bread crumbs and Parmesan that crisps as it bakes, but if you prefer a saucy meatball, skip the coating and simply bake until firm, then simmer in marinara. Any extra coating mixture can be toasted in the oven and sprinkled over roasted veggies or creamy pastas. Leftover meatballs can be frozen and reheated in a 425-degree oven until warmed through, about 15 minutes.
Summer Squash Fritters With Garlic Dipping Sauce
David Venable, the most popular host on QVC, has a reputation for comfort food in its most cheesy, porky forms. But he is also a son of the South, and loves his summer vegetables. This recipe shows off his appreciation of both and is a delicious way to use up summer squash. It might seem daunting to peel 20 cloves of garlic, but you can make quick work of it by smashing the unpeeled cloves lightly with the side of a knife. The papery part will be easy to remove, and the cloves will still roast up mellow and soft. The resulting sauce is also excellent on sandwiches.
Roasted Broccoli With Almonds and Cardamom (Malai Broccoli)
This recipe comes from the British cookbook author Meera Sodha, who adapted it from a dish she tasted in Goa, India. It's a smart, simple technique that turns the broccoli crisp and creamy at the same time: charred florets with a lick of thick nutmeg-spiced sauce baked into every nook and cranny. Ms. Sodha uses a mix of cream cheese, yogurt and ground almonds. Don't be afraid to get messy and use your hands to thoroughly coat the broccoli in the sauce; it pays off later.
Spinach and Pea Fritters
As a vegetable-forward weeknight meal, these spinach fritters have it all: sweet peas, gooey cheese and crispy bits. Made from thawed, frozen peas and spinach, the work is minimal. If you’d like to use fresh peas and spinach, you’ll need to quickly blanch and drain them first. Fresh mozzarella adds a pleasant creaminess, but goat cheese or feta would work, too. Serve these over quinoa or rice, or top with a poached or fried egg for brunch.
Maple-Roasted Squash With Sage and Lime for Two
Slathered with a mildly spicy maple glaze, chunks of winter squash are roasted until velvety soft and browned at the edges, then brightened with lime and fresh sage just before serving. Unless you’re using a squash variety with a particularly thick rind, you don’t need to peel the squash before roasting. The skins of butternut or delicata roast up wonderfully crisp, adding texture to each bite.
Buffalo Grilled Mushrooms
Mushrooms are at their best when cooked over high, unrelenting heat, which makes them ideal for grilling. So that they crisp instead of shrivel, toss them with more oil than you think is required and salt them only after they are cooked. As the mushrooms’ moisture disappears, their earthy umami concentrates and their outsides brown. They can be eaten on their own, added to any dish that you like mushrooms in, or tossed with a sauce that their spongelike texture will soak up. Here, that’s a spicy and silky classic Buffalo sauce. Top with parsley and blue cheese for crunch and coolness, then eat with your fingers or in buns. This method here works with most mushrooms, but avoid larger ones like portobellos, which, over such high heat, will burn before they’re cooked through.
Grilled Slaw With Ginger and Sesame
Napa makes an excellent cabbage for grilling. Its elongated shape provides greater surface area to char — and thus smoke — over a hot fire than a round cabbage. Its leaves are less tightly packed than conventional cabbage, allowing for deep penetration of the smoke flavor. Also known as Chinese cabbage, napa cabbage is native to China and pairs well with Asian seasonings, such as sesame oil, rice vinegar and ginger. To notch up the heat, add a spoonful of Asian chile paste.
Celery Salad With Apples and Blue Cheese
Celery is perhaps at its best in salad: Its flavor is at its brightest and its crunch is unapologetically assertive. Celery root complements the chopped stalks, apples add sweetness and blue cheese — celery’s classic cohort — provides punch. Flavorful enough to stand on its own, this salad isn’t so striking that it doesn’t play well with others. Celery salad makes a welcome addition to the Thanksgiving table, particularly since the crunchy salad ingredients are strong enough to stay sturdy if refrigerated overnight.
Roasted Carrots With Yaji Spice Relish
A fragrant combination of dried spices and aromatics, yaji, also known as suya spice, is as ubiquitous as salt and pepper in homes across Northern Nigeria and West Africa more broadly. Often used to cure meats and finish other dishes, the spice blend is made depending on taste and access to ingredients, so the recipe can range from home to home and vendor to vendor. Common among blends is the addition of a warming chile powder, ground ginger (although fresh is used in some cases) and pulverized peanuts. Here, a basic yaji spice blend is incorporated into a fresh, piquant relish of scallions, lemon zest and juice as a finish to liven up roast vegetables.
Braised Red Cabbage With Apples
This is an adaptation of a classic cabbage dish that I never tire of. The cabbage cooks for a long time, until it is very tender and sweet. I like to serve this with bulgur, or as a side dish with just about anything. You can halve the quantities if you don’t want to make such a large amount.
Crushed Baby Potatoes With Sardines, Celery and Dill
Boiled potatoes are great to keep on hand for out-of-hand snacking and as a quick addition to things like a skillet full of chicken fat or a midday lunch salad, but also excellent as a foil for rich, fatty, tinned fish. In this recipe from “Nothing Fancy” (Clarkson Potter, 2019), the potatoes are crushed because it allows the chunkiness (which lends texture) to coexist with the more broken-up pieces (which lends creaminess). Plus, those exposed craggy edges are here for maximum lemony, scalliony, salty dressing absorption.
Celery-Leek Soup With Potato and Parsley
This celery-forward soup is in essence a potato-leek soup that substitutes most of the potatoes with brighter celery, and skips the vast quantities of cream in the original, resulting in a lighter flavor and texture. Woodsy herbs like thyme and bay leaves, and fresh, raw parsley give the soup its intensely green, almost grassy taste. It’s worth trying the soup without dairy, then admiring the transformative effect of a splash of crème fraîche or cream, which subdues the louder celery notes.
Tomato-Green Bean Salad With Chickpeas, Feta and Dill
This is a perfect salad for summer, when the market is chockablock with great produce. Use whatever tomatoes are sweetest, and feel free to add yellow wax beans or romano beans in addition to green beans. If your market has fresh shelling beans, use those instead of chickpeas. Plan ahead to soak dried chickpeas overnight. With a soak, they only take an hour to cook, and taste better than canned ones.
Sweet Spiced Mushroom and Apricot Pilaf
This pilaf scores all the points for being both gluten-free and vegan (provided you use vegetable stock), and for being robust enough for no one to notice. Star anise and cinnamon make this a warming (and winning) combination for a festive Thanksgiving spread, complementing roast turkey and just about any dish that finds its way to your table. It also serves well as a stand-alone main, with some lightly cooked greens to go alongside. Feel free to swap out the fresh mushrooms for whatever foraged finds you can get your hands on, just make sure to break them up into large chunks, keeping intact their natural “meatiness.”