This one-pan meal can be pulled together in just 12 minutes and requires only 8 ingredients, including salt, pepper and oil. I’ve fed it to my family for brunch, lunch and dinner, and they asked for more for breakfast the next day. Round out the meal with a side of creamy polenta or grits. Or serve it over a bed of chewy farro or wheat berries. If you can spare the extra mostly hands-free cooking time, my favorite accompaniment to this, however, is Rosemary Roasted Potatoes.
A smoky and subtly spicy take on a classic, you start this soup by gently sautéing a flavor bomb of onion, garlic, ginger, tomato paste, ground cumin and smoked paprika. Instead of taking out a cutting board to mince anything, I use my already prepared Triple Aromatic Puree, a blend of onion, garlic and ginger that I make in large batches and store in my freezer.
I seem to have gained a reputation as the neighbor who will happily take your excess food. Did an online grocery order mishap leave you with 12 dozen clams instead of 12 clams? Call Chef Laura. She’ll know what to do with them. Did India’s spice markets intoxicate you with their aromas? Laura will take some of those souvenirs off your hands. Did your pepper plants react like a pot full of gremlins in the summer rain? Chef Laura knows just the sauce, hot sauce.
You need a 4-ingredient simple snack that is 99.7% vegetable super food. This is it. Be careful, they will disappear faster than you expect.
For best results, I recommend baking these in a convection oven. The fans and dry heat of the convection oven dry out the kale evenly for a crunchier chip that retains some green. But if, like me, you don’t have a convection setting on your oven, don’t fret. Bake at a slightly higher temp in a conventional oven and flip and turn the kale frequently.
I tend to use my Red Russian kale for this recipe, mostly because I reserve the Lacinato kale for salads and pasta dishes. I also like the smooth leaves of the Red Russian kale for crisping into a chip, but you can use any variety you have available.
Go easy on the red pepper flakes! The heat intensifies when the kale cooks down.
1 bunch kale, any variety
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
Preheat a convection oven to 325 degrees or a conventional oven to 350 degrees F.
Remove kale leaves from stems and discard stems (see below). Tear larger leaves into 2-inch square pieces. Wash and spin dry. Pat dry with a clean kitchen towel.
Transfer dry kale to a bowl and sprinkle with salt and red pepper flakes. Add olive oil and toss to coat evenly.
Transfer to a baking sheet (parchment optional) and spread out into a single layer. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crispy, flipping halfway. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool until crisp.
Tip: To remove leaves from stems (photo above), hold the stem in one hand. Pinch the leaves between your thumb and index finger of your other hand. Gently pull the leaves along the stem away from the stem end. Don’t throw away the stems - use them in vegetable stock.
My Shiitake Mushroom “Bacon” Lettuce and Tomato with homemade Cashew Mayo on a Collard Green Wrap is the summer recipe for those who need alternatives to the traditional elements of the BLT but still want to celebrate the tomato. Of course you can mix and match these elements - try a vegan or vegetarian version on your favorite bread or work your usual bacon into a collard wrap to keep it gluten free. Bottom line is, you have options and don’t have to skip the BLT this summer. Just don’t replace the tomato.
In my classes and conversations with many home cooks and those eager to become home cooks, I hear the same repeated request: Healthy. Easy. Meals. So here’s one of my favorites that meets this criteria and then some. As a sheet pan supper, you’ll only be washing one pan after you stuff your face with wholesome goodness. And since the incredible edible egg is the star protein, equally acceptable for breakfast, lunch and dinner (and of course BRUNCH), it’s easy on the wallet. The chili maple glaze turns the squash into crunchy on the outside, creamy on the inside, candy that even squash resisters can’t stop eating.
You can use any type of squash, but I find delicata or acorn work best in this dish, since the roasted skin is deliciously edible, upping the convenience and health factors (thank you, fiber). If butternut or another variety of squash is more readily available to you, go for it. Whichever you use, cut the squash into symmetrical crescent-shaped slices that can be ingeniously arranged to contain a cracked egg.
Make this for dinner on a weeknight. Make it for brunch and impress your friends. Make extra and put the leftovers inside a taco.
Serves: 4 as a main dish
Acorn squash cut into crescent shaped slices and tossed in chili maple glaze before roasting.
¼ cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil (or canola)
1 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon tamari (or shoyu or soy sauce)
4 cloves garlic, peeled, minced or grated
1 inch piece ginger root, peeled, minced or grated
¼ - ½ teaspoon chipotle chili flakes, optional
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 acorn or 2 delicata squash, about 2 pounds
8 eggs
2-3 scallions, sliced at an angle
2 teaspoons sesame seeds, toasted
Delicata squash after roasting, ready to get brushed with more glaze, and arranged for the eggs to get cracked on top.
Garnish with sesame seeds, sliced scallions and more glaze.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Cut the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds. Slice into ½ inch-thick crescent shaped slices. (Peeling delicata or acorn squash is optional.)
In a large bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, sesame oil, grapeseed oil, apple cider vinegar, tamari, garlic, ginger, and chipotle chili flakes.
Season the squash pieces with salt and add to the maple syrup mixture. Toss to coat. Set aside for 10 minutes.
Spread the squash in a single layer on the parchment lined sheet tray, reserving the extra glaze. Bake 25-30 minutes or until it is golden brown on the underside.
Remove the pan from the oven, flip the squash, brush with additional glaze and return the pan to the oven. Bake another 10-15 minutes or until squash is browned on both sides.
Arrange the squash so that two half moons create a circle with a well in the middle. Drop one egg into each well. Season with salt. Return the pan to the oven and bake 7-8 minutes or until whites are solid and yolks are cooked to your preference.
Garnish with toasted sesame seeds, scallion slices and more chili maple glaze. Serve immediately.
It does not get more American than succotash, one of the first dishes Native Americans shared with settlers. The word, meaning "broken corn kernels" comes from the Narrangansett people, who lived in the area that is now Rhode Island. There are many ways to make succotash and an American southerner might eloquently debate a Yankee on both contents and process. I favor the New England variety, with a few tweaks, but also just assumed succotash translated to "every vegetable from the garden" or "the entire contents of your produce drawer dumped into a skillet."
Succotash is the whatever you have at the time kind of dish. Actually -- and perhaps I should put this into the procedure itself -- when making succotash, I open all drawers of my fridge, hunt behind jars and open every container of leftovers, stacking every possible vegetable that can be used on the cutting board along with the tomatoes ripening on the counter. As far as I'm concerned, the only required ingredient in summer succotash is fresh local sweet corn previously cooked or raw. The others you can take or leave or substitute, depending on what you have and what you like.
Yield: Serves 4-6
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or butter
1 onion
sea salt or kosher salt
dried ground spices (e.g. smoked paprika, garlic powder, cayenne, optional)
2 sweet peppers (any color bell, anaheim, cubanelle)
3-5 cloves garlic
1 cup beans (see note)
2 medium zucchini or summer squash
2-3 cups fresh corn kernels*
1/4 cup water
1-2 medium tomatoes or handful of cherry tomatoes
1-2 tablespoons fresh herbs (thyme, parsley, basil, oregano, chives, rosemary), chopped
Cut all vegetables into a similar size and shape.
Heat a large heavy bottomed skillet (cast iron if available) over moderately high heat. Heat the oil or butter and add the onion with a few pinches of salt. Sauté until soft and lightly browned, about 5-8 minutes.
Add spices if using and sauté about 1 minute.
Add the peppers, garlic, a pinch of salt and sauté until peppers are softened.
Add fresh beans (if using), zucchini and corn kernels with a few more pinches of salt. Sauté 1-2 minutes. Add the water and cook until liquid is absorbed.
Add the tomatoes and cook until they break down. Add cooked dried beans if using.
Right before turning off the heat, add the fresh herbs.
Note on beans: Traditional New England succotash uses cranberry or "cattle beans" like the ones pictured here. See that beautiful cranberry color marbled throughout? If you can get fresh cranberry beans straight from the shell for your summer succotash, that is ideal. Or substitute fresh shelling peas, snap peas, green beans, or lima beans. You can also cook up the dried ones, like you make any dried bean and add to the succotash at the very end.
Use leftover already cooked vegetables, such as corn boiled on the cob or grilled zucchini and squash. Simply reduce the cooking time for the already cooked vegetables. Add them to the succotash a little later than the recipe calls for, omit the water and reduce the salt.
Serve the succotash as a brunch hash topped with crispy fried eggs. Push the succotash to the side, add a touch more oil and fry the eggs in the same skillet.
In place of tomatoes, try a tablespoon or two of apple cider vinegar or other vinegar.
Use salt pork or bacon for the fat. Render the fat in step 2 in place of oil or butter. Add the onion to the rendered fat and bacon pieces.
Crisp up small slices of dry salami in the oil. Remove before adding the onion, set aside and return to the dish at the end.
