Love this spot-on recommendation from NY Times’ Cooking. This ragu-type recipe reminds me of one of my favorites from America’s Test Kitchen’s Make Ahead cookbook. Have any chopped tomatoes frozen and waiting? I’ll be trying it out this recipe this week, but opting for pork shoulder only. Italian sausage & meatballs are also delicious, but the roast alone is enough to satisfy. Perfect for cold winter evenings!
And for the cucumbers and sweet peppers and tomatoes and radishes, I’m going to make them into a big salad and dress them with this Apple Cider Vinaigrette recipe from Emily Nunn and the Department of Salad. I’ll make a bigger batch and keep it in a jar in the refrigerator to anoint salads for the next week or two. AND I’m going to slice an apple or two into the salad. Love adding fruit to salads. That little bit of sweet crunch is always a welcome surprise.
What to do with that bag of okra? This week I’m making Okra and Tomato Stir Fry, recipe below, from the new cookbook out by Natalie Keng. Love the homemade soy-ginger sauce recipe that’s a part of that. I still have little tomatoes from last week, but if I didn’t, I’d just chop up one of this week’s slicers.
From “Egg Rolls & Sweet Tea: Asian Inspired, Southern Style” by Natalie Keng.
And I’m not above using grocery store gnocchi for a quick dinner. See the recipe below from Hetty Lui McKinnon. Have you seen her new book, “Tenderheart”? It is HUGE, with almost 200 recipes in chapter after chapter of ideas for the vegetables we get every week. So here are two recipes from the book – the gnocchi and tomatoes AND her vegan mapo tofu with eggplant. I literally keep the book at my desk and just leaf through it when I am looking for inspiration.
Her note about this recipe: “Inspired by panzanella, the beloved Tuscan bread salad, this dish swaps out stale bread for pan-fried gnocchi. The plump, crusty dumplings do a surprisingly good job at soaking up the summery combination of tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, while still maintaining their crisp edge. Shelf-stable gnocchi work best, as they are sturdier and crisp up well, but you could use frozen gnocchi, taking extra care not to move them around too much in the pan so they don’t break apart. Top with a sharp cheese such as Parmesan, pecorino or ricotta salata, for a hit of saltiness, if you like. This meal is best eaten immediately while the gnocchi remains crispy, but it can sit for up to 30 minutes, giving the flavors time to mingle. (However, don’t let it sit too long, as the gnocchi will turn mushy.)”
And I can’t leave you without another recipe from The New York Times. Sorry. But it’s Dumpling Tomato Salad with Chile Crisp Vinaigrette and it’s pretty irresistible. At least at this house. Are you as addicted to dumplings and chile crisp as I am?
And I leave you with one tomato recipe from “Salad Pizza Wine” by Janice Tiefenbach, Stephanie Mercier Voyer, Ryan Gray and Marley Sniatowsky. Delicious. And not as complicated as it might seem, but a very impressive dinner dish. It’s just a tomato salad with a few delicious extras.
We’ve returned from a ten day road trip to the Madawaska Kanu Centre (MKC) in Ontario. In addition to a week full of daily paddling instruction, their kitchen kicks out homecooked meals three times a day. I grabbed some of their recipe cards from the gift store.
The boys have chosen the following recipe for this week. Looks easy, uses that single old leek, celery, and the tomato from yesterday that was a little bruised, and can get served with leftover rice and pan-fried okra tossed in cornmeal, my favorite okra treatment.
NOTE: The leftover lentils were delicious in a salad with Ceasar dressing, and mixed into ground beef for burgers and meatloaf.
Can’t resist also passing along this recipe that I ran into at cooking.nytimes.com. This one makes use of dill, corn, cherry tomatoes from this week’s box. Maybe you also have green beans leftover, or tucked into the freezer. Bonus: you can bake it wrapped in foil packages on the grill. The combo with the coconut milk sounds divine.
And there’s a Pan Con Tomate recipe below which I love as an alternative to a tomato sandwich that’s actually easier to eat (tomato sandwiches, at least my tomato sandwiches, are always so messy) and a perfect accompaniment to a salad or a big glass of basil lemonade. From Anne Byrn, once the food editor for the AJC, now living in Nashville and writing cookbooks.
The Sabich Bowl makes great use of that eggplant in today’s box as well as a tomato and a little sliced cabbage for garnish.