Vegetables

Here, spinach undergoes four completely distinct treatments: superfast wilting in a pan; not-much- slower steaming in a pot; braised and almost a full meal; and superslow, a technique I really love, and one that results in astonishingly fine creamed spinach and the like. (These are generally so high-fat that they effectively neutralize spinach’s supposed health benefits, an interesting paradox.)

For our pan-roasted asparagus recipe, we wanted a simple stovetop cooking method that would deliver crisp, evenly browned spears without the fuss of having to rotate each spear individually. Along with the oil and asparagus, we added just a little butter to the skillet and covered the pan so that the water evaporating from the butter began steaming the asparagus, providing enough additional moisture to finish cooking the spears to a bright green, crisp-tender stage.

Lemon zest and juice makes this a brightly flavored one-pot dish. It's also great for picnics and patio parties because you can serve it at room temperature. 

Look for nutritional yeast at health food stores and some grocery stores. It’s adds a cheesy and nutty flavor to many dishes. It’s optional in this recipe. To make your own bread crumbs, tear firm, fresh bread into pieces and whirl in a food processor or blender until crumbs form.

To toast the panko bread crumbs, use a toaster oven. Or place them on a small pan and toast in the oven while it's preheating. Watch carefully, because they burn easily.

 Stir‐fries are quick, easy, and a fantastic way to use those single carrots, celery stalks, and handful of other vegetables sitting in your fridge. One key to a fast stir‐fry is the size in which you cut your vegetables: The smaller you cut them, the quicker they will cook.

Cutting the carrots in our recipe into identically sized batons gave us evenly cooked results with the best browning. Precooking the carrots right on the baking sheet kept their moisture in and minimized withering. We buttered and seasoned the carrots, tightly covered the baking sheet with aluminum foil, and cooked them in a very hot oven. When the carrots were tender, we slid the uncovered baking sheet back into the oven and roasted them until the moisture had burned off and the roasted carrots took on nut-brown caramelized streaks.  

Modern Pasta Fagoili recipes use chicken or beef broth and a meat like pancetta or spicy sausage. I went the veggie route, using vegetable broth and 5 different types of vegetables: carrots, celery, onions, tomatoes and swiss chard. The beans make the soup hearty and filling regardless, so just use whatever you have on hand. My secret ingredient is Parmesan cheese rind, it gives the broth amazing flavor. Just add the rind of Parmesan cheese when cooking, then discard when serving. Unless of course you want to eat it, I always do, it tastes like a chewy cheese crouton. 

Our recipe for Braised Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Pecans combines the assertive flavor of the vegetable with smoky bacon and bittersweet pecans. We braised the Brussels sprouts until just tender by partially covering them with broth, then simmering them until they were easily pierced with a knife. Smoky bacon, sweet pecans, aromatic shallots, and garlic were the perfect complements to the braised Brussels sprouts. 

In search of a green bean recipe that would breathe life into out-of-season vegetables, we discovered that roasting in a 450-degree oven with only a handful of ingredients transformed aged specimens into deeply caramelized, full-flavored beans.