Green Beans Braised in Tomatoes

This is a great recipe for using up fresh produce from your garden. Don't have a garden? Make this anyway. Some of the best beans I've ever tasted. Seriously.

Adapted from The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook by Jack Bishop. (One of my go-to cookbooks.)

2 T extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, diced smallish

1 - 1.5 cups canned whole tomatoes, chopped, juice reserved (I used fresh, peeled)

1 pound green beans, ends snapped off (I used yellow and green)

1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed with back of a chef's knife (keep it in one or two pieces)

Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

1. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Add oil. Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes until translucent. Add the tomatoes and simmer for about 5 minutes until the juices thicken a bit.

2. Add green beans, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and ground pepper to taste. Stir well. Add some of the reserved juice (I think I added about 1/2 - 1 cup...but do what you think looks good.) Add the smashed garlic clove. Stir well again, reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are as tender as you like them, but for at least 30 minutes. (This is not an al-dente kind of recipe.) I cooked them for 4o minutes, adding a bit more tomato juice as needed.

3. Remove the smashed garlic clove and serve.

4. Sit back and enjoy the compliments.

Moroccan Carrots

This is an easy and unusual and DEElicious salad for parties. It should be made a day ahead. The recipe makes a lot, so keep that in mind. If you like bland food, skip this dish. It has strong and vibrant flavor.

Makes 10 - 12 servings. Keeps well in the refrigerator for leftovers.

Ingredients:

3 pounds carrots, peeled, trimmed and cut on the diagonal into 1/3 inch slices.

1 cup good quality olive oil

1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar

3/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup (yes, you read that right) Hungarian sweet paprika

1/4 cup (yes, you read that right) ground cumin

5 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

1 cup fresh minced parsley

1 T salt or to taste

1. Place the carrots in a large pot and add water to cover. Cook over high heat until crisp-tender. Drain but do not rinse with cold water.

2. While the carrots are cooking, make the dressing. Whisk the oil and vinegars together in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the paprika, cumin and salt.

3. Add the hot drained carrots to the dressing and stir to coat. Add garlic and parsley and toss to combine. Let cool to room temperature, then serve. If you make it in advance and refrigerate it, let it come to room temperature before you serve it.

Perfect Potato Salad

This is always a huge hit. I get Raves from my guests every time I serve this. The recipe makes a ton (serves 15-20). You can half it, though.

One of the keys to success here is cooking the potatoes until they are just done. Don't over cook them and end up with a mushy mess. They should be firm to the bite for the best results. Also, if your onion seems very strong, either get another one or use half. You'll be tossing the warm potatoes with a vinaigrette (recipe below). Make that in advance. The recipe makes much more than you will need for the salad - you might want to quarter or half it if you won't use vinaigrette for something else.

Ingredients:

6 pounds small Red Bliss potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled.

4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch dice

6 ribs celery, choppped

1 large red onion, minced (make sure it is not too strong!)

1 cup chopped fresh dill

1 cup Basic Herb Vinaigrette (see below)

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 1/2 cups Hellmann's mayonnaise

3/4 cup sour cream

1. Prepare the carrots, onion, celery and dill and place in a large bowl. Set aside.

2. Put the potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Heat to boiling and simmer uncovered until fork-tender (but not too soft). Drain in a colander. (I lay them out on a towel to dry.)

2. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle (but still warm - as warm as you can stand it - cut them into uneven chunks and combine them with the vegetables in the bowl. Mix together the vinaigrette and the white wine and add it to the bowl. Toss well.

3. Mix together the mayonnaise and sour cream. Add it to the bowl and toss well. Season with salt and pepper to taste and refrigerate the salad for at least a few hours to blend the flavors.

Basic Herb Vinaigrette

4 cloves garlic, finely minced

3 T Dijon Mustard

3/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 cups olive oil

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 T dried Italian Herb Blend

salt & pepper

1. Whisk garlic and mustard together in a mixing bowl.

2. Pour in olive and vegetable oils in a steady stream while continuing to whisk. (I have done this in a blender or using a hand held blender stick with very good results.)

3. Mix in dried herbs and salt and pepper.

4. Let stand at room temperature for a couple of hours to blend the flavors.

5. Store covered in the refrigerator.

Makes about 4 cups.

Perfect Potato Salad

This wonderful recipe is from The Nantucket Open House Cookbook by Sarah Leah Chase. The book is filled with delicious recipes. (You can get it at Amazon.) I have made this salad many times and not only is it really pretty it tastes really good. You can make the vinaigrette a day ahead.

Serves 15 - 20

6 pounds small Red Bliss potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled (Get organic or locally grown, the freshest you can find. It makes a difference!)
4 - 6 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch dice
6 ribs celery, coarsely chopped
1 large red onion, minced
1 cup chopped fresh dill, plus extra for garnish
1 cup Basic Herb Vinaigrette (see below)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups Hellmann's mayonnaise
3/4 cup sour cream


1. Place potatoes in a large pot and add water to cover. Heat to boiling, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered until fork tender but NOT mushy, about 25 minutes. Drain in a colander.

2. Place the carrots, celery, red onion and dill in a large mixing bowl. Cut the hot potatoes into uneven chunks and combine with the vegetables in the bowl. Toss with the vinaigrette and the white wine.

3. Blend the sour cream and mayonnaise together and add this to the potato mixture and toss well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate the salad for a few hours to mellow the flavors. Serve with and additional sprinkling of fresh dill.

Basic Herb Vinaigrette

2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1.5 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 oz red wine vinegar
1 1/4 cups good quality olive oil
1.5 Tablespoons dried Italian Herb blend
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Whisk the garlic and the mustard together. Whisk in the vinegar. Add the oil in a steady stream, whisking, whisking, whisking to make that emulsion. Blend in the herbs and salt and pepper.

Let stand at room temperature for a few hours to mellow. Store in the refrigerator if not using right away. Let warm to room temperature before using.

Sichuan Green Beens

This has become one of our favorite easy meals at Chez McGary. You can prep everything earlier in the day - and believe me, there isn't much prep - and then stir fry it up when you are ready to eat. This is a very authentic tasting dish. I urge you to try it....TRY IT RIGHT NOW!

You can make this vegan/vegetarian by substituting either ground seitan or frozen crumbled tofu for the pork. See note at the bottom of this entry for more details.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons soy sauce (preferably tamari or shoyu)
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoons dry mustard
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound fresh green beans, ends trimmed, cut into 2 inch pieces (I sometimes use a combination of sugar snap peas and green beans)
1/4 pound ground pork (or tofu or seitan, see below)
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
3 scallions, white and light green parts, sliced thin (optional)
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
white sesame seeds

1. In a small bowl, stir together soy sauce, sherry, sugar, cornstarch, white pepper, pepper flakes, mustard, and water until sugar dissolves. Set aside.

2. Heat oil in 12 inch nonstick skillet until just smoking. Add beans and cook, stirring frequently, until crisp-tender and skins are shriveled and blackened in spots, 5-8 minutes. If the beans darken too quickly, reduce heat to medium high.) Transfer beans to a large plate or bowl.

3. Reduce heat to medium-high and add pork to now-empty skillet. Cook, breaking pork into small pieces, until no pink remains (or until lightly browned if using seitan or tofu), about 2 minutes. Add garlic, and ginger and cook (you might need to add a bit more oil at this point if not using meat) and cook, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Stir sauce to recombine and add it along with the beans to the pan. Toss and cook until sauce is thickened, about 5 - 10 seconds. Remove pan from heat, stir in scallions (if using) and sesame oil. Sprinkle generously with sesame seeds. Serve immediately and ooh and aahh about how good it is. ( we serve it with brown rice)

Tofu note: Tofu that has been frozen works beautifully here. Freeze firm tofu and thaw. Squeeze water out of it and then crumble it and use it as you would the pork in this recipe. Throw the remainder into a chili or stew.

Seitan that has been finely chopped or ground works very well here. I use relatively unflavored seitan that I make myself. Leave me a comment if you need that recipe.

Amazing and Easy Sesame Noodles (Side Dish)

These noodles were served at my wedding and they are SO GOOD! Alas, I don't make them anymore because my son is allergic to peanuts. This dish is perfect for a buffet along side a pork or beef tenderloin. The leftovers are terrific too. Just posting this makes me hungry for them. These can be made ahead.

3 Tablespoons Tamari (or soy sauce)
3 Tablespoons rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter (Creamy Jif recommended)
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
2 Tablespoons fresh ginger root, minced
1/2 cup water or broth
1 pound #8 spaghetti & 2 tablespoons sesame oil for tossing

Combine above ingredients (except for pasta) for the sauce. Can be made ahead and refrigerated. Cook pasta (al dente) & rinse immediately in cold water. Pasta can be refrigerated ahead as well. When ready to serve, toss pasta gently with 2 Tablespoons sesame oil. Add sauce & mix gently. Garnish with hot/sweet relish (recipe below). I like to heap the noodles on a nice serving platter and put the relish all around the side.

Relish:

Combine 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup vinegar and 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes. Cook until syrupy. While syrup is hot, add 1 small red onion, chopped small and 1 chopped cucumber. Refrigerate unti ready to use.

Perfect Rice Recipe (Side Dish)

This is a method of cooking rice which yields perfect results every time. It doesn't matter what kind of rice...long grain, short grain, brown, white, wild. The directions work for any of these. The only drawback to the method is that you have to be in the kitchen for all but the last 15 minutes of the cooking to watch the pot. But, if you are cooking something else at the same time, it works out fine. What you will find is that the cooking time for the varieties of rices don't vary much from the times specified on their packages. But, I prefer this method to others because it is perfect every time.

1 part rice (some kinds should be rinsed first...rinse the rice if the package advises it)
2 parts water or broth if you like
(I don't add salt or butter or oil, but if you wanted to, that would probably work just fine.)

Mix rice and liquid in a saucepan that has a lid. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and simmer until the rice and liquid are at the same level. For brown & wild varieties, this will take longer than for white. At that point, turn the heat to the lowest possible setting, cover the pan tightly and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Serve.