Category Archives: side dish

Apple Cabbage Pomegranate Slaw

14 December 2015 by local kitchen

This crunchy, sweet-sour, festively purple slaw has been in regular rotation since my new-found obsession with fresh pomegranate started a few weeks ago. And especially during the Crazy Season, it’s hard to beat: quick & easy to throw together (the biggest chunk of time is spent seeding the pomegranate); hits all the right notes of sweetness, acidity, bitterness, salt & crunch; and holds up equally well as accompaniment to a rich, fatty protein like these plum-glazed pork country ribs (you […]

Categories: apples, cabbage, cilantro, fruit, parsley, quick & easy, salad, side dish, vegetarian, winter • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, salad, vegetarian

Curried Coconut Dal Cauliflower Casserole

16 November 2015 by local kitchen

Sooner or later (I fear sooner) there will be an entire category of recipes here loosely grouped under “What To Eat When The World Spins Out of Control.” Cauliflower will play a starring role, as will curry. Soup is always comforting, as much as anything can offer comfort in dark times. And given the recent horrific terrorist attacks in Paris, not to mention Beirut and Kenya, a brutal attack that occurred months ago and is just now making waves in Western media, these are […]

Categories: cauliflower, fall, grains & legumes, main course, side dish, vegetarian, winter • Tags: cooking, food, Indian, lentils, local, recipes, vegetarian

fall-tabbouleh-with-pomegranate-and-feta

Late Fall Tabbouleh with Pomegranate & Feta

8 November 2015 by local kitchen

I bought a pomegranate at the supermarket the other day. Breaking news! Film at 11! I know: it’s hardly newsworthy. But it is a bit of a rarity around here; I don’t go to the ‘big’ market all that often, you see. Nearly all of my fresh food comes from a few local farms (Gossett Brother’s Farm Market, John Boy’s Outpost and Holbrook Farm being the biggies), while grains, nuts, oils, and the like I generally get at my little […]

Categories: fall, fruit, grains & legumes, herbs, mint, non-local luxuries, parsley, salad, side dish, vegetarian • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, salad

Spring Wheat Berry Salad with Lemon Sumac Dressing

29 May 2015 by local kitchen

Variety is the spice of life. Or so they say. But if so, it’s funny how often we stick to the tried & true, the comfortable familiarity of our regular routine. There are over 4,000 varieties of potato, 40,000 of rice, 30,000 varieties of wheat alone. How many varieties have you had lately? I’ve never cooked wheat berries at home. I’ve had them, of course; at restaurants, at potlucks, at the Whole Foods salad bar. But not often, surely. And […]

Categories: citrus, grains & legumes, mint, peas, salad, side dish, spring, vegetarian • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian

Cauliflower, Lentil & Rice Salad

9 February 2015 by local kitchen

Greetings from snowy, snowy Massachusetts. While I hear that very little in the way of snow is hitting the ground at home in New York, here in Gloucester, MA, the latest winter storm to assault the Northeast is alive and kicking. Hard. I’ve been here in my hometown, visiting my mother for a few days while she recuperates from a broken ankle (#snowmaggedon2015 strikes again!), and apparently the universe wants me to stay a few more days. Because I’m a […]

Categories: cauliflower, cilantro, citrus, cranberries, fall, nuts, rice, salad, side dish, vegetarian, winter • Tags: cooking, food, gluten free, local, recipes, vegan, vegetarian

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Preserved Lemon & Aleppo Pepper

2 March 2014 by local kitchen

Until a couple of years ago, I placed myself firmly and emphatically in the Brussels Haters Club. The sprout, not the city (although really, those Brussels Belgians give Parisians a run for their money in the pissy department). But then, on a whim, I tried the maple-glazed Brussels sprout salad from Kiss My Spatula, and my Brussels-hating days were promptly kaput. (Let’s all pause here for a brief moment of silence in honor of one of my favorite food blogs, […]

Categories: cabbage, citrus, fall, roasting, side dish, vegetarian, winter • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, sides, vegetarian

Toasted Couscous Salad with Fennel & Kumquats

9 January 2014 by local kitchen

Can we talk about the tyranny of 5-ingredient recipes? I mean, what line of bullshit have we swallowed that makes us think that limiting a recipe to just five ingredients will make our lives better, simpler, or “down right irresistible?” Don’t get me wrong: we all know that the essence of good cooking is restraint. But to arbitrarily limit ourselves to only five ingredients (not counting salt, pepper, water, a splash of olive oil, a dash of lemon, a…..) out of […]

Categories: cabbage, celery, citrus, fennel, grains & legumes, quick & easy, salad, side dish, vegetarian, winter • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, salad, vegetarian, winter

Fresh Herb Flatbreads

3 August 2013 by local kitchen

More herb lovin: this time, handfuls of mixed fresh herbs are tossed in a garlic-infused olive oil and spooned over skillet-grilled homemade naan. Sprinkle on a little salt, pepper and a touch of Gruyère cheese and you’ve got a bright, fresh, addictively delicious snack, appetizer, side dish, or, as I called it today: lunch. And dinner. Pretty sure it would be breakfast as well, if there were any left. Not quite a pizza, but definitely more substantial than a cracker, […]

Categories: appetizer, basil, breads, herbs, oregano, pizza, rosemary, side dish, summer, whole wheat flour, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes, summer, vegetarian, whole grain breads

Curried Potato Salad with Basil & Mint

27 July 2013 by local kitchen

I have three massive bunches of basil sitting in glasses of water on my counter. Well: two massive bunches now, as I used most of one bunch in these potatoes. Which were also sitting on my counter, picked up at last weekend’s farmer’s market, quickly growing sprouts despite the black tea towel protecting them from light. Ah, summer. The basil overflows, the mint grows like a weed; even the potatoes are stretching towards the sunshine. And the eating is as […]

Categories: basil, mint, potato, roasting, salad, side dish, summer • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, summer, vegan, vegetarian

Ginger-Chile Stir-Fried Lettuce

6 July 2013 by local kitchen

Another answer to that age-old question: What the hell am I going to do with all of this lettuce? Though the last few days have been tropical in New York; sunny, very hot and very humid; early summer has shown us nearly perfect growing conditions for lettuce: sunny, reasonably cool and plenty of rain. Hence, lettuce heads have grown to epic proportions and those of us with gardens or CSAs are eating salad with every meal. However, as there is only so […]

Categories: fall, hot chile peppers, lettuce, side dish, spring, summer • Tags: cooking, local, quick & easy, recipes, side dish

Early Summer Napa Slaw

2 July 2013 by local kitchen

Bright sunny days, cool misty nights and plenty of rain = heaven for cabbage and other leafy greens. So I wasn’t surprised when I saw the GIANT head of Napa cabbage in last week’s CSA bag. I was, however, a bit dismayed that my favorite cabbage slaw includes cherry tomatoes, which won’t make their cheery red selves known around these parts for at least a few more weeks. Enter early summer slaw: crunchy pink radishes, spicy spring onions, sweet orange […]

Categories: cabbage, carrot, quick & easy, radish, salad, scallions, side dish, summer, tarragon, vegetarian • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, salad, vegetarian

Citrusy Red Lentil Salad

5 April 2013 by local kitchen

The last couple of days have finally felt like Spring in New York: bright sunshine, temps approaching 60 degrees F, tiny, pale green buds popping up on the trees and bright green new growth in our tiny patches of “lawn.” Amazingly enough, this run of warm, sunny weather is supposed to continue right through the weekend and into next week: could it be that Spring is actually here? (I wouldn’t lay bets that we’ve seen the last of this winter’s […]

Categories: citrus, grains & legumes, parsley, radish, salad, side dish, spring, vegetarian • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes, salad, spring, vegan, vegetarian

Toasted Israeli Couscous with Winter Squash & Preserved Lemon

10 February 2013 by local kitchen

Conversation I had with myself today: Me: “Can you still say “Israeli” couscous? I mean, is that kosher?” Myself: “Heh. Kosher. Get it?” Me: “You’re not helping. Is “Israeli” couscous still what we call it, or is that like saying “Oriental” when you’re not talking about a carpet? I: “Why don’t we call them Asian carpets anyway? How come oriental carpet is still OK, but oriental anything else is verboten?” Myself: “Well, Asian tends to piss off India, since they […]

Categories: citrus, fall, parsley, side dish, vegetarian, winter, winter squash • Tags: cooking, fall, food, local, recipes, sides, winter

Roasted Curried Cauliflower

17 December 2012 by local kitchen

Nearly two years ago, I made a pumpkin soup, and tried to sort out my grief, anger and frustration following the tragic shooting of Representative Gabby Giffords, and 17 others, on a sunny Saturday morning in Tuscon, AZ. At the time, I had some hope that we would take real steps to prevent the all too common gun violence in our country: because of the prominence of Rep. Giffords, because of the number of people injured and killed, because of […]

Categories: cauliflower, fall, side dish, vegetarian, winter • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian, winter

$72 Biscuits

16 November 2012 by local kitchen

Surely by now you’ve seen the brilliant Hater’s Guide To The Williams-Sonoma Catalog, by Drew Magary at Deadspin, right? I’m not sure which is funnier, that or the hilariously scathing review of Guy Fieri’s Times Square restaurant by Pete Wells for the New York Times. Either way, it’s been a good week for food writing: if you haven’t seen these yet, you should check ’em out. I’ll wait. I was chatting about the hilarity of the Williams-Sonoma piece with some […]

Categories: 100% local, baking, breads, breakfast, cheese, side dish, thyme, whole wheat flour, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian, whole grain breads