Category Archives: vegetable

Spicy Black Bean & Chickpea Soup

2 November 2009 by local kitchen

When it comes to habanero peppers, I never seem to learn. I always think, “Well, it’s a small pepper, and I’ll take all the seeds out – it won’t be too spicy.” Yep. That’s what I always say, usually about an hour or two before I’m pawing through the cupboards, looking for an additional something that will absorb a bit of the excess heat. Tonight was no exception. I set out to a make a spicy, but not killer-spicy, black bean soup. […]

Categories: 100% local, beans, chickpeas, cilantro, fall, hot chile peppers, soup, tomatoes, vegetarian, winter, year round • Tags: black bean, cooking, food, local, recipes, soup, vegetarian

Linguica Pizza

29 October 2009 by local kitchen

I grew up in Gloucester, MA, at the tip of Cape Ann on Massachusetts’ North Shore, then mostly a commercial fishing town and a summertime escape for wealthy Bostonians. Like many fishing towns or villages in New England, Gloucester had, and still has, a large community of Portuguese immigrants and their Portuguese-American descendants. If you grew up in Gloucester, or New Bedford, Fall River or even East Cambridge, you already know the wonder that is linguica (pronounced “lin-GWEE-sa”). If you did […]

Categories: basil, cheese, main course, pizza, pork, sausage, tomatoes, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, pizza, pork, recipes, whole grain breads

Easy Chicken Stew

23 October 2009 by local kitchen

We’re baaaaaaaaack! There’s just nothing wrong with a month-long honeymoon exploring the wonder that is British Columbia. Eventually, I have a post planned on all the various wonderful places we ate in BC, but for now, I am totally thrilled to be back in my kitchen. I really did miss cooking. Although we did rent a few places with full kitchens in our travels, there was just never time for real cooking in between the hiking, drinking, kayaking, partying, biking, […]

Categories: 100% local, beans, chicken, chickpeas, corn, fall, hot chile peppers, kale & leafy greens, main course, potato, rice, spring, stew, winter, year round • Tags: chicken, cooking, food, local, recipes

Kaela’s Garlic-Herb Mashed Potatoes

17 October 2009 by local kitchen

In my senior year of college, my friends and I were scattered about various off-campus rental houses in the neighborhoods surrounding the university. We used to gather for big, casual pot-luck dinners; lots of pasta, huge bags of snack food liberated from the school cafeterias, and boxes of wine. Today, it makes me shudder to think of drinking white zinfandel, let alone zinfandel in a box, but my memories of those dinners are always happy: lots of food, friends, music, movies […]

Categories: 100% local, herbs, potato, side dish, vegetarian, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, potatoes, recipes, sides

Quinoa and Black Bean Salad

2 October 2009 by local kitchen

Before tomatoes completely disappear, along with the sun and warmer temps, make this festive, easy and complete-protein salad for your next back-deck barbeque or weekend picnic in the park. Simple, stores well, and is equally delicious served warm, cold or at room temperature. Adapted from Quinoa and Black Bean Salad, Gourmet, July 1994 ————————————————————– Quinoa and Black Bean Salad INGREDIENTS 3/4 cup quinoa 1 and 1/2 cups cooked black beans, rinsed (or about 1, 15-oz can) 1 tbsp red wine vinegar salt and freshly ground black […]

Categories: beans, cilantro, citrus, corn, grains & legumes, quick & easy, quinoa, salad, side dish, summer, tomatoes, year round • Tags: beans, cooking, food, local, quick & easy, quinoa, recipes, salad, summer

Chile Verde Base

29 September 2009 by local kitchen

Throughout the year, I make a kick-ass chile verde, a Mexican stew of roasted tomatillos, jalapeño peppers, cilantro, garlic and slow-cooked pork shoulder. My recipe is only slightly adapted from Elise’s version on Simply Recipes, courtesy of her friend Arturo Vargas, and it’s a staple over the long, cold months of winter. Tomatillos, however, the main ingredient in the vegetable base, have a short season here in the Northeast: they ripen at the tail end of tomato season and, if […]

Categories: 100% local, cilantro, fall, freezing, hot chile peppers, preserving, summer, tomatillos • Tags: cooking, food, local, Mexican, preserving, recipes, tomatillos

Tzatziki

21 September 2009 by local kitchen

I’ve had a massive craving for good Greek food lately. What happened was this: Tai & I stole a day out of our crazy schedules to go climbing last week. We spent a gorgeous Tuesday afternoon on the cliffs of the Gunks, up in New Paltz, NY. Before heading home, we decided to try a new Mediterranean restaraunt in town. Well, the most I can say is that is was disappointing. Not horrible food, per se, but totally tasteless; for […]

Categories: cucumber, dill, fall, sauces, side dish, summer • Tags: cooking, food, Greek, local, quick & easy, recipes, sauces, summer

Kale & Arugula Lasagna

16 September 2009 by local kitchen

A rich and savory lasagna, the execution is deceptively simple as this one is all about the sauce. Jam-packed with vegetables and working equally well with fresh summer tomatoes or canned bounty in the depths of a frigid February, this lasagna is Ugly Food at its finest: warm, comforting, satisfying. While leafy greens form the backbone of the flavorful sauce, don’t be afraid to experiment with whatever fresh veg is on hand: carrots, fennel bulb, fresh basil or oregano, eggplant […]

Categories: arugula, cheese, kale & leafy greens, main course, tomatoes, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, pasta, recipes, vegetarian

Fresh Peach Salsa

13 September 2009 by local kitchen

Can you tell I’ve had a lot of peaches in the house? And there are still nectarines in the fridge… stay tuned. Tai’s first comment on tasting this salsa was “How can this be possible?” Followed shortly by “Maybe I’ve just never had a good peach before.” Granted, Tai is not difficult to please (one of the reasons he is so much fun to cook for), but I have to agree with him – this salsa came out really good. Fresh, […]

Categories: 100% local, appetizer, cilantro, citrus, fruit, hot chile peppers, peaches, quick & easy, side dish, summer • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes

Peach Cascabel BBQ Sauce

11 September 2009 by local kitchen

Cascabel peppers, also known as chile bola or rattle chiles, because of the way the seeds rattle around inside the small round dried pepper, grow wild on the Pacific coast of Central America and Mexico. In this country, you generally only find the dried peppers, or sometimes the ground powder. Last winter I bought a bag from Penzey’s, intent on making some recipe or other, which I apparently never made, so I had a mostly full bag of these little […]

Categories: 100% local, canning, hot chile peppers, peaches, preserving, sauces, summer • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Tomato Sauce with Fresh Basil

9 September 2009 by local kitchen

Tomatoes have been scarce this year in the Northeast, so cheap, local tomatoes have been a bit of a pipe dream. But after a long holiday weekend of climbing with friends at the Gunks, Tai & I moseyed our way home on backroads to beat the traffic. In addition to a much more pleasant ride home, we got to stop at Dressel Farms in New Paltz and pick up some of their tomatoes, peaches, nectarines, Bartlett pears, Honeycrisp apples, and […]

Categories: 100% local, basil, canning, preserving, sauces, summer, tomatoes • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Pickled Peppers

4 September 2009 by local kitchen

Peppers seem to take forever to appear: like dreaming of strawberries in March, I start thinking of peppers when the first hot day comes around in June; then I wait, and wait and wait. My pepper plants were started way back in February. I’ve been harvesting jalapenos for a while now, but the red chile peppers are only just turning red, and the red bell peppers are still smaller than a tennis ball and dark green. All I can say […]

Categories: canning, condiments, hot chile peppers, preserving, summer • Tags: cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Flaming Wing Sauce

28 August 2009 by local kitchen

Yet another great way to preserve tomatoes, especially when you are not in the mood for the usual suspects. This recipe has the benefit of limited prep time; no peeling or food milling of the tomatoes required, not nearly as much chopping as a pasta sauce or salsa, and can be easily doubled or tripled if you have a lot of tomatoes on hand. There is a long list of ingredients, but most of them are spices and the measuring […]

Categories: canning, hot chile peppers, preserving, sauces, summer, tomatoes • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes, tomatoes

Summer Tomato Risotto with Mint

26 August 2009 by local kitchen

I had a bunch of tomatoes, from the weekend’s farmer’s market, from the CSA, and a few stragglers from my garden that escaped the blight, but I just couldn’t get inspired by the thought of making a big batch of pasta sauce. So I did the next best thing, a light, delicious, summery risotto with fresh tomatoes and the zing of garden mint. This one’s a keeper! Adapted from Fresh Tomato Risotto in The New Basics by J. Rosso and […]

Categories: appetizer, basil, main course, mint, rice, summer, tomatoes • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes, tomatoes

Tai’s Grilled Corn on the Cob

23 August 2009 by local kitchen

Last night, ignoring the threatening rumbles of thunder and the soggy deck furniture, we grilled. Bone-in chicken breasts with a teriyaki glaze, boneless chicken tenders in one of my classic “clean out the fridge” marinades (this one using up the dregs of various jars of apple raspberry jam, ginger rhubarb jam, strawberry rhubarb jam and curried apple chutney, all mixed together with a little orange juice, champagne vinegar and local chile powder), and spicy red banana peppers and corn on the […]

Categories: 100% local, corn, grill, side dish, summer • Tags: cooking, food, grilling, local, recipes, summer