This dressing is pack with herb flavors. Although it was made to go with a fava and lettuce salad, it would be great as a dip for vegetables or falafel, and would be good in chicken salad or with skewers of grilled chicken, lamb, or beef. Avoid using curly parsley here as it will make it taste bitter and vegetable.
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Another riff on the Italian classic. Where gremolata usually uses garlic, this version contains none, and uses shallot instead. It also uses only a little lemon zest, and calls for Meyer lemon rather than Eureka. This iteration came about as a garnish for seared and roasted butternut squash rounds, which are sweet on their own, and have a nutty flavor. This version would go well on other roast or crisp sautéed vegetables such as parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes, or other dense-fleshed winter squash. Try it on turkey cutlets, pan roasted halibut, or charred octopus as well.
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Thick rounds of butternut squash pan seared and roasted are paired with a fresh, herby gremolata variant, then toasted hazelnuts or raw pine nuts are added to light the nutty flavor of the squash a little higher. Use this as a side instead of a starch, or as an entrée on a meatless Monday.
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These can be done in stages ahead of time up to the final cooking if you wish, and they are quite flexible in terms of what you use. Instead of lamb and currants, use pork and a fine dice of apples. Skip the meat entirely and add in some cheese, firm or pressed tofu, or chopped nuts.
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Halved florets of romanesco pan-fried and then steamed with a shot of white wine to finish is then garnished with a variation of gremolata, the classic Italian mélange of flat-leaf parsley, lemon zest, and garlic. Be sure to use good oil that has a high flash point, good wine (if it isn’t good just use water) and a heavyweight pan with a tight fitting lid.
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Persillade is a condiment or topping, the most basic version of which is a mixture of chopped flat leaf parsley (persil in French) and garlic. Here is a riff on my variation that includes toasted bread crumbs that add a nutty quality, as well as crunch to a dish. This version uses grated or chopped carrots to add moisture and sweetness. The carrots must be chopped fairly finely to release enough moisture to achieve the desired effect. To that end, coarsely grate the carrots and then use a knife that is not razor sharp, or pulse in a food processor or blender.
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Here, the nutty earthy flavor of roasted broccoli is countered with a slightly sweet carrot inflected persillade-the classic parsley garlic mixture used to top many a bistro dish. The persillade has the crunch of toasted bread crumbs as well as carrots-and if you like, pistachios-to play off the slightly chewy broccoli. Serve as a side with steak, duck, tuna, or other items with a deep dark flavor.
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The “sauce” is similar, I suppose, to a salsa verde (Italian, not Mexican), except it has nuts. And no capers or lemon. Anyway, the bright herbaceousness and the nutty flavors work really well with the earthy sweetness of the squash. Kabocha tend to be drier than other squash, such as acorn or butternut, so the topping is stands out all the more. Pine nuts are a great choice in lieu of hazels, and you could even give this dish a South West slant by using cinnamon and coriander seed on the squash and adding a little cilantro to the garnish. The peel is edible on kabocha by the way.
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Having always been a stickler as to the definition of “pesto”, I have relaxed about this a bit, but still feel “pesto” should contain an herb, garlic, nuts, and olive oil. In this case the herb is the fronds from fennel combined with a little parsley for bulk, the nuts are coarsely chopped almonds, and the pesto is pretty runny. There is no cheese in this, although you could add some young Romano to the recipe if desired. This recipe was meant for Carrots with Fennel Jam, but would work well with chicken, fish, pork, pasta, or drizzled on spaghetti. Mortar and pestle is my preferred method for texture and longevity of end product, but a blender works, and the method for that is listed after the mortar method.
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The smaller size of the ingredients of this salad give it a lightness and ensures you can get all the flavors in one bite, giving a sum that is more than the parts alone. Make this with or without the lettuce as you choose. It adds a welcome crunch, and slightly bitter and sweet flavor of the lettuce acts as a bridge between the zucchini and tomatoes.
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Here, Patatas Bravas are the inspiration. You could use this dish like a tapa and serve smaller amounts of it, or use it as a side dish. Serve hot, warm, or room temperature.
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This is one of those salads similar to the Moroccan type, where there is no lettuce, the dish can be served to start a meal or as a side, or can make part of a light supper with a little soup and a more traditional salad of lettuces. Next time you are out for Chinese or Japanese food and they have the better quality bamboo chopsticks that are almost pencil thick, ask for a set to use for dishes like this, where you need to slice down without cutting all the way through something.
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Fattoush, often considered Lebanese in origin, is one of those ubiquitous salads found pretty much anywhere flatbread is eaten and tomatoes grow. Like the Italian salad called Panzanella it was probably a way to not waste bread after it had gone stale. Of many iterations, the two constants it seem to be flat bread and tomatoes. The greens vary from romaine to butter lettuce to arugula to none at all. Cucumber? Peppers? Radishes? Some use pomegranate seeds, some have pomegranate syrup in the dressing, while some have none. Like so many dressings of the Middle-East, this one is “slack”, meaning it is not a fully emulsified vinaigrette, so be sure to mix it up one more time just before pouring it on.
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This soup is a riff on borscht, with kale filling in for the cabbage, and the vinegar on the roast beets filling in for the things that are often pickled in borscht. Some borscht uses sauerkraut, some have chopped pickles, some use a soured broth or kvass as the base. Although written as a hot soup, it could easily be chilled and served cold with yogurt or labne.
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INGREDIENTS:
1 Meyer lemon, zested with a Microplane or multi-channel zester*
¼ cup flat leaf parsley
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So simple, and yet so flavorful. This is one of those things where the whole is so much greater than the parts. Do not try doing this in a food processor. It will simply be a mess. From this basic recipe there are many other directions you can go. Use Meyer lemon and or orange zest. Add lime to it and use cilantro.
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Finding different ways to use celery leaves besides sticking them in stock is a “chef thing”. Here is a dual recipe. Chopped, it makes a condiment to be used as you might Salsa Verde. Chopped finer in food processor you get a pesto like paste that can be used on pasta, or on slabs of cheese or smeared onto things. For pasta, try it with something like bucatini or try a whole grain noodle with a little more chew and deeper flavor. Barilla makes a “Plus” line that is made with spelt and barley, chickpeas and lentils, as well as semolina, that has a nice flavor that would go well with this recipe. Try it on fish or poultry-it would go well with turkey for instance. Use as a smear for the white meat or use on sandwiches of leftovers later.
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Another salad from the Tour Du Fridge Department, or, what leftovers can be transformed into dinner? Leftover farro and lots of peppers led to this. You can use other chewy grains such as wheat berries or barley of you don’t have farro handy. Serve this as a side or part of a mezze/antipasto/appetizer spread.
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This is a simple dish with nowhere to hide for inferior ingredients, so make this with ripe flavorful tomatoes and fresh aromatic herbs. As it says, this is a great topping for fish, whether grilled, roasted, or poached. Use it with any thicker fish. Use a milder olive oil, and only enough to be noticed. Too strong and it will overpower the tomatoes, and too much will muffle all the flavors and make the salad/topping heavy.
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Persillade is a condiment or topping, the most basic version of which is a mixture of chopped flat leaf parsley (persil in French) and garlic. Different iterations feature vinegar, different herbs, pepper flakes or powder. Anchovy often shows up in Provençal versions. Look for it in French, Cajun, Quebecois, and other French influenced foods, as well as Greek cuisine. Adding lemon (or other citrus) zest turns it into gremolata, the traditional topping of osso bucco, which are slices of lamb shank slow cooked and topped at service with aromatic gremolata. This is a variant that includes toasted bread crumbs that add a nutty quality, as well as crunch to a dish, and mitigates the powerful flavors of garlic and lots of parsley.
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This dish was somehow inspired by the classic tapa known as Tortilla Española. Don’t ask how, as I am not sure myself. The potatoes used are important here. Find something like a Yellow Finn or Yukon Gold, or other potato that possesses a slightly sweet and nutty flavor without being a really waxy type, nor really mealy. Potato size also matters. The idea is the potato and sauce work together to highlight each other’s flavor, while the tomato acts as a counterpoint with acid and fruit, and the parsley adds earthy and vegetal notes.
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