Veggie - - Page 18

by Emily

100 Ways to Use an Avocado

It’s no big secret that we like avocados here. Okay, we don’t like them, we’re obsessed with them. So you can imagine my shock and outrage when I realized we had never compiled a 100 Ways for avocado. I had to remedy this immediately. So here it is: 100 ways to cook one of the greatest gifts nature has bestowed upon the human race. There’s so much more to this majestic fruit than just guacamole (although we have some uniquely great guac recipes in this roundup, too). And just in time for Cinco De Mayo! You’re welcome.

Click on the photos for full recipes.

All 100 Ways — 1,500 recipes and counting! — found here.

by Ali Macaluso

Garden Fuck-Ups: What’s Eating My Squash?

Editor’s Note: New contributor Ali of Live for the Season is taking our long-standing Friday Fuck-Ups series in a new direction: out to the garden! Welcome, Ali!

Last year I found my green thumb and started my first garden. Each day after work I would rush home and check on my plants, and every time I saw something sprouting I would get excited. This is amazing! I’m going to grow my own food! Everything is wonderful! Until one day I went outside and saw a small crack at the base of my zucchini plant. Hmph. I looked closer and found a little pile of what resembled orange “sawdust” where the crack appeared. I didn’t think much of it — just figured that the weight of my zucchini plant had put pressure on the stem and as a result, it split. Still a bit curious, I reached down and touched the “sawdust,” and it felt mushy. But my plant was producing, so I wasn’t too concerned.

Fast forward two weeks. My zucchini production had decreased considerably. During the day the plant looked so sad and droopy that I considered yanking it out of the ground and putting it out of its misery. That tiny crack at the base of the stem had turned into a full-blown split, and it happened to all but one of my squash plants. A little research led me to find that my poor plants had fallen victim to “squash vine borers” — thick, worm-like creatures that burrow into the base of vines and eat their way inside the plant. They sit there inside the stems, like a chunky little kid stuck in a pipe at a water park, blocking all of the water and nutrients from getting past their thick little selves to the rest of the plant until the whole plant finally keels over and dies. And that orange sawdust I touched when I first noticed the issue? Yep — borer poop. Here is what my plant looked like after just a few weeks:

what the...?

Even worse was the fact that when the squash vine borers are finished killing the plants, they exit the stem and burrow into the soil where they “pupate.” They stay here throughout the winter, only to emerge in the spring as a flying, wasp-looking creature that will lay eggs at the base of next year’s plants and start the nasty-ass process all over again. Did these little bastards really think they could get away with living rent-free in my zucchini stems for not one, but two seasons? Apparently, yes. But thanks to some research, mama’s got a plan. Once I see the signs (droopy leaves, orange poop, cracked stems) I can supposedly stop these suckers before they wreak total havoc again by using a knife to make an incision in the stem until I find the culprit and evict him. Better yet, I can try to prevent him from even entering the plant by wrapping the base of the stem with material from an old stocking:

in Personal / Veggie 5 comments

by hungry monster

An Open Letter to Hummus (and a Recipe)

Hummus is on my mind lately, everyone. I just thought you should know that. It is so awesome, and it has been making daily appearances in my life. I need a few moments to express my feelings for this super awesome food. So bear with me as I get a little sentimental.

Oh, hummus. I have nothing but love for you.

Shall I count the ways?

I shall.

1. You are super versatile and can go on almost everything, from veggies to sandwiches or even used as a salad dressing.

2. You are full of protein and make my tummy happy.

3. There are so many flavor combinations to incorporate into you.

4. You are made from a legume called either chickpeas or garbanzo beans, which are both on my top ten list of fun words to say out loud.

5. Oh, I could go on forever, hummus. But I’m hungry. So I’m just gonna get to it.

Here’s a twofer recipe that starts with my secret to making perfect hummus: rosemary-infused olive oil:

Chunky Rosemary-Infused Hummus

in Recipe / Veggie 4 comments

by BS

How to Cut an Avocado

As you know, we here at Endless Simmer like to put avocado on everything.

I don’t know if everyone has this problem, but I’ve always been unsure about the best way to cut up an avocado. Some people like to cut it in half and slice up semi-circular pieces to place in salads or sandwiches. I find this method creates less-than-ideal pieces; there’s just something textural I don’t like about those long, thin slices of avo. Spoon it out works for guac, but not when you want whole pieces of green.

So I was pretty stoked when I recently spied a friend in a kitchen cutting an avocado up just like I cut mangos. Cut it half, slice crisscross patters into each half, and then just pop ’em out.

Apologies if this is not as revelatory for everyone else, but lately it has changed my life. It’s so much easier and quicker than other ways, and it results in perfect bite-sized pieces, ideal either for tossing in a salad or for mashing up into guacamole or another avocado dip.

in Personal / Rants & Raves / Veggie 3 comments

by nina boutsikaris

This Week at the Farmers Market: Get Your Leek On

Editor’s Note: New ES-er Nina, an NYC-based writer behind The Leafy Kitchen will be bringing us a new weekly column sharing her best ways for cooking up the season’s farmers market finds. First up: leeks!

PHOTO: h-bomb

One time, while checking out at Whole Foods, the young cashier looked my giant leek up and down, gave a shrug and then asked me what the hell it was. So, OK, if you’ve never cooked with a leek before, I guess you are forgiven. But C’MON. For those of you who need a refresher, leeks are a sister of the onion, related to scallions, chives, shallots and garlic. Leeks have a delicate, sweet flavor and won’t make you cry! They’re quite pretty, too: when you slice them, the layers come apart into dozens of perfect circles.

PHOTO: maeve

In the Northeast, onions and their kin are happiest in the early spring, so it’s not surprising that proud, oversized leeks were piled high under every produce tent at the Union Square farmers market this week. I picked up one with firm rooty bulbs and a long, white stem (the more white the better as that is the part you cook with), plus two bunches of kale to create my favorite caramelized leeks and greens that can used in a variety of ways.

Caramelized Leeks with Steamed Greens

in Recipe / Veggie 2 comments

by Twin Tastes

An Olive Even Olive-Haters Will Love

Personally, we love all kinds of marinated olives, from Spanish to Greek to Italian. While we always seek out olives on a tapas menu and could eat a whole bowl in one sitting, many people are turned off by the pungent taste and slippery texture. So to transform these briny orbs into something even olive-haters could enjoy, we decided to fry them and serve them with a creamy aioli.

The crispy, salty marbles maintain everything that is right about an olive, and add a little fried bready goodness to boot. These will disappear quickly, so make sure to plan ahead if serving for a crowd…

Fried Green Olives

in Featured / Recipe / Veggie 3 comments

by Miss K

Eating Down the Fridge: Condiment Club

I am about to make a confession that I am pretty sure makes me un-American: I don’t like really like condiments. Specifically, I am not a fan of ketchup or mayonnaise. Yep. Just exile me now. So, if you are reading this post looking for ways to use that four-year-old bottle of mustard lurking in the fridge door, I’m sorry. I have nothing for you today.

Here’s the thing, though. I think that mayo, ketchup, Miracle Whip, and especially green ketchup give condiments a bad name. After all, a quick search at Dictionary.com reveals that a condiment is “something used to give special flavor to food.” Okay, that I can get behind.

Here at my house, we are 90% vegetarian. Also, we are very ~~cheap~~ frugal. Often, particularly toward the end of the month, we eat a lot of beans and rice/tortillas/polenta/etc… That’s all nice and nutritious, but it can get a little…well, tedious. Enter my favorite condiment: homemade coleslaw. Contracy to popular belief, it can be made from all kinds of vegetables; not just cabbage. Throw some atop a big ol’ pile of rice and beans (or a baked bean sandwich, pictured above), and voila: instant dinner elevation. It’s the perfect EDtF recipe, because the permutations are endless.

“Recipe” for homemade coleslaw:

in Recipe / Veggie 4 comments