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Contents

Title Page

Copyright Notice

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Moosewood Turns Forty

A Taste of Moosewood

Organic Food, the Dirty Dozen, and Buying Local

About the Recipes

Appetizers

Spiced Nuts; Peppercorn and Lemon Marinated Feta; Black Bean Ful; Tofalafels; Spanakopita Bites; Greek Spinach Rice Balls; Roasted White and Sweet Potatoes with Chipotle Aioli; Southeast Asian Rolls; Stuffed Tomatoes; Tofukabobs with Peanut Sauce

Dips and Spreads

Simple Smooth Guacamole; Vegan Spinach–Artichoke Heart Dip; Classic Hummus; Olivada; White Bean and Basil Spread; Russian Eggplant Spread; Edamame-Wasabi Spread; Herbed Chèvre Spread; Dilled Havarti Spread; Red Bean and Walnut Spread

Soups

Creamy Herbed Potato Soup and Four Variations; Potage Jacqueline; Cream of Asparagus; Portuguese White Bean and Kale Soup; Cream of Spinach Soup; Creamy Hungarian Mushroom Soup; Southwestern Sweet Potato–Corn Soup; Sopa de Lima; Thai Butternut Squash Soup; French Onion Soup; Mushroom-Sesame-Tofu Soup; Mulligatawny; Miso Soup; Corn Chowder; Texas Barbecue Bean Soup; West African Peanut Soup; Red Lentil Soup; Curried Lentil Soup; Chilled Cantaloupe-Amaretto Soup; Gazpacho

Sandwiches

Two Tofu Salad Pitas; BLTease Sandwich Spread; Saigon Sandwich; California Pita; Antipasto Pita; Deviled Egg Salad; Spring Egg Salad; Muffuletta; Tempeh Reuben; Barbecued Tofu Pita; Roasted, Toasted Ciabatta

Burgers

Curried Red Lentil Burgers; Moosewood’s Classic Tofu Burgers; Falafel Burgers; Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Burgers; Southwestern Bean Burgers

Main Dish Salads

Sichuan Noodles; Peruvian Quinoa and Vegetable Salad; Thai Noodle Salad; Rice Salad with Herbs and Vegetables; Asian Rice Salad; Indonesian Rice Salad; Tabouli Salad; Moroccan Couscous Salad; Autumn Salad Plate; Winter Salad Plate; Spring Salad Plate; Summer Salad Plate; Mexican Salad Plate; Armenian Roasted Eggplant Salad; Gado Gado; Mediterranean Lentil Salad

Curries and Stews

Thai Vegetable Curry; Lentil-Vegetable Sambar; Summer Vegetable Curry; Winter Curry; Caribbean Stew; Eggplant Mykonos; Groundnut Stew; Moroccan Vegetable Stew; Navajo Stew; Andean Vegetable Stew on Quinoa; Green Bean, Potato, and Fennel Ragout; Ratatouille; Jambalaya

Beans

Cuban Black Beans; Caribbean Black-eyed Peas; Caribbean Red Beans; Our Best Chili; Habas Verdes con Queso; Basque Beans; Greek Lemon-Mint Beans and Vegetables; Creole Red Beans; Ghanaian White Beans and Vegetables with Fiery Pepper Sauce; Beans and Greens

Frittatas and Pies

Mushroom Frittata; Spanish-style Tortilla; Fritada de Espinaca; Caramelized Onion Pie; Mushroom Piroshki; Pizza Rustica

Casseroles

Chilaquiles Casserole; Mexican Corn and Cheese Casserole; Rumbledethumps; Zucchini-Feta Casserole; Country Moussaka; Polenta Casserole

Stuffed Vegetables

Quinoa-stuffed Roasted Peppers; Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Stuffed Vegetables; Greek Stuffed Tomatoes; Indian Stuffed Eggplant; Italian Polenta-stuffed Peppers; Asian-style Stuffed Portobellos

Wraps, Rolls, and Strudels

Curried Squash Roti; Asparagus-Leek Strudel; Aegean Strudel; Tofu-Spinach Borekas; Black Bean–Sweet Potato Burritos; Two Quesadillas; Spinach-Cheese Burritos

Tofu

Tofu Kan–style Baked Tofu; Moosewood’s Best Baked and Pan-fried Tofu; Lemon-Herb Baked Tofu; Thai Baked Tofu; County-style Soft Tofu; Mushroom Mapo Tofu; Tofu “Meat” Loaf; Dixie Tofu-Pecan Loaf

Pasta

Spinach Lasagna; Vegetable-Tofu Lasagna; Pasta al Cavalfiore; Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli; Eggplant-Mushroom Marsala; Vegetable Stroganoff; Pasta Tutto Giardino; Pasta Fazool; Pasta Primavera; Pasta with Asparagus and Lemon Sauce; Quick Uncooked Tomato Sauce on Pasta; Twelve Quick Pastas

Fish

Coconut-Lime Cashew-crusted Fish; Dukkah-crusted Fish; Pecan-crusted Fish; Spicy Chipotle Cornmeal-crusted Fish; Not Fried Fish; Fish Cakes; Flounder Rollatini; Flounder Florentine; Spicy Caribbean Fish; Teriyaki Fish; Malaysian Fish; Oven-poached Fish with Leeks and Wine; Fish Basilico; Asian-style Fish in Parchment; Fish “Tostadas”; Creamy Seafood Stew

Side Salads

Chopped Broccoli Salad; Lime-Cilantro Slaw; Asian Slaw; Confetti Kale Slaw; Cucumbers Vinaigrette; Tomato, Cucumber, and Artichoke Heart Salad; Middle Eastern Carrot Salad with Mint; Moroccan Carrot Salad with Currants; Beet Salad; Sweet Potato Salad with Chipotle Aioli

Sides

Seasoned Artichokes; Simple Side Vegetables Simply Embellished; Green Beans with Lemon Zest Dressing; Asparagus with Garlic and Oil; Broccoli with Walnuts; Quick Sautéed Greens; Asian Greens; Roasted Vegetables; Gingered Broccoli and Carrots; Roasted Cauliflower; Roasted Brussels Sprouts; Greek Lemony Potatoes; Dilled Potatoes Vinaigrette; Vegan Mashed Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes; Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage Two Ways; Refried Beans; Lentil Dhal; Moosewood Restaurant’s House Cornbread; Vegan Cornbread

Side Grains

Spanish Rice; Annatto Rice; Coconut Rice; Sesame Jeweled Rice; Black Rice Pilaf; Red Rice Pilaf; Wild Rice Pilaf; Bulghur Pilaf; Kasha and Mushroom Pilaf; Polenta, Cheesy and Vegan; Risotto Milanese; Couscous

Salad Dressings

Moosewood’s Creamy Green Dressing; Lemon-Tahini Dressing; Feta-Garlic Dressing; Japanese Carrot Dressing; Pear-Thyme Dressing; Ginger-Miso Dressing

Condiments and Salsas

Mango Aioli; Herbed Aioli; Lime-Dijon Aioli; Cilantro-Yogurt Sauce; Quick Banana Chutney; Chipotle Cream; Tzatziki; Cranberry Sauce; Spinach Raita; Date-Coconut-Lemon Chutney; Caramelized Onions; Our Favorite Tomato-Cilantro Salsa; Avocado Salsa; Cucumber-Tomato Salsa; Mango Salsa

Sauces and Gravies

Jerk Sauce; Simple Sweet and Sour Sauce; Tomatillo Sauce; Smooth Hot Sauce; Red Pepper Butter; Puttanesca Sauce; Three Pestos; Tomato-Basil Sauce; Cheese Sauce; Caramelized Onion Gravy; Spinach Béchamel; Mushroom Gravy

Desserts

Frosted Carrot Cake; Sara’s Fresh Apple Spice Cake; Vegan Chocolate Cake; Our Favorite Pound Cakes; Vanilla Cheesecake; Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting; Gingerbread; Moosewood Fudge Brownies; Italian Sesame Cookies; Cowboy Cookies; Chocolate–Chocolate Chip Cookies; Chocolate Ricotta Moose; Almond Shortbread; Baklava; Apricot-Almond Baklava; Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble; Apple Crisp; Southern Nut Pie Eudora; Our Favorite All-Purpose Piecrust; Pumpkin Pie; Fresh Berry Ricotta Moose; Fresh Strawberry Sauce; Blueberry-Cherry Pie with Sour Cream Lattice Crust; Low-fat Lemon Pudding Cake; Creamy Vegan Rice Pudding; Vanilla Custard Sauce; Fresh Fruit Trifle; Savannah Banana; Chocolate Confections; Fruit Skewers

Baking Pan Sizes and Equivalents

Guide to Ingredients and Basic Cooking

The Moosewood Collective

Index

The Moosewood Restaurant Cookbook Library

Copyright

This book is dedicated to all Moosewood cooks.

Acknowledgments

The food that fills this book has been influenced by all of the people who have cooked in the Moosewood kitchen and everyone who has influenced each of them—family, friends, neighbors, cookbook authors, strangers on airplanes, cooks in other restaurants. We continue to learn from each other in a wonderfully organic way. We’re grateful to all those who use our cookbooks and take the time to tell us how important our books are to them, to thank us for a particular recipe, or to tell us their favorite way to make one of our dishes.

Having Arnold and Elise Goodman as our literary agents has been wonderful for us. From our first foray into the cookbook world and straight through to today, they have been excellent advocates and constant and generous friends. With affection and gratitude we say, “Thank you, Arnold and Elise.”

Michael Aman, in our first cookbook we thanked you for helping us prepare the manuscript, for your careful, discerning eye as you typed our handwritten recipes on a Smith Corona Electric Selectric, and we thank you again now for the hours you spent checking this book’s recipes. You’re a true friend. Sam Adler, thank you for your sense of humor and for both okaying and tempering ours. Kip Wilcox, you’re a wonderful cook and you stepped up just when we really needed you. Emilio Del Plato, as our technical abilities very slowly improve, we need to call on you less, but you know we’re happy you’re there. Thank you all.

St. Martin’s Press. On the day we first walked into the St. Martin’s offices, we were anticipant, eager to see if we were a good fit for each other. At first, we were mainly excited to be in the Flatiron Building, but soon, it wouldn’t have mattered where we were. What a lovely group of talented and dedicated people.

Michael Flamini, our gem of an editor. In a previous life, Michael must have been a shepherd, one who loved and cared well for each of his sheep, one with good instincts for the greenest pastures. Michael is boundless in his energy and enthusiasm, not only for our book and the path he forges for it, but best of all he is passionate about good food wherever he finds it. Bon appetit, Michael.

And thank you, Vicki Lame. You always come through for us.

For their generous support of our project, we’re grateful to Sally Richardson, Matthew Shear, and George Witte. And then there is our copyeditor, Leah Stewart, and the production people, Adriana Coada, Elizabeth Curione, Phil Mazzone, James Sinclair, Amelie Littell, Susan Joseph, and Karen Gillis. And Olga Grlic, who designed the cover. Lisa Senz and Sarah Goldstein and Nadea Mina, who are taking this book out into the marketplace.

For the beautiful, lush photographs of food, we thank photographer Jim Scherer and food stylist Catrine Kelty. They are artists … and such a pleasure to work with. The glowing photo of the restaurant on the inside cover and the photo of the Moosewood Collective were taken by someone dear to us, Justin Zoll, who, while working at Moosewood, has become an amazing photographer, lucky us.

Introduction

Moosewood Restaurant has been serving delicious food for forty years now, with a menu that changes at every meal. We have written a dozen cookbooks that all together contain about 3,000 recipes. Sometimes at book signing events, Moosewood fans say, “Another one? How can you come up with more?” Well, for us, there’s truth in that old Italian saying, “A tavola non s’in vecchia,” which translates as “You never grow old at the table” or “It never grows old, being at the table.” After spending most of our adult lives cooking, searching for food ideas, experimenting, learning, evolving, and cooking some more, we’re still eager to taste something new and to think about how we might improve something old and beloved.

During Moosewood’s forty years, the culinary landscape all around us has changed dramatically. In 1973 when Moosewood began, yogurt was advertised as a newly discovered secret-of-longevity food from Russian Siberia where the majority of elderly people were reported to be centenarians. Many of our customers tried it for the first time at the restaurant. In the mid-1980s, when we were putting together New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant, coconut milk was unusual and unavailable enough that we included a recipe for how to make it from fresh coconut … so that any reader could try our recipes that included it. Now you can easily find low-fat and full-fat and organic coconut milk, and even coconut water. And now, many supermarkets have a whole aisle of soy, almond, and rice milks.

In our first few cookbooks, we hesitated to call for fresh herbs exclusively in a recipe, because in many areas of the country you could only find dried herbs in little cans, and fresh herbs, when you could find them, were very expensive. Many of us remember vividly the first time we tasted cilantro. It was so emphatically a brand new flavor, often tasting at first like either soap or aluminum, and then after the third or fourth exposure, like something we never wanted to do without again.

The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, the oldest and largest state organic organization in the country formed in 1971, and in 1973, fifty-four farmers in California got together, agreed upon standards for producing organically grown produce, and mutually certified each other as organic growers. Awareness of the benefits of organic farming was ground-breaking, even revolutionary, then. Today, most supermarkets have a space that is devoted to organic produce, and farmers’ markets and CSAs, with their organic, local, and heirloom fruits and vegetables, are wildly popular.

You could always find cabbage at the store forty years ago, but today you can expect to find four different kinds of cabbage plus bok choy, mizuna, kale, collards, broccoli rabe, turnip and beet greens, escarole, endive, and maybe fresh cactus paddles. Now, you might even stand in the produce aisle and use your smartphone to find shopping information about cardoons or a recipe for tatsoi. Who could have guessed?

When Moosewood opened, every night we served a simple sauté of fresh vegetables, maybe with tofu, over brown rice. Our parents worried about our vegetarian diets because “surely you aren’t getting enough protein!” The first USDA dietary guidelines for Americans didn’t come out until 1980, and at that time animal protein dominated the picture. The USDA guideline in 2010 recommends filling the majority of your plate with plant foods. At last, a diet of grains, vegetables, fruits, and beans is “officially” recognized as the most healthful.

Most of us at Moosewood grew up in cities or suburbs, and as young adults many of us identified in some way with what was called the “back-to-the-land movement.” We built handcrafted houses and learned to garden organically, preserve food, and bake bread. We supported ourselves in small alternative businesses, like Moosewood, interested in fostering community spirit, supporting local farming and environmental consciousness, and offering food made from the freshest, most wholesome ingredients. This sounds like the plan for many new restaurants today, but it wasn’t the norm back then.

Some things about Moosewood food haven’t changed at all in forty years. When we first started out, we were searching for the authentic rather than the “plastic,” so our primary inspiration was ethnic grain-based cuisines with food made from scratch. We felt a new appreciation and pride in our grandmothers’ Old World recipes. Transforming traditional dishes while retaining their essential character has been our forte and our passion, and still is today. We want our food to be home-style with fresh ingredients and plenty of seasonings and bright flavors.

Among ourselves, we call this process of experimenting with a traditional dish “Moosewood-izing.” It usually means we’ve simplified ingredients or cooking techniques to make the dish quicker, easier, more healthful, or just plain tastier. It might mean leaving out the meat or lard and adding chickpeas or olive oil or more colorful vegetables, while keeping the same herb and spice profile or bumping up the flavor by toasting the spices or using fresh herbs.

The Moosewood name has become aligned with the burgeoning national awareness that our health and well-being can be directly improved by supporting the growth of organic farming and local farmers’ markets and food systems. We’ve had a part in moving whole grains, vegetables, and beans to the center of the plate, and we’re proud of it. We’re delighted about the expanding mindfulness of the need to maintain a healthier planet, the widespread work that is being done to preserve the diversity of food plants and the purity of water and to encourage buying local. It feels like we’ve come into the golden age of foods with an enormous variety available to us and nearly universal interest in the adventure of eating well.

We do understand that not everyone is as focused on food as we are. A request we hear frequently goes something like, “You have so many cookbooks that I get lost trying to decide what to cook. I wish you’d do a cookbook of only your best, your favorite recipes.” Well, the more we thought about writing such a book, the more we realized it’s not a simple thing to just choose our “best,” our “favorites.” Our cookbooks have reflected our eclectic and wide-ranging tastes from soups to desserts. One of our books is about the world of ethnic cuisines, and another is about cooking from your own kitchen garden. We’ve covered quick-and-easy dishes and also elaborate meals for celebrations. Many of our beloved early recipes are loaded with cheese, but we’ve also done whole books about low-fat fare and cooking for health. We love them all, and each of us has different criteria for choosing the favorites.

But after forty years of daily menu planning at Moosewood, we know what our customers like best. Sometimes a new dish gets great comments and becomes a regular on our menu. As cooks, we know which recipes are foolproof: consistently good and easy to make. We’re in a continuous dialogue with cookbook fans on our website, at book signings, and when cookbook users make a pilgrimage to the restaurant. People are eager to tell us which recipes they grew up on in their parents’ kitchens and which ones they use regularly now. We’ve done surveys online and at the restaurant. Certainly the restaurant staff, our children, friends, and, occasionally, strangers on a plane let us know their favorites. Each of us knows which dishes we ourselves have favored over the years—the ones we never take out of rotation in our homes. So for this book, we got together in meetings, each of us bringing our own lists and our own powers of persuasion, and we argued it out, with only occasional eye-rolling or gasps of incredulity at others’ choices. There was consensus about most of the recipes in this book.

Cooking is a collaborative process at Moosewood, so many of us have had a hand in adjusting the way we make a particular dish. Almost all of these 250 or so of our best recipes have gone through the usual “Moosewood-izing” process, both in the restaurant kitchen and in our home kitchens. Some recipes have never been published, but most are gathered from our cookbook history and we’ve updated and revised them for this book to reflect our current favorite way of preparing them.

There is a broad variety of recipes here. Some are hearty and filling, some are light and low-fat, many are quick and easy, some are elegant enough for a dinner party, plenty are vegan, and some we know to be kids’ favorites … but our emphasis is on everyday meals. Most of the recipes are the kind we think you’ll use again and again. We want them to be useful for both the beginner cook and for the longtime Moosewood fan.

The recipes are reliable and easy to follow because we’ve developed, tested, and retested them in our own home kitchens, which we think are fairly typical. And, we’ve cooked them in quantity at Moosewood, which is a different kind of test, a trial by fire. We believe that our instructions will direct you toward maximum efficiencies and minimum clean up. Once in a while we even suggest different cooking methods for hot days or cold days.

You’ll find variations on many recipes because we just can’t help messing around with them and we can’t resist trying to tell you everything! Often the variations give substitutions for ingredients that are seasonal or may be hard to find. We hope you’ll keep making changes in our recipes, too.

For extra advice and information, look at the Guide to Ingredients and Basic Cooking. It has practical information to help a novice cook get started, or to remind an experienced cook about the proportion of water and quinoa to use, for instance. We give baking pan equivalents to help you use the pans you have on hand (here), and the Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean Fifteen” lists (here) to help you decide which produce is most important to buy organic.

Juxtaposing one dish with another to create a meal is one of the delights of cooking. Resourceful mixing and matching enhances each dish and provides variety and interest. So at the bottom of most recipes you’ll find some serving and menu ideas, but the possibilities are almost endless.

We celebrate our many years of delicious cooking at Moosewood and we hope this book distills the best of that. Nourishing and beautiful food has immediate rewards, of course, but we also recognize the long-term pleasures of the kitchen. Cooking can be a lifelong interest and occupation, a satisfying and empowering craft that enhances your life every day. Cooking at home offers opportunities for learning and teaching. A basis for sharing culture and good times, it brings people closer together.

We’ve come a long way at Moosewood, and it’s been a fascinating journey. Is it possible to feel both old and young at the same time? Oh yes. But at the table? Always young. Here’s the best of the last forty years, but we trust that the best is also yet to come.

Moosewood Turns Forty

The Collective: Communication, Connection, and Collaboration

A couple of years ago, librarians at Cornell University’s Olin Library asked us to participate in their archive that houses historical materials of alternative businesses and projects. We got excited about the idea and gathered photos, magazine and newspaper articles, and other memorabilia from our files at the restaurant and at our homes. After talking with the archivists and seeing the responses to the collection during various presentations about it, we began to realize that our story is of interest not just to us, but also to many others. While the story of Moosewood is unique in many ways, it also reflects what was happening at the time in many places in the United States.

We are frequently asked about how the restaurant got started, about the genesis of the Moosewood Collective, and how we’ve managed to still be here after all these years. We consider ourselves lucky to have been able to participate in this experiment, to run a restaurant where we could try out new ways of working, encourage each other’s creativity, and nurture our interest in food and cooking. The essence of all of that is this: we created a work environment that we wanted to work in, and we managed to keep the food we cooked and ate interesting, tasty, and good for us. And, the years and years of knowing each other and working hard together hasn’t hurt.

Our vegetarian cuisine has developed over the restaurant’s forty years of business. Adapting ethnic food, our interest in a healthier diet, and our love of tasting new things and new combinations of flavors have all played a part. Except for an occasional intern wanting to learn to cook our cuisine, Moosewood cooks have not been trained in culinary schools. We are self-taught, adventurous people gifted with really good appetites and palates. We’re foodies more than we are gourmets. We’ve had the freedom to work with good, fresh ingredients, give and take feedback to perfect our ideas, and watch and learn from one another.

Moosewood’s roots are in the counterculture of the ’70s. The values of at least a good part of our generation included belief in a nonhierarchical structure, shared responsibility, mutual support, and a flexible work schedule in a relaxed, informal, irreverent climate, with a commitment to health and an authentic, earth-friendly lifestyle. Many of us were “moving back to the land,” participating in local food coops, learning about organic gardening, and developing a growing respect for natural, unprocessed ingredients.

How did Moosewood start? In 1972 a group of seven friends decided to open a restaurant. They got together and renovated a sunny section of the Dewitt Mall, a group of small shops on the ground floor of a former public school building. Moosewood Restaurant opened in January 1973. There was a tiny, narrow kitchen, fifteen simple wooden tables built by a friend, and wainscoting made from old barn boards. The décor could be described as funk-chic … or maybe just funky. The menu was on a chalkboard so that we could change it with every meal. There was a gray metal mechanical cash register that sat on an old Victorian stand, where sales popped up on numbered cards at the top. The highest denomination you could ring up was $5, so the waitrons (that’s what we called ourselves when we waited on tables) would press the noisy $5 key over and over for a bill of $10, $15, $20, or more. The stand is still there, but now it holds a touch screen.

Table 13, a round table in the corner beneath the stairs, was our favorite place to eat together and unwind at the end of a shift. Table 14 was where each night after closing, we’d count the cash and personal checks (no credit cards back then) and do the books.

New people began to work at Moosewood and some of the original seven friends moved away. In 1978, twelve employees bought the restaurant from the original owners and formed the Moosewood Collective, and Moosewood became a worker-managed/worker-owned business. We learned to handle everything that comes up when running a business, all the while holding on to an alternative ownership and staffing structure and what it meant to work “organically,” i.e., staying alert to the entire flow, seeing what has to be done, and pitching in. We developed an innovative management structure, trained all workers on most of the restaurant’s operations, and rotated jobs from washing pots and waiting on tables to cooking, creating menus, and ordering ingredients.

Fast-forward to 1993 when the restaurant was renovated, doubling in size, seating 75 instead of 35. We can’t say we miss those nights when customers were queued up all the way down the hallway waiting for tables, tired of standing, blood sugar plummeting, hungry and cranky. Some changes are very good. We expanded the collective to nineteen members.

Forward again to 1997 and another renovation and expansion, a beautiful café space with a full bar. Seating exceeded 100 including the patio, and that’s where we are now.

Over the years, we’ve cooked—for kooky Halloween parties, for benefits, for country spreads at Nancy and Rick’s in Danby, Jenny and Penny’s in Lansing, or at Lavender Hill. We hosted a wedding in the restaurant for two of our Tibetan employees and cooked for other weddings and commitment ceremonies and for birth and adoption celebrations and memorial services. We’ve picked strawberries together and danced together to reggae, salsa, Chicago blues, and rockabilly. We have partnered with community volunteers and activists to host scores of benefit brunches at the restaurant, raising many thousands of dollars and a lot of good will for great organizations and causes.

At a recent all-staff meeting at the beginning of our busy summer season, one after another new and old worker alike said that Moosewood is the best place they’ve ever worked. There’s a sense of belonging to something larger than any individual. Feeding people well and treating people well is not just right, it’s satisfying. It’s good to know that the “collective” spirit of Moosewood has staying power.

Over the years, we’ve brought our parents in for lunch and published their recipes and their families’ recipes and some of their stories in our cookbooks. We watched them get old and have done what we could to support each other as lives changed. Some of our kids grew up in the restaurant. They would walk in after school, hungry, and get a bowl of soup, a huge slice of whole wheat bread with butter and honey, and a cup of fruit salad or a brownie à la mode and hot spiced cider. As they grew up, many of them got their first jobs washing dishes at Moosewood. Now some of us bring our grandchildren in for the same bread and butter and brownie snacks.

We’ve recycled, used energy-saving lighting and hot water heaters, searched out compostable plastic bags and take-out containers, and bought fair-trade coffee and chocolate. We’ve offered local wine, beer, and honey, and cooked with locally produced tofu, flours, beans, cheeses, and fresh vegetables. We’ve composted our nice clean vegetable waste for decades, and it’s easier now than ever to find takers for it. From the beginning, local growers have brought their bounty to Moosewood, occasionally even leaving boxes of squash and root veggies too plentiful to sell at the market outside our door overnight.

As we’ve watched “conventional” restaurants, markets, and businesses adopt the principle of green sustainable practices and buying locally grown foods and products, we’re thrilled by the national movement toward a socially just and ecologically sustainable economy. We are so fortunate to be in a region where the earth is good to us, and there are so many hard-working farmers and gardeners using state-of-the-art earth-friendly methods. Now we can offer a lot of locally-grown and organic produce, and list many local producers who are our regular vendors. Even the smallest steps that individuals, families, and small businesses can take to reduce that big old carbon footprint make an enormous difference, and Moosewood is glad to do our part.

Right alongside the national movement for food justice, addressing concerns about obesity, diabetes, people’s food safety and security, and the crying need to be able to reliably access fresh, healthful, affordable food, over the forty years, we’ve seen a rather alarming rise in the number of people with food sensitivities who are looking for a restaurant that can accommodate their health and diet constraints. In the past, just offering natural vegetarian and vegan food made us a valuable alternative; now people contact us in advance to make sure we can offer alternatives to people who want food that is without soy, wheat, gluten, sugar, lactose, nuts, seeds, eggs, fats, or oils. It’s a noticeable and dramatic shift in the awareness of how food itself has changed, and how careful people are becoming about what they consume.

We’re always trying new things that keep us interested and engaged. We develop new recipes and write cookbooks and magazine articles. We’ve developed a website, a blog, and a Facebook page, and we post our menus online (although we still have blackboards in the restaurant). We support a significant number of organizations, programs, and causes that are working to help people through better nutrition, healthcare, education, the arts, and protecting the environment, food security, and the civil and human rights of people, especially in our own community.

Most of all, we want people to try our food and to love it enough to cook it at home. Our cookbooks have been a powerful way to influence how people eat today. We’ve heard from people all over Europe, Asia, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand, the United States, and Canada. People tell us that our food has changed the way they and their families eat and live, and they feel a special connection to us through our books.

By the end of the ’90s Moosewood Restaurant had become an iconic brand. Five of our cookbooks were nominated for James Beard Awards, and two won. Moosewood Restaurant received the 1996 James Beard/Bertolli Olive Oil Regional Classics Award. In its Millennium issue, Bon Appetit magazine named us “one of the thirteen most influential and revolutionary restaurants of the twentieth century.”

Moosewood Restaurant Favorites is the thirteenth cookbook written by the Moosewood Collective. We like to think that our recipes have helped novice cooks become great cooks. We love it that we can share our recipes and culinary tips with people around the world. Fans have written to us from many, many countries and our friends and customers report that in their travels, they see our cookbooks in homes from Costa Rica to Germany, Greece to China, Newfoundland to New Zealand. We are so pleased to know that our books, like our restaurant, have helped inspire cooks, wherever they live, to make flavorful, healthy, interesting food.

What’s it like having our fortieth anniversary? It’s definitely a case of “Where did the time go?” It’s been a wonderful adventure that none of us ever could have predicted in our wildest dreams. The story goes on.

But what’s mostly on our minds is this: “What’s for dinner?”

A Taste of Moosewood

A hodgepodge of memories, glimpses, snapshots that jump back and forth in time throughout our forty-year history. Picture this:

WEEKDAYS AT MOOSEWOOD

8:30 A.M.: On Seneca Street in Ithaca, a pretty Southern Tier New York town, the perfume of sautéing garlic and onions is coming out of the Moosewood kitchen. The Dewitt Mall’s ground floor is waking up. Sara, who was a lunch cook yesterday, starts her menu planning week. She’s already discussed with the morning cooks what they will be making for lunch and has checked the basement walk-in cooler to make sure that the local farmer-ground polenta she has asked them to use has been delivered. The menu is set, and she packs up some leftovers from yesterday (the last four piroshkis, zesty red cabbage slaw, and some applesauce) for Dan, our produce delivery guy who’s been up and working since 3:30 A.M.

9:00 A.M.: A pot of chocolate melts on a burner of the stove. Its aroma combined with the scent of onions and garlic is absolutely intoxicating, the soul of comfort. One of the cooks is sharing her latest “Moosewood nightmare” and the crew is howling. “I come into the restaurant on a Sunday afternoon. The place is deserted, silent except for giant vats of water boiling on the stove. So I figure I’d better start cooking! Customers start coming in and seating themselves in an unfamiliar, cavernous dining room. So I rush from table to table, filling water glasses. Suddenly, I realize that I have no pants on under my apron. I wonder if any of the customers have noticed. I’m utterly alone, disoriented, and naked, but customers are waiting.”

Out in the “old section” of the restaurant, David is burying his nose in a spray of fragrant white blossoms from his garden and putting the final touches on the plan for one of his cooking classes.

10:00 A.M.: Someone answers the old rotary-dial pay phone on the wall (now there are phones all over the restaurant but for years our only phone was this relic) and calls out, “Anyone know anything about our donation of brownies and minestrone for pick up today at 5?”

Lisa walks into the kitchen with a jar full of lime juice. “What’s that burning?” she asks. She’s always the first to detect even a hint of scorch with her bionic olfactory sense. She transfers the soup to a clean pot and lowers the heat: crisis averted. Now she’s pulverizing toasted cumin and coriander seeds in a spice-grinder with one hand, while folding minced jalapeños and lime juice into a big bowl of diced avocadoes with the other.

Maureen is in the wait station, drawn by the enticing aroma of fresh, warm, whole wheat bread just delivered from Oasis Bakery down the hall. She slices a piece of bread, covers it with a slab of butter almost as thick, and pops it into the toaster oven. Someone says, “Whatcha been doing?” She replies, “The disbursements are finally up to date.” “You’re up and at it early.” “Actually, it’s late … it’s been a long night.”

Around 11:00: Susan bursts into the wait station with a pan full of white china cups glazed with baked-on blueberry drips and crowned with shiny berries poking through the golden cornmeal crust. Her short skirt swings as she stows the crumbles on the dessert shelf and turns to trade her kitchen apron for a waiter’s apron. She jams a “dupe pad” and a pen into her pocket and dashes back to the kitchen to check the brownies in the oven before the restaurant opens for lunch at 11:30.

12:00 noon: Nana is at the serving window reviewing dupes. Looking like Sophia Loren in her magnifiers and counting in her native Spanish the number of casseroles needed, she turns around and ladles pebre, a Chilean onion and cilantro salsa, over a plate of corn and cheese casserole, and then returns to eating a whole lemon, tears and mischief in her eyes … this Saturday there’s a Latin band from Rochester in town. She’s gonna dance all night!

At the bar, Neil is brewing a hot ginger tea and a fair trade double cappuccino, maintaining his inscrutable deadpan expression. The bar stools are occupied by a group of guys who call themselves the Counter Culture. Loyal lunchtime pundits, they debate the world’s problems each day over a salad du jour and tofu burger. By 1:15 they’ve got it all figured out.

5:00 P.M.: It’s Tuesday, and after a good day selling their Tibetan dumplings and Chilean empandas at the downtown farmers’ market, Tashi and Jano are ready for more action. There’s still a half-hour until opening, and Jano, a self-described “Moosewood kid” (he’s the grown-up son of Nana) who’s now a kitchen manager, is already finished making his entrée, as usual. “Need any help, buddy?” he asks his fellow cook. In the dish-room, Tashi is running pots through the machine, warbling Tibetan folk songs, or cranking up a Bollywood CD. Just before opening, Kip walks in with a bag full of ingredients for testing cookbook recipes, and Tashi grins. He teases, “Hi, Kip, you off again today?”

WEEKENDS AT MOOSEWOOD RESTAURANT

4:00 P.M.: It’s Friday, and on this particular day there’s a rare all-male crew in the kitchen. The cooks are humming along now. John is rocking under his earbuds in time to a tune from his eclectic music collection while grating huge chunks of cheddar and Jarlsberg with R-2, our trusty food processor. In the other corner, half hidden behind bus-trays piled high with eggplants, yellow peppers, red potatoes, carrots, and a log of mozzarella as big as his upper arm, Dave is singing an Elizabethan ballad. Jason, his one red and one black Converse high tops firmly planted in front of the stove, is toasting a spice mix. Just back from a trip to India, he’s the current curry enthusiast. Meanwhile, tall Tim, who is tending a stew in the “Bolivian army pot” (taller than a tall stew pot, big enough to hold a toddler), pours white wine into sautéed mushrooms, bay leaves, and fresh thyme. Tim gets a rush of pleasure when he’s making soup in the Moosewood kitchen and thinks back to when he was in college. Tired of dining hall food, he often bought a carton of Moosewood soup at the campus minimart … and now he knows how to turn it out by the big potful, and he’s one of our kitchen managers. It’s going to be a busy night.

It’s a frosty Saturday in February and folks are swarming up and down the Ithaca Commons. Back at Moosewood, the chili pepper twinkle lights are plugged in and Jenny tends six deep, long pans of her special red and black bean chili with chipotles, enough for a big crowd. Yep, it’s the annual Ithaca Chili Fest and we’re aiming to win the cook-off again this year. Ned is setting up a table for samples. Our resident fashionista, today she’s wearing a vintage cowgirl shirt, miniskirt, and one six-gun earring. Susan and Joan are signing stacks of cookbooks in the café and offering samples of olivada on crackers to customers, when in the midst of it all, Tony, our most persistent activist, rushes in with a petition against GMOs that he wants to post for signatures.

It’s a tranquil Sunday afternoon and Linda is conjuring up culinary delights of the Caribbean for ethnic night at Moosewood. She sprinkles diced chilies into a pan of popping black mustard seeds and freshly grated ginger, pokes cinnamon sticks into yellow rice, and removes a tray of perfectly toasted coconut from the oven. The air is filled with wonderful aromas. The restaurant is a place of calm and peace until Linda returns to the moment. She roars, “Alright, which one of you ate my cheese toast! And who stole my towel?”

6:00 P.M.: One of the teenaged Moosewood kids, newly promoted from breaking down boxes for recycling to his first “real” job at the restaurant—dishwasher—announces that the pots are all washed. Linda asks him to put a pan of lasagna into the oven. At serving time an hour later, it’s discovered that he baked a pan full of grated Parmesan. Back to the pots.

7:30 P.M.: Penny’s the dining room host tonight; she walks into the kitchen and says, “Okay, this customer can’t eat onions, garlic, soy, wheat, nuts, nightshades, fats, or oil of any kind, and she’s not that into vegetables—what can we feed her? And here: Will everyone sign this cookbook for her? Oh, and also, does anyone know of a good bed and breakfast over on Seneca Lake?” The cooks groan, then the brighten up when they remember that tomorrow is one of Penny and Jenny’s sumptuous Sunday brunches; Jenny’s making fresh scones, and Penny’s baking Regina’s Bobka!

ON THE ROAD WITH WYNNIE AND LAURA AND NANCY AND JOAN AND PENNY AND JENNY AND …

Washington, D.C.: Ah, the exuberance of youth. Sometime in the late 1980s, Wynnie and Laura rented a van and drove down to D.C. to be food vendors and sell our cookbooks at the SisterFire women’s music festival. Over a typically hot and humid Washington weekend, they sold an astonishing number of antipasto pitas to womanists—carpenters and nursing moms, sound engineers and songwriters, activists and topless volley-ball players. Aaron, Wynnie’s eight-year-old son, and Dan, Laura’s ten-year-old, “manned” the cookbook end of the booth that was piled high with copies of New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant. Onstage, Cris Williamson sang out, and Sweet Honey in the Rock harmonized with Alice Walker. Back at the booth, Wynnie’s dad, Milt, took orders at the counter, barking Philly-style, “Wyn! Two pitas and a gazpacho! Hurry it up already!” The presence of an older man ordering women about in the midst of a music festival devoted to the power of womyn … well … many liberated sisters were heard to say “Patriarchy at Moosewood? What’s next—a cheese steak? Who put him in charge?” By late Sunday, all that the Moosewood stand had left to offer the thirsty womyn were orange wedges, lettuce leaves, and ice water. Laura bought a new keyboard amp with her share of the profits. For weeks after (actually, for years), Wynnie reduced us to gasping laughter with stories of the experiences and her observations about that weekend.

New York City: Joan, Nancy, Jenny, and Penny have just returned from a trip to New York City where they cooked a benefit luncheon for the James Beard Foundation. After unloading Moosewood’s pots and pans from the back of an old pick-up truck that, surprisingly, had made it there and back, they regale us with tales from the city. They tell us all about the amazing garden behind the James Beard House and what a good time they had eating lunch with the waiters and dishwashers they worked with. They collapse in laughter recounting their stand-off with a stylish, stiletto-wearing woman who asked for our chicken satay recipe. “We’re happy to give you that recipe,” said Nancy, “but that was tofu, not chicken.” “Oh no,” said the guest, “I don’t do tofu.” “That was not chicken on a stick,” replied Nancy calmly, “it was tofu.” “I know what I’ve eaten,” insisted the woman, “and I don’t eat tofu.” Nancy stood her ground: “We know what we cooked, and that was tofu!” Finally convinced, she said it would be amusing to serve it at one of her soirees and that she wanted the tofu satay recipe. To this day, we wonder whether tofu sales on the upper east side of Manhattan saw a slight uptick at the end of the last century.

Hundreds of people have been part of Moosewood as workers, customers, vendors, friends. When we get together, there are stories to tell! The reminiscing is fun and funny, sometimes sad, and sometimes contradictory, but always a joy. If you could put it all together, it still wouldn’t add up to the whole story.

Organic Food, the Dirty Dozen, and Buying Local

Some of the environmental benefits of eating organic food are right on the farm. When no pesticides and chemical fertilizers are used, workers and farm neighbors aren’t exposed to potentially harmful chemicals, less fossil fuel is converted into fertilizers, the soil is richer and healthier, and biodiversity that will help sustain crops for generations to come is supported. For individual health, eating organic means avoiding the pesticide residue left on conventionally grown crops and avoiding growth hormones and antibiotics in dairy and eggs.

Keep in mind that there is often local food that is grown organically but isn’t labeled organic. The process for organic certification can be prohibitively complicated and expensive for small farmers. So get to know your local food sources, and in addition to the environmental, economic, and social benefits of buying local, you may also find cleaner food to put into your body.

There are plenty of reasons to buy local eggs from cage-free chickens: no antibiotics or hormones, unadulterated feed, and access to sunlight, fresh air, and bugs and grasses means healthier chickens, better eggs, and a cleaner environment. And pretty much the same for dairy products. An organic label tells you some things (cleaner feed, no growth hormones, and limited use of antibiotics), but it doesn’t tell you much about the living conditions of the cows.

About genetically modified crops, there are so many issues, controversies, and unknowns. More than half of all genetically modified foods are produced in the United States, and most of them come from large, industrial farms. By shopping at farmers’ markets, a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm, or a local co-op, you may be able to avoid genetically modified produce and products. Shopping locally may give you the opportunity to talk with farmers and find out what they think about GMOs and whether or not they use them in their operations.

Because of availability and cost, many of us can’t buy organic produce all of the time. The “Dirty Dozen” list helps us decide which fruits and vegetables it’s most important to search out and buy organic. Each year, the Environmental Working Group (www.ewg.org) releases its guide to the most- and least-contaminated fruit and vegetable crops. The group analyzes U.S. Department of Agriculture data about pesticide residue on conventionally grown produce, and ranks fruits and vegetables based on how much or little pesticide residue they retain after washing. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) estimates that individuals can reduce their exposure to pesticide residue on fresh produce by 80 percent by switching to organic when buying the twelve foods on the “Dirty Dozen” list.

The Department of Agriculture testing is conducted on fruits and vegetables that have been washed and/or peeled—the typical precautions taken by American consumers. The U.S. Federal Food and Drug Administration says that you can remove pesticide residue on the surface of produce by removing outer leaves and rinsing the food under cold running water (no soap or bleach necessary) for 10 seconds.

“The health benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables outweigh the risks of pesticide exposure,” the EWG says. They recommend that consumers purchase organic when and where available, and choose items from the “Clean Fifteen” list when buying conventionally grown produce.

THE 2012 DIRTY DOZEN

• apples

• celery

• sweet bell peppers

• peaches

• strawberries

• imported nectarines

• grapes

• spinach

• lettuce

• cucumbers

• domestic blueberries

• potatoes

+ Plus green beans, kale, collards, and leafy greens (often contaminated with organophosphate insecticides)

THE 2012 CLEAN FIFTEEN

• onions

• sweet corn

• pineapples

• avocado

• cabbage

• sweet peas

• asparagus

• mangoes

• eggplant

• kiwi

• domestic cantaloupe

• sweet potatoes

• grapefruit

• watermelon

• mushrooms

Conventionally grown items on the “Clean Fifteen” list are generally low in pesticides. “More than 90 percent of cabbage, asparagus, sweet peas, eggplant, and sweet potato samples had one or fewer pesticides detected,” the EWG report says. “Of the ‘Clean Fifteen’ vegetables, no single sample had more than five different chemicals, and no single fruit sample from the Clean Fifteen had more than five types of pesticides detected.”

About the Recipes

We want our recipes to work for you. We try for that delicate balance of telling you all you need to know while still keeping the recipes uncluttered and easy to follow. We’re always playing around with the dishes we cook, and we’re not very good at following recipes ourselves, except when we’re testing and retesting recipes for a cookbook. We want cooking to be enjoyable, so here’s a little extra hand-holding in case you need it.

On each recipe, we give the time we think it will take an average cook to finish the dish, and we hope it will be a useful guide for you. We assume in calculating the time that you’ll be able to readily put your hands on the various ingredients, that you won’t have to wash your soup pot before you can use it, and that a neighbor won’t knock on your door and insist on explaining the leash law in detail while you frantically call your dog (who must have slipped out when you came in with a big bag of groceries). We also assume that you’ll prep as you go, chopping the carrots while the onions cook, but if you’re more comfortable getting everything ready before you turn on the burner, just realize that the recipe will take a little longer. If one recipe takes you a longer or shorter time than our estimate, another one probably will, too. At least, that’s what we are striving for: consistency.

Have you stood at the supermarket with a butternut squash in each hand, trying to visualize them peeled and cut into chunks or roasted and mashed: which one will come closest to 4 cups? In the recipe ingredient lists, usually we give you a cup measure and in parentheses the weight of a whole butternut that should yield about the right amount, or sometimes, it made sense to us to do it the other way around and call for a 3-pound squash, but then we give the approximate cup measure, too. When there’s really some leeway, we may call for 1 bell pepper, and unless it’s tiny or a giant, the amount of chopped will be fine.

That’s also what the weights for spinach and mushrooms are about: how much you should buy to have about the amount called for after it’s prepped. Of course, 10 ounces of mushrooms or spinach doesn’t always yield the same cup measure of sliced or chopped. If there are large stems to trim off, after prepping there may be a little less than called for, but it probably won’t be so different that the dish suffers for it. If we suggest 10 ounces of mushrooms and the package at your market is 12 ounces, get it and use them all.

Beans, artichoke hearts, and tomatoes are the canned vegetables we call for in these recipes, and the cans of different brands vary a bit in weight. When we call for a can, we list the median number of ounces among the various size cans we’ve come across. Take beans, for example. When we say 15-ounce can, we mean a 14-, 14.5-, 15-, or 16-ounce can—all should give you about 1½ cups of drained beans. Cans of tomatoes are usually 14 or 15 ounces and 28 or 32 ounces; if the can you have is a little different, don’t worry. See for a discussion of artichoke hearts in brine.

And also, in general, please take the amounts we call for as guidelines. Say you’re making a soup or a salsa, and when you’ve chopped up that beautiful big Spanish onion and filled your 2-cup measuring cup, there’s still a little pile of onion pieces on the cutting board. What do you do? Compost the leftovers? Put them in a little plastic bag and stick them in the fridge to languish until you throw them out? No, neither. Put them all in the pot. And if your measuring cup isn’t quite full, that’s ok, too. A little more, a little less—there’s nothing about a cup that makes it the perfect and only right amount.

We can’t tell you exactly how much of some ingredients to use because there’s variation in the intensity or flavor, or because how dominant the flavor should be in the dish is a matter of individual taste. Take garlic: personal taste and tolerances aside, some garlic is very strong and other garlic is mild. And what’s one clove, anyway? One big clove may equal three small cloves. Same for hot peppers. We usually use jalapeños—some are barely hot, others might as well be habaneros. Some are 5 inches long, some you could easily hold six of on the palm of your hand. You decide whether or not to remove the seeds for a milder “hot” and you decide whether you want the dish to be mildly or intensely hot. The amounts of garlic, hot peppers, and spices called for in these recipes are pretty middle of the road, but you can move your dish to one side or the other.

Examples of other ingredients you’ll use that may be inconsistent in some way, or that may just be different from ours, are bulghur and couscous (yours may do better with more or less water), pita bread (many different sizes), vinegar (we use apple cider, red wine, or rice, and occasionally white or balsamic), mustard (we usually specify Dijon, but whatever mustard you like will be fine). Oh, and tofu. We have a lot to say about that. See here for the full discourse.

We usually don’t specify how sharp cheddar should be or whether to use whole, reduced fat, or skim milk. Use what’s in your refrigerator or what you prefer.

Baking is a different story. Precision has its place in baking. More is not better. And less is also not better. If your cup of flour is a heaping cup of flour, it can make a difference. If you throw too many extra blueberries into the pound cake, it may come out of the oven a sodden mass.

Various flours of the same type behave a little differently. In the restaurant, we use flours grown and milled locally that we love, and we’ve adjusted the recipes we use in the Moosewood kitchen to work with them. For this book, we used King Arthur unbleached white flour for our all-purpose flour because we think it’s good and it’s widely available. But we hope you’ll try your local flours and play around with the recipe if needed: too dry or tough, try a little less flour; texture too coarse, look for a finer grind of flour; too dense or wet, your flour may have a higher moisture content so try reducing the liquid a little.

Some of us prefer pastry flour for some sorts of baking, but we understand that pastry flour isn’t available in some parts of the country, so in these recipes, we tried to do without it. The pound cake recipe is the only one that calls for pastry flour, but it works with all-purpose; the crumb will just be less fine. On some recipes, we tell what the difference will be with pastry versus all-purpose.

When we call for a can of diced tomatoes, we mean for you to use the whole can, juice and all; don’t drain. We don’t instruct you to salt and rinse eggplant before cooking it, because we think that’s an unnecessary step. We’ve done blind taste tests and found no difference.

Most of our fish recipes simply call for firm fish fillets. When you shop for fish, instead of looking for a particular kind, look for the best choice that day. The important considerations are that the fish is fresh, reasonably priced, and not on the don’t-buy list: fish that have been so overfished that they’re becoming endangered, those caught by methods that endanger other sea life, and fish with high levels of toxins. The species of fish to avoid for environmental or health reasons changes, so if you look online, be aware of the date the list was generated. Sometimes, the most reasonably priced fish at the market is also the freshest (because there’s been an abundant catch). Ask to sniff, and if the odor makes you think of anything besides the ocean, turn it down and sniff your second choice.

It’s hard to describe, especially to beginning cooks, how to cut vegetables, that is, what size and shape to make the pieces. When we call for cubed potatoes in a stew for example, try to picture what you would like see in a bowl or on a bed of grain and what size you would want to put on your fork or spoon and into your mouth … and make them that size. Then cut most of the other vegetables in a complementary shape and size. When cutting vegetables for soup, you probably want to make them smaller. And keep in mind that the cooking time will vary a little depending on the size.

Here’s our standard order by size of pieces: mince, finely chop, dice, chop, coarsely chop, cut into chunks. Minced means small, irregularly shaped pieces, 1⁄8 inch or less. Diced means generally uniform ¼- to ½-inch cubes: a fine dice is smaller, a coarse dice is larger. That said, diced can also simply mean larger than minced and smaller than chopped: diced onions, for example, aren’t really little cubes. Chopped means smallish pieces, up to ½ inch, not uniform in shape. Chunks are larger irregular pieces—those stew-size pieces that at the table you’ll need to cut to make bite-size.

The terms “grate” and “shred” are often used interchangeably. In our book, grated means small strips or fragments, and shredded means larger, longer strips. Both grating and shredding can be done with a hand grater or a food processor, and also, in the case of cabbage, with a knife. When we say shredded cabbage, we mean for you to shred it with a knife: slice down through the layered leaves into very thin slices, and then across the long slices to make shorter strips. If your knife is sharp, you can make smooth long cuts without “sawing” back and forth.

To shred or grate cheese, we use the same food processor blade, one with medium-large holes. The amount of pressure you put on the block of cheese as it’s pushed against the whirling blade is what produces a coarser or finer shred. Cheese that’s still cold from the refrigerator grates best. We coarsely shred cheese when we’re going to mix it in, and we finely grate it when it will be sprinkled on top.

In soup recipes, we give you a yield only, and that’s because, especially with soup, who can say how much soup makes a serving? Some soups are rich and filling, and others are brothy and light. Is soup the whole meal, or just a starter? We could say “eight 1-cup servings or four 2-cup servings,” but you can easily figure that out for yourself.

In the Moosewood kitchen, we have both conventional and convection ovens, and we use them both. No recipe in this book requires a convection oven, but when a dish (such as baked tofu) really benefits from one, we mention that. We expect that if you have a convection oven, you know when and how to use it, so we decided to not clutter the recipes with that information. Ditto for immersion blenders, mandolines, Microplane graters, and other kitchen tools—if you’ve got them, use them.

While we were testing each other’s recipes in our home kitchens for this book, we were often mystified when the tester found that a recipe made “too much filling for the pan size specified” or “not enough filling for a 9-inch pie plate.” At first, we doubted our co-cooks ability to measure ingredients, but before we got too immersed in accusations and battles, we brought together our baking pans and pie plates and measured their volumes in cups of water. That solved the mystery. Pans that were marked the same size, or appeared to be the same size, held different quantities. So, the pan sizes we recommend are only a guideline. If when you’re making a pie with your favorite pie plate, you regularly have extra filling, either adjust the amount of filling you make or be prepared to make a little tartlet in addition to the pie. See here for standard pan volumes and substitutions.

We’ve tried to anticipate the extra information that you might find helpful. If you have questions, please check the Guide (here). Clarification may be there. For example, we’ve noticed when traveling to some parts of the country that when we ask the server for half-and-half with our coffee, she says, “Half and what?” and then goes on to say, “Oh, you mean creamer” … or light cream or single cream, coffee cream, or lightener. In the guide, we tell you what half-and-half is and what to substitute for it if it isn’t marketed in your area. We let you know things like that it’s fine to use either full-fat or low-fat cream cheese and coconut milk in these recipes. There you can find some basic cooking directions for beans, rice, and pasta, toasting directions for nuts and spices, and pressing and shredding directions for tofu.

We think that cooking is fun and creative, and we hope that for you, too. But even at those times when you’re tired and hungry and just need to get some food into your belly, or someone else’s, we hope that you’ll have a good time both in the kitchen and at the table. And feel satisfied. Bon appetit!

APPETIZERS

Spiced Nuts

Peppercorn and Lemon Marinated Feta

Black Bean Ful

Tofalafels

Spanakopita Bites

Greek Spinach Rice Balls

Roasted White and Sweet Potatoes with Chipotle Aioli

Southeast Asian Rolls

Stuffed Tomatoes

Tofukabobs with Peanut Sauce

Spiced Nuts

They glisten, they crunch, they’re easy to make and even easier to eat. Indeed, we believe Spiced Nuts are the democratic snack, delicious with uptown cocktails and with downtown brews. Take a stash on bike tours or camping for quick energy and great snacking. Serve with a nice ripe cheese and fresh fruit when entertaining. Include in gift bags at holiday time. Sprinkle on salads. Just say YES to these nuts!

We think our recipe strikes a nice balance between sweet and spicy, but the black pepper and cayenne can always be increased for a spicier nut, as can the salt for a more striking salty-sweet sensation.

Yields 3 cups

Prep time: 15 minutes

Baking time: 15 minutes

1⁄3 cup sugar or pure maple syrup

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch of cayenne (optional)

1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest (optional)

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

3 cups nuts (walnuts, almonds, cashews, pecans, peanuts)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously oil a rimmed baking sheet.

If you’re using sugar, combine it with the cardamom, cinnamon, cayenne, orange zest, if using, salt, and black pepper, and ¼ cup of water in a saucepan. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cook for a minute or two until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat.

If you’re using maple syrup, simply whisk together the syrup and the spices and seasonings until uniform—no need to cook. Because maple syrup has its own flavor, we suggest that you add a bit more salt, cayenne, and black pepper to balance the sweet with more spice and salt.

Stir the nuts into the spiced syrup until evenly coated. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the nuts to the prepared baking sheet and spread them out as much as you can so they don’t clump together.

Bake for 5 minutes and then stir. Return to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes, or until browned. Stir well. Cool before serving.

NOTE

The baking sheet may look as if you’re going to have a tedious cleanup, but if you rinse it with hot water as soon as you remove the nuts and soak it for a few minutes, it will clean easily.

Peppercorn and Lemon Marinated Feta

This is a simple, quick, and piquant dish to serve as an appetizer for a Mediterranean-style meal. Serve it with a few fresh vegetables or fruits, and you’ll have a tasty small meal—or at least a good excuse to open a bottle of wine.

Serves 6 to 8 as an appetizer

Time: 10 minutes

one 8-ounce block feta cheese

1 lemon

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

cracked or coarsely ground black peppercorns

fresh thyme leaves (optional)

Slice the block of feta into ¼-inch slabs and then into wide strips. Arrange on a plate. Finely grate the zest of the lemon and then juice the lemon. Stir together the lemon juice and olive oil and drizzle over the feta. Sprinkle the lemon zest over the feta. Sprinkle with black pepper and thyme, if you like.

This is best when allowed to marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes or more. It will keep, covered and refrigerated, for several days.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with crackers, pita wedges, or bread. To make a bit more of a meal, serve with olives, tomato slices, cucumber slices, and/or strips of roasted red peppers, or with fresh fruit, such as grapes, cherries, or pears. The feta is great as an accompaniment for Armenian Roasted Eggplant Salad and Mediterranean Lentil Salad, or as a topping for a tossed green salad.

Black Bean Ful

This recipe is a variation of a fava beans side dish called ful. Ful is common throughout the Middle East and North Africa and each region, maybe even each family, boasts of its own version. Our favorite black bean ful is still just the way our partner Laura Branca taught us to make it years ago—lemony and garlicky with beautiful, shiny black beans and lots of bright green parsley, served with ripe tomatoes and wedges of warm pita bread for scooping up the beans and soaking up the intoxicatingly delicious juices. It makes a striking, good-looking appetizer or side dish.

Inspired by some of the fuls we’ve sampled, we sometimes add cumin or cayenne or mint, and we’ve made it with fresh fava beans when we can get them.

Yields 3 cups

Serves 6

Time: 20 minutes

2 garlic cloves, finely minced or pressed

3 tablespoons olive oil

two 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained (or 3 cups cooked beans)

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

½ teaspoon salt

ground black pepper

½ cup chopped fresh parsley

tomato wedges

lemon wedges

pita bread

In a saucepan on medium heat, cook the garlic in the oil just until sizzling and golden, then immediately stir in the beans, and warm through. Transfer the warm beans to a bowl and stir in the lemon juice and salt. Season with black pepper to taste. Stir in the parsley, reserving some to use as a garnish, if you like. Add another tablespoon of olive oil if you think it needs it.

Serve Black Bean Ful warm, at room temperature, or chilled. Garnish with wedges of ripe fresh tomatoes and lemon wedges and serve with pita bread.

VARIATION

• We love ful and, in the way we have of thinking about food, we thought, why not in a pita sandwich? The problem was that all those little beans kept falling out of the pocket. So, when we want to use it as a pita filling (or a spread), we purée about half of it in a food processor and stir that back in with the whole beans and then it all hangs together nicely.

• We also like to stir in diced fresh tomatoes.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with warm pita bread and wedges or slices of hard-boiled eggs. This is also good topped with grated feta or with Peppercorn and Lemon Marinated Feta.

Tofalafels

These tasty little nuggets, Moosewood’s answer to fried falafels, have been a favorite for many years. We serve them in pita sandwiches, on combo plates, as an appetizer, and on green salads. Tofalafels and Lemon-Tahini Dressing are made for each other. Tofalafels are great for picnics, parties, or just snacking.

Yields about 30 tofalafels

Tofu pressing time: 30 minutes

Prep time: 30 to 40 minutes

Baking time: 30 to 40 minutes

two 14- to 16-ounce blocks firm or extra-firm tofu (see here)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1½ cups chopped onions

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground turmeric

1½ teaspoons ground cumin seeds

1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds

¼ teaspoon cayenne, or red pepper flakes (optional)

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons dark sesame oil

1⁄3 cup tahini

1⁄3 cup finely chopped parsley

¾ cup bread crumbs (optional)

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

¼ cup toasted sesame seeds

First, press the tofu for at least 30 minutes (see here).

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a baking sheet.

Warm the oil in a covered skillet on low heat, add the onions, garlic, and salt and cook until the onions are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the turmeric, cumin, coriander, and cayenne and continue to cook, stirring frequently, for 3 or 4 minutes.

Shred the tofu by hand or in a food processor and put it in a large bowl. Add the cooked onions and spices to the bowl with the tofu. Stir in the soy sauce, sesame oil, tahini, parsley, bread crumbs, if using, lemon juice, and sesame seeds and mix well. Season with more salt to taste.

Form the mixture into walnut-size balls and place them on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them at least an inch apart. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden and firm to the touch.

VARIATION

If gluten is a problem for you, keep in mind that there are gluten-free bread crumbs that you can use, or omit the bread crumbs. Tofalafels are more delicate without the bread crumbs.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with Lemon-Tahini Dressing. Tuck tofalafels into toasted pita bread with lettuce and diced tomatoes and cucumbers … and Lemon-Tahini Dressing, of course. Make a combo plate with Tofalafels and Tabouli Salad, Classic Hummus, and Peppercorn and Lemon Marinated Feta. Or serve as an appetizer, on a bed of greens with pita wedges.

Spanakopita Bites

It was a busy Saturday night at Moosewood, and we were fast running out of appetizers. Luckily, Jenny Wang, one our most competent, confident, and innovative cooks, threw this together. The response that night put Spanakopita Bites immediately on our greatest hits list.

Foolproof and delicious, serve this fresh out of the oven, while the filo is crisp and delicate. The filling is so simple, yet so tasty. These bites are great for entertaining: you can make and bake them ahead of time, and then when you’re ready, pop them into the oven for a few minutes and voila! We’re divided on whether these little bites taste better brushed with butter or olive oil or both—our customers love them any way we do them.

Yields 36 pieces

Prep time: 30 minutes

Baking time: 20 to 30 minutes

10 cups packed fresh baby spinach (about 1 pound)

½ cup sliced scallions

4 ounces feta cheese (1 cup crumbled, not packed)

a sprinkling of ground black pepper

six 12 x 17-inch sheets filo dough

about 1⁄3 cup olive oil and/or melted butter

Rinse the spinach in a colander and drain it a bit. In a covered saucepan on medium-high heat, steam the wet spinach, stirring a couple of times, until wilted, 3 or 4 minutes. Drain the steamed spinach in the colander, pressing out the water. Turn the spinach out onto a cutting board and, when cool enough to handle, squeeze out more liquid. Chop lightly.

In a medium bowl, combine the spinach, scallions, feta, and black pepper.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Oil or butter a 18 × 12-inch rimmed baking sheet or two smaller ones.

Place the filo sheets in a stack on a flat, clean, dry surface. Working quickly so the filo won’t dry out and crack, brush the top sheet with melted butter or olive oil. Spread ¼ cup of the filling in a line (a little bigger than a fat pencil) a couple of inches above the bottom edge. Lift the bottom edge of the top sheet of filo up and over the filling and roll it into a tube. Don’t worry if there are small rips at the start—after you’ve rolled it a couple of turns, it will roll beautifully. Place the roll, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet and brush the top and sides with butter or oil. Repeat with the remaining filling and filo. Arrange the rolls on the baking sheet so that they don’t touch. Using a sharp knife, cut each roll into 6 pieces, about 2 inches long.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until the filo is crisp and golden brown.

Using a spatula, transfer the Spanakopita Bites to a serving platter and serve right away—as they cool, the filo becomes less crisp. If you make them ahead of time or have leftovers, reheat in a 350°F oven or toaster oven for a few minutes; the filo re-crisps very nicely.

NOTE

While baking, some liquid flows onto the baking sheet, and when you take it from the oven you think it’s going to be difficult to clean, but not so. As soon as you’ve removed the pastries, and while the baking sheet is still hot, rinse it and then come back in 5 minutes and scrape with the spatula. Everything comes off easily.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Especially nice as an element of a tapas-style meal with any or all of Armenian Roasted Eggplant Salad, Mediterranean Lentil Salad, Tabouli Salad, Classic Hummus, Black Bean Ful, Moroccan Couscous Salad.

Greek Spinach Rice Balls

Rice balls have their place in many cultures, often as street food. This version was inspired by arancini, Italian rice balls introduced to us by our partner and Moosewood cook, Tony Del Plato, who grew up in Brooklyn, gobbling down his Italian mama’s rice balls. Always on the lookout to exploit a great idea, we expanded our rice ball repertoire to include the ones we give you here.

With just enough rice to hold together the tasty spinach and herb mixture, these are crisp on the outside and appealingly bright green and moist on the inside. They are a wonderful finger food at parties, and they work well as an appetizer or side dish. And, kids like them as snacks!

Yields 24

Prep time: 40 minutes

Baking time: 20 to 30 minutes

14 cups fresh baby spinach (20 to 24 ounces)

1½ cups chopped scallions

3 garlic cloves, minced (optional)

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cups cooked brown rice

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill

2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup bread crumbs or finely chopped toasted walnuts

Rinse the spinach in a colander. In a large covered pot or working in batches, steam the spinach in only the water that clings to the leaves, stirring frequently, just until wilted, 5 to 10 minutes. Drain the steamed spinach in the colander, pressing out the excess water. Turn the spinach out onto a cutting board and, when cool enough to handle, squeeze out more liquid. Chop finely.

In a small skillet on medium heat, cook the scallions and garlic in the oil until softened.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the spinach, scallions, rice, feta, dill, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, and salt. Stir in the black pepper. Taste and add more salt, pepper, and lemon juice, if you like.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a baking sheet.

Form the spinach mixture into firm, round balls 2 to 3 inches in diameter. Gently roll each ball in the bread crumbs or walnuts and place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 1 inch apart.

Bake until heated through and crisp on the outside, 20 to 30 minutes.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Greek Spinach Rice Balls pair well with Cream of Asparagus Soup, Ratatouille, or Greek Lemon-Mint Beans and Vegetables. Make a combo plate with Classic Hummus, Russian Eggplant Spread, crudités, and olives.

Roasted White and Sweet Potatoes with Chipotle Aioli

Most of us love chipotle aioli with its spicy, smoky flavor, and nothing could be simpler to make. Roasted potato wedges are one of our favorite “platforms” for it.

Yields about 2⁄3 cup

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 30 minutes

ROASTED POTATOES

2 large white potatoes

1 large sweet potato

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

CHIPOTLE AIOLI

1 or 2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon chipotles in adobo sauce

1 tablespoon fresh lime or lemon juice

Preheat a convection oven to 425°F or a conventional oven to 450°F. Oil a rimmed baking sheet.

Scrub the white potatoes and cut them lengthwise in 6 to 8 wedges. Peel the sweet potato and cut it lengthwise into 6 to 8 wedges. If the potatoes are very large, cut the wedges in half. Toss the potatoes with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place the potatoes on the prepared baking sheet in a single layer and roast for about 20 minutes, or until tender and browned. Turn the wedges over with a spatula after about 10 minutes of roasting.

While the potatoes roast, make the chipotle aioli. Cook the garlic in the olive oil in a microwave oven or on the stovetop, just until it sizzles. In a food processor, whirl the garlic and oil with the mayonnaise, chipotles in adobo sauce, and lime juice until well combined. Add more chipotles to taste.

Serve the potatoes hot, with chipotle aioli.

VARIATIONS

• You can make this with only one kind of potato or change the proportion of white and sweet; just have 7 to 8 cups total.

• Before roasting, toss the potatoes with garlic and minced fresh rosemary or thyme.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

In addition to serving Chipotle Aioli with roasted potatoes, an all-time Moosewood favorite appetizer and side dish, we drizzle it on steamed vegetables, such as broccoli, carrots, and asparagus. We mix it into in egg salad (Mexican Egg Salad) and potato salad (Sweet Potato Salad with Chipotle Aioli); and spread it on sandwiches and Fish Cakes.

Southeast Asian Rolls

Southeast Asian Rolls are a simple yet impressive appetizer. If you’ve never worked with rice flour wrappers, follow our easy directions and you’ll walk away with a swagger. Prepare all of your ingredients ahead of time, as you would for a stir-fry, because the cooking goes quickly.

The wrappers, or rice flour spring roll skins or disks as they are sometimes called, are delicate, so expect to break a few; there are plenty in each package for do-overs. You will find rice paper wrappers on the shelf in Asian markets and well-stocked supermarkets.

Yields 12 rolls; about 1 cup sauce

Time: about 1 hour

FILLING

2 tablespoons peanut, canola, or other vegetable oil

2 cups shredded cabbage

salt

2 cups shredded carrots

1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

3 cups sliced mushrooms (12 ounces)

½ cup chopped scallions

3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or mint

1 package 8-inch rice paper wrappers

HOISIN DIPPING SAUCE

¾ cup hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar or fresh lime juice

½ teaspoon Chinese Chili Paste with Garlic or hot pepper sauce

1 tablespoon hot water

¼ cup peanut butter or 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

Prepare the filling ingredients before beginning to stir-fry. You can use a hand grater, food processor, or mandoline.

Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet on medium-high heat and stir-fry the cabbage with a sprinkling of salt until it brightens, about 2 minutes. Add the carrots and stir-fry for another 2 minutes. Stir in the ginger and mushrooms and cook on medium heat until the mushrooms soften, about 3 minutes. Add the scallions and fresh herbs and remove the pan from the heat.

Assemble the rolls on a dry, smooth work surface, working in batches of 3 or 4 if you have the room. Moisten each wrapper by immersing it in a large, shallow bowl of warm water. Lay the moistened wrappers flat, side by side but not touching (or they’ll stick together). Let them soften for a couple of minutes.

Place about 1⁄3 cup of filling on the bottom half of a softened wrapper. Fold the sides up and over the filling, and roll up from the bottom as gently and snugly as possible. Place seam side down on a platter, not touching. Repeat the process, moistening, filling, and rolling the remaining wrappers.

Whisk together the ingredients for the dipping sauce.

Serve the rolls at room temperature with the dipping sauce.

You can make these rolls ahead of time. Store in the refrigerator, covered with damp paper towels and plastic wrap to prevent the wrappers from drying out and becoming hard.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

These flavorful rolls are great as a starter for Thai Noodle Salad, Mushroom Mapo Tofu, or Malaysian Fish. Some of us would have them with Thai Butternut Squash Soup or Sesame Jeweled Rice and call it a perfect dinner.

Stuffed Tomatoes

This is one easy little appetizer. The filling is a snap to make, and it can also double as stuffing for mushrooms or miniature, multicolored sweet peppers.

Yields 12 stuffed tomato halves

Prep time: 30 minutes

Baking time: 30 minutes

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 garlic cloves, finely minced or pressed

¾ cup unseasoned bread crumbs

2 tablespoons finely chopped scallions

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil or tarragon

1 cup shredded or crumbled cheese, such as Gorgonzola, chèvre, sharp cheddar, Fontina, or Parmesan

6 plum tomatoes

Warm the oil in a small, heavy skillet on medium heat, and sauté the garlic briefly, just until golden and aromatic, but not browned. Add the bread crumbs and stir to coat evenly with the oil. Remove from the heat and stir in the scallions, basil or tarragon, and the cheese. Most cheeses provide enough salt, but sample a pinch and add salt to taste.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil an 11 × 7-inch baking pan.

Cut the tomatoes in half from pointy top to stem end. Scoop out the seeds. Arrange the tomato halves in the prepared baking pan and sprinkle them lightly with salt. Fill each half with about 2 tablespoons of the filling.

Cover the baking pan with aluminum foil and bake until the tomatoes have softened but still hold their shape and the cheese has melted, about 30 minutes.

VARIATIONS

• Fill mushroom caps with the bread-crumb mixture and bake them with a little sherry in the bottom of the baking pan, and maybe a few sprigs of fresh thyme.

• Roast pepper halves before filling them. Then bake until the bread-crumb–cheese mixture is hot and lightly browned.

Tofukabobs with Peanut Sauce

Tofu cubes baked on a skewer come out nice and chewy, a perfect vehicle for the delicious peanut sauce.

We can’t tell you how many people this recipe—twelve tofukabobs—will serve. Is it going to be a snack, appetizer, central on the dinner plate, or part of a buffet? Then there is a bigger consideration: who will be eating them? Some people are happy with one skewer. Others force themselves to stop after four or five. Tofukabob enthusiasts are often people who said when they were first offered one, “Oh. OK, but I’m not too fond of tofu.” All it takes is a couple of people who go gaga over them to wipe out a platterful in no time.

All tofu is not the same—the consistency varies. Be sure to get fresh tofu if you can (see here). And, if you have a convection oven, use it for this recipe.

Yields 12 skewers; about 1 cup sauce

Prep time: 20 minutes

Baking time: 20 to 25 minutes

TOFU SKEWERS

two 14- to 16-ounce blocks firm or extra-firm tofu (see here)

twelve 10-inch bamboo skewers

¼ cup vegetable oil

¼ cup soy sauce

PEANUT SAUCE

1⁄3 cup smooth peanut butter

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or white vinegar

1⁄3 cup water

2 teaspoons dark sesame oil

2 teaspoons Tabasco or other hot sauce (optional)

1 tablespoon brown sugar or honey

First, press the tofu for at least 10 minutes (see here). Soak the skewers in water.

Preheat the oven to 450°F, or a convection oven to 425°F. Generously oil a large baking sheet.

Cut the blocks of tofu into 1-inch cubes; you should get 24 cubes from each block. Transfer the tofu cubes to a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil and soy sauce and pour over the tofu. Using a rubber spatula, gently turn the tofu cubes to coat all sides.

Thread 4 cubes onto each soaked skewer, leaving about ½ inch of space between them, and place on the prepared baking sheet, leaving space between the tofukabobs. Bake until sizzling and golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes; less if using a convection oven.

While the tofu bakes, stir together all of the peanut sauce ingredients until smooth.

Serve warm or at room temperature. Arrange the tofukabobs on a serving platter and drizzle them with peanut sauce. Put the rest of the peanut sauce in a little pitcher, so the peanut sauce lovers can drench their tofukabobs, if they like.

DIPS AND SPREADS

Simple Smooth Guacamole

Vegan Spinach–Artichoke Heart Dip

Classic Hummus

Olivada

White Bean and Basil Spread

Russian Eggplant Spread

Edamame-Wasabi Spread

Herbed Chèvre Spread

Dilled Havarti Spread

Red Bean and Walnut Spread

Simple Smooth Guacamole

A ripe avocado is a thing of beauty, as any Moosewood cook will tell you. Because we love guacamole and it’s the perfect thing to serve with so many dishes, we regularly turn a case of avocados into a mound of guacamole. When the avocados are ripe, the guacamole is scrumptious. If the avocados are underripe or overripe, the guacamole will suffer. This simplest of guacamoles is for when your avocados are perfect.

For chunky guacamole, see California Pita and Avocado Salsa. Sure, you can buy guacamole ready to dip out of its plastic container, but it’s so easy to make your own: no worries about what may have been added to it—and it tastes better, too.

Yields 1 generous cup

Time: 10 minutes

2 ripe Hass avocados

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice

¼ teaspoon salt

splash of Tabasco or other hot sauce (optional)

Slice around each avocado lengthwise down to the pit. Twist the halves apart. Pop out the pit with the tip of the knife. Scoop out the flesh with a spoon.

Mash the avocado flesh, garlic, lime juice, and salt with a fork. Add Tabasco to taste. If you want really smooth guacamole, use a food processor.

Serve immediately. Or, if you will serve it later or have leftovers, to prevent discoloration, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the guacamole, leaving no air bubbles, and refrigerate.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Of course, serve as dip for tortilla chips, crackers, little rounds of baguette, or crudités. Serve as a topping for beans, burritos, Mexican Corn and Cheese Casserole, Chilaquiles Casserole, Mexican Salad Plate, Black Bean–Sweet Potato Burritos, and other Mexican, Southwest, and Latin American dishes.

Vegan Spinach–Artichoke Heart Dip

Love this popular appetizer, but wish it were dairy-free? Here’s a version that will make you happy. We joke about Flora Marranca, one of Moosewood’s earliest and most adventurous cooks, that she is multicultural: part Italian-American and part Vegan. Before vegan fusion food was a twinkle in anyone else’s eye, Flora was mass-producing delicious spinach- and tofu-stuffed ravioli in her home kitchen, and the goal of this recipe is the same.

This is a tasty dip that’s packed with vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients from the key ingredients: spinach, basil, and white beans. You can serve it as soon as it’s ready, but the flavors develop if it is refrigerated for an hour or more.

Yields 3 cups

Time: 20 minutes

6 cups fresh baby spinach (about 10 ounces)

one 15-ounce can white beans, rinsed and drained

1⁄3 cup chopped scallions

½ cup chopped fresh basil

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, pressed or minced

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

¼ teaspoon salt

1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper

one 15-ounce can artichoke hearts in brine, drained and finely chopped

Rinse the spinach leaves and steam them in a saucepan with just the water that clings to the leaves for about 3 minutes, until wilted and still bright green. Drain in a colander, press some liquid out with the back of a large spoon, and turn out into a bowl to cool while you prep the other ingredients.

In a food processor, purée the beans, scallions, basil, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper until fairly smooth. When the spinach is cool enough to handle, using your hands, squeeze out more liquid and add the spinach to the food processor. Purée until the spinach is minced and evenly distributed. If the dip is too thick, add a little water. Scrape the dip into a bowl and stir in the chopped artichoke hearts. Add more salt and black pepper to taste.

Serve at room temperature or chilled.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

This dip is great with crackers, pita chips, or crudités. Makes a great open-faced sandwich on sliced ciabatta or baguette with tender greens, tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella.

Classic Hummus

Hummus is an easy-to-make and popular dish. It comes to us from the Middle East and Mediterranean, particularly the Levant: Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, and parts of Cyprus, Turkey, and Iraq. The Arabic word for chickpeas is himmis. The earliest record of hummus is from thirteenth-century Egypt.

Yields a generous 1½ cups

Time: 10 to 15 minutes

1½ cups cooked chickpeas (or one 15-ounce can), drained

¼ cup water

1 garlic clove, chopped

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

¼ cup tahini

¼ teaspoon salt

pinch of cayenne (optional)

½ teaspoon ground cumin seeds (optional)

Place the chickpeas, water, garlic, and lemon juice in a food processor and purée until quite smooth. Add the tahini and salt, and cayenne and cumin, if using, and process until creamy. Add more lemon juice and/or salt to taste. Chill the hummus until ready to serve.

VARIATIONS

• Stir in:

• finely chopped fresh herbs, such as dill, parsley, or scallions

• chopped kalamata olives

• caramelized onions

• a tablespoon or two of Thai curry paste

• Spicy Chipotle Hummus—Omit the garlic, cayenne, and cumin and add about 1 tablespoon of chipotles in adobo sauce. Keep in mind that the chipotle peppers are the spicy part and the adobo sauce adds a rich, smoky flavor. You may want to start with less and add more to taste. Add a tablespoon or two of chopped fresh cilantro, if you like.

• Roasted Red Pepper Hummus—Omit the cayenne and cumin. Add a roasted red pepper (from a jar or roasted by you) and 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil. Omit the water, because the pepper adds enough juiciness for smooth processing. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh basil at the end. The roasted red pepper makes for a lovely sunset orange–colored hummus. Season with black pepper to taste.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Hummus is often presented drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with toasted cumin or paprika. Serve it as an appetizer with crackers, pita wedges, or raw vegetable sticks, spread it on toast, or stuff it in a pita. It is good on a tossed green salad or as part of a combo plate with Tabouli Salad and Peppercorn and Lemon Marinated Feta.

Chipotle Hummus is good with tortilla chips, while Roasted Red Pepper Hummus has a more Mediterranean feel and is great with fresh mozzarella and rosemary crackers.

Olivada

Olivada is a glossy and dramatic-looking Italian olive spread akin to tapenade, a glistening deep purple with black and ivory flecks. You can’t make a quicker, more foolproof gourmet appetizer.

When we first published a recipe for it, we couldn’t find pitted kalamata olives in our markets and we recommended pitting them by hand. Today, many supermarkets have olive bars with a generous selection of Italian, Greek, French, and Spanish olives of many sizes, colors, and pungencies, and so this recipe is now even faster and easier—and potentially, more delicious.

Kalamatas alone in this recipe are too salty for most of us, so we usually use about a fourth or even up to a third kalamatas and the rest a milder black olive, such as the large black Cerignola or little French Niçoise or even canned California black olives. And if you like green olives, go ahead and use some.

Yields 1½ cups

Time: 10 minutes

2½ cups pitted black olives (see headnote)

1 garlic clove, pressed or minced

2 tablespoons pine nuts, lightly toasted

1 or 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

In a food processor, pulse the olives, garlic, pine nuts, and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil until just smooth enough to spread, but stop before it becomes a paste. It’s OK if some of the pine nuts remain whole and some of the chunks of olives are bigger. If the mixture is too stiff, add a second tablespoon of olive oil.

Covered and refrigerated, Olivada will keep for at least a week. It is best served at room temperature.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

For an appetizer buffet or fabulous party fare, serve Olivada along with a couple of other dips, such as Edamame-Wasabi Spread and Red Bean and Walnut Spread, and with crudites and crisp toasted bread or crackers. It is also good as a pasta topping and on pizza. Or try it as a stuffing in deviled eggs, in omelets, as a topping for baked potatoes, or as a dip for crackers.

White Bean and Basil Spread

Here is a simple recipe for puréed beans seasoned with olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and fresh basil. A classic Italian dish, it is a great spread or dip with big flavors and a rich, smooth, satisfying texture. We’ve been serving it as a pita filling and as an appetizer with crackers or bread for years, but we’ve never published the recipe.

We also give you our favorite variation, with fennel and sun-dried tomatoes.

Yields 3 cups

Time: 20 minutes

3 cups cooked white beans (or two 15-ounce cans)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

¼ cup minced fresh basil

Drain the beans, reserving some of their liquid.

If you prefer a milder garlic flavor, cook the garlic in the oil in a microwave oven or on the stovetop, just until it sizzles.

In a food processor, whirl together the olive oil and garlic until the garlic is pulverized. Add the white beans, salt, pepper, and lemon juice and purée until the beans are smooth. If the mixture is too stiff, add a tablespoon of the reserved bean liquid to make a thick but smooth spread.

Put the spread in a bowl and fold in the fresh basil. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

VARIATION

• Add fennel and sun-dried tomatoes. Before you make the spread, place 5 or 6 sun-dried tomato halves (dry, not oil-cured) in a bowl and cover them with 1½ cups of boiling water. Set aside to rehydrate for about 15 minutes. Make the bean spread. When the tomatoes have absorbed water and are pliable, discard the water, and mince the tomatoes. Fold the tomatoes and 1 teaspoon of ground fennel into the spread with the basil. Add more ground fennel to taste, but only after you’ve let the spread sit for a bit, because the fennel flavor intensifies over time.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve as an appetizer with crusty bread, fresh mozzarella, and roasted plum tomatoes (see here), or as a sandwich in a pita or on sliced bread.

Russian Eggplant Spread

This creamy, beige spread looks good served in a colorful bowl, topped with sliced scallions and garnished with cherry tomatoes. The creaminess of the mayonnaise mellows out the “bite” that eggplant often has.

The recipe gives two ways to cook the eggplant. When we make this spread in the restaurant kitchen, we char the eggplant over stovetop flames and call it “smoky eggplant spread,” and it does have a lovely smoke flavor. The charring process is messy (our stovetops are designed to be easily cleaned) and very smoky (we have a powerful exhaust fan). It can be fun to char eggplant in your home kitchen, but those of us who have done it advise this: disable the smoke alarm, put the exhaust fan on high speed, open the windows, wear a mask. If you live in an apartment building, think twice about doing it.

Just oven-roast it. Made with oven-roasted eggplant, the lemon, dill, and garlic flavors shine.

The eggplants can be cooked a day or two ahead of time and then refrigerated. The spread will keep for about a week in the refrigerator.

Yields about 3 cups

Eggplant cooking time: about 15 minutes if charring, 30 to 45 minutes if roasting in the oven

Prep time after eggplant is cooked: 15 minutes

2 small eggplants (about 1 pound each)

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1⁄3 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

salt

ground black pepper

Cook the eggplants directly over a gas flame or on a grill, turning carefully with tongs until all sides are charred and the inside is soft throughout. Or, place the eggplants on a baking sheet, prick several times with a fork, and bake in a 450°F oven until soft, 30 to 45 minutes.

When the eggplants are cool enough to handle, peel off the skin and place the pulp in the bowl of a food processor. For a mellower garlic flavor, heat the garlic in the oil in a microwave oven or in a small skillet just until the garlic sizzles, taking care not to scorch. Add the olive oil and garlic, lemon juice, mayonnaise, and dill to the food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

The spread can be served at once, but it’s best when chilled and given some time for the flavors to meld.

VARIATIONS

• Omit the dill and add chopped scallions or chopped fresh chives or parsley.

• Use vegan mayonnaise.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with pita wedges, crudités, or crackers. Make sandwiches with pita or dark rye bread and Havarti cheese. Russian Eggplant Spread also works well with Greek and Middle Eastern dishes as well as Eastern European ones. Put it on a combo plate with Tabouli Salad or Greek Spinach Rice Balls and Tomato, Cucumber, and Artichoke Salad or Beet Salad.

Edamame-Wasabi Spread

This is a lovely green spread with a little kick from the wasabi. Bored with hummus? Give this silky spread a try.

Edamame are soybeans, sometimes available fresh, but widely found in the frozen food section of natural food stores and supermarkets. For this recipe, make sure you buy shelled edamame, which may be called mukimame or muki edamame.

Yields 1^2⁄3 cups

Time: 20 minutes

2 cups fresh or frozen shelled edamame

2 teaspoons wasabi powder

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon light miso

2 teaspoons peeled and grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon rice vinegar

1⁄3 cup water

salt

1 tablespoon chopped scallions (optional)

Cook the edamame in salted water to cover until tender, 5 or 6 minutes for fresh beans or according to package directions if using frozen ones. In a colander or sieve, run cold water over the edamame until cool and then transfer to the bowl of a food processor.

Combine the wasabi powder with an equal amount of water to form a smooth paste. Add it to the bowl of the processor along with the oil, miso, ginger, rice vinegar, and water. Process until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides if needed. Add a little more water, if necessary, for a smooth spread. Add salt and more vinegar and wasabi paste to taste. If adding the scallions, either pulse them at the end, or sprinkle them on as a garnish. Chill the spread before serving.

VARIATION

• Substitute fresh lemon juice for the rice vinegar.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Edamame-Wasabi Spread is especially good with rice crackers and crudités. It also makes a fine pita sandwich with tomato slices and greens.

Herbed Chèvre Spread

There are several nice goat farms near Ithaca that produce good cheeses, so at Moosewood we often make an herbed chèvre spread to go on crackers for an appetizer, or to use in a sandwich, or to spread on bread to go with a salad. Here’s our favorite basic recipe, but notice all the variations. We make them all.

Yields 1½ cups

Time: 15 minutes

4 ounces chèvre, at room temperature

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

2 teaspoons minced scallions or fresh chives

½ teaspoon lemon zest

1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper

In a small bowl, mash everything together with a fork. Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours to allow the flavors to permeate the cheeses. Herbed Chèvre Spread will keep for several days.

VARIATIONS

• Try some dried fruit: currants, apricots, pineapple …

• Stir in chopped, softened, sun-dried tomatoes and chopped fresh basil.

• Add your favorite herbs: parsley, dill, marjoram, basil, oregano, tarragon …

Fig and Chèvre Spread—To the basic recipe, add ¼ cup stemmed and chopped dried figs. Add ¼ cup chopped toasted walnuts, if you like.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

As a snack or appetizer, serve any of the chèvre spreads on crackers or small toasts. Try the basic spread on crackers, topped with a little dollop of fruit jam: quince, currant, cherry, whatever you like. This spread complements Armenian, Greek, Turkish, Middle Eastern, and North African meals.

Dilled Havarti Spread

David Hirsch, a longtime Moosewood menu planner, has had some brilliant ideas over the years, and this is one of them. When we write it on our menu, it carries his name. It’s a simple spread that is quick and easy to prepare. Originally, it was pretty much just cheese, dill, scallions, and mayonnaise. Now, we toss some colorful, crunchy, diced vegetables into the mix, adding a lighter, fresher taste and a more interesting texture.

Yields almost 2 cups

Time: 15 minutes

1 cup shredded dilled Havarti cheese, packed (4 ounces)

1 tablespoon minced scallions

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

½ cup diced celery

½ cup seeded and finely diced bell peppers (any color)

1⁄3 cup mayonnaise

½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice or apple cider vinegar (optional)

ground black pepper

In a bowl, stir together all of the ingredients except for the lemon juice. Taste, and if you want more tang, add lemon juice or vinegar and black pepper to taste. This spread will keep well for a couple of days in the refrigerator.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

For a snack or an appetizer, serve on crackers or toasted baguette rounds. It also makes a great sandwich with lettuce and tomato slices.

Red Bean and Walnut Spread

Since early on, every Sunday night at Moosewood has been “ethnic night.” Ethnic night entices our customers with a special menu featuring the foods of a particular culture, region, or theme, and it also sustains our enthusiasm as cooks because we try new things. We adapted this classic Georgian spread known as lobio for an Eastern European ethnic night. It is rich, smooth, and satisfying.

Yields 1½ cups

Time: 15 minutes

¾ cup walnuts, toasted (see here)

one 15-ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained about (1½ cups beans)

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

½ cup chopped scallions

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

½ teaspoon salt

1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

In a food processor, whirl the toasted walnuts until finely ground. Add the beans, garlic, scallions, olive oil, vinegar, dill, salt, and black pepper and cilantro, if using. Puree until very smooth. If it’s too thick, add a little water.

Serve at room temperature or chilled. This spread will keep in the refrigerator for 2 or 3 days, but you may need to add a little more vinegar before serving, to brighten the flavor.

VARIATION

• Sometimes we make this spread with almonds instead of walnuts.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

As an appetizer or snack, mound the spread in a brightly colored dish, garnish with some sprigs of dill or cilantro, and serve with wedges of pita, whole-grain crackers, or carrot and celery sticks. For a sandwich, serve with lettuce in whole wheat pita pockets or on rye or pumpernickel toast.

SOUPS

Creamy Herbed Potato Soup and Four Variations

Potage Jacqueline

Cream of Asparagus

Portuguese White Bean and Kale Soup

Cream of Spinach Soup

Creamy Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Southwestern Sweet Potato–Corn Soup

Sopa de Lima

Thai Butternut Squash Soup

French Onion Soup

Mushroom-Sesame-Tofu Soup

Mulligatawny

Miso Soup

Corn Chowder

Texas Barbecue Bean Soup

West African Peanut Soup

Red Lentil Soup

Curried Lentil Soup

Chilled Cantaloupe-Amaretto Soup

Gazpacho

Creamy Herbed Potato Soup and Four Variations

Creamy potato soups abound at Moosewood; we serve some sort of creamy potato soup at least once a week. Here is our best basic version, plus our favorite variations. Use whatever variety of potatoes you like and looks good at the market. Fresh coarsely ground black pepper makes a big difference. These soups freeze well.

Yields 9 cups

Serves 6 to 8

Time: 45 minutes

2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil

2 cups chopped onions

1 cup chopped celery

1 teaspoon salt

5 cups coarsely chopped potatoes, peeled, or if smooth and thin-skinned, unpeeled

5 cups water

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

4 ounces cream cheese

1⁄8 teaspoon black pepper

chopped fresh chives (optional)

chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Warm the oil in a covered soup pot on medium-low heat, add the onions, celery, and salt and cook until very soft but not browned, about 10 minutes. Add the potatoes and water, stir well, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.

Add the dill and cream cheese. Working in batches in a blender, purée the soup until smooth. Season with the black pepper and more salt to taste. Gently reheat.

Top each bowl of soup with chives and parsley, if you like.

VARIATIONS

Potato-Cheese Soup

Yields 10 cups

Add some minced or pressed garlic with the onions and celery. After 5 minutes, add 1 cup of finely chopped carrots and cook for 10 minutes, or until the carrots have softened. Then add the potatoes and water. Include the dill, or don’t. Stir in 1 packed cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese along with the cream cheese. Purée the soup.

Potato Florentine Soup

Yields 10 cups

Add 2 teaspoons of finely chopped fresh rosemary with the onions and celery and omit the dill. Add 1 packed cup of shredded Fontina cheese or ½ cup of shredded Parmesan cheese with the cream cheese. Purée the soup, return to the pot, and reheat until hot. Stir in 10 to 12 ounces of rinsed, stemmed, and finely chopped fresh spinach (about 7 cups chopped), and cook for a couple of minutes until the spinach has wilted but is still bright green.

Potato-Cabbage Soup

Yields 10 cups

After the onions and celery have cooked for 8 minutes, stir in 1 teaspoon of ground caraway seeds and 4 cups of chopped cabbage. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 15 minutes, or until the cabbage is soft. Continue with the basic recipe. If you like, add about a cup of shredded cheddar. Serve chunky or puréed.

Vichyssoise

Yields 8 cups

Reduce the onions to 1 cup and add about 4 cups of chopped leeks (see here). Reduce the quantity of potatoes to 3 cups, and peel them for a pristine soup and to allow the flavor of the leeks to shine. Replace the dill with 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh tarragon. Replace the cream cheese with 1 cup of half-and-half. Continue with the basic recipe.

Potage Jacqueline

(Creamy Sweet Potato Soup)

Potage Jacqueline is so easy that you can come home from work and whip it up pronto! When your sweet potatoes are that deeply sweet and velvety variety that shows up in the market once in a while, this soup is positively ambrosia—with run-of-the-mill sweet potatoes, it’s still a food that’s fit and delicious for anyone’s dinner. It’s velvety, velvety.

Moosewood cook Lisa Wichman created this soup back in the 1980s. We dubbed it Potage Jacqueline after her (Jacqueline is the name her mother gave her), and the soup has been a favorite at the restaurant all these years. For a long time, we added grated fresh ginger, but lately, we like the sweet potato flavor unfettered.

Yields 7 cups

Time: 40 minutes

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cups chopped onions

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup diced celery

4 cups peeled and chopped sweet potatoes (about 1½ pounds whole)

3 cups water

1 bay leaf

¼ cup sherry (optional)

1 cup half-and-half or light cream

ground black pepper

In a covered soup pot, warm the oil on medium heat. Add the onions and salt and cook until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the celery and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes, water, bay leaf, and sherry, if using. Cover and bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 to 18 minutes until the sweet potatoes are tender.

Remove and discard the bay leaf. Add the half-and-half or light cream and purée in a blender or food processor. Season with pepper and more salt to taste. Reheat carefully; do not boil.

VARIATION

Add a teaspoon or two of peeled and grated fresh ginger with the celery.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

A bowl of this soup is a great counterpoint to a salad of bitter greens or peppery arugula. Garnish with a sprinkling of chopped fresh herbs, if you like: parsley, dill, tarragon, chives, or scallions.

Cream of Asparagus Soup

Here’s a luscious soup, made even better with the addition of butter and cream. We unapologetically add a bit of those bad boys to our asparagus soup because the taste is so divine. Don’t worry though, we give you some ideas for a lighter version.

Yields about 7 cups

Time: 50 minutes

2 tablespoons butter

1½ cups chopped onions

½ cup chopped celery

1 bay leaf

1½ teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons dried thyme

2 pounds asparagus

1 cup peeled and diced potatoes

2 cups water

1¼ cups half-and-half

1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon

Melt the butter in a covered soup pot on medium-low heat, add the onions, celery, bay leaf, salt, and thyme and cook for about 10 minutes.

While the onions cook, prepare the asparagus. Snap off and discard the tough stem ends. Rinse the spears. Slice off the tips and set aside. Chop the stalks.

Add the chopped asparagus stalks, potatoes, and water to the soup pot. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes and asparagus are tender.

Meanwhile, slice the asparagus tips in ½-inch pieces and steam them for 3 or 4 minutes until tender but still bright green. Set aside.

Remove and discard the bay leaf. In a blender or food processor, purée the soup mixture with the half-and-half and tarragon until smooth. A blender will make it the smoothest.

Reheat gently, add the steamed asparagus tips, and season with more salt to taste.

VARIATIONS

• For a lighter version, use vegetable oil and milk instead of butter and half-and-half.

• For a thicker soup, add 2 to 4 tablespoons of cream cheese while puréeing.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

This is a good soup to serve with Rice Salad with Herbs and Vegetables or with Roasted, Toasted Ciabatta.

Portuguese White Bean and Kale Soup

Portuguese white bean and kale soup is such a classic. It is traditionally made with linguica sausage, so it might be hard to convince purists that a vegetarian version could be just as good. (Or better!)

But we did just that while in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where our version was cooked by Wynnie Stein while she was guest chef during Women’s Week at the elegant Chester Restaurant. Chester’s chefs were skeptical, and she had to ignore their affectionate but mocking comments while chopping mounds of veggies for the soup. But she was really sweating that the customers might also scoff at the changes in this town’s signature soup.

Happily, the ingredients won the day. The sun-dried tomatoes and ground fennel add some of the traditional flavor and at the same time enhance the natural sweetness of the kale. Folks (including the chefs—whew!) were swooning about how newly fresh-tasting was their beloved classic.

Yields 10 cups

Time: 1 hour

½ cup sun-dried tomatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

1½ cups chopped onions

2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons ground fennel seeds

1 small fennel bulb, diced (about 2 cups)

1 cup diced carrots

1½ cups diced potatoes

2 teaspoons dried thyme or 1 tablespoon fresh

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

3 cups chopped fresh tomatoes or one 15-ounce can diced tomatoes

3 cups cooked white beans (two 15-ounce cans), drained

4 cups water or vegetable stock

5 or 6 cups loosely packed chopped kale

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

If you don’t chop the fennel and carrots beforehand, you will probably have trouble keeping up with this cooking schedule. On the other hand, it doesn’t hurt to cook a little longer at each stage.

In a small bowl, soak the sun-dried tomatoes in boiling water to cover.

In a covered soup pot on medium-low heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onions, garlic, and salt and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the ground fennel and diced fennel bulb and cook for about 3 minutes. Stir in the carrots, potatoes, thyme, and black pepper and cook for 3 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, beans, and water or stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the potatoes are just tender. If the soup is too thick, add another cup of water.

Meanwhile, remove the sun-dried tomatoes from the soaking liquid and coarsely chop.

Add the kale and sun-dried tomatoes to the pot. Simmer for about 10 minutes, until the kale is tender. Stir in the lemon juice. Season with more salt and black pepper to taste.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with bread and cheese. Fresh fruit would be good, or try Low-fat Lemon Pudding Cake for dessert.

Cream of Spinach Soup

A vivid bright green soup, smooth and with plenty of body, simply flavored with spinach, potatoes, and onion. This is one of the soups for which Moosewood is famous and appreciated. You can’t buy anything like this commercially prepared. Barely cooked spinach is the key. Adding it at the end to just wilt it and then puréeing everything creates a gorgeous, green soup.

Yields 9 cups

Time: 40 minutes

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cups chopped onions

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups peeled and chopped potatoes

2½ cups water

8 cups fresh baby spinach (12 ounces), rinsed

1 cup milk

½ cup half-and-half

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

¼ cup dry sherry (optional)

In a covered soup pot on low heat, warm the oil, add the onions, sprinkle with the salt, and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the onions are translucent and golden, but not browned.

Add the potatoes and water, cover, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Remove from the heat.

Add the spinach and stir it down into the soup until it has wilted. Stir in the milk, half-and-half, and nutmeg.

Working in batches, purée the soup in a blender until it is completely smooth and evenly bright green. Return the soup to the pot, stir in the sherry, if using, cover, and reheat on very low heat, stirring frequently.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve the soup as it is, or top with croutons or sautéed mushrooms. This is excellent served with Spring Egg Salad on whole wheat toast, or Antipasto Pita.

Creamy Hungarian Mushroom Soup

A delicious and attractive golden brown soup, this is very smooth with a succulent mushroom slice in almost every spoonful. We’ve revised this recipe over the years to achieve a gluten-free velvety smoothness without heavy cream, and to improve on the unappetizing gray that puréed mushroom soups tend toward. Carrots and paprika solve the color problem. Potatoes, cream cheese, and the mushrooms themselves, and thorough puréeing give a nice mouthfeel.

Yields 9 cups

Time: about 1 hour

1½ pounds white mushrooms (about 7 cups prepped)

2 tablespoons butter

2 cups chopped onions

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup diced celery

1 cup chopped carrots

1 teaspoon dried thyme or 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

¼ cup dry sherry (optional)

2 cups peeled and diced potatoes

2½ cups water

2 tablespoons butter

2 cups milk

3 ounces cream cheese

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Coarsely chop half of the mushrooms and set aside. Slice the remaining mushrooms and set aside.

Melt the butter in a covered soup pot on low heat, add the onions and salt, and cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, and thyme, if using dried, and cook, covered, for 5 minutes. Stir in the chopped mushrooms, soy sauce, and paprika, and sherry, if using. Increase the heat to medium and continue to cook, covered, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and water and bring to a simmer. Simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan, sauté the sliced mushrooms and thyme, if using fresh, in butter until tender and lightly browned, usually about 10 minutes. Set aside.

In a blender, working in batches, thoroughly purée the soup with the milk, cream cheese, and fresh dill until very smooth. Return the puréed soup to a soup pot, stir in the sautéed mushrooms, and reheat gently.

VARIATIONS

• For a pleasant, mildly flavored cream of mushroom soup, omit the paprika and dill.

• Sherry isn’t essential, but it rounds out the flavor nicely.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with almost any salad; we especially like this soup with Autumn Salad Plate or Beet Salad on a bed of greens.

Southwestern Sweet Potato–Corn Soup

This soup has a beautiful color like we imagine sunset in the southwestern United States—orange sweet potatoes, red bell peppers, and golden corn. The texture is smooth and creamy and the soup is rich tasting without butter or cream, or any dairy in fact. The aroma is fragrant with lime, hot peppers, cumin, and fresh cilantro. We often serve it at as a starter at our benefit brunches because it is satisfying, but not so filling that it spoils anyone’s appetite for the other delicious foods to come.

Yields about 7 cups

Serves 6

Time: 50 minutes

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cups finely chopped onions

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 fresh hot pepper, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground cumin seeds

2½ cups peeled and diced sweet potatoes

2 cups seeded and diced red bell peppers

3 cups frozen or fresh corn kernels

2½ cups water

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro

1 teaspoon sugar (optional)

ground black pepper

Warm the oil in a soup pot on low heat. Add the onions, garlic, hot peppers, and salt, cover, and cook until the onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the cumin and sweet potatoes and cook, covered, on low heat for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the bell peppers, cover, and cook on low heat for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the corn with the water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until all of the vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes.

In a blender, purée about half of the soup and stir back into the pot. If the soup is too thick, add another ½ cup of water. Stir in the lime juice and cilantro, and sugar to taste, if using. Season with salt and black pepper.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with Mexican Salad Plate or one of our composed seasonal salad plates (here). And it would sure be good with Spanish-style Tortilla or Southwestern Bean Burgers.

Sopa de Lima

This spicy, brothy, tangy Mexican tomato-lime-chile-cilantro soup has been a favorite at Moosewood since Lisa Wichman developed it for Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant back in the 1980s, and the Sopa de Lima we serve today is pretty much the same as three decades ago. This is one recipe that we haven’t revised much over the years. We’ve learned that in the winter, when fresh tomatoes aren’t so flavorful, you can make a good pot of it with canned tomatoes. It definitely qualifies as comfort food for many of us.

Every day at the restaurant, we make a big pot of vegetable stock, and we always make Sopa de Lima with stock. But at home, many of us usually don’t go to that trouble, and when ripe, full-flavored summer tomatoes are available, the soup is fine made with water. With wintertime fresh tomatoes, you really need stock.

Yields about 8 cups

Time: 55 minutes with fresh tomatoes; 45 minutes with canned tomatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil

2 cups diced onions

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 teaspoon salt

1 or 2 fresh hot peppers, minced

2 teaspoons ground cumin seeds

1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds

½ teaspoon dried oregano

4 cups diced fresh tomatoes and 4 cups water or stock, or one 28-ounce can diced tomatoes and 3 cups water or stock.

1⁄3 cup fresh lime juice

1⁄3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

crumbled corn tortilla chips

grated cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese (optional)

Warm the oil in a covered soup pot on medium-low heat. Add the onions, garlic, and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions have softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the hot peppers (decide on the quantity and whether or not to seed them to suit your taste), cumin, coriander, and oregano and cook, covered, for 3 or 4 minutes, stirring frequently.

If using fresh tomatoes, stir in the tomatoes and another teaspoon of salt, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook until the tomatoes soften and begin to release juice. Add the water or stock and stir well. Add canned tomatoes, if using, with the water. Bring to a simmer. Simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes.

Stir in the lime juice and cilantro, bring back to a simmer, and cook for a couple of minutes. Add more salt to taste.

To serve, place tortilla chips in large, shallow soup bowls and ladle soup over them. Top with grated cheese, if you like.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

What could be better than Sopa de Lima and Mexican Salad Plate? Well, let’s see … Spanish-style Tortilla, Spinach-Cheese Burritos, Southwestern Bean Burgers.

Thai Butternut Squash Soup

This is a velvety smooth soup, vibrant orange and flecked with bright green. The flavor is vibrant as well—spicy, sweet, and tangy all at the same time.

Yields 9 cups

Time: 55 minutes

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cups chopped onions

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon Thai curry paste, or more later to taste

1 butternut squash (about 2½ pounds), peeled, seeded, and chopped (6 cups)

3 cups water

1 lime

one 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk

2 cups baby spinach, cut into chiffonade

sugar as needed

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Warm the oil in a covered soup pot on medium-low heat. Add the onions, garlic, and salt and cook until the onions have softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the ginger and curry paste and cook for a minute or two more. Add the squash and water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the squash is tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

While the squash is cooking, zest and juice the lime. Add about a teaspoon of zest and 1 tablespoon of the juice to the pot. When the squash is tender, stir in half of the coconut milk. In a blender or food processor, purée the soup. Be careful, hot soup can erupt!

Return the puréed soup to the pot and reheat. Taste for sweetness, spice, salt, and tang. Depending on the sweetness of your squash, a spoonful of sugar may bring the soup to life. Add more lime juice and/or curry paste to taste.

Stir in the chiffonade of spinach and the cilantro, if using, and cook just until the spinach has wilted.

VARIATIONS

• Add 1 or 2 keiffir lime leaves to the pot while the squash is simmering. Remove and discard before puréeing.

• Substitute lemon zest and juice for the lime.

• Although butternut is the easiest winter squash to peel, other winter squashes can be used. Or, to save time, substitute three 12-ounce packages of frozen winter squash for the fresh, or use the pre-cut fresh squash cubes that many supermarkets offer.

• Replace the squash with sweet potatoes.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve the soup topped with chopped scallions and pan-fried tofu cubes (here), or cubed Thai Baked Tofu. Some finely chopped Thai basil would be lovely and tasty. Of course Thai Noodle Salad would be good with this soup.

French Onion Soup

French onion soup is one of the world’s most evocative and romantic dishes. The soup takes an hour to make—just long enough to listen to an album of Django Reinhardt. You can have a good cry while you cut the onions, and then be rewarded with a most satisfying meal. Remember, we’ll always have Paris.

We wish we could report that you can make a good vegetarian version with just water, but you can’t. You need a flavorful stock or broth to give this soup depth. At Moosewood, we make big pots of stock every day with lots of vegetables, herbs, and apples. At home, sometimes we make our own and sometimes we buy it (see here).

Sherry is another important flavor element. Red or white wine work also, but sherry best enhances the rich sweetness of caramelized onions.

Yields 11 cups

Time: 1 hour

3 tablespoons olive oil

8 cups onions, cut lengthwise into thin slices

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon dried thyme (see Notes)

1 cup sherry

8 cups vegetable stock or broth (see here)

2 to 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 bunch fresh thyme (see Notes) (optional)

ground black pepper

grated Gruyère, Swiss, or Parmesan cheese

croutons (see Notes)

Warm the oil in a large, heavy skillet or in a soup pot on medium-high heat. Add the onions and stir well. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions soften. Stir in the salt and lower the heat to medium-low. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are golden brown and caramelized, about 30 minutes. Stir in the dried thyme for the last 10 minutes of cooking.

If you caramelized the onions in a skillet, transfer them to a soup pot. Add the sherry to the skillet and stir well to deglaze the pan. Pour the dark brown, flavorful liquid into the soup pot. If the onions were cooked in a soup pot, add the sherry directly to the pot and stir well, scraping the bottom of the pot to remove all the browned bits.

Add the stock or broth, mustard, and soy sauce (and, if using, a bundle of fresh thyme). Simmer for 20 minutes. Season with black pepper, and add more mustard and soy sauce to taste.

Serve topped with grated cheese and croutons.

NOTES

Know your dried thyme—it varies in intensity and is sometimes harsh. Or, use fresh thyme: tie a small bunch of fresh thyme into a bundle with kitchen string. Add with the stock or broth, and remove before serving.

To make croutons: In a skillet on medium heat or in a microwave, briefly cook some minced garlic in olive oil and then add 1-inch bread cubes and stir until coated. Toast the bread cubes on a baking sheet in a 350°F oven for about 10 minutes. Cool before storing.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve the soup with a crisp green salad or Summer Salad Plate. Or, begin with Seasoned Artichokes and end with Apple Crisp or Low-fat Lemon Pudding Cake.

Mushroom-Sesame-Tofu Soup

This is one of our early “hippie” dishes, and it still hits the spot on a damp, chilly day. It’s really almost a stew. The celery, mushrooms, and tofu make it nice and chunky, the peanut butter and tahini make it rich and filling.

Back in the 1970s, many paths led to vegetarianism: ecological, humanitarian, and spiritual. Mitch Weiss’s new vegetarianism brought him into our midst, and he stayed to become a skilled cook and one of the practical backbones of our business. We’re indebted to Mitch for being one of the shapers and sustainers of Moosewood in its earliest years.

This soup is a pleasure to make—while each ingredient cooks, there’s just enough time to prep the next ingredients to go into the pot. It’s good right away, and then leftovers just keep getting better in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

We make it with both peanut butter, for heartiness, and tahini, for smoothness, but if you don’t have both on hand, use whichever you have and just add more to achieve the consistency and intensity of flavor you like. If you’re using only tahini, add some dark sesame oil for an interesting flavor.

Yields 9 cups

Time: 40 minutes

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cups chopped onions

½ teaspoon salt

1½ cups thinly sliced celery

3 cups sliced cremini or white mushrooms (12 ounces whole)

2 tablespoons peeled grated and fresh ginger

1 teaspoon Tabasco or other hot sauce, more to taste

3 bay leaves

one 28-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 cup water

7 to 8 ounces tofu (one-half block)

¼ cup peanut butter

¼ cup tahini

¼ cup soy sauce

1 cup hot tap water

In a covered soup pot on medium heat, warm the oil. And the onions and salt and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes. Add the celery and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until the mushrooms begin to soften. Stir in the ginger and hot sauce. Add the bay leaves, tomatoes, and water and stir well. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Cut the tofu into 1-inch cubes and add to the soup. Return to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer briskly for 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, stir the peanut butter and tahini together with the soy sauce and hot water until smooth. Stir into the soup. Add more hot sauce to taste.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with cornbread (here and here) or whole wheat bread for a satisfying meal. Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble or Apple Crisp is good for dessert.

Mulligatawny

Beautiful and aromatic Mulligatawny has been a Moosewood favorite from the beginning. Its golden, creamy, coconut broth is studded with colorful vegetables. Make it as spicy, or not, as you wish.

Back in 1973, Joan Adler, now a Moosewood cook since 1974, was working at the library down the street from the restaurant. She ate lunch at Moosewood frequently. One noon, a cup of mulligatawny transformed her life—well, at least it was the catalyst for the awakening of Joan’s appreciation of food beyond the 1950s fare of her childhood. That mulligatawny had the lure of a snake charmer. She began to have lunch at Moosewood every day, and it wasn’t long before she was in the Moosewood kitchen.

Yields 9 cups

Time: 55 minutes

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1½ cups chopped onions

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

2 teaspoons ground turmeric

2 teaspoons ground coriander seeds

1 fresh hot pepper, minced, or ¼ teaspoon cayenne or ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

4 cups water

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup diced potatoes

1 cup seeded and diced bell peppers

1 cup diced fresh tomatoes

½ cup cooked rice

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

2 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Warm the oil in a covered soup pot on low heat. Add the onions and salt and cook until the onions have softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the ginger, turmeric, coriander, and hot pepper and cook briefly. Add the water, carrots, and potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a rapid simmer, cover the pot, and cook for 10 minutes.

Add the bell peppers, tomatoes, and cooked rice. Simmer for about 5 minutes, or until all the vegetables are tender. Finally, stir in the coconut milk, lemon juice, and cilantro and heat to a simmer. Add more salt and/or lemon juice to taste.

VARIATIONS

• If you don’t like cilantro, omit it, but add some chopped parsley or scallions because the green flecks look really nice in the golden broth.

• Add some chickpeas for a heartier, main dish soup.

• Add some grated coconut.

NOTE

If you don’t have any cooked rice on hand, add an additional ½ cup of water and ¼ cup of raw white rice such as basmati or jasmine to the pot with the potatoes and carrots.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

This makes a great lunch or supper served with pappadam or bread, or a good starter for Indian, North African, or Caribbean meals.

Miso Soup

Our partner Maureen Vivino, whose influence runs through all of the Moosewood Collective cookbooks, favors simple meals in her home kitchen, and she’s never caught without miso. She does all sorts of things with miso, but the good old standby is soup. We’ve published quite a number of recipes for miso soups, ranging from simple broths to hearty vegetable-packed soups. This one is easy, nourishing, and attractive and has just enough different textures and tastes to make it interesting.

Usually miso soup starts with a dashi, a Japanese-style soup stock, although in a pinch, you could make do with just water. However, both of our suggestions for dashi use pantry items—either dried shiitake mushrooms or dried kombu seaweed—so an easy and flavorful dashi can always be at hand. Kombu dashi has the briny, sea vegetable taste we associate with much of Japanese cuisine. Shiitake dashi is earthier and richer. Either dashi is enhanced and warmed with the addition of ginger. Either dashi will make a fine miso soup, or use both a piece of kombu and a few dried mushrooms to make a broth.

Yields 6 cups

Time: 25 minutes

DASHI

5 cups water

6 slices fresh ginger

1 cup thinly sliced onions

6 dried shiitake mushrooms or ½ ounce dried kombu (8- to 10-inch piece) or a combination

SOUP

4 ounces tofu (firm or soft), cut into small cubes

1 cup packed baby spinach leaves

¼ cup miso

TOPPINGS

chopped scallions

a few drops of dark sesame oil

Place all of the dashi ingredients in a covered soup pot and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove the pieces of ginger and the kombu, if using, and discard. If using shiitakes, remove from the hot dashi and, when cool enough to handle, trim off and discard the stems and slice the caps into thin strips, then return to the dashi. Add the tofu and bring to a simmer. In a small bowl, stir together the miso and a ladleful of the dashi and then stir into the soup. Repeat with more miso, to taste. Add the spinach and as soon as the spinach has wilted, turn off the heat to preserve the miso’s healthful enzymes.

Sprinkle the toppings onto each cup or bowl of soup.

VARIATIONS

• Add 2 or 3 tablespoons of sake or dry sherry to the soup.

• Add sliced snow peas, cooked soba noodles, mung bean sprouts, or sesame seeds when you add the spinach.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

In Japan, miso soup is most often served toward the end of a meal composed of at least several other modestly sized dishes, and it is usually accompanied by a small bowl of plain rice. It may be served at any meal, including breakfast. We’re here to testify that miso soup for breakfast is delicious and healthful; it can grow on you and become a habit.

At Moosewood, where we often mix and match cuisines, we might serve Miso Soup with a green salad with Japanese Carrot Dressing, or with Winter Salad Plate, or with Edamame-Wasabi Spread and rice crackers. We might pair it with California Pita. Rice is always welcome, either plain or Sesame Jeweled Rice.

Corn Chowder

This creamy, golden soup is a year round favorite at Moosewood. This recipe makes a brothy chowder—if you like it thick, add either less liquid or more potatoes.

In the summer, made with corn freshly cut from the cob, this chowder is especially sweet and flavorful. It’s very easy to freeze fresh corn (see here), so do that when you have more corn than you can eat—you’ll be glad for the reminder of summer when you make this chowder in the middle of winter.

Yields about 9 cups

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 55 minutes (a little longer if using fresh corn)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1½ cups chopped onions

1½ cups diced celery

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup diced carrots

3 cups diced potatoes

3 cups water

½ teaspoon dried thyme or 1 teaspoon fresh

3½ cups fresh corn kernels or 1 pound frozen

1 cup milk

3 ounces cream cheese

ground black pepper

2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill (optional)

Warm the oil in a covered soup pot on low heat, add the onions, celery, and salt and cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in the carrots when they’re prepped.

Add the potatoes, water, and thyme, if using dried. Increase the heat and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the potatoes begin to soften. Add the corn and thyme, if using fresh, and simmer for another 5 or 6 minutes until the vegetables are tender.

Ladle about 2 cups of the soup into a blender, add the milk and cream cheese, and whirl until smooth. Be careful—start at the lowest speed because hot soup in the blender can be explosive! Pour the purée back into the pot and reheat gently.

Season with more salt and black pepper to taste. If you’re adding dill, stir it in now.

VARIATIONS

• Add some diced bell peppers with the carrots.

• For corn and cheddar chowder, add a cup of shredded cheddar cheese to the blender with the milk and cream cheese.

• You can replace the carrots and potatoes with diced sweet potatoes.

NOTE

Fresh corn makes a deliciously sweet and “corny” soup. The average ear of corn yields about ½ cup kernels, so for this recipe, about 7 ears of corn will do it.

Texas Barbecue Bean Soup

We love the flavors of sweet and tangy barbecue sauce and chipotle peppers in adobo sauce in this hearty soup. We recommend barbecue sauce without additives, or look at Barbecued Tofu Pita to make your own.

Make the soup with two types of beans: white, red, pinto, black beans, black-eyed peas—whatever is on hand.

Yields 8 cups

Time: 1 hour

2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil

2 cups chopped onions

1 cup diced celery

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1 large red or green bell pepper, seeded and diced

2 tablespoons chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (or 1 fresh hot pepper, minced)

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried thyme

2 teaspoons ground cumin seeds

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

2 cups water

one 15-ounce can diced tomatoes

two 15-ounce cans beans (about 3 cups beans), rinsed and drained (see headnote)

1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

1⁄3 cup barbecue sauce

Warm the oil in a covered soup pot on low heat. Add the onions, celery, garlic, and salt and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are very soft. Add the bell peppers, chipotles, oregano, thyme, cumin, and black pepper and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the water and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Add the beans, corn, and barbecue sauce, bring back to a simmer, and cook for at least 10 minutes.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese or with some Chipotle Cream or sour cream. We like to serve this soup with cornbread (here and here).

West African Peanut Soup

This soup is rich and velvety smooth and a beautiful orangey-brown color. Since the early years at Moosewood, it’s been a perennial customer request, and it always shows up multiple times on surveys of our fans’ favorites. For many Moosewood cooks, it’s a good old standard at home.

Peanut soups and sauces are found throughout West Africa. Moosewood cook Nancy Lazarus developed West African–style peanut soup for our Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant cookbook, and more than thirty years later, she developed this revised version to reflect how we do it today, a bit simpler and still divinely delicious.

Yields 9 cups

Time: 1 hour

1 tablespoon vegetable oil or olive oil

2 cups chopped onions

1 cup diced celery

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons peeled and grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon Tabasco, or other hot sauce, or 1 fresh hot pepper, minced

4 cups peeled chopped sweet potatoes (about 1½ pounds whole)

3 cups water

3 cups tomato juice

1 cup smooth peanut butter

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

chopped scallions or chives

Warm the oil in a covered soup pot on medium heat. Add the onions, celery, and salt and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the ginger and hot sauce or hot pepper. Add the sweet potatoes and water and stir well. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are very tender, about 20 minutes.

Add the tomato juice and peanut butter to the pot. In a blender in batches, or using an immersion blender, purée the soup until smooth. Add the cilantro and reheat gently. Add more salt and hot sauce to taste.

Serve topped with scallions or chives.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with cornbread (here and here) and a crisp green salad with one of our signature dressings (here to here).

Red Lentil Soup

Lately, our favorite way to make warm, golden lentil soup flecked with red and green and wonderfully fragrant with cilantro and spices is this, a blending of the two recipes we’ve previously published.

Red lentils don’t stay red when they are cooked; they turn a nice golden color, and in this soup we add turmeric to enhance that color. Ground cumin and coriander are both fresher and more aromatic and flavorful if you keep whole cumin and coriander seeds in your pantry and, when they are called for in a recipe, toast them in an unoiled skillet or on a tray in a toaster oven until headily fragrant.

Yields 9 cups

Time: 45 minutes

1½ cups dried red lentils

5 cups water

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 bay leaves

4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

2 slices peeled fresh ginger

2½ teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

1½ cups finely chopped onions

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1½ cups diced carrots

1 cup diced potatoes

2 teaspoons ground cumin seeds

2 teaspoons ground coriander seeds

1 cup water

½ cup seeded and diced red bell peppers

2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes, or one 14-ounce can diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1⁄3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

ground black pepper

Rinse the red lentils in a sieve. Place them in a soup pot with the water, turmeric, bay leaves, garlic, ginger, and 1 teaspoon of the salt and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally as they come to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, covered, until soft, 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, warm the olive oil in a covered skillet or saucepan on medium-low heat. Add the onions and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring often, for about 10 minutes. Increase the heat, add the carrots, and cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in the potatoes, cumin, and coriander and cook, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes. Stir in the water and bell peppers and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Add the tomatoes and simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes.

Remove the bay leaves and ginger slices from the cooked lentils and discard them. Stir in the cooked vegetables. Stir in the lemon juice, cilantro, and the remaining 1½ teaspoons salt. Season with black pepper to taste.

NOTE

This soup tends to get thicker as it sits—just add more water for the consistency you like and then adjust the lemon and salt to taste.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

This soup is so delicious and satisfying that it can be the meal. Of course, it would be nice with a green salad or vegetable. Some bread might be welcome. Then some Creamy Vegan Rice Pudding for dessert … ummm. This is also, a great starter for any North African or West African or Latin American or Indian dish.

Curried Lentil Soup

A hearty, warming soup studded with colorful veggies—as spicy or mild as you wish.

We think it’s possible that although we’ve served this soup hundreds of times over the years, it’s never been exactly the same twice. When we do a vegetable curry, we often try to make enough that leftovers can be used the next day in a lentil soup. And when we’re starting from scratch, Moosewood cooks have a lot of latitude to indulge their own tastes and preferences. Linda Dickinson, the Moosewood curry queen, developed this recipe for home cooks—at the bottom of the recipe, read about all of the ways you can vary it.

Yields about 10 cups

Time: 50 minutes

1½ cups dried brown lentils

4 cups water

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon black mustard seed (optional)

1½ cups chopped onions

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup diced potatoes

1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds

1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

¼ teaspoon ground cardamom

¼ to ½ teaspoon cayenne, or a fresh hot pepper, minced

3 cups water or vegetable stock

1 cup seeded and diced bell peppers (any color)

½ cup unsweetened coconut milk

2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

plain yogurt (optional)

In a saucepan, bring the rinsed lentils, water, turmeric, and salt to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the lentils are tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Stir occasionally and add more water if necessary.

Warm the oil in a soup pot on medium heat. Add the mustard seeds, if using, and cook until they start to pop. Add the onions, garlic, ginger, and salt, cover and cook on low heat until the onions are tender, about 10 minutes. Add the carrots, potatoes, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, turmeric, cardamom, and cayenne and cook briefly, stirring constantly to prevent burning.

Add the water or stock and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are barely tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the bell peppers and continue to simmer until all the vegetables are tender.

When the lentils are soft, stir them and their remaining cooking liquid into the vegetables. Add the coconut milk, 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice, and the cilantro, if using. Add more lemon juice and salt to taste.

Serve the soup with a dollop of yogurt, if you like.

VARIATIONS

• Use any color of lentils; the cooking time may vary. Or, you can use green or yellow split peas instead of lentils; peas take longer to cook than lentils.

• Any vegetable combo works. Use your favorites or whatever is languishing in the veggie bin of your refrigerator: sweet potatoes, cauliflower, zucchini, green beans, spinach, tomatoes, green peas—all good choices. Just include a variety of colors. Add diced tomatoes or chopped spinach near the end of cooking.

• About spicing, if you have a favorite curry powder, use a couple of tablespoons in place of the spices, but keep the grated ginger and garlic. The mustard seeds are mostly for fun. Or, you could go in a Thai direction and use a commercial Thai curry paste. If you do that, you could add chopped basil in place of, or in addition to, cilantro.

Chilled Cantaloupe-Amaretto Soup

Pale peachy-colored, frothy, and refreshing, this soup is wonderful in midsummer when melons and peaches are fully ripe and sweet. When fresh peaches are unavailable, you can substitute frozen sliced peaches. The advantage of frozen fruit is that the soup will be instantly cold and ready to serve. This is an elegant first course for brunch or supper on the patio.

Yields 6 cups

Prep time: 25 minutes

Chilling time: 1 hour or more

1 medium cantaloupe (about 4 cups cubed)

2 cups peeled and chopped fresh ripe peaches or frozen sliced peaches

¾ cup peach juice

1 cup half-and-half

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1⁄8 teaspoon ground cinnamon or ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, or a pinch of each

½ teaspoon pure almond extract

¼ cup amaretto liqueur

sugar, agave syrup, or honey, if needed

Peel and seed the melon and cut into cubes. Peel, pit, and chop the peaches if using fresh.

Working in batches in a blender or food processor, purée all of the ingredients until smooth. The blender makes the smoothest soup. Stir together the batches and taste. For a slightly sweeter soup, whisk in a spoonful of sugar, agave syrup, or honey.

Chill thoroughly before serving. Well covered and refrigerated, this soup will keep for a couple of days.

VARIATION

• Replace the half-and-half with almond milk. The soup will be a little thinner, and you should taste it before adding the almond extract because you might want only a drop or two.

NOTES

You can freeze very ripe peaches whole. When ready to use, run the peach under warm water and the skin will easily rub off. Then the peach is easy to cut into pieces and blend.

When melons are at their very best in your area, seed and cube a very ripe one and freeze it. Then you can enjoy the flavor of a summer melon even in the wintertime. With frozen melon cubes (and frozen peaches), the soup will not only be instantly cold, but slightly frothy enough to serve like an elegant smoothie in a fancy cocktail glass.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Having a big Italian meal? This soup makes a good palate refresher between the pasta and fish courses. It’s a good summer wedding soup. Served with biscotti, it’s a dessert soup.

Gazpacho

Easy, quick, light, and satisfying. Cool, savory, and tomato-sweet. Perfect for a hot summer day when tomatoes are in season. At the restaurant, gazpacho is one of our most popular soups during July and August when our terrace is open.

Yields 8 cups

Prep time: 30 minutes

Chilling time: at least 1 hour

1 quart chilled tomato juice

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced (about 1 cup)

2 cups diced fresh tomatoes

¼ cup finely chopped scallions

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

2 teaspoons ground toasted cumin seeds (page 380)

1 teaspoon salt

Tabasco sauce or other hot sauce

2 ripe avocados, pitted and cubed (optional, but so yummy)

Combine all of the ingredients in a tureen, large bowl, or nonreactive pot. Chill for at least an hour.

VARIATIONS

• Instead of basil, use fresh tarragon, cilantro, or parsley.

• Try lime juice instead of lemon juice.

• Add cooked corn kernels.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Gazpacho plus salad and a hunk of bread: it’s great lunch! Gazpacho is the perfect starter for all sorts of dishes, for example, a quesadilla (here), Habas Verdes con Queso, Pecan-crusted Fish, to name but a few.

SANDWICHES

Two Tofu Salad Pitas

BLTease Sandwich Spread

Saigon Sandwich

California Pita

Antipasto Pita

Deviled Egg Salad

Spring Egg Salad

Muffuletta

Tempeh Reuben

Barbecued Tofu Pita

Roasted, Toasted Ciabatta

Two Tofu Salad Pitas

Although they are very different in the end, we realized that two of our best pita fillings start out the same way. So, we’re giving them to you as one recipe. It’s the dressings that make the difference.

Ira’s Lunch has been a favorite at the restaurant, and at home with our families, for at least twenty-five years. We call it “Ira’s Lunch” because Moosewood cook Linda Dickinson created it as a sandwich filling, a substitute for chicken salad, for Ira Rabois, her husband, to pack in his lunch box. The inspiration for “Thai Tofu” came one day when we had leftover Thai salad dressing in the Moosewood kitchen.

This recipe calls for Tofu Kan–style Baked Tofu. In and around Ithaca, we are very fortunate to have Tofu Kan made by Ithaca Soy. It’s somewhat similar to other flavored baked tofu products available nationally, yet its flavor and consistency are unique … perfect for these fillings. So we developed a recipe for tofu kan so that anyone can make our favorite tofu kan recipes and it will be like it’s from the Moosewood kitchen.

Yields about 4 cups filling, enough for 4 whole pita sandwiches

Prep time: Ira’s Lunch: 15 minutes; Thai Tofu: 20 minutes

PITA FILLING

one recipe Tofu Kan–style Tofu (two 7-ounce slabs)

1 cup seeded and diced red bell peppers

½ cup diced celery

1⁄3 cup sliced scallions

IRA’S LUNCH DRESSING

½ cup mayonnaise

1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill (optional)

salt

ground black pepper

THAI TOFU DRESSING

½ cup unsweetened coconut milk or pineapple juice

¼ cup peanut butter

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro and/or basil

1 fresh hot pepper, seeded and minced

1 teaspoon peeled and grated fresh ginger (optional)

salt

ground black pepper

4 pita breads

salad greens (lettuce, spinach, spring mix)

On the coarse side of a handheld grater, grate the Tofu Kan. In a bowl, toss the grated tofu kan with the bell peppers, celery, and scallions.

If you’re making Ira’s Lunch, add the mayonnaise and lemon juice to the grated tofu kan filling and stir well. Stir in dill, if using, and season with salt and black pepper to taste.

If you’re making Thai Tofu, whirl all of the dressing ingredients in a blender until smooth. Add the dressing to the grated tofu kan filling and stir well. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

To serve, cut the pitas in half, open the pockets, and toast. While the pita is warm, stuff each half with greens and about ½ cup of filling.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Both are delicious as snacks or appetizers with crackers and vegetable sticks or tomatoes. Thai Tofu is great with Thai Butternut Soup or West African Peanut Soup. Add tomato slices to a pita filled with Ira’s Lunch or Thai Tofu. Delicious with Corn Chowder or Creamy Herbed Potato Soup.

BLTease Sandwich Spread

We’re not sure who came up with this idea back in the early days at Moosewood when vegetarians were looking for substitutes for their favorite old standbys, but we do remember who named it. Put this filling in a sandwich with lettuce and tomato, and it not only approximates the flavor of a BLT, but is even better. Jeremy Werbin, a great punster and a member of the Zobo Funn Band so loved by Ithacans in the ’70s, was working at Moosewood as a waiter and busser; he took a first, tentative bite, moaned with pleasure, and sighed, “BLTease.” We’ve held onto that original name, but now it’s a thing of its own—we don’t even think of bacon when we eat it.

For a few years, we collaborated with Cornell University Dining Services to revive a cafe in Anabel Taylor Hall, and this was one of the hits—people came from the other side of campus for a BLTease pita.

Sometimes we like BLTease plain, for the smooth mouthfeel, but usually we add bell peppers and celery for some crunch and extra flavor.

Yields about 2½ cups

Time: 15 minutes

1 heaping cup grated tofu kan–style Baked Tofu

4 ounces smoked cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1 cup heaping)

1⁄3 cup mayonnaise

½ red bell pepper, seeded and diced

½ cup diced celery

1 tablespoons finely chopped scallions

Coarsely grate the tofu kan and smoked cheddar using a handheld grater. Add the mayonnaise and stir well. Stir in the bell peppers, celery, and scallions. Add more mayonnaise to taste if needed.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

For lunch, a snack, or a light supper, stuff a pita with BLTease and lettuce and tomato. Or, serve it on a slice of bread or toast, open-faced. It is excellent on crackers, as a stuffing for celery sticks, or served as a dip with crudités.

Saigon Sandwich

Here’s a delicious, addictive spread inspired by Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches and created at Moosewood by menu planner and cook, Jenny Wang. It may seem to be an odd combination, but just try it—before your meal is done, you’ll be thinking about when you can have it again.

At first glance, the recipe looks “involved,” but actually, it’s pretty simple. Banh mi are traditionally made with baguettes, but the filling is good in pitas, sliced whole wheat bread, Kaiser rolls, or various other types and shapes of bread.

Yields 3½ cups filling, enough for 6 sandwiches

Time: 35 minutes

PICKLED CARROTS

1 cup grated carrots

¼ cup rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes or 1 teaspoon minced fresh hot peppers

a sprinkling of salt

TOFU FILLING

1 heaping cup grated Tofu Kan–style Baked Tofu

1 heaping cup shredded smoked cheddar cheese

½ cup seeded and diced red bell peppers

½ cup diced celery

1 tablespoon finely chopped scallions

1⁄3 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

½ teaspoon finely grated lime zest

¼ cup minced fresh cilantro and/or basil

baguette or other French bread, sliced bread, pitas, or rolls

EXTRAS

shredded lettuce

shredded cabbage

thinly sliced cucumber

sliced avocado

sliced tomatoes

chopped mint leaves

more cilantro or basil

In a small bowl, stir together the grated carrots, vinegar, sugar, red pepper flakes or hot peppers, and salt. Set aside for at least 20 minutes. (You can make “pickled” carrots a day or two ahead, and they will be nicely pickled.)

In a separate bowl, stir together the tofu kan, smoked cheddar, bell peppers, celery, and scallions. Add the mayonnaise, lime juice, lime zest, and cilantro or basil and mix well.

Slice the bread and prepare at least a couple of the extras listed.

Stir the carrots, with the pickling liquid, into the tofu kan mixture. Spread the spread on the bread, add the extras, close it up, and enjoy.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Saigon Spread is also very good on crackers for an appetizer or snack. Or serve it as a salad on a bed of lettuce, with a cup of soup and some bread. Soups that pair well: West African Peanut Soup, Red Lentil Soup, and Thai Butternut Squash Soup.

California Pita

Moosewood is located in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, where our cloudy skies and long winters are legendary. So we intentionally include items on the restaurant’s late-fall, winter, and early-spring menus that will temporarily transport our customers to sunnier climes. Happily, this delicious sandwich with its bright color and flavor does the trick, and it has always been one of the best-selling items on the lunch menu.

Yields 2½ cups filling, enough for 2 whole pita sandwiches

Time: 10 to 15 minutes

2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

dash of cayenne (optional)

2 large Hass avocados

1 cup peeled, seeded, and diced cucumbers

1 to 2 cups diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons minced scallions or red onions

¼ cup chopped black or green olives (optional)

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

salt

2 whole pitas

lettuce leaves

shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese (optional)

In a bowl, whisk together the lime juice, oil, garlic, and cayenne, if using. Slice around each avocado lengthwise down to the pit. Twist the halves apart and with the tip of the knife pop out the pit. Hold the avocado half in the palm of your hand and score the flesh into cubes. Using a spoon, scoop the cubes out of the skin into the bowl. Repeat with the other halves. Toss with the dressing. Gently stir in the cucumbers, tomatoes, scallions, and olives and cilantro, if using. Toss well. Season with salt and add more lime juice to taste.

Halve the pita bread and toast it. Line each half with a lettuce leaf and fill with a generous ½ cup of filling. Top with cheese, if you like.

Antipasto Pita

Tasty and colorful, like a salad in a sandwich. Anything you would put on an antipasto platter can be cut, chopped, shredded, or torn and dressed for a delicious pita sandwich. Here’s how we usually make antipasto pita filling at the restaurant.

Yields about 6 cups filling, enough for 4 or 5 whole pita sandwiches

Time: 25 minutes

DRESSING

¼ cup olive oil

3 tablespoons vinegar (red wine or apple cider)

1 garlic clove, pressed (optional)

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley or basil

¼ teaspoon salt

a sprinkling of ground black pepper

FILLING

1 cucumber peeled, seeded, and diced

½ red bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 large tomato, diced

12 pitted black or green olives, finely chopped

2 celery stalks, diced

½ cup cooked or canned chickpeas, drained

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

½ cup chopped peperoncini

one 14-ounce can artichoke hearts in brine, drained and chopped

4 or 5 pita breads

lettuce leaves

In a large bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. As you prepare the veggies, add them to the bowl. Toss well and let sit for at least 10 minutes.

Cut the pitas in half and toast lightly. To serve, while the pitas are still warm and soft, stuff each half with a lettuce leaf and filling.

VARIATIONS

• Add chopped seasoned seitan, or cubes of mozzarella or provolone cheese.

• Make it Greek: add some chopped fresh dill and top with feta cheese.

Deviled Egg Salad

Still around ’cause it’s still so good. Stuff it in a pita with lettuce and tomato or between slices of toasted whole-grain bread. Make it an appetizer with crackers and crudités. Serve it as a main dish salad on a bed of greens, or fill tomato or bell pepper shells with it. What more is there to say? After forty years, it’s still what our customers want for lunch. And, eggs aren’t on the “bad” list anymore. And, it’s very pretty; in fact, much prettier than your average egg salad.

Yields 2 cups

Time: 25 minutes

6 large eggs

¼ cup mayonnaise

2 to 3 teaspoons Dijon mustard

¼ cup diced celery

¼ cup seeded and diced red bell peppers

2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions

¼ teaspoon salt

ground black pepper

Place the eggs in a saucepan with cold water to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 10 to 12 minutes. Pour off the boiling water, cover with cold water, and crack the shells to facilitate peeling. Set aside.

While the eggs cook, combine the mayonnaise, mustard, celery, bell peppers, scallions, and salt in a bowl. When the eggs are cool enough to handle, peel and coarsely chop them. Add them to the dressing mixture and stir gently to combine. Season with black pepper to taste. Serve immediately or chill.

VARIATIONS

• Greek Egg Salad: Add 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped kalamata olives and some chopped fresh dill.

• Creole Egg Salad: Add fresh thyme and a few splashes of Tabasco sauce. Replace the salt with Old Bay Seasoning.

• Mexican Egg Salad: Use Chipotle Aioli (see here) instead of plain mayonnaise, omit the Dijon, and add chopped fresh cilantro.

• Italian Egg Salad: Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of minced sun-dried tomatoes and chopped fresh basil.

NOTE

Toasted nuts (see here) would be fine in any version: chopped almonds or walnuts or whole pine nuts. Basically, any ingredient that appeals to you is worth a try. Add a couple tablespoons and see if you like it. How about capered egg salad?

Spring Egg Salad

We love to make this dish in the spring when we can use locally grown asparagus and chives. The tarragon and Dijon make it ambrosial.

If you walk into our cafe, you will likely find Moosewood partner Neil Minnis making exotic infusions for mixed drinks and genial conversation with our customers. Many of us also know Neil to be an exquisite cook; he developed this sandwich filling for our Moosewood Restaurant New Classics cookbook and we’ve been grateful for it since. Sometimes we stuff tomatoes or baby bell peppers with it.

Yields 2½ cups

Time: 30 minutes

6 large eggs

8 ounces asparagus (about 1 cup of ½-inch pieces)

1⁄3 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons minced fresh tarragon

¼ teaspoon salt

sprinkling of ground black pepper

¼ cup seeded and diced red bell peppers

2 tablespoons snipped fresh chives or thinly sliced scallions

Place the eggs in a saucepan, add cold water to cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 10 to 12 minutes. Pour off the boiling water, cover with cold water, and crack the shells to facilitate peeling. Set aside.

While the eggs cook, rinse the asparagus, break off the tough ends, and slice the tender spears into ½-inch pieces. Steam or blanch the asparagus until just tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, mustard, tarragon, salt, and black pepper. Add the bell peppers and chives. When the eggs are cool enough to handle, peel and chop them. Add the eggs and cooled asparagus to the bowl and stir well. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed, and enjoy!

VARIATIONS

• Replace the tarragon with 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh dill.

• Replace some or all of the mustard with fresh lemon juice.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve between slices of whole wheat bread, in a pita, or wrapped in a flour tortilla with lettuce and tomato slices.

Muffuletta

To Louisianans and food tourists, the muffuletta sandwich is as synonymous with New Orleans as its musical and sultry streets. The traditional muffuletta is a sandwich of Sicilian origins and of heroic proportions. An Italian round sesame bread is layered with olive salad, cured meats, and cheeses, then cut into wedges for eating. At Moosewood, we make it with a variety of different breads and cheeses, and often make it vegan with Tofu Kan (see here) or seitan in place of cheese.

Yields 2 cups olive salad

Time: 40 minutes

OLIVE SALAD

1 cup green olives

½ cup toasted walnuts

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

1⁄3 cup minced celery

¼ cup finely sliced scallions

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

¼ teaspoon dried oregano

2 to 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

ciabatta, focaccia, French or Italian bread (or your favorite)

lettuce leaves or arugula

tomato slices

sliced cheese such as fresh mozzarella, mild provolone, Swiss, or Jarlsburg

In a food processor, pulse the olives and walnuts until coarsely ground, but not yet a paste. In a bowl, combine the ground olives and walnuts with the garlic, celery, scallions, parsley, red pepper flakes, oregano, olive oil, and vinegar.

Cut the bread for sandwiches. Spread both the top and bottom pieces of the bread with the olive salad. Layer on tomato and cheese slices and greens. Close it up and dig in.

VARIATIONS

• In place of cheese, use slices of Tofu Kan–style Baked Tofu or seitan.

• At Moosewood we often add roasted onions and zucchini to our Muffulettas: toss sliced onions and sliced zucchini with olive oil and a sprinkling of salt. Spread on an oiled baking sheet in a single layer and roast at 400°F for about 20 minutes.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

For a nice appetizer, serve Muffuletta olive salad on crostini, topped with fresh mozzarella and tomatoes. We especially like roasted plum tomatoes (see Roasted, Toasted Ciabatta).

Tempeh Reuben

We’ve been making this sandwich for decades! Seasoned tempeh is piled high on whole wheat toast, and topped with good sauerkraut and plenty of melted Swiss cheese, and then slathered with our Russian dressing. It’s irresistible: the cooks have to make lots of “samples” for the staff.

All sorts of tempeh are now available, but we prefer plain soy tempeh that we can flavor our own way by marinating it a bit. We give you two ways to prepare the seasoned tempeh, pan-fried on the stovetop and baked in the oven.

Use the seasoned tempeh on its own to top your favorite stir-fry, to add protein to a green salad, or simply as a healthful snack.

Yields 3 open-faced sandwiches; about 2 cups of seasond tempeh; 1 generous cup of Russian Dressing

Time: 40 minutes (if pan-frying) or 50 minutes (if baking)

SEASONED TEMPEH

8 ounces plain soy tempeh

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons red wine or apple cider vinegar

½ teaspoon ground fennel seeds

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 or 2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil

RUSSIAN DRESSING

½ cup mayonnaise

½ cup chopped tomatoes

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons ketchup or tomato paste

¼ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons chopped scallions

ground black pepper

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (optional)

1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

3 slices whole wheat, whole-grain, or rye bread

1 cup drained sauerkraut

Cut the tempeh into ¾-inch cubes and place in a shallow bowl. Whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar, fennel, and black pepper. If you’re going to bake the tempeh, add 1 tablespoon of oil. Pour the marinade over the tempeh cubes, stir gently to coat, and set aside for 15 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the Russian dressing: Whirl the mayonnaise, tomatoes, mustard, ketchup, salt, and scallions in a food processor or stir together by hand in a bowl. Season with black pepper and more salt to taste, and stir in the vinegar if you want the dressing a little tangy. Refrigerate until ready to use. Shred the Swiss cheese.

If you’re pan-frying the tempeh, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet until a tiny pinch of tempeh dropped in sizzles. Gently stir the tempeh in the bowl and with a slotted spoon lift it out of any remaining marinade and carefully place it in the hot oil (it may splatter). Fry for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring and turning often, until brown. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

If you’re baking the tempeh, gently stir it and place on an oiled rimmed baking sheet or dish with any remaining marinade and bake in a preheated 375°F oven until browned, about 25 minutes. Stir every 10 minutes or so.

To assemble the sandwiches, toast the bread. Pile a generous ½ cup of tempeh, generous ¼ cup of sauerkraut, and generous ¼ cup of shredded Swiss cheese on each bread slice. Put the sandwiches in a hot oven or under the broiler until the cheese has melted. Serve topped with Russian Dressing.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

This sandwich would be good with Creamy Herbed Potato Soup.

Barbecued Tofu Pita

Barbecued Tofu Pita is a popular lunch item at Moosewood. We drench tofu and peppers and onions in barbecue sauce and serve it in a warm whole wheat pita pocket, lined with a leaf lettuce to hold in the sauce. Sometimes we serve Barbecued Tofu on a plate, on rice, or with cornbread, and with greens or slaw on the side.

We make our own barbecue sauces, and this is one place where cooks can be creative, adding their own touches. Use our recipe or your favorite barbecue sauce.

At the restaurant, we often oven-roast the bell peppers, onions, and spices and bake the tofu. The oven method takes longer. But at home, pan-frying in oil is a quick and easy way to brown veggies and gives the tofu or tempeh a meaty surface and crusty edge.

The last step is tossing everything with a sweet, zesty sauce.

Yields 4 cups filling, enough for 4 whole pita sandwiches

Time: 45 minutes

one 14- to 16-ounce block firm tofu (see here)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large onion, sliced

1 large garlic clove, minced or pressed

½ teaspoon salt

2 medium bell peppers, seeded and chopped

BARBECUE SAUCE

1⁄3 cup tomato paste (3.5 ounces)

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground coriander seeds

1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds

1 to 2 tablespoons mustard (Dijon or spicy brown)

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

½ cup water

2 teaspoons Tabasco or other hot sauce

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 to 2 tablespoons soy sauce

4 whole pita breads

lettuce leaves

First, press the tofu if you have time. It isn’t essential to press the tofu for this recipe, but it will more readily absorb flavors if pressed (see here).

In a large skillet or soup pot, warm the vegetable oil on medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, and salt and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the bell peppers and cook, stirring often, until the onions are lightly browned and soft and the peppers are tender and getting brown around the edges, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, make the sauce: In a bowl, combine the tomato paste, brown sugar, coriander, fennel, mustard, vinegar, soy sauce, water, and Tabasco. Set aside.

Cut the pressed tofu into 1-inch cubes. In a large skillet on medium heat, warm the oil and pan-fry the tofu cubes in a single layer for 3 to 5 minutes, then turn them over carefully with a spatula, sprinkle them with soy sauce, and pan-fry for another 3 to 5 minutes until they turn brown and get a little crisp.

Add the vegetables and barbecue sauce to the tofu and heat the mixture until everything is piping hot.

Serve in warmed pitas lined with lettuce leaves.

VARIATION

• Instead of tofu, use 8 ounces of tempeh cut into ½-inch cubes (see here). Tempeh will take a little longer than tofu to pan-fry and may need a little more oil to make it brown and crisp. Mix the soy sauce with an equal amount of water, because tempeh really soaks it up.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

These pita sandwiches are pretty substantial and can stand on their own, but Lime-Cilantro Slaw makes a nice counterpoint. Or make a southern-style combo plate: serve Barbecued Tofu on brown rice with Vegan Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Quick Sautéed Greens, or with Vegan Cornbread, corn on the cob, and Cucumbers Vinaigrette. Use the barbecue sauce for Dixie Tofu-Pecan Loaf or put some on Moosewood’s Classic Tofu Burgers.

Roasted, Toasted Ciabatta

This sandwich is one of the restaurant’s most popular, especially in cool weather. We vary the vegetables and the cheeses, as there are many excellent combinations. And if we have some pesto (see here), aioli (see here), or Olivada on hand, all the better. Any of them makes a flavorful addition to this sandwich.

We use ciabatta from our local bakery, but whole wheat or rye bread or baguettes are also good choices.

Yields 4 sandwiches

Prep time: 10 minutes

Roasting time: 20 to 25 minutes

Assembly time: 5 to 10 minutes

DRESSING

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic or red wine vinegar

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon dried oregano or thyme

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

ROASTED VEGETABLES

1 onion, sliced

1 medium bell pepper, (any color), seeded and sliced

two 5-ounce portobello mushroom caps, rinsed and sliced

4 plum tomatoes, stems removed, halved lengthwise

1 tablespoon olive oil

1^1⁄3 cups shredded cheese, such as cheddar, mozzarella, Havarti, provolone, Fontina

one 14- to 16-inch ciabatta

mayonnaise and/or Dijon mustard (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly oil a baking sheet.

In a bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients, and then toss with the prepped onion, bell pepper, and portobellos. Spread the vegetables out on the prepared baking sheet and roast until tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

On a separate baking sheet, arrange the tomatoes, cut side up. Brush the tops with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until soft and juicy, 15 to 20 minutes. When cool enough to handle, slip the skins from the tomatoes.

While the vegetables are roasting, cut the ciabatta in half lengthwise. If you want, spread the cut side with mayonnaise and/or mustard. Put the halves back together and cut the ciabatta into 4 equal pieces. Place the bread pieces, cut side up, on another baking sheet and sprinkle each top piece with 1⁄3 cup cheese.

When the roasted vegetables are done, heat the bread in the oven until the cheese has melted and the bread is warm, just a couple of minutes. Layer the bottom of each sandwich with about a quarter of the vegetables and a roasted tomato half. Close up the sandwiches and enjoy.

VARIATIONS

• Roast eggplant, zucchini, or fennel for the sandwiches.

• Replace the cheese with Classic Hummus or White Bean and Basil Spread.

• We often add some arugula or spinach leaves or some chopped fresh basil.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Often, just a sandwich is enough. But then there’s soup—we like all kinds of soup with our sandwiches. A smooth, simple soup like Cream of Asparagus or Cream of Spinach is good. Then there’s Gazpacho on a hot summer day and French Onion Soup on a crisp fall day. It’s so hard to choose …

BURGERS

Curried Red Lentil Burgers

Moosewood’s Classic Tofu Burgers

Falafel Burgers

Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Burgers

Southwestern Bean Burgers

Curried Red Lentil Burgers

These golden burgers have a nutty flavor and handsome speckles of red. They are always a hit with our lunch crowd.

We actively support companies that offer fair trade products, so we especially like Alter Eco’s Red Quinoa. Of course, any variety or brand of quinoa is fine. Or, see the rice variation.

Yields 6 large burgers

Prep time: 1 hour

Baking time: 20 minutes

2⁄3 cup quinoa

1 cup dried red lentils

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups water

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1½ teaspoons salt

1½ cups finely chopped onions

3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 cup seeded and diced red bell peppers

1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

¼ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

1 cup toasted cashews

Rinse and drain the quinoa. Rinse and drain the lentils and set aside.

In a saucepan on medium-high heat, warm 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the quinoa and sauté for 1 minute. Add the lentils and water and bring to a boil, stirring often. (Red lentils sink to the bottom of the pan and then burn easily, so watch carefully.) Add the turmeric and ½ teaspoon of the salt, and simmer, covered, on low heat until the quinoa is cooked, the lentils are soft, and the water has been absorbed, about 20 minutes. (If there is any liquid left, drain before adding to the burger mix.)

While the lentils and quinoa cook, warm the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet or saucepan on medium heat, add the onions and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the bell peppers, ginger, curry powder, cinnamon, and the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt and continue to cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently and adding a little water if needed to prevent sticking.

In a large bowl, combine the cooked quinoa and lentils, the cooked onions and peppers, and the lemon juice and cilantro. In a food processor, whirl the cashews until coarsely ground. Add them to the bowl and mix well.

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Lightly oil a baking sheet.

Shape the mix into 6 burgers and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until firm.

VARIATION

• You can substitute brown or basmati rice for the quinoa. Skip the quinoa step. Begin by cooking red lentils in the water and proceed with the recipe, adding 2 cups of cooked rice to the food processor when you grind the cashews.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

We usually serve Red Lentil Burgers topped with Mango Salsa or a fruit chutney and yogurt. Sometimes we serve them with Spinach Raita or Tzatziki. Our Favorite Tomato-Cilantro Salsa is also good on these burgers.

Moosewood’s Classic Tofu Burgers

Our all-time favorite, luscious burgers the way we make them now: Vegan and wheat-free.

Tofu burgers have been a favorite at the restaurant since we can remember. Our customers often call to ask, “Are tofu burgers on the menu today?” They love ’em! In the early years, we almost always served them on a thick slice of whole wheat toast with lettuce, tomato slices, and Russian dressing. Now we serve them various ways; some suggestions follow the recipe.

Because of the increase in the number of our customers who are either gluten intolerant or trying to reduce their consumption of wheat, we’ve developed ways to make our various kinds of tofu burgers without the bread crumbs we used to use in our published recipes and in the restaurant. Dicing the vegetables small, finely grating the tofu in a food processor, and grinding the walnuts all help to make a mix that will hold its shape.

This recipe makes eight large burgers, or you can shape the mix into smaller patties or “meatballs.” We’re happy when we have extra burgers and can freeze them for later (see Notes).

Yields 8 burgers

Prep time: 45 minutes

Baking time: 30 to 40 minutes

two 14- to 16-ounce blocks firm tofu (see here)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cups diced onions

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 cup grated carrots

½ cup seeded and diced bell peppers (any color)

1 cup coarsely ground toasted walnuts

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons dark sesame oil

¼ cup tahini

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ cup chopped fresh basil

First press the tofu for at least 30 minutes (see here).

While the tofu presses, prepare the rest of the burger mix, and when you’re ready to grate the tofu, discard the expressed liquid.

In a covered skillet on low heat, warm the oil. Add the onions, sprinkle with the salt and oregano, and cook on low heat for 7 or 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the carrots and bell peppers and cook, covered, until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to a large bowl.

Finely grate the pressed tofu in a food processor and add it to the bowl of cooked vegetables along with the walnuts, soy sauce, mustard, sesame oil, tahini, pepper, and basil. Mix well and add more soy sauce to taste.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly oil a baking sheet.

Using about a cup per burger, shape the mix into 8 burgers. Set the burgers on the prepared baking sheet and bake until firm and browned, 30 to 40 minutes.

NOTES

The burgers will be a little sturdier if you use bread crumbs, about 2⁄3 cup for this recipe, especially if the tofu you use is soft. Gluten-free bread and bread crumbs are available, so if you’re avoiding wheat and gluten you have that option.

To freeze these burgers, simply wrap cooled, baked burgers in plastic wrap and put them in the freezer. To reheat, bake on an oiled baking sheet, right from the freezer, at 350°F for 20 to 30 minutes until heated through—the time will depend on how fat your burgers are.

VARIATIONS

• “Meatballs”—Add ground fennel seeds to the cooking onions, shape the mix into small balls and bake for about 20 minutes for 1½-inch balls. These are great with spaghetti and Tomato-Basil Sauce.

• Tofu “Meat” Loaf—See the recipe here.

• Reuben Burger—Top with melted Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian Dressing, and serve pickles on the side.

• Mediterranean Burger—Top with Caramelized Onions and melted Gruyère or Fontina cheese.

• Monterey Burger—Top with Avocado Salsa Simple Smooth Guacamole, or Our Favorite Tomato-Cilantro Salsa, and melted Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack, or cheddar cheese.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve these luscious vegan burgers in a bun or on rice or toast.

Falafel Burgers

Falafel Burgers are extremely popular at the restaurant. By combining tofu and chickpeas with lemon juice, tahini, some spices, and red bell peppers we’ve created a great burger, a new take on traditional falafels. We like to coat Falafel Burgers with sesame seeds because they add a nice crunchiness. Usually, we serve them on rice or bulghur pilaf with Lemon-Tahini Dressing.

We’ve found that grating the tofu with a food processor helps the burger mix hold together without the bread crumbs or eggs we used to use in our recipes. Another thing we’ve learned after making hundreds of burgers and after years and years of cooking in the restaurant is how handy scoops are. We use various size scoops for all sorts of things, an 8-ounce scoop is perfect for these burgers, but a half cup measuring cup will work as well. (An 8-ounce scoop holds about 4 ounces leveled off.)

Yields 8 burgers

Prep time: 45 minutes

Baking time: 35 to 40 minutes

one 14- to 16-ounce block firm tofu (see here)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1½ cups finely chopped onions

3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or a pinch of cayenne

1 cup seeded and diced red bell peppers

2 tablespoons dark sesame oil

2 teaspoons ground turmeric

1 tablespoon ground coriander seeds

one 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained (1½ cups)

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

1 to 2 tablespoons soy sauce

¼ cup tahini

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley (optional)

¼ to 1⁄3 cup sesame seeds

First, press the tofu for at least 15 minutes (see here).

Meanwhile, in a skillet on medium-low heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onions and garlic, sprinkle with the salt and the red pepper flakes, and cook for about 7 minutes, stirring often. Add the bell peppers and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions and peppers are soft; add a splash of water, if necessary, to prevent the vegetables from sticking. Stir in the sesame oil, turmeric, and coriander, and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

In a food processor, pulse the chickpeas until crumbly and put them into a large mixing bowl. Using the shredding disk, grate the tofu and add it to the bowl. Add the lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce, the tahini, and parsley, if using. Add the cooked onions and peppers to the bowl and stir well. Taste and add more soy sauce if needed.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly oil a baking sheet.

Using a scant 8-ounce scoop or a scant ½ cup measuring cup, shape the mixture into 8 burgers. Put the sesame seeds on a plate, coat each burger with the seeds, and place it the prepared baking sheet. Using the palm of your hand, gently flatten each burger a bit. Bake in until golden and firm, 35 to 40 minutes.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Our favorite way to serve Falafel Burgers is on a bed of rice or Bulghur Pilaf drizzled with Lemon-Tahini Dressing and topped with Cucumber-Tomato Salsa.

Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Burgers

We like the succulence of the mushrooms and the flavor of the pecans and herbs—the signatures of this tofu burger. We’ve changed the recipe to make a delicious burger for people who need to avoid wheat (no bread crumbs) and we’ve boosted the flavor a bit.

At Moosewood, we serve these patties on brown rice topped with shredded Fontina or cheddar cheese and a heap of Caramelized Onions. So delicious! The burgers are crumbly, rather than firm, which is a good thing served like we do. But sometimes you want a firm patty that will hold up in a sandwich. We’ve experimented with it a lot, and our best suggestion is to add an egg to the mixture.

Yields 8 burgers

Prep time: 50 minutes

Baking time: 35 minutes’

one 14- to 16-ounce block firm tofu (see here)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1½ cups finely chopped onions

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried marjoram (optional)

4 cups chopped mushrooms, white or cremini (about 16 ounces whole)

1 cup rolled oats

¾ cup pecans

3 tablespoons soy sauce

¼ cup chopped fresh dill

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

First, press the tofu for at least 15 minutes (see here).

Warm the oil in a skillet on low heat. Add the onions, salt, thyme, and marjoram, if using, cover, and cook until the onions are soft, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the mushrooms and increase the heat to medium. Stir until the mushrooms begin to release juice, about 2 minutes. Reduce the heat, cover, and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. You don’t want to cook away the liquid, so keep the heat low and the skillet covered.

Put the oats into a large mixing bowl, and when the mushrooms are done, pour them over the oats and let them sit. This helps soften the oats.

Meanwhile, toast the pecans (see here) and set them aside to cool. With a food processor, grate the tofu and add it to the mushroom-oat mixture. Pulse the toasted pecans to a coarse meal; stop before they become a paste. Add the pecans, soy sauce, dill, and black pepper to the mix and stir well. Add more salt to taste.

Lightly oil or spray a baking sheet. Shape the mixture into burgers by filling a scoop or ½ cup measuring cup and dropping the mixture onto the baking sheet. Use the palm of your hand to flatten each patty, and pat around the circumference to compact the edges. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven until firm and browned, about 35 minutes.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve like we do in the restaurant (see the headnote), or on whole wheat toast with barbecue sauce, or ketchup, or mustard and mayonnaise, and maybe tomato or avocado slices.

Southwestern Bean Burgers

When we serve these burgers at the restaurant with melted cheese and fresh tomato or avocado salsa, they are always a favorite with our customers. Beauty is not an attribute of these burgers undressed, but when they’re covered with toppings, they look quite lovely—it’s what’s on the inside that counts.

Yields 8 burgers

Prep time: 40 minutes

Baking time: 30 minutes

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1½ cups finely chopped onions

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon salt

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

2 cups seeded and diced bell peppers (any color)

2 teaspoons ground toasted cumin seeds (see here)

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1½ cups crumbled corn tortilla chips (about 6 ounces)

two 15-ounce cans small red or black beans, rinsed and drained (about 3 cups)

1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

½ cup fresh orange juice

Warm the oil in a large skillet on medium-low heat. Add the onions, red pepper flakes, salt, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until the onions are soft. Adjust the heat so that the onions cook but do not stick or scorch. Add the bell peppers, increase the heat for a minute or two to get the peppers hot, then reduce the heat and cook for about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the cumin and oregano and cook, stirring often, for about 4 minutes, until the bell peppers are tender.

While the onions and bell peppers cook, whirl the tortilla chips in a food processor until they are coarse crumbs. Put them into a large bowl. Pulse the beans in the food processor until mashed but not puréed. Add them to the mixing bowl.

When the bell peppers and onions are done, add them to the mixing bowl. Stir in the orange zest and orange juice and mix well. Add more salt to taste.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly oil a baking sheet.

Using a scoop or a generous half cup measuring cup, shape the burgers and place them on the prepared sheet. Using the palm of your hand, slightly flatten the burgers. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the burgers are firm.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Melt cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese on the burgers and serve on a bed of Spanish Rice. Top with your favorite tomato salsa or Our Favorite Tomato-Cilantro Salsa, or Avocado Salsa and sour cream. Lime-Cilantro Slaw is a nice crunchy accompaniment.

MAIN DISH SALADS

Sichuan Noodles

Peruvian Quinoa and Vegetable Salad

Thai Noodle Salad

Rice Salad with Herbs and Vegetables

Asian Rice Salad

Indonesian Rice Salad

Tabouli Salad

Moroccan Couscous Salad

Autumn Salad Plate

Winter Salad Plate

Spring Salad Plate

Summer Salad Plate

Mexican Salad Plate

Armenian Roasted Eggplant Salad

Gado Gado

Mediterranean Lentil Salad

Sichuan Noodles

Way back in the very early days of the restaurant, two Moosewood cooks, Ashley Miller and Bob Love, took Chinese cooking classes where they learned to make these spicy peanut butter–coated noodles. They were instantly popular with our customers then and still are today, although today the rest of the world has caught up and you can find similar dishes at grocery store deli counters. Our Sichuan Noodles are easy to make at home and we think they are much tastier than what you can buy.

Serves 4

Time: 25 minutes

½ pound linguine, or soba or udon noodles

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and sliced into thin crescents

½ cup finely chopped scallions

mung bean sprouts (optional)

PEANUT DRESSING

1⁄3 cup peanut butter

1⁄3 cup warm water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons vinegar (rice, cider, or white)

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

1 teaspoon Chinese Chili Paste with Garlic

To cook the linguine, bring a large covered pot of salted water to a boil. Prepare the cucumber and scallions. In a small bowl, stir together the dressing ingredients.

When the water boils, cook the noodles until al dente. Some of us break the linguine in half before cooking it because we think it makes it easier to eat when you do. Drain the pasta and toss it with the dressing, cucumbers, and scallions. Garnish with mung sprouts, if you wish. Serve warm or chilled.

The noodles absorb the dressing over time, so if you made Sichuan Noodles ahead, or are serving leftovers, taste them and stir in a little water, and maybe more vinegar, soy sauce, and chili paste as needed.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Most often, we serve Sichuan Noodles with Gingered Broccoli and Carrots and Moosewood’s Best Baked and Pan-fried Tofu. Quickly blanched snow peas or sugar snap peas are a great addition to the noodles because of their contrasting crisp texture.

Peruvian Quinoa and Vegetable Salad

Quinoa is a nutritious, quick-cooking grain that wasn’t even on our radar when Moosewood opened forty years ago. Today, though, we’re cooking with it as much as we can, finding more ways to use it all the time. This is a substantial salad, a complete and nutritious one-dish meal. Shiny black beans, golden corn, red tomatoes, and green flecks of cilantro make it colorful. It’s always a Moosewood customer favorite when we serve it as part of a “salad du jour,” and it makes a great light dinner for a warm summer night.

Yields 6 cups

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 50 minutes

QUINOA

1 cup quinoa

1 teaspoon oil

¼ teaspoon salt

1½ cups boiling water

DRESSING

¼ cup vegetable oil

3 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice

½ teaspoon salt

VEGETABLES

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

½ cup finely chopped onions

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 cup seeded and diced red, yellow, or orange bell peppers

1 cup diced zucchini

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup frozen or fresh corn kernels

2 teaspoons ground coriander seeds

2 teaspoons ground cumin seeds

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

1 cup finely chopped fresh tomatoes

one 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained (about 1½ cups)

1⁄3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

If your quinoa isn’t prerinsed, rinse and drain it well in a sieve—this removes any bitter residue from the grains. Warm the oil in a saucepan on high heat, add the drained quinoa, sprinkle with the salt, and stir for a minute. Add the boiling water and bring back to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook, covered, for about 15 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, until the grains are tender, about 5 minutes.

While the quinoa is cooking, make the dressing and prep the vegetables. When the quinoa is done, toss it with about half of the dressing and put it in the refrigerator to cool. It will cool more quickly if you spread it out. Reserve the rest of the dressing.

To cook the vegetables: Warm the oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and cook on high heat for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the garlic, bell peppers, zucchini, and salt and sauté for about 4 minutes. Add the corn, coriander, cumin, and red pepper flakes, if using, and stir well, and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 3 minutes.

Stir the cooked vegetables into the quinoa. Toss with the remaining dressing and the tomatoes, beans, and cilantro. Add more salt and lime juice to taste. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

VARIATIONS

• In place of the onions, use ¼ cup finely chopped scallions (stir into the vegetables with the fresh tomatoes) or ¼ cup finely diced red onions (toss with the hot quinoa if you want to eliminate the raw “bite” they can have).

• Substitute finely chopped parsley for the cilantro.

• During cooler days when you welcome warmth from your oven, use this “salad” as stuffing for roasted bell pepper halves. Serve topped with melted cheese and Smooth Hot Sauce. If you make the salad intending to stuff peppers, it’s nice to substitute diced carrots for the diced bell peppers.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

This salad is delicious served with Simple Smooth Guacamole and cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese.

Thai Noodle Salad

Short or long rice noodles are the most authentic for this dish, but at the restaurant we use fusilli pasta, which we think works best for catching the dressing and vegetables. We have found fusilli-shaped rice noodles and white or tricolor wheat pasta.

Serves 6 to 8

Prep time: 45 minutes

Sitting time: 20 minutes

1 pound fusilli, or other shape pasta

VEGETABLES

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 carrots, cut into 2-inch-long matchsticks (about 1½ cups)

1 red bell pepper, cut into 1½-inch-long matchsticks (about 2 cups)

1½ cups asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces, tips and tender stalks (about 12 ounces whole)

1½ cups sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms (4 ounces whole)

THAI DRESSING

2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest

¼ cup fresh lime juice

1½ tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 fresh hot pepper, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, Thai basil, or regular basil

1 scallion, coarsely chopped

2 garlic cloves, pressed or chopped

1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds

1½ teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain and transfer to a large serving bowl.

While the pasta cooks, warm the oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add the carrots and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add the bell peppers, asparagus, and mushrooms and continue to sauté for 3 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of the pasta cooking water, cover, and cook until the vegetables are tender but still brightly colored, about 2 minutes.

Purée all of the dressing ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Add the vegetables and dressing to the pasta and mix well. Set aside at room temperature for 20 minutes to allow the flavors to develop.

This salad is best served at room temperature.

VARIATIONS

• If you’d rather cook the vegetables in water, just blanch each for 30 seconds in a small pot of boiling water, then submerge in very cold water to set the color, and drain.

• You can make your life a little bit easier by substituting 1 tablespoon store-bought Thai curry paste for the hot peppers, garlic, and coriander in the dressing.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Thai Noodle Salad looks and tastes great garnished with chopped peanuts, scallions, and bean sprouts. It’s really good with Thai Baked Tofu.

Rice Salad with Herbs and Vegetables

Vibrant and fresh rice salads can reflect the season or can be inspired by what you find in your vegetable bin. Green or yellow beans, peas, mushrooms, celery are all good. Add some nuts or dried fruit. Add olives or capers. If you have an herb garden, play around with the herbs; try chives, basil, tarragon, marjoram, mint, or oregano. Go Italian, Greek, Tex-Mex, or Chinese. Keep it fresh and you can’t go wrong.

Happily, our favorite rice salad is usually the one we’re eating at the time. Here’s a nice, basic rice salad to get you started.

Yields generous 7 cups

Serves 4 to 6

Time: about 1 hour

RICE

2 cups brown rice, rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ teaspoon salt

3 cups water

DRESSING

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, pressed

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons vinegar (red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar)

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

VEGETABLES

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup seeded and diced bell peppers (any color)

1 cup diced fresh fennel bulb

1 cup chopped fresh parsley

½ cup chopped scallions

½ cup minced fresh dill

First, make the rice: Stir the rice, olive oil, and salt in a saucepan on high heat for a minute. Add the water, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, until the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender, about 45 minutes.

While the rice cooks, prepare the rest of the ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients. Steam the carrots until tender and add them to the bowl. As you prep the bell peppers, fennel, parsley, scallions, and dill, put them into the bowl.

When the rice is done, transfer it to the bowl and toss thoroughly. (Important: warm rice absorbs the dressing flavors better than cold rice, so if you’re using refrigerated cooked rice, warm it up before adding to the bowl.)

Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve in a bowl or on a bed of greens with colorful tomato wedges, black olives, and a sprinkling of toasted pine nuts. Top with finely grated Parmesan or serve with Herbed Chèvre Spread, a wedge of Brie, or cubes of Jarlsberg, Lemon-Herb Baked Tofu or Tofu Kan–style Baked Tofu. Rice salad and soup is always a good meal. During the hot days of summer, try it with Gazpacho or Chilled Cantaloupe-Amaretto Soup.

Asian Rice Salad

This is an interesting and unusual rice salad not to be found in any deli bar. It’s studded with brightly colored crunchy vegetables, soft and creamy avocado, and cubes of tofu, and is seasoned with wasabi, ginger, and sesame.

There’s a lot going on when you cook this dish—a pan on the back of the stove, a dish of marinating tofu, and then another pan on the stove, vegetables to chop, a cup of marinade, remembering to add the edamame to the rice. The first time you make it, it may seem a bit frantic, but then you see that it all comes together just as the rice finishes. You stir the rice into the bowl, and you’re done.

Yields 7 cups

Serves 4 to 6

Time: about 1 hour

RICE

1½ cups brown rice, rinsed and drained

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

2¼ cups water

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup frozen shelled edamame

MARINATED TOFU

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

8 ounces firm tofu (½ block)

VEGETABLES

1 cup grated carrots

1 cup seeded and diced bell peppers, preferably red

½ cup sliced scallions

DRESSING

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

1 teaspoon wasabi powder, or more to taste, dissolved in an equal amount of water

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (optional)

1 ripe avocado, peeled and sliced or cubed

salad greens

In a small, heavy saucepan with a tight-fitting lid on high heat, sauté the rice in the oil for a minute, stirring to coat the grains with the oil. Add the water and salt, bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, and cook, covered, for 30 minutes. At that point, add the frozen edamame to the pan, cover, and finish cooking the rice. Both the rice and edamame should be done in another 15 minutes.

Combine the marinade ingredients in a shallow bowl. Cut the tofu into ½-inch cubes and add to the marinade. Stir gently with a rubber spatula to coat well and set aside for 15 or 20 minutes.

While the tofu marinates, place the carrots, bell peppers, and scallions in a large bowl. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over the vegetables.

When the tofu has marinated, warm 2 teaspoons of oil in a skillet on medium-high heat and add the tofu and the marinade. Cook, stirring often, until the liquid has evaporated and the tofu cubes are starting to brown. Add the hot cooked tofu to the bowl with the vegetables and toss.

When the rice and edamame are done, add them to the bowl with the other ingredients. Sprinkle in the sesame seeds, if using, and toss gently. Set aside to cool.

Serve at room temperature or chilled, on a bed of greens topped with avocado slices or cubes.

VARIATIONS

• In place of one of the vegetables listed, add some diced cucumbers or shredded daikon radish (but it won’t be as pretty).

• Use green peas instead of edamame. Add them to the rice about 5 minutes before the rice is done.

• Replace the marinated cooked tofu cubes with Tofu Kan–style Baked Tofu.

• Garnish the salad with crumbled or thinly sliced nori seaweed.

• Garnish with sautéed shrimp and pickled ginger.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

For a hearty lunch or light dinner, start with a bowl of Miso Soup. Or, serve this salad with Teriyaki Fish. Or, serve roasted winter squash (see here and here), or Asian Greens with this salad.

Indonesian Rice Salad

This attractive, tropical salad is always a hit. Sweet, tangy and colorful, it can serve as a main course or side dish. It keeps well and travels well to picnics and dish-to-pass events.

During the early years at Moosewood, when we ventured very far from home, it was often difficult to find good vegetarian fare. So, while off on a long ocean voyage, Moosewood founders Judy Barringer and Kris Miller were especially grateful to one of the ship’s cooks, Sri Wasano, who took pity and concocted some special dishes just for them. They lived happily for days on an Indonesian rice salad he made and, when they got back, we began serving it in the restaurant. We’re all grateful for the kindness and the culinary skills of Sri Wasano.

With leftover rice, Indonesian Rice Salad is quickly made. If cooking rice from scratch for this recipe, cook 2 cups of short-grain brown rice in 3 cups water, to yield 4 cups cooked. Next time you’re making rice for dinner, remember that deliberately planning leftovers is almost always a good idea.

Yields about 9 cups

Serves 6

Time: 25 minutes

RICE

4 cups cooked brown rice, cooled to room temperature

½ cup raisins or currants

2 celery stalks, thinly sliced on the diagonal

1⁄3 cup thinly sliced scallions

1 cup seeded and finely chopped red and/or green bell peppers

1 cup pineapple chunks (fresh or unsweetened canned)

one 8-ounce can water chestnuts, drained and sliced

1 cup toasted cashews or peanuts

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds (see here)

DRESSING

1⁄3 cup vegetable oil

3 tablespoons dark sesame oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

½ cup orange juice or pineapple juice

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes or a pinch of cayenne

2 cups fresh mung bean sprouts (optional)

2 cups lightly steamed snow peas or sugar snap peas (optional)

In a large serving bowl, combine the rice, raisins, celery, scallions, bell peppers, pineapple, water chestnuts, cashews, and sesame seeds. In a bowl, whisk together the oils, soy sauce, vinegar, orange juice, garlic, and red pepper flakes. If you prefer, you can purée the dressing ingredients in a blender. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well.

Serve at room temperature or chill for about 30 minutes. Garnish with sprouts and/or snow peas, if you like. They look especially nice sprinkled in a ring just inside the rim of the serving bowl.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Indonesian Rice Salad is well paired with Cream of Spinach Soup or Chilled Cantaloupe-Amaretto Soup, and it’s really good with Moosewood’s Best Baked and Pan-fried Tofu or Tofu Kan-style Baked Tofu.

Tabouli Salad

The clear, fresh flavors of parsley, lemon, and mint make this a dish of which we never tire. Traditionally, this Middle Eastern salad is mostly vitamin-rich parsley with just a little bulghur wheat for added texture and color. But many people in this country like the proportions reversed with more chewy wheat in the mix. Our recipe calls for 2 cups of parsley, which puts it in the mid-range on the spectrum. If your bunch of parsley yields more or less than we call for, use whatever you have, or more or less to taste.

Bulghur is wheat grain that has already been boiled, dried, and cracked so that it has a shorter cooking time than many other grains. Bulghur wheat, aka cracked wheat, comes in different grades of coarseness. At Moosewood, we prefer the texture of a coarse bulghur, but there may not be much choice at your market, and really, any grade will do fine in this dish. You can replace the bulghur with quinoa for a nice quinoa “tabouli.”

Recipes for bulghur call for differing amounts of boiling water. Until you know the particular bulghur you’re working with, we recommend that you start with 1 cup water per 1 cup bulghur and then add more if needed. That may take extra time, but it’s better than draining off extra water, especially in a recipe like this that works best when the bulghur is dry enough to absorb the moisture of the other ingredients without being waterlogged.

Fresh mint is our first choice here, but dried mint works well, too. Just use a mint herbal tea bag.

Yields 4 cups

Serves 6

Time: 30 minutes

1 cup boiling water

1 cup bulghur wheat

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint or ½ teaspoon dried mint

1⁄3 cup fresh lemon juice

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 cups lightly packed finely chopped fresh parsley

1 cucumber, seeded and diced

½ cup thinly sliced scallions

2 tomatoes, diced

In a heatproof bowl, pour the boiling water over the bulghur, garlic, salt, and dried mint, if using. (If using fresh mint, add it later.) Cover the bowl and set it aside for 20 minutes. Taste the bulghur. It should be softened and dry, so that it will absorb the moisture from the vegetables and the lemon juice without making the tabouli too wet. If the water has been absorbed, but the grains are still crunchy, add some more boiling water, cover, and set aside for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir together the lemon juice and olive oil. Add the parsley, cucumbers, and scallions.

When the bulghur has absorbed the water and softened, stir it with a fork to fluff the grains. Add it to the bowl and mix well. Add fresh mint, if using, and more salt to taste.

Tabouli tastes best after sitting for at least 30 minutes at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Add the tomatoes just before serving, or garnish with them.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Tabouli Salad is a fine accompaniment for many Mediterranean-style dishes. Serve it with Classic Hummus and/or Peppercorn and Lemon Marinated Feta or Herbed Chèvre Spread, black olives, and pita bread. We also like to pair it with Creamy Herbed Potato Soup and Tofalafels or Vegan Spinach–Artichoke Heart Dip.

Moroccan Couscous Salad

This is one of our most reflexive go-to salads for dish-to-pass occasions and photo-ops. It’s simple to make, universally liked, and awfully pretty.

Yields 6 cups

Serves 4 to 8

Time: 45 minutes

COUSCOUS

1½ cups couscous

1½ cups water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

VEGETABLES

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup seeded and diced red bell peppers

1⁄3 cup finely chopped red onions

½ cup finely chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint or 1 teaspoon dried mint

½ cup currants

DRESSING

¼ cup olive oil

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons orange juice

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup chopped toasted almonds (optional)

Pour the couscous into a heatproof bowl. Bring the water to a boil, and pour it over the couscous. Using a fork, stir in the olive oil and salt. If using dried mint, add it now. Cover and set aside for 5 to 10 minutes.

While the couscous softens, steam the carrots and peppers until tender, about 5 minutes. Fluff the couscous with a fork, breaking up any lumps. Add the steamed carrots and peppers and the red onions, parsley, and currants to the couscous. If using fresh mint, add it now.

Whisk together the dressing ingredients. Pour the dressing over the couscous and toss well.

Serve at room temperature or chilled. This salad will keep in the refrigerator for 4 or 5 days.

Just before serving, sprinkle with toasted almonds, if you like, or pass them at the table as a garnish.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve as part of a combo plate with Spanakopita Bites and Seasoned Artichokes. Moroccan Couscous Salad is good stuffed in a ripe juicy tomato or an avocado half.

Four Season Salad Plates

Salad plates made up of a mix of greens topped with various fresh and roasted vegetables, nuts, cheese, and a flavorful dressing are a regular feature on Moosewood’s lunch menu. A lot of our regular customers look for them and like to tell us which are their favorites, and sometimes they give us their ideas for good combinations of toppings, hoping to see their salad plate on the menu. With quite a bit of discussion, we’ve come to the consensus that these four are the most popular, but you’ll notice that we just had to tell you about some of the variations we do, hoping that will inspire you to have as good a time as we do thinking about ways to make a bed of greens delectable.

AUTUMN SALAD PLATE

When we make roasted squash for a composed salad at Moosewood, we make extra because customers ask for it as a side dish and the staff likes to gobble up the leftovers. The sugars in squash caramelize when roasted, yielding a crisp surface and a creamy, super-sweet under-layer. There are many good varieties of squash to choose from for roasting. Some of our favorites include acorn, delicata, kuri, butternut, buttercup, and sweet dumpling.

This autumn salad plate is balanced, unified, and accented by a delicious pear-and-thyme dressing. Red-skinned Bartlett pears are very pretty on this plate, and sweet and juicy, but use the best pears you have available.

Serves 4 as a main dish: 8 as a side dish

Time: 45 minutes

TOPPINGS

about 2 pounds winter squash (see headnote)

1 tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil

¼ cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

4 ounces sharp cheddar

2 ripe pears

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

¼ cup dried cranberries

Pear-Thyme Dressing

about 8 cups salad greens (arugula, spinach, lettuce, and/or baby greens)

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet.

Scrub the winter squash, and peel it, or don’t. Halve it through the stem end and scoop out the seeds. Cut the halves horizontally into ½-inch slices. Small squash give you nice crescents, but if the squash is large, cut the slices into halves or thirds. In a large bowl, toss the squash pieces with the oil. Lay the squash out on the prepared baking sheet about ½ inch apart, and sprinkle with salt. Bake until easily pierced with a fork, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

While the squash bakes, spread the pepitas out on a small baking tray and, if they are not already salted, sprinkle with salt. Toast in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until somewhat puffed and crunchy. Set aside to cool. Slice or cube the cheese. Quarter the pears lengthwise, remove the core, and slice thinly. To keep the cut surfaces of the pears from turning brown, sprinkle them with lemon juice. Make the dressing.

On a large platter or individual plates, make a bed of the greens. Arrange the roasted squash, pear slices, and cheddar on top. Drizzle on the dressing or pass it at the table and sprinkle with the pepitas and cranberries.

VARIATION

• Gorgonzola, blue cheese, and chèvre also are delicious on this salad plate.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

This salad can be served as a main dish or as part of a hearty harvest meal.

WINTER SALAD PLATE

In this salad, the sweetness of roasted beets and red onions is paired with the rich flavor of balsamic vinaigrette and the fresh taste of the greens. We like to include arugula in the mix of greens for its sharp contrast to the sweet beets.

We often serve this salad with locally produced chèvre or goat feta, but blue cheese is also a good choice. This dish is also an excellent appetizer, and makes enough to serve eight.

Yields 1 cup vinaigrette

Serves 4 as a main dish; 8 as a side dish

Time: 45 minutes

TOPPINGS

3 or 4 medium beets (about 1 pound)

4 teaspoons olive oil

salt

ground black pepper

1 large red onion

½ cup chopped toasted walnuts

¾ cup crumbled chèvre, blue, or feta cheese

BALSAMIC AND DIJON VINAIGRETTE

2⁄3 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons water

¼ teaspoon salt

1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon pure maple syrup, sugar, or agave syrup (optional)

about 8 cups salad greens (arugula, spinach, lettuce, baby greens)

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly oil 2 rimmed baking sheets.

Rinse and peel the beets. Cut them into halves or quarters and then into ½-inch-thick slices. Toss with 2 teaspoons of the olive oil. Spread out the beets on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Peel the onion, cut it in half, and then into thick slices. Toss the onions with the remaining 2 teaspoons of olive oil, spread out on the other baking sheet, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the vegetables until tender and browned about 30 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes. The onions will probably be done first.

While the vegetables are in the oven, toast and chop the walnuts and crumble the cheese. Make the vinaigrette: Whirl all of the ingredients in a blender until thick and creamy. Or, whisk together all of the ingredients by hand in a small bowl. The dressing should be pourable; add more water if needed. Set aside.

On a large platter or individual plates, make a bed of the greens. Top with the roasted beets and onions, then sprinkle on the walnuts and cheese. Pass the dressing at the table.

VARIATION

• Replace half of the olive oil in the dressing with roasted walnut oil—really yummy!

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with bread for mopping up the plate. Creamy Hungarian Mushroom Soup, Creamy Herbed Potato Soup, or Egg Salad sandwiches (here to here) make it a satisfying meal.

SPRING SALAD PLATE

This is our favorite salad plate for springtime. We like it best with these few simple ingredients. It’s elegant in the sense that an equation can be elegant in its simplicity. The shallot vinaigrette ties the flavors together.

Yields 1 cup vinaigrette

Serves 4 as a main dish; 8 as a side dish

Time: 30 minutes

TOPPINGS

1½ pounds asparagus

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup hazelnuts

1⁄3 cup snipped fresh chives

7 ounces chèvre

SHALLOT VINAIGRETTE

2⁄3 cup olive oil (extra-virgin is nice)

½ cup diced shallots

¼ cup red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil and/or tarragon

3 tablespoons water

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

about 8 cups salad greens (arugula, spinach, lettuce, or baby greens)

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet.

Snap off the tough ends of the asparagus and cut the spears in half. Toss with the olive oil and spread out in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Roast until tender and somewhat browned, 8 to 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the spears.

While the asparagus roasts, toast the hazelnuts (see here), snip the chives, and crumble the chèvre or cut it into small cubes. Make the vinaigrette: In a small saucepan on medium heat, warm 1⁄3 cup of the olive oil. Add the shallots and cook until soft, 1 or 2 minutes. In a bowl, whisk the remaining 1⁄3 cup of olive oil with the vinegar, basil, tarragon, water, salt, and black pepper. Whisk in the cooked shallots and oil. If you prefer a smooth dressing, purée it in a blender.

On a large platter or individual plates, make a bed of the greens. Lay the roasted asparagus across the greens, scatter about little chunks of chèvre, sprinkle with the hazelnuts and chives. Pass the shallot vinaigrette at the table.

VARIATIONS

• If you just can’t stop at the toppings we suggest, here are some ideas for other things to add to the plate: steamed snow peas or sugar snap peas, diced bell peppers, radish coins, sliced hard-boiled eggs. For some color, add thinly sliced radicchio to the greens.

• Instead of the chèvre, you could sprinkle the salad with finely grated Parmesan.

• Instead of plain chèvre, put a dollop or two of Herbed Chèvre Spread on each salad plate.

SUMMER SALAD PLATE

During fresh tomato season, we never tire of this salad. Ripe, juicy tomatoes are enhanced with a thread of green, fruity extra-virgin olive oil. We like arugula as the bed of greens because its slightly bitter sharpness contrasts nicely with mild, creamy fresh mozzarella. Watercress, spinach, radicchio, or lettuce work well, too.

With different shapes, colors, and sizes of heirloom tomatoes and both green and purple fresh basil, this is a truly spectacular-looking salad. Cracked black pepper and coarse or flaked salt, such as Malden Sea Salt, really make a difference in taste and appearance.

If you refrigerate a tomato salad, cover it well and, just before serving, bring it back to room temperature.

Serves 4 as a main dish; 8 as a side salad

Time: 20 minutes

TOPPINGS

1 pound fresh mozzarella balls

1½ to 2 pounds fresh tomatoes

extra-virgin olive oil

12 fresh basil leaves, minced or cut into chiffonade (about 2 heaping tablespoons)

coarse or flaked salt

cracked black pepper

about 8 cups salad greens (see headnote)

Slice the mozzarella and tomatoes into thin rounds or half-rounds of a similar size. Mince the basil leaves or cut them into chiffonade.

On a large platter or individual plates, make a bed of the greens. On top of the greens, arrange rows or rings of alternating and slightly overlapping slices of mozzarella and tomatoes. Drizzle a thin stream of olive oil over the salad. Sprinkle on the basil and salt and black pepper.

Serve at room temperature.

VARIATIONS

• When our tomatoes are particularly irregular or we have small mozzarella balls and the alternating, overlapping thing won’t look so nice, we cut the tomatoes and mozzarella into a ½-inch dice, mix them together, and tumble them over the bed of greens.

• Add more to the salad, such as: artichoke hearts, toasted pine nuts, olives, roasted red pepper strips, red onion slivers, capers, chickpeas, croutons, or fresh raw kernels of corn cut from the cob.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Pass a cruet of balsamic vinegar at the table. This salad is a lovely summer entrée with a good crusty bread to sop up the juices. Or, serve after a soup, such as Corn Chowder or Creamy Herbed Potato Soup, or before a simple pasta, such as Pasta Aglio e Olio.

Mexican Salad Plate

Many of our lunchtime regulars regularly order our main dish green salads. They’re really just a big tossed salad with lots of good stuff piled on top. Most of our salad plates reflect the season and feature whatever produce is being harvested locally, but this one is great any time of year, both for a Fourth of July spread and for Super Bowl Sunday. If you’re feeding a crowd, put a bowl of tortilla chips in the center of the table and surround it with all the colorful components.

Yields 1 generous cup dressing

Serves 2 to 4

Time: 40 minutes or more (depending on what you choose to include)

one 15-ounce can red kidney beans or black beans, rinsed and drained (about 1½ cups)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds

DRESSING

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 hot pepper, minced, or ¼ teaspoon cayenne (optional)

1⁄3 cup chopped fresh cilantro, or basil and scallions

½ teaspoon salt

1 generous teaspoon freshly grated orange zest

¼ cup fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

¾ cup vegetable oil (up to half can be olive oil)

ground black pepper

about 8 cups salad greens (spinach, lettuce, baby greens)

1 bell pepper, (any color), seeded and cut into ¼-inch-wide strips, strips cut crosswise in half

1 ripe avocado, sliced, or Simple Smooth Guacamole

cherry tomatoes or plum tomatoes sliced into rounds

sliced or shredded cheddar or Pepper Jack cheese

OTHER TOPPING IDEAS

Spanish or black olives

orange or grapefruit sections

diced cucumbers

chopped scallions

extra chopped cilantro

toasted pepitas

tortilla chips

Place the beans in a bowl and stir in the oil, vinegar, and coriander. Set aside to marinate.

In a blender, purée all of the dressing ingredients except for the oil, black pepper, and salt. Slowly add the oil in a thin, steady stream while the blender is running. Add black pepper and more salt to taste. Set aside

Compose the salad on dinner plates. Make a bed of greens on each plate and top with the bell peppers, avacado, tomatoes, and cheese and any other toppings you choose. Pass the salad dressing at the table.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Gazpacho is perfect with this salad. Cornbread (see here and here) is also a good accompaniment.

Armenian Roasted Eggplant Salad

Roasted vegetables, cucumbers, rosemary, and olive oil are typical ingredients in Armenian cuisine, but then many countries of the Near East and Mediterranean may lay claim to succulent, big-flavored salads like this. It’s a beautiful dish, glossy and colorful, and the soft roasted vegetables and crunchy celery make for an interesting texture. It’s typical of dishes created by our partner and talented cook Laura Branca, who brings her Armenian heritage to our literal and figurative “table.” Picture a small, beautiful woman mixing an enormous bowl of some pilaf or other and coming up with a lovely, perfectly seasoned dish every time.

Yields 7 cups

Serves 4 to 8

Time: 1½ hours

1 medium eggplant (about 1½ pounds)

1 fresh fennel bulb

2 cups seeded and diced red or yellow bell peppers

2 cups diced onions

3 garlic cloves, pressed or minced

1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

3 tablespoons olive oil

½ teaspoon ground fennel seeds

salt

ground black pepper

DRESSING

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons apple cider or red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (optional)

½ teaspoon salt

ground black pepper

1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced

2 cups diced celery

finely chopped fresh parsley

crumbled feta cheese

black olives

Peel the eggplant and cut it into ½-inch cubes. You should have about 6 cups. Cut off the stalks and base of the fennel bulb. Cut it in half, end-to-end, and remove the core if it is tough. Peel away any tough or discolored outer layers of the bulb. Chop the bulb into 1-inch pieces.

Preheat the oven to 450°F.

In a large bowl, toss the eggplant, chopped fennel, bell peppers, and onions with the garlic, rosemary, olive oil, and ground fennel seeds. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Spread the vegetables evenly on two lightly oiled rimmed baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, and then turn the vegetables over with a spatula, and continue to bake until the eggplant and bell peppers are tender and lightly browned, up to 15 minutes.

While the vegetables roast, in a large bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients. Add the diced cucumber and celery. When the roasted vegetables come out of the oven, add them to the bowl and toss well.

Serve at room temperature or chilled, garnished with parsley, crumbled feta, and/or olives.

NOTES

This salad can be made a day ahead and stored, well covered, in the refrigerator.

If you prefer larger, chunkier vegetables, bake at 400°F for 35 to 40 minutes.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve as an appetizer or as a main dish salad on lettuce leaves with warm pita wedges or crunchy pita chips.

To make it part of a Fertile Crescent combo plate, serve with Moroccan Carrot Salad with Currants and Tofalafels. And it makes a great filling for pita sandwiches.

Gado Gado

In various languages and dialects in Indonesia, the words bumbu katchang refer to a spicy peanut sauce, while the words gado gado refer to a one-dish meal that incorporates the delicious sauce. For decades at Moosewood, we’ve served our very popular gado gado plate, steamed and raw vegetables on a bed of spinach topped with a spicy peanut sauce, and it’s pretty close to what you would find among some Indonesian variations of gado gado. There, the peanut sauce almost always includes dried shrimp paste, but we make a vegetarian version. And since we do like our vegetables, we probably use more than you would be served in Indonesia, but there would also usually be tempeh or tofu and maybe hard-boiled eggs.

Yields about 4 cups of sauce; enough for 6 to 8 servings

Time: 50 minutes

GADO GADO PEANUT SAUCE

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup finely chopped onions

1 bay leaf

½ teaspoon salt

1 or 2 fresh hot peppers, minced, or ½ to 1 teaspoon cayenne

1 or 2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1½ tablespoons peeled and fresh grated ginger

1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds (optional)

2 tablespoons tamarind concentrate (see here)

2 cups water

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 cups smooth peanut butter

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

VEGETABLES

broccoli spears, diagonally sliced carrots, strips of red, yellow, or orange bell peppers, chopped green cabbage, potato wedges, and sugar snap peas fresh spinach leaves

EXTRAS

mung bean sprouts, baked tofu (here and here), hard-boiled eggs cut into wedges, tomato wedges

To make the peanut sauce: Warm the oil in a covered saucepan on low heat. Add the onions, bay leaf, and salt and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the hot peppers or cayenne, garlic, ginger, coriander, if using, and tamarind concentrate, and continue to cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the water, coconut milk, and vinegar, increase the heat to a low simmer, and cook, covered, for 3 minutes. Stir in the peanut butter and sugar until the sauce is smooth, bring to a simmer and cook, covered, on low heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Stir in the soy sauce, and add more to taste.

While the sauce is cooking, prepare and steam vegetables you like until they are just tender.

Serve Gado Gado on a large serving platter or on individual plates. Spread a bed of spinach leaves on the platter or plates. Arrange steamed and raw vegetables on top—they can be warm, room temperature, or cool. Add some of the extras. Serve the peanut sauce in a separate bowl or ladle some over the vegetables and pass more at the table.

VARIATIONS

• Serve the peanut sauce and steamed vegetables on rice instead of spinach.

• Stuff pita bread with fresh spinach, baked tofu or chopped hard-boiled eggs, and tomatoes, and top with peanut sauce.

• Serve the sauce as a dip for crisp-fried tempeh or chunks of ripe juicy pineapple.

• Leftover sauce, which will keep for at least a week in the refrigerator, can be the inspiration for a number of other dishes. We often use it as the base for a West African-style peanut soup or stew (see here and here).

• Add some canned crushed pineapple to the sauce and serve it on rice with fresh spinach and baked tofu.

Mediterranean Lentil Salad

Not a flamboyantly beautiful dish, but elegant nevertheless. This earthy, nutritious salad is quite delicious hot or cold.

French green lentils (also called Puy lentils, lentilles du Puy, and lentilles vertes du Puy) are small and dark green. They remain tidy little disks when cooked. As with any lentils, the cooking time varies with different batches: when they were harvested, how long they’ve been on the shelf, etc. You’ll find French lentils in the market with the other dried lentils. In this recipe, brown lentils will work and are tasty, but not as handsome—they don’t hold their shape as well.

Yields 4 cups

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 40 minutes

LENTILS

1 cup dried French green lentils, rinsed

3 cups water

½ teaspoon salt

2 bay leaves

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

½ teaspoon dried thyme

VEGETABLES

1⁄3 cup sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil) (optional)

½ cup diced celery or fresh fennel bulb

½ cup seeded and diced red, yellow, or orange bell peppers

¼ cup minced red onions

½ cup chopped fresh parsley (optional)

1 cup diced fresh tomatoes

DRESSING

1⁄3 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons vinegar (preferably red wine vinegar)

1½ teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds

½ teaspoon salt

1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper

In a saucepan, bring the lentils, water, salt, bay leaves, garlic, and thyme to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, until the lentils are tender, stirring occasionally and adding a small amount of water, if needed, to prevent scorching.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, cover the sun-dried tomatoes with boiling water and set aside for at least 15 minutes.

In a larger bowl, stir together the celery, bell peppers, red onions, and parsley. Set aside the fresh tomatoes until just before serving.

Whisk together the dressing ingredients and set aside. When the sun-dried tomatoes have softened, drain them and mince them and add to the bowl.

When the lentils are tender, drain off any remaining liquid. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Toss the lentils with the vegetables and the dressing.

Stir in the fresh tomatoes just before serving. Add more salt and/or black pepper to taste. Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled.

VARIATION

• With a little stock and some extra seasonings, leftovers can easily become lentil soup.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve the lentils on a bed of spinach or salad greens, surrounded with olives and cucumber slices.

Top with fresh mozzarella or Peppercorn and Lemon Marinated Feta.

Serve with a side of marinated asparagus (see marinating method on here) or sautéed escarole (see cooking directions for sautéed greens on here). Or, add a wedge of Brie, some toasted walnuts, and crusty bread with olive oil for dipping.

CURRIES AND STEWS

Thai Vegetable Curry

Lentil-Vegetable Sambar

Summer Vegetable Curry

Winter Curry

Caribbean Stew

Eggplant Mykonos

Groundnut Stew

Moroccan Vegetable Stew

Navajo Stew

Andean Vegetable Stew on Quinoa

Green Bean, Potato, and Fennel Ragout

Ratatouille

Jambalaya

Thai Vegetable Curry

Thai vegetable curry is a frequent weekend entrée at Moosewood where it’s always popular with our customers. Pretty much any combination of vegetables will work, so experiment and use whatever vegetables you have on hand or simply love—just be sure to have 10 to 12 cups total. Sweet potatoes are especially nice to use because their sweetness nicely balances the lime. Sometimes we substitute pineapple juice for the coconut milk, but most of us prefer it with coconut milk.

Yields about 8 cups

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 45 minutes

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1½ cups chopped onions

2 garlic cloves

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

1 cup water

4 cups peeled and cubed sweet potatoes (about 1½ pounds whole)

4 cups bite-size cauliflower florets

1½ cups chopped fresh tomatoes

one 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk

1 tablespoon Thai curry paste, plus more as needed

finely grated zest of 1 lime

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro and/or basil

Warm the oil in a covered soup pot on medium heat. Stir in the onions, garlic, and salt, and cook for about 7 minutes, stirring often. Add the ginger and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add water and the sweet potatoes and cauliflower, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a rapid simmer and cook, covered, for about 6 minutes, stirring often. Add the tomatoes, coconut milk, Thai curry paste, and lime zest and bring back to a rapid simmer. Cook, covered, until all of the vegetables are tender, about 2 minutes. Stir in the lime juice and cilantro or basil and add more salt and curry paste to taste.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve the vegetable curry on rice topped with Thai Baked Tofu and/or toasted peanuts or cashews.

Lentil-Vegetable Sambar

Traditional south Indian sambars are spicy, thick with lentils or split peas, studded with vegetables, and often served with rice and yogurt to soothe the palate. Here is our favorite sambar, not so spicy as most in India, unless you choose to make it so. Other vegetables often used in sambars include shallots, eggplant, green beans, green peas, potatoes, and tomatoes. Use this recipe as a base and experiment with your favorite vegetables.

While both fenugreek seeds and tamarind are normally used in sambars, if you don’t have one or the other, don’t worry. It’s fine to omit the fenugreek and replace the tamarind with 2 or 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon or lime juice.

Yields 8 cups

Serves 6

Time: about 1 hour

LENTILS

1 cup dried brown lentils

3½ cups water

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon salt

VEGETABLES

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon black mustard seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds (optional)

2 cups chopped onions

1 fresh hot pepper, minced, or ½ teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground coriander seeds

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

4 cups cauliflower, cut into bite-size pieces

3 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

1½ tablespoons tamarind concentrate dissolved in 1 cup hot water

1½ cups seeded and chopped red bell peppers

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Rinse the lentils and combine them with the water, turmeric, and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer, covered, until the lentils are tender, usually 30 to 40 minutes.

While the lentils cook, heat the oil in a large pot on medium heat and add the black mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and fenugreek seeds, if using. When the mustard seeds start to pop, stir in the onions, hot peppers, and salt, and cook on low heat, covered, until the onions are translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the coriander, cinnamon, and turmeric and cook for a minute or two, stirring constantly. Stir in the cauliflower, sweet potatoes, and tamarind water, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for 5 or 6 minutes. Add the bell peppers and coconut milk. Return to a simmer and cook until all the vegetables are just tender, about 5 minutes.

When the lentils are done, drain off any liquid and stir them into the vegetables. Stir in the cilantro and add salt to taste.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve on rice, with yogurt or Spinach Raita and Date-Coconut-Lemon Chutney or Quick Banana Chutney.

Summer Vegetable Curry

When you take it steaming straight from the stovetop to the table, this is one delectable dish. A medley of summer vegetables, including corn, which gives the curry a pleasant sweetness. With its bright array of colors, this looks great served on golden rice (use saffron or turmeric, or a little of both to get the color).

The vegetables should be just tender, not mushy, and the spinach bright green, so the magic in making this fresh and delicious curry exceptional is in how you cut and cook the vegetables. We give you very specific prepping directions. But the exact amounts aren’t that critical, so use that whole zucchini, even if the cup measure is more or less than listed. And by the way, this curry is good the next day, too—mellow rather than bright.

Yields 8 or 9 cups

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 50 minutes

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large onion (2 to 3 cups sliced)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cumin seeds

2 teaspoons ground coriander seeds

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

½ teaspoon ground fennel seeds

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

¼ teaspoon cayenne or 1 fresh hot pepper, minced

1 cup sliced carrots

3 cups sliced zucchini or summer squash

1 red bell pepper, seeded

1½ cups water

2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes

1½ cups corn kernels

4 cups chopped fresh baby spinach (about 8 ounces)

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Before you begin to cook, slice the onion, mince the garlic, grate the ginger, measure out the spices, and cut the carrots. Then you can start to cook and prep as you go, and you’ll stay ahead of it—even if you have to pick through the spinach. To prep the onion, slice in half end to end and then cut into ½-inch-thick slices. Cut the carrots into ¼-inch-thick rounds, half-rounds, or quarters, depending on the diameter of the carrots. Same with the zucchini. Chop the bell pepper into roughly 1-inch pieces.

In a large covered skillet or soup pot on low heat, warm the oil. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, and salt and cook for 5 minutes. Increase the heat to medium, add the spices, and stir for a minute or two. Add the carrots and 1½ cups of water and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer gently for 3 or 4 minutes. Add the bell peppers and zucchini, stir well, cover, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the tomatoes, cover, and cook until the tomatoes have begun to release liquid. Stir in the corn and cook, covered, for 5 minutes. Add the spinach and cilantro and stir until the spinach has wilted but is still bright green. Serve right away.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve on rice topped with yogurt, currants, and cashews.

Instead of yogurt, try Spinach Raita, instead of currants try Quick Banana Chutney, or Date-Coconut-Lemon Chutney.

Winter Curry

All winter long, we serve some version of this curry at least once a week. The vegetables we choose may include cauliflower, winter squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, eggplant, spinach, carrots, bell peppers, chickpeas, tomatoes, and green peas. Once in a while, we’ll put lots of different vegetables into the curry, but usually, we like to keep it more simple, with just two or three major players.

However, we love a complex spice mixture in a winter curry. That aroma of Indian spices is warming and gives a sense of well-being. The spices in this recipe reflect what we usually do in the restaurant. But, we realize that at home you might not keep all of these spices on hand—if you don’t include a couple of the spices, the curry will still be good—just a little different.

In the winter, we crave green and we almost always garnish a curry with barely cooked, still bright, green peas. The peas aren’t simply a decoration; besides looking beautiful as an accent to the other colors, the peas also add sweetness and an interesting mouthfeel. The toppings we suggest for serving are more than mere garnishes, but you don’t have to have all of them.

Yields 10 cups

Serves 6 to 8

Time: 1 hour

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

½ teaspoon black mustard seeds

2 cups chopped onions

3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1½ teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

2 teaspoons ground cumin seeds

2 teaspoons ground coriander seeds

½ teaspoon ground cardamom seeds

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground fennel seeds

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes or ¼ teaspoon cayenne (more or less to taste)

2 teaspoons ground turmeric

5 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash or sweet potatoes (¾-inch pieces) (about 2 pounds, whole)

6 cups cauliflower florets

1 cup water

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

3 cups chopped fresh tomatoes or one 15-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (optional)

2 cups green peas

In a large pot on medium heat, warm the oil. Add the mustard seeds and when they begin to pop, add the onions, garlic, salt, and ginger and stir well. Cover and cook on low heat for 5 minutes. Stir in the spices and continue to cook, covered, until the onions are very soft, about 5 minutes. Add the squash and stir well. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the cauliflower and stir well. Stir in the water and coconut milk and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and simmer until the vegetables are tender. Add lemon juice to taste.

Right before you serve the curry, steam the green peas until bright green and just tender.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve the curry on a bed of rice, topped with the peas and a dollop of plain yogurt and sprinkled with currants and toasted cashews.

For a dinner party, serve the curry and rice in large bowls garnished with chopped cilantro and/or scallions, and serve Lentil Dhal, Spinach Raita, and Date-Coconut-Lemon Chutney or banana or mango slices, in smaller serving bowls surrounding them. Crisp and flavorful pappadums are a wonderful addition. You can find them in the Indian section of supermarkets. In a large skillet, quickly fry each pappadum in a ¼-inch of hot oil, a couple of seconds each side, turn them with tongs and transfer to paper towels to drain.

Caribbean Stew

This is a bright and spicy stew with layers of flavor. Besides being a joy to dine upon, Caribbean Stew is packed with nutrients and antioxidants from all those beautiful sweet potatoes, cabbage, peppers, and kale.

Yields: 7 cups

Serves 4

Time: 1 hour

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1½ cups chopped onions

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons peeled and grated fresh ginger (see Variations)

1 fresh hot pepper, minced

2 cups chopped cabbage

1½ cups seeded and chopped bell peppers (any color) (¾-inch pieces)

several fresh thyme sprigs or ½ teaspoon dried thyme

2 cups peeled and cubed sweet potatoes (¾-inch cubes)

one 15-ounce can diced tomatoes

3 cups finely chopped kale

1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Warm the oil in a covered soup pot on low heat. Add the onions with the salt, the nutmeg, black pepper, ginger, and hot peppers and thyme, if using dried, and cook for 10 minutes, or until the onions are translucent. Stir in the cabbage and bell peppers, cover, and cook for another 10 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes and enough water to just cover them, 1 or 2 cups. If using fresh thyme, tie the springs into a little bundle with kitchen string and add it to the pot. Bring to a boil and cook at a rapid simmer for 10 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are tender. Add the tomatoes, kale, lime zest, lime juice, and cilantro and simmer for a final 10 minutes. Remove and discard the thyme sprigs.

VARIATIONS

• We almost always use fresh ginger in our savory dishes. Joan Adler, a Moosewood cook who has a very discriminating palate, found when she was well into prepping vegetables for this stew that she didn’t have enough fresh ginger at home. So she forged ahead with the ground ginger she had in her cupboard, and it worked! So in a pinch, in some dishes like this one, we know that you can substitute dried ginger for grated fresh ginger. Use 1 teaspoon dried ginger.

• Add 1 cup sliced fresh or frozen okra when you add the kale.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve on a bed of rice, Coconut Rice, or Annatto Rice topped with toasted and salted peanuts or cashews, or tofu baked in a Jerk Sauce or the cilantro version of Lemon-Herb Baked Tofu.

Eggplant Mykonos

This handsome and healthful vegetable stew can be the centerpiece of a Mediterranean meal. Make a little cucumber salad while the Mykonos simmers. Put some olives on the table and uncork a nice red wine. Have wedges of watermelon for dessert.

If you plan to serve Mykonos on rice, start it first.

Yields 8 cups

Serves 6 to 8

Time: 45 minutes

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups chopped onions

4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground fennel seeds

6 cups cubed eggplant (¾-inch cubes) (1 medium eggplant, about 1½ pounds)

2 cups seeded and chopped red and/or green bell peppers

one 28-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 cup water

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

3 cups coarsely chopped spinach (6 ounces)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Warm the oil in a covered soup pot on low heat. Add the onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, if using, and salt and cook until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the ground fennel and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the eggplant cubes and cook for 8 to 9 minutes, stirring often. Add the bell peppers, tomatoes, and water, cover the pot, and simmer, stirring frequently, until the eggplant is soft and tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the black pepper, spinach, lemon juice, and dill and simmer for a couple of minutes until the spinach has wilted but is still bright green.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve Eggplant Mykonos on rice, couscous, bulghur, or orzo and top with crumbled feta or chevre cheese.

Start with Olivada on crostini. On the side, serve Tzatziki, Middle Eastern Carrot Salad with Mint, or Cucumbers Vinaigrette. Have some Baklava or fruit for dessert.

Groundnut Stew

Groundnut stew is a staple of West Africa and a favorite at Moosewood Restaurant. It’s a good everyday supper, a thick stew to serve on a bed of rice, couscous, polenta, grits, millet, or even quinoa. We want to thank Judy Barringer, inveterate traveler, founder of Moosewood Restaurant, and a Moosewood cook, for opening our eyes and palates to the flavors of Africa.

The amount of cayenne or red pepper flakes listed makes a moderately hot dish; add more or less to taste. And of course, you could always use fresh hot peppers. Tomatoes slow down the cooking of sweet potatoes, so check that the sweet potatoes have begun to soften before adding the tomatoes. You can make groundnut stew with fewer or more vegetables than listed, and the amounts can be a little more or less. So go ahead and use that whole zucchini—unless it’s a giant.

Yields about 11 cups

Serves 6 to 8

Time: 55 minutes

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cups chopped onions

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground coriander seeds

2 tablespoons peeled and grated fresh ginger

¼ teaspoon cayenne or ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes or 2 teaspoons Tabasco

3 cups peeled and cubed sweet potatoes (1-inch pieces)

3 cups chopped cabbage

1 cup chopped zucchini or yellow summer squash

1 red or green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 cups water

one 28-ounce can diced tomatoes

¾ cup peanut butter

one 8-ounce can unsweetened, undrained crushed pineapple

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Warm the oil in a covered soup pot on low heat. Add the onions, garlic, and salt and cook while you begin to prep the vegetables. After about 10 minutes, stir in the coriander, ginger, and cayenne. Increase the heat to medium and add the sweet potatoes, cabbage, zucchini, and bell peppers as you prep them, stirring well after each addition and adding a splash of water, if needed, to prevent sticking. Add the water, stir well, and increase the heat. Simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes, then stir in about half of the tomatoes. Simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.

Whirl the remaining tomatoes and the peanut butter in a blender until smooth. Stir into the stew along with the pineapple and cilantro and return to a simmer. Add lemon juice and salt to taste.

VARIATIONS

• Stir in some chopped greens. Add substantial greens such as collards and kale near the end of the first simmer, or add more tender greens such as mustard greens and spinach just before the peanut butter.

• Add 2 cups whole or chopped okra.

• Pineapple gives groundnut stew a luscious sweetness, but it’s fine without.

• If you have leftovers, you can convert groundnut stew to a nice peanut soup: just purée with some water to a nice, smooth consistency and reheat. Serve with a hot sauce.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve on rice, couscous, or other grain listed in the headnote. Top with chopped scallions and serve with baked tofu or hard-boiled eggs.

Moroccan Vegetable Stew

Colorful, aromatic, and sweet, this stew was introduced to the restaurant by Moosewood cook and menu planner Joan Adler after she discovered Paula Wolfert’s books on North African cooking. That was back in the ’70s. Paula Wolfert was Joan’s bedtime reading for weeks.

Having a big pot of slowly simmering aromatic vegetables in the kitchen is a wonderful thing. Stews with eggplant and sweet potatoes are vulnerable to scorching—frequent stirring, adequate liquid, a tight-fitting lid, low heat, and patience will do the trick. A heavy-bottomed pot or a flame tamer is helpful, too.

Yields 8 cups

Serves 6 to 8

Time: about 1 hour

¼ cup olive oil

2 cups chopped onions

½ teaspoon salt

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon cayenne or red pepper flakes

½ teaspoon paprika (sweet, hot, or smoked)

4 cups peeled and cubed sweet potatoes (1-inch cubes) (2 large, about 1½ pounds)

1½ cups water

one 15-ounce can diced tomatoes

3 cups cubed eggplant (¾-inch cubes) (one 1-pound whole eggplant)

1 cup seeded and chopped bell peppers (any color)

2 cups chopped zucchini or yellow squash

one 15-ounce can chickpeas, undrained (about 1½ cups beans)

pinch of saffron

½ cup currants or raisins

1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

In a stew pot, warm the olive oil on medium-low heat. Add the onions and salt, and cook, covered, for 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, turmeric, cinnamon, cayenne, and paprika, cover, and cook for 3 or 4 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes, stir in the water, bring to a vigorous simmer, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and eggplant, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the bell peppers, zucchini, chickpeas, saffron, and currants. Cover and simmer, stirring often, until the sweet potatoes and eggplant are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in lemon juice to taste.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve on couscous or with toasted pita bread. Top Moroccan Stew with chopped toasted almonds and wedges of hard-cooked egg. A sprinkling of finely chopped parsley or scallions also looks pretty.

Navajo Stew

Warm colors and a smoky flavor make this simple stew a completely satisfying meal. This is one of the most requested recipes on our Facebook page and we love telling people how easy it is to prepare. If you love cilantro, be sure to make Cilantro-Yogurt Sauce, it is an awesome topping!

Yields 8 cups

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 45 minutes

2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil

2 cups chopped onions

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1 red, green, or orange bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 tablespoon ground cumin seeds

2 teaspoons ground coriander seeds

4 cups peeled and cubed sweet potatoes (1-inch cubes) (1½ pounds whole)

2 cups water

one 15-ounce can diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons canned chipotles in adobo sauce

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro

1½ cups cooked black beans or red beans (one 15-ounce can, rinsed and drained)

1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels (optional)

Warm the oil in a covered soup pot on low heat. Add the onions, garlic, and salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in the bell peppers, cumin, and coriander and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the sweet potatoes and water, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, purée the tomatoes, chipotles, and cilantro in a blender.

When the vegetables are tender, stir in the tomato purée and the beans. Add corn, if you like. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Top each serving with Cilantro-Yogurt Sauce, plain yogurt, or sour cream, or shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese. Serve this stew with cornbread (see here and here), flatbread, or tortilla chips. Also nice on rice.

Andean Vegetable Stew on Quinoa

Quinoa cooks up light and fluffy and makes a perfect companion for this saucy, spicy stew with its warm flavor and fragrant spices.

Quinoa is a high-protein, gluten-free grain from the Andes, with a nutty flavor. It’s a good idea to rinse quinoa under cool running water before cooking, because it has a naturally occurring bitter coating that is mostly removed during processing—rinsing removes any remaining bitterness.

Yields 3 cups quinoa; 6 cups stew

Serves 4

Time: 50 minutes

QUINOA

1 cup quinoa

1 teaspoon vegetable oil or olive oil

1^1⁄3 cups water

½ teaspoon salt

STEW

2 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil

1½ cups chopped onions

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 cup chopped carrots

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds

1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or ¼ teaspoon cayenne, or 1 fresh hot pepper, minced

1 bell pepper, (any color), seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces

1½ cups chopped zucchini or yellow squash

1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

one 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, or 3 cups chopped fresh tomatoes

1 cup water or stock

shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese (optional)

In a fine-mesh strainer, rinse the quinoa well under cool running water. Place the drained quinoa in a saucepan on medium-high heat. Add a teaspoon of oil and stir to coat. Continuing to stir, cook for a minute, then add the water and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the water has been absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir with a fork to fluff the quinoa and set aside.

While the quinoa simmers, in a saucepan on medium-high heat, warm the oil. Add the onions and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the carrots and salt and continue to cook, stirring often, for another 5 minutes. Add the cumin, coriander, oregano, and red pepper flakes and cook for a minute, stirring constantly to prevent the spices from scorching. Add the bell peppers, zucchini, corn, tomatoes, and water or stock. Bring to a rapid simmer, reduce the heat, cover, and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Season with more salt to taste.

Serve the stew on a bed of the quinoa. Top with cheddar or jack cheese, if you like. Sprigs of cilantro or chopped scallions make a pretty garnish.

VARIATIONS

• This combination of vegetables is what we like at Moosewood, but you could omit something, like the zucchini or corn, and add more of something else. Diced potatoes are fine, or some black beans or red beans.

• Stir in some chopped fresh cilantro.

• Make the stew spicy or not by adjusting the amount of hot peppers, red pepper flakes, or cayenne.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve the cilantro version of Lemon-Herb Baked Tofu on top of this stew in addition to or instead of cheese.

Green Bean, Potato, and Fennel Ragout

This stew is fragrant with flavors of southern France: thyme, tarragon, saffron, and orange. It is a popular weekend stew at the restaurant. It’s such a pleasant and delicious stew that we think of it again and again, in all seasons.

We find a lot of variation in the amount of time needed to cook green beans to the perfect tenderness, sometimes having to do with the particular variety and sometimes with their freshness. We suggest you taste them often to determine when they are just the way you like them. In the restaurant, because we are making such large quantities, we often steam green beans separately and add them when we are ready to serve. The ragout will be even more colorful if you use unpeeled red-skinned potatoes.

Yields 8 cups

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 1 hour

2 leeks

1 medium to large fennel bulb

4 cups cubed potatoes

1 pound green beans

several fresh thyme sprigs

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups water or stock

1½ teaspoons salt

1 orange

one 15-ounce can diced tomatoes

generous pinch of saffron

2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon or 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

First, prep the vegetables. Chop the white and tender green parts of the leeks (about 1½ cups). Cut the fennel bulb into ¼-inch slices and then cut the slices to about an inch long (about 2 cups). Cut potatoes into stew-size chunks. Trim the green beans and cut into 2-inch pieces (about 3 ½ cups). Tie the sprigs of thyme into a little bundle with kitchen string.

In a stew pot, sauté the leeks in the oil for 4 minutes. Stir in the fennel and potatoes and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring often. Add the water, bundle of thyme, salt, and green beans, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. While the stew simmers, zest and juice the orange. Add the tomatoes, orange zest, and saffron, bring back to a simmer, and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the orange juice, fresh tarragon or basil, and black pepper. Before serving, remove and discard the thyme springs.

VARIATIONS

• Substitute chopped onions for the leeks.

• Substitute ½ teaspoon dried thyme for the fresh thyme. Add with the fennel.

• Use 2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes instead of canned.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with crusty bread and Brie. Or serve on a bed of couscous, and top with crumbled chèvre.

Ratatouille

A timeless, French classic which puts the bounty of late summer to good use. But you can make it in winter, too, since most of the vegetables are available then, and it will make you think of summer. Ratatouille satisfies as a main dish or a side.

Some fresh herbs are a must and you can vary your ratatouille by choosing a different herb or herb combination each time you make it. This dish improves with time, so don’t hesitate to make it a day or two ahead.

Yields 8 cups

Serves 6

Total time: 50 minutes

1 medium eggplant (about 1½ pounds), peeled and cubed (about 6 cups)

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 large onion, coarsely chopped (about 2 cups)

3 garlic cloves, chopped

½ teaspoon dried oregano and/or ground fennel seeds

2 red and/or yellow bell peppers, seeded and chopped (about 3 cups)

2 cups chopped zucchini

¼ cup red wine

one 28-ounce can diced tomatoes

ground black pepper

3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil or 1 to 2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

In a large bowl, toss the eggplant cubes with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the salt. Spread the eggplant cubes out on a rimmed baking sheet and roast until the eggplant is soft, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

While the eggplant roasts, warm the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot on medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, oregano and/or fennel, and a sprinkling of salt, and cook, stirring often, until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir in the bell peppers and zucchini and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring to prevent sticking. Stir in the roasted eggplant, red wine, and tomatoes and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Season with black pepper and more salt to taste. Stir in the basil or tarragon just before serving.

VARIATIONS

• If the eggplant skin is nice, peel it in strips, because the black shiny skin looks nice.

• Of course, in keeping with summer’s bounty, fresh tomatoes can be used, about 4 cups chopped.

• Add green beans or substitute yellow summer squash for the zucchini.

• Make the ratatouille with thyme or rosemary.

SERVING IDEAS

Serve topped with grated, shredded, or crumbled cheese such as Parmesan, cheddar, Fontina, feta, or chèvre. Serve in a bowl with crusty rustic bread, or on rice or couscous.

Jambalaya

The roux makes this a fabulous rich and flavorful stew.

Cajun brown roux are easy to make if you have patience and a good stirring wrist. As you stir and cook a Cajun roux, it goes through three stages: off-white, golden brown, and dark brown. Each has a distinct flavor. For this recipe, we’re going for golden brown, about the color of peanut butter, which takes about 30 minutes of stirring. That seems like a lot, but it can be satisfying, and there’s no other way to get that wonderful nutty flavor.

Yields 10 cups

Serves 8

Time: 1 hour

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups chopped onions

3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon cayenne, or more to taste

1½ cups chopped celery

2 cups chopped carrots

2 cups seeded and chopped bell peppers (any color)

2 cups cubed zucchini

2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes

10 ounces frozen baby okra, whole or sliced

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

4 cups water

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

BROWN ROUX

1⁄3 cup olive oil or vegetable oil

½ cup unbleached white all-purpose flour

In a covered soup pot on low heat, warm the oil. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, salt, and cayenne and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the onion are soft. Stir in the celery, carrots, bell peppers, and zucchini and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, okra, thyme, and water and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Stir in the basil and black pepper.

While the jambalaya simmers, make the roux: In a heavy skillet on medium-high heat, warm the oil to just below the smoking point. Test the temperature by sprinkling a pinch of the flour onto the hot oil. If it spreads out, the temperature is fine. If it smokes, the temperature is too high and you should reduce the heat. Whisk in the flour to form a paste. Reduce the heat to low and stir constantly with a wooden spoon. That’s very low. Don’t be tempted to try to speed up the process by increasing the heat. It won’t work. If the roux burns even slightly, it will be bitter, and you’ll have to throw it out and start over. So be patient; this is a process and you can’t rush it. The roux will slowly darken, and a nutty flavor will develop. The medium-brown roux we want is about the color of peanut butter and will take between 20 and 30 minutes of cooking and stirring.

Remove it from the heat and let it cool for at least 5 minutes. Then whisk a couple of ladles of broth from the stew into the roux and continue to whisk until it is smooth.

Stir the roux back into the jambalaya and simmer for 5 more minutes.

SERVING IDEAS

Serve Jambalaya on rice or with crusty bread. Top with smoked cheese to keep those Cajun flavors going.

BEANS

Cuban Black Beans

Caribbean Black-eyed Peas

Caribbean Red Beans

Our Best Chili

Habas Verdes con Queso

Basque Beans

Greek Lemon-Mint Beans and Vegetables

Creole Red Beans

Ghanaian White Beans and Vegetables with Fiery Pepper Sauce

Beans and Greens

Cuban Black Beans

We have probably made these beans thousands of times at home and at the restaurant. This is a good, basic recipe which can be altered by adding your favorite seasonings—chipotle peppers, thyme, oregano, cilantro, smoked paprika. If you have leftovers, you can easily transform them into a soup by adding tomato and orange juice.

Yields 7 cups

Serves 6 to 8

Time: 45 minutes

3 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1½ cups finely chopped onions

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cumin seeds

1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup seeded and diced bell peppers (any color)

one 15-ounce can diced tomatoes

three 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained (about 4½ cups)

1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest

½ cup fresh orange juice

Warm the oil in a large skillet or soup pot on medium heat. Add the garlic, onions, red pepper flakes, and salt and cook, covered, for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the cumin, coriander, and carrots, cover, and cook for 3 or 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the bell peppers and cook, covered, for 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until all of the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the black beans and orange zest and juice. Cover and simmer until hot, about 5 minutes.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

We like to serve Cuban Black Beans on Annatto Rice with Smooth Hot Sauce. It’s good topped with Cilantro-Yogurt Sauce or Chipotle Cream or simply with a dollop of sour cream.

Caribbean Black-eyed Peas

When it’s summertime, we think of this as a hot weather dish. In the winter, we want it because it will both warm us up and make us think of more tropical climates. On New Year’s Day, we want to eat black-eyed peas for good luck, and this is a delicious way to do that.

Yields 4 cups

Serves 6

Time: 40 minutes

2 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil

2 cups chopped onions

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 heaping tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme, or a scant ½ teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon ground allspice

4 cups cooked black-eyed peas, see Note (or three 15-ounce cans, rinsed and drained)

1 cup orange juice

Salt

ground black pepper

Warm the oil in a large skillet or saucepan on medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook for about 6 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are golden and soft. Add the ginger, thyme, and allspice and cook for 5 minutes. Add the drained cooked black-eyed peas and the orange juice and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

NOTE

For this recipe cook 2 cups of dried black-eyed peas in 4 to 5 cups of water until tender. The cooking time varies with different batches of dried peas. When soaked for a few hours, they usually cook in about 30 minutes. You can cook them without soaking, also; it usually takes 45 minutes to an hour, sometimes longer.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve Caribbean Black-eyed Peas on a bed of Annatto Rice and top with Mango Salsa and maybe a dollop of sour cream.

Caribbean Red Beans

A colorful combination of red and green. Kale makes this dish handsome. It’s a complete meal, although a crisp salad is always nice.

Yields 6 cups

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 55 minutes

2 tablespoons olive oil

1½ cups diced onions

4 garlic cloves, minced

½ to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes or 1 minced fresh hot pepper

½ teaspoon ground allspice

½ teaspoon dried thyme

one 28-ounce can diced tomatoes

two 15-ounce cans red kidney beans or small red beans, rinsed and drained (about 3 cups)

3 cups stemmed, rinsed, and chopped kale

Warm the oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Add the onions and cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, allspice, and thyme. Lower the heat, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are very soft, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and beans and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir in the chopped kale and cook until the kale is just tender and still bright green, 5 to 10 minutes. Add salt to taste.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve the red beans on a bed of rice, preferably Coconut Rice, and top with Cilantro-Yogurt Sauce, Chipotle Cream, avocado slices, or Simple Smooth Guacamole. Garnish with some cilantro sprigs.

Our Best Chili

February is frigid in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. To counter the cold weather blues and blahs, Ithaca holds a Chili Fest. Local restaurants, caterers, and carry-outs showcase their favorite chilis, and happy consumers taste their way through the numerous chili stalls, imbibe local microbrews, and try to stay astride the mechanical bull. Sated, the people then vote for the “best” chili in a set of categories. We don’t mind mentioning that Moosewood has won first place three times in the vegetarian category.

We like this festive yellow, red, orange, and black chili topped with Chipotle Cream; it’s also really delicious with Cilantro-Yogurt Sauce.

Yields 8 cups

Time: about 1 hour

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup chopped onions

3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup diced carrots

2 cups seeded and chopped red bell peppers

1 fresh hot pepper, seeded and minced

1½ tablespoons ground cumin seeds

1 tablespoon ground coriander seeds

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

one 28-ounce can diced tomatoes

one 15-ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

one 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained

Warm the oil in a covered soup pot on low heat. Add the onions, garlic, and salt, and cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the carrots and bell peppers, increase the heat to medium-high and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the hot peppers, cumin, coriander, and oregano and cook for 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally so the spices won’t stick.

Add the corn, tomatoes, kidney beans, and black beans. Bring the chili to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer, stirring often, for at least 30 minutes.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Top each bowl of chili with a dollop of Cilantro-Yogurt Sauce; it’s both beautiful and delicious.

Serve with a simple green salad and Moosewood Restaurant’s House Cornbread, Vegan Cornbread, or tortilla chips.

Habas Verdes con Queso

Both creamy and spicy, this lima bean and vegetable dish has been a perennial favorite at the restaurant since the very early days, and it’s a great unfussy dish for home, too. It’s economical and easy, and a lot of fun to eat with crisp corn tortilla chips as your utensils.

At the restaurant, we make Habas Verdes with dried limas. It’s creamy beige, and although you come upon a whole lima occasionally as you eat it, most of the limas break down, soft and mushy. At home, we sometimes make it with canned butter beans or limas to save time. Not exactly the same dish but also good.

Yields about 7 cups

Serves 6 to 8

Time: 40 minutes

4 cups cooked lima beans or butter beans (see Note)

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

2 cups chopped onions

½ teaspoon salt

3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1½ cups diced carrots

1½ cups seeded and diced green and/or red bell peppers

1 fresh hot pepper, minced or ½ teaspoon cayenne

one 15-ounce can diced tomatoes or 1½ cups chopped fresh tomatoes

2 teaspoons ground cumin seeds

1 teaspoon sweet paprika (optional)

6 ounces cream cheese

corn tortilla chips

Drain freshly cooked beans, or rinse and drain canned beans. Set the beans aside.

Warm the oil in a covered saucepan on medium-low heat. Add the onions, salt, and garlic and cook until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the carrots, cover, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the bell peppers and hot peppers and cook, covered, for about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, cumin, and paprika, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add the beans and heat thoroughly. Cut the cream cheese into several chunks and add to the bean mixture. Stir until the cream cheese melts. Add salt to taste.

Surround individual serving bowls of Habas Verdes con Queso with enough tortilla chips to serve as scoops.

NOTE

2 cups of dried limas yields about 4 cups cooked. (See here for cooking directions.) Three 15-ounce cans of butter beans or lima beans, drained, yield about 4 cups.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Garnish with fresh cilantro and pass your favorite hot sauce at the table for those who like it spicier. Good with crisp Lime-Cilantro Slaw or some Quick Sautéed Greens. Habas Verdes is also a good appetizer or snack.

Basque Beans

You won’t find a dish like this in a compendium of classic Basque dishes, but our palates are drawn to the marriage of French and Spanish cuisines that underlie Basque gastronomy. We’ve combined the Basque favorites of leeks, white beans, hot peppers, and sherry with spinach and tomatoes to create a colorful repast. Sausage is another favorite ingredient—we add fennel seeds to suggest its fragrance and flavor.

Yields 5 cups

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 45 minutes

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 cups chopped leeks (4 medium leeks) (see here)

4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes or ½ fresh hot pepper, minced

½ teaspoon ground fennel seed

¼ teaspoon crushed or crumbled saffron threads

½ cup dry sherry

one 15-ounce can diced tomatoes

one 15-ounce can cannellini or butter beans, undrained

4 cups fresh baby spinach (6 ounces)

ground black pepper

Warm the olive oil in a skillet or soup pot on medium-low heat. Add the leeks, garlic, and salt, and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes, fennel, and saffron, and cook, stirring constantly, until the leeks have softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sherry, tomatoes, and beans. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the spinach a handful at a time and cook until it has wilted. Add black pepper to taste.

VARIATION

• Use 2 cups chopped onions instead of leeks.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

We often top Basque Beans with feta, Parmesan, or ricotta salata cheese and serve it on Polenta, Cheesy and Vegan. You could also put it on rice, couscous, bulghur, or pasta. Or, serve it in a bowl with rustic bread.

Greek Lemon-Mint Beans and Vegetables

This dish is simple, hearty comfort food with lots of great flavor. Please improvise—add rosemary instead of dill, or green beans instead of zucchini, for example. However, we promise that if you just make the recipe as is, you will enjoy an easily prepared, completely satisfying supper.

Yields 8 cups

Serves 6 to 8

Time: 45 minutes

1½ cups chopped onions

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups diced carrots

1½ cups seeded and diced red or green bell peppers

2 cups diced zucchini

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

one 14-ounce can artichoke hearts in brine, drained and chopped

one 15-ounce can white beans, rinsed and drained (1½ cups)

one 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, or 2 cups diced fresh tomatoes

2 tablespoons minced fresh mint, or 2 teaspoons dried

1 tablespoon minced fresh dill

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

salt

ground black pepper

In a large covered skillet or soup pot on medium-low heat, cook the onions, garlic, and salt in the oil until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the carrots and bell peppers and continue to cook for about 3 minutes, or until the carrots begin to soften. Add the zucchini and red pepper flakes and dried mint, if using, and cook for about 3 minutes. Stir in the artichoke hearts, beans, and tomatoes, cover, and simmer until all the vegetables are tender but still brightly colored, about 10 minutes. Stir in the fresh mint, if using, and the dill and lemon juice. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. You may want more mint and dill.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve on a bed of orzo, couscous, or rice, topped with feta cheese or chèvre. You don’t really need anything else, except maybe a salad.

Creole Red Beans

Creole Red Beans is a spectacular dish that’s simple to make. It’s a very linear recipe. You get started, and then if you work along at a steady but relaxed pace, each thing leads into the next until you have a pot of beans simmering on the back of the stove for a few minutes while you grate some cheese or make a nice salad.

In the restaurant, we always serve Creole Red Beans on brown rice—if you want to, too, remember to start the rice first.

Yields 5 cups

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 45 minutes

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cups chopped onions

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 cup diced celery

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup diced carrots

½ teaspoon ground allspice

1½ cups seeded and diced bell peppers (any color)

one 6-ounce can tomato paste

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

¼ cup brown sugar

two 15-ounce cans small red beans or red kidney beans, rinsed and drained (3 cups)

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

Warm the oil in a pot on medium-high heat. Add the onions, oregano, and red pepper flakes and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the celery and 1 teaspoon of the salt and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the carrots and allspice, cover, and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the bell peppers, cover, and cook for 5 minutes.

While the vegetables cook, in a small bowl, stir together the tomato paste, mustard, vinegar, sugar, and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Add this sauce and the beans to the pot, cover, and simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Stir in the black pepper.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve on brown rice, topped with grated cheddar or smoked cheese or sour cream and/or Cucumber-Tomato Salsa. We also like to serve Creole Beans with sautéed kale or collards (see here).

Ghanaian White Beans and Vegetables with Fiery Pepper Sauce

Although we regularly serve this dish in the restaurant, we’ve never published a recipe for it. To reduce the quantity for home cooks and develop the recipe we give you here, we referred to an oil-stained, ragged, and yellowed handwritten recipe that cooks in the Moosewood kitchen have been using for about twenty years.

Annatto oil gives the dish a golden hue, and its flavor is somewhat reminiscent of the distinctively flavored red palm oil widely used in West Africa. We use it in both the beans and the fiery sauce. But, it’s OK to skip the annatto and use plain vegetable oil—it just won’t be our favorite Ghanaian White Beans.

We consider Fiery Pepper Sauce integral to the dish. It is unique, looks like a relish, and in hotness should live up to its name. But if you don’t want to fool with it, the beans and vegetables would be good with your favorite hot sauce, too. And in that case, we’d add some thyme to the beans. You can make Fiery Pepper Sauce while the beans and vegetables simmer or ahead of time. It will keep refrigerated for several days.

Yields about 10 cups beans; about 2 cups Fiery Pepper Sauce

Serves 6

Time: 1 hour

ANNATTO OIL

4½ tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon annatto seeds

BEANS AND VEGETABLES

2 cups chopped onions

1 cup diced celery

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons annatto oil or vegetable oil

1 cup diced carrots

2 cups diced zucchini

1 to 2 cups seeded and diced red bell peppers

one 28-ounce can diced tomatoes

two 15-ounce cans small white beans, rinsed and drained (3 cups)

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 lime or lemon

FIERY PEPPER SAUCE

2 green bell peppers, seeded and roughly chopped

1 large onion, roughly chopped (about 2 cups)

2 fresh hot peppers, chopped

2 tablespoons annatto oil or vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons red pepper flakes or ½ teaspoon cayenne

To make the annatto oil: In a small pan on medium heat, warm the oil and annatto seeds, swirling the oil frequently until hot. The oil will be a rich reddish color. Be careful not to scorch. Strain the annatto seeds out of the oil and discard them.

To make the beans and vegetables, in a covered soup pot on medium heat, cook the onions, celery, garlic, and salt in the annatto oil for 5 minutes. Stir in the carrots and cook for 5 minutes. Add the zucchini and bell peppers and cook for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, bring to a low boil, and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the white beans and cilantro and return to a simmer. Zest the lime or lemon and juice it. Add the zest and juice, and simmer for at least 10 minutes more.

To make the Fiery Pepper Sauce: In a food processor, whirl the bell peppers, onions, and hot peppers until there are no large pieces, but it is not fully puréed. In a large heavy skillet, warm the oil on medium-high heat. Carefully add the processed peppers and onions including the juice; it will splatter in the hot oil. Stir in the salt and red pepper flakes. Cook, uncovered, stirring frequently, for about 15 minutes, or until very soft. As the sauce thickens, you may need to lower the heat to prevent scorching.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve the beans and vegetables on a bed of rice or Annatto Rice, topped with a generous dollop of Fiery Pepper Sauce.

Beans and Greens

Beans and greens together are a soulful combination in many ethnic cuisines. This simple, earthy dish from southern Italy is light, fresh, nutritious, and always satisfying. In every season. And so quick. Almost any kind of beans work here, but butter beans are our favorite because their mild creaminess goes well with lemon. For escarole, you could substitute curly endive, mizuna, kale, or broccoli rabe.

You can make the beans ahead of time (refrigerate if it will be a while before you serve), but the greens are best cooked at the last minute.

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 20 minutes

BEANS

two 15-ounce cans butter beans, rinsed and drained (3 cups)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

salt

ground black pepper

GREENS

1 large head escarole (about 1 pound)

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

4 to 6 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

salt

ground black pepper

To make the beans: In a food processor, pulse the beans, lemon juice, and olive oil until well blended, but not puréed. Add the red pepper flakes, if using, and season with salt and black pepper to taste. Set aside.

To make the greens: Rinse the escarole well and shake or pat almost dry. Chop the escarole coarsely, cutting through the leaves in two directions. In a large skillet on medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook for just a minute, or until golden. Add some of the greens and stir, and then as the greens in the pan begin to wilt, add more until they’re all in the pan. Increase the heat and cook, stirring frequently, until the greens are wilted and bright green, just a couple of minutes. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

Serve Beans and Greens, side by side, on a platter and accompany with crusty bread. The beans can be served at room temperature, chilled, or hot. The greens should be cooked right before serving.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with olives and fresh mozzarella and tomatoes (see here). To make crostini, spread the beans on toasted slices of Italian or French bread and top with the greens. Beans and Greens can also be served as an antipasto before pasta with Tomato-Basil Sauce or Puttanesca Sauce. Or, toss the beans and greens with pasta and top with a drizzle of olive oil and some Parmesan. Fresh fruit is the perfect dessert, maybe sliced melon or juicy pears or grapes.

FRITTATAS AND PIES

Mushroom Frittata

Spanish-style Tortilla

Fritada de Espinaca

Caramelized Onion Pie

Mushroom Piroshki

Pizza Rustica

Mushroom Frittata

Frittatas are so versatile. They’re good hot, at room temperature, and even cold. Serve them for dinner, lunch, brunch, breakfast. They’re perfect for picnics, dish-to-pass meals, and sandwich fillings. Almost every vegetable is a candidate for a frittata, and most cheeses work well.

In this recipe, we infuse the milk for the custard with fresh thyme because it’s such a nice and easy way to deal with those twiggy sprigs and we love the flavor of thyme. But if you don’t have fresh thyme, check out the variations for how to use dried.

Serves 6 to 8

Prep time: 50 minutes

Baking time: 50 minutes

2 cups milk

2 or 3 sprigs fresh thyme

2 large potatoes, sliced ½ inch thick (about 3 cups sliced)

4 tablespoons olive oil

6 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

salt

3 cups sliced mushrooms (12 ounces whole)

2 cups sliced onions

½ cup seeded and sliced bell peppers (optional) (any color)

6 large eggs

3 ounces cream cheese

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese (2 ounces)

½ cup shredded smoked cheddar cheese (2 ounces)

Warm the milk and sprigs of thyme in a small sauce pan on low heat to just below a simmer; do not boil. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly oil two rimmed baking sheets and a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking pan.

In a bowl, toss the potato slices with 2 tablespoons of the oil and half of the garlic. Spread out in an even layer on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt, and roast for about 20 minutes, until tender.

In the same bowl, toss the mushrooms, onions, and bell peppers, if using, with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and garlic. Spread out in an even layer on the second baking sheet and roast until tender, about 15 minutes.

While the vegetables roast, make the custard. Remove the thyme sprigs from the milk; it’s fine if some leaves are left floating in the milk, but be sure to fish out and discard the twigs. In a blender, whirl the thyme-infused milk and the eggs, cream cheese, mustard, salt, and black pepper until smooth.

When the vegetables come out of the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Layer the potatoes in the prepared baking pan. Spread the onions, mushrooms, and bell peppers, if using, on top of the potatoes. Sprinkle with the shredded cheeses. Pour the custard over all.

Bake for about 50 minutes, or until the custard is set and the top is golden brown. Serve hot or at room temperature.

VARIATIONS

• If you want to use dried thyme instead of fresh, add 1 teaspoon of dried thyme to the onions and mushrooms before roasting.

• Use different vegetables: asparagus, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, eggplant, sun-dried tomatoes, kale, chard, spinach …

• Experiment with different cheeses: Fontina, Gruyère, Swiss, Jack, Havarti …

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with Cucumbers Vinaigrette, Beet Salad, or Tomato, Cucumber, and Artichoke Heart Salad on the side. Or, try it with Roasted Brussels Sprouts or Roasted Cauliflower.

Spanish-style Tortilla

Over the years, Moosewood Restaurant has held numerous brunches for the benefit of various local and not-so-local organizations. Our cooks, waiters, bartenders, and dishwashers donate their time on Sunday morning, when the restaurant is normally closed, to prepare and serve the meal. The organization does the publicity and sells tickets, usually on a sliding scale, and we do the rest. We’ve held brunches for groups as varied as the Ithaca Free Clinic, CUSLAR (Committee on U.S.-Latin American Relations), Multicultural Resource Center, the local Planned Parenthood, and an NGO in Rwanda where one of our former waiters worked. It’s a lot of work, we can serve about 150 people in two seatings before we have to clean up and get ready to prepare the dinner meal for our regular customers, but it’s good fun and good food for everyone involved. Spanish-Style Tortilla is one of our recent favorite dishes to serve at these brunches. It’s always a hit, especially with some Chipotle Aioli on top.

Yields one 9-inch pie

Serves 6

Initial Prep time: 15 minutes

Roasting time: 20 to 25 minutes

Assembly prep time: 15 minutes

Baking time: 30 minutes

5 cups white potatoes, cut into ¼- to ½-inch-thick slices

2 cups onions, sliced into ½-inch-thick wedges

2 teaspoons sweet paprika (see Variations)

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1¼ teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 large eggs

½ cup milk

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

½ cup lightly packed shredded cheddar cheese

½ cup lightly packed shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Spray or oil a large rimmed baking sheet or two smaller ones (you need enough surface to spread out the potatoes and onions for roasting) and a 9-inch pie plate.

In a large bowl, mix the potatoes and onions with the paprika, red pepper flakes, garlic, and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Drizzle with the olive oil and mix well. Spread the seasoned potatoes and onions in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes until tender and browned. Remove from the oven and set aside. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, ¼ teaspoon salt, and black pepper until smooth.

Layer half of the roasted potatoes and onions in the prepared pie plate. Sprinkle with the cheeses and cover with the remaining potatoes and onions. Pour the egg custard evenly over all; it will generously fill the pie plate. Bake until golden brown and fairly firm, about 30 minutes. Let the tortilla sit for about 10 minutes; it will continue to cook and set. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.

VARIATIONS

• Some people like to use smoked paprika as some of the paprika. We find that if you use more than about a teaspoon of smoked paprika in this recipe, it can taste a little bitter.

• We like to use both cheddar and Parmesan cheese, but either one alone would be fine, too. You could also try smoked cheddar or Manchego.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve hot or at room temperature, in wedges topped with a generous dollop of Chipotle Aioli. Nice with a simple green salad or some fresh fruit. Spanish-style Tortilla can also be served cold for a picnic or a packed lunch.

Fritada de Espinaca

This Sephardic specialty is usually made for a Sabbath brunch called desayuno, but we have been serving it at Moosewood for any day’s lunch or dinner for over two decades, since our friend Janice Weltman shared her family’s recipe with us. Over the years, we’ve played around with the cheeses, and this recipe gives you our favorite mixture: each cheese contributes a distinctive flavor, or in the case of the cottage cheese, makes the texture just right.

We have also prepared huge batches of this delicious, golden, baked casserole for large gatherings and celebrations. We once made it to serve more than 1,000 guests at an Organic Trade Association’s gala dinner. Very quickly, word got around to check out the delicious spinach frittata at Moosewood’s station. People’s responses were icing on the cake for us: we already thought we’d really pulled something off just to have prepped and baked that much espinaca. It really is a simple, easy recipe, a snap to do at home.

Serves 6 to 8

Prep time: 25 minutes

Baking time: 45 to 60 minutes

½ cup bread crumbs or matzo meal

20 ounces fresh baby spinach (about 14 cups)

6 large eggs, beaten

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 cup cottage cheese

1 cup packed shredded feta cheese (5 ounces)

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (8 ounces)

½ cup shredded Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Oil a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking pan. Dust the bottom of the pan with ¼ cup of the bread crumbs or matzo meal.

Rinse the spinach and, while it’s still wet, steam it in a covered pot until just wilted. Drain it in a colander, pressing out the excess liquid. Turn the spinach out onto a cutting board and when it’s cool enough to handle, squeeze out more liquid, then chop it.

In a large bowl, mix the spinach with the eggs, black pepper, nutmeg, cottage cheese, feta cheese, cheddar cheese, remaining ¼ cup bread crumbs, and ¼ cup of the Parmesan. Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared pan. Sprinkle the top with the remaining ¼ cup Parmesan.

Bake for 45 to 60 minutes until the top is firm to the touch. Cut into squares or triangles. Serve warm or at room temperature.

NOTES

Sephardim traditionally use kashkaval cheese in this recipe. If you can find it, use it in place of the cheddar and Parmesan.

In place of fresh spinach, you can use two 10-ounce packages frozen chopped spinach, defrosted, and excess liquid squeezed out.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve as a main dish, side dish, or appetizer. This is delicious with Tomato, Cucumber, and Artichoke Heart Salad or Middle Eastern Carrot Salad with Mint or Beet Salad.

Caramelized Onion Pie

This pie offers a great play of textures and nicely balanced flavors: each forkful is a fusion of flaky pastry, silky sweet onions with hints of mustard and thyme, creamy custard, and a crisp, browned cheesy top.

Yields one 9-inch pie

Serves 6

Prep time: about 1 hour

Baking time: 30 to 40 minutes

Our Favorite All-Purpose Piecrust for a 9-inch pie

FILLING

1½ tablespoons olive oil

4 cups thinly sliced onions

¾ teaspoon salt

1½ teaspoons minced fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme

4 large eggs

2 tablespoons unbleached white all-purpose flour

1 generous teaspoon Dijon mustard

1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1¼ cups milk

1 cup packed shredded sharp cheddar or Gruyère cheese (4 ounces)

¼ cup packed shredded smoked cheddar or smoked Gouda cheese

Make the piecrust dough. While the dough chills, you’ll have time to prepare the filling. And you may have time to roll the dough out while the onions finish caramelizing.

Warm the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet on medium-high heat. Add the onions, ½ teaspoon of the salt, and dried thyme (if you’re using fresh thyme, it will be added later) and sauté for about 5 minutes, or until the onions become translucent. Reduce the heat to low and cook the onions until they are very soft, browned, and sweet, about 30 minutes. Don’t cover the skillet while cooking, and stir every few minutes. Add a splash of water if the onions start to stick or brown too fast. The trick is to let them brown (by not stirring too often), but not scorch. Stir more often toward the end, scraping the bottom of the pan.

While the onions caramelize, whisk together the eggs, flour, mustard, the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt, the black pepper, and milk. Shred the cheeses. Roll out the pie dough and fit it into the pie plate.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

To assemble the pie: Mix together the cheeses and the onions and spread over the piecrust. If you’re using fresh thyme, sprinkle it on top. Pour the custard over all. Bake until the filling is set and the top is crusty and golden, 30 to 40 minutes. Allow the pie to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

So many dishes are “perfect” beside this pie: Cranberry Sauce, Cucumbers Vinaigrette, plain sliced tomatoes, any of our Not so Plain Green Vegetables, Sweet and Sour Cabbage Two Ways, a crisp salad with crunch (celery, pears, apples) dressed with Pear-Thyme Dressing. Gazpacho, Caramelized Onion Pie, and Fruit Skewers make a really nice brunch.

Mushroom Piroshki

Traditional piroshki are yeasted buns, fried or baked, that are both celebratory and street food popular throughout Russia and Ukraine. Similar pastries are also made in the Balkans, central Eurasia, and Scandinavia. Piroshki are filled with savory, and sometimes sweet, fillings. At Moosewood we make large entrée-size pastry pockets, rather than the traditional smaller piroshki, and we’ve shortened the prep time by using a rich pie pastry, in the Estonian tradition, instead of a yeasted dough.

Moosewood cook Sara Robbins began as a baker at Moosewood within weeks of the restaurant opening, and her baking skills have stood her, and us, in good stead. She’s a marvel at adeptly turning out trays of beautiful big piroshki.

In this recipe, we stuff piroshki with a creamy mushroom, potato, and cheese filling, but the mushrooms can be replaced by asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, or any other vegetable that piques your fancy. Naturally, the cheeses and herbs can be played with, too.

Yields 8

Prep time: 1½ hours, including making pie dough

Baking time: 20 to 30 minutes

2 batches Our Favorite All-Purpose Piecrust for a 10-inch pie (here)

2 cups peeled and diced potatoes

8 ounces cream cheese

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup chopped onions

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon caraway seeds or a scant ½ teaspoon ground caraway

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

4 cups coarsely chopped mushrooms (16 ounces whole) (see Note)

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (4 ounces)

1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

1 large egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water

sesame seeds or poppy seeds (optional)

Prepare two batches of pie dough. Divide the dough into eight equal portions and pat each into a flattened ball. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

In a saucepan, cover the potatoes with salted water and boil until soft. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pan. Put the cream cheese in the pan to soften. Cover and set aside.

While the potatoes cook, warm the oil in a large covered skillet on medium-low heat. Add the onions, salt, caraway, and black pepper and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Add the mushrooms, increase the heat to medium-high and sauté for about 6 minutes, or until the mushrooms are tender and somewhat browned and their liquid has evaporated.

Mash the potatoes with the cream cheese in the saucepan. Stir in the mushrooms, cheddar cheese, and dill.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly oil two baking sheets.

Remove the dough from the fridge. Have the egg wash, a pastry brush, and sesame seeds or poppy seeds, if using, close at hand. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each piece of dough into an 8-inch circle; it’s OK if the edges are irregular. Place ½ cup of filling on the half of the circle nearest you along the midline. With the back of a spoon, spread the filling to about 1½ inches from the curved edge. Lift the empty half of the dough over the filling to form a half-circle with the curved edges lined up. With your fingers lightly press down around the edges to define the filling, then fold over the outer edges to meet the filled part of the pastry. Lightly crimp the edges with a fork to seal the dough. Carefully transfer the piroshki to the prepared baking sheet. Don’t crowd the piroshki; space them at least a couple of inches apart. Brush the tops of the piroshki with the egg wash and sprinkle with seeds, if using.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until puffy and golden. Cool on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes, and then transfer with a spatula to a platter. Serve warm or at room temperature.

NOTE

We usually use white or cremini (Italian brown) mushrooms or a combination. It’s very tasty with some dried mushrooms added.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage Two Ways or Beet Salad, Cucumbers Vinaigrette, and/or applesauce. Also delicious with a green salad drizzled with one of our dressings (here to here).

Pizza Rustica

This dish is a cross between a quiche and a pizza; tender pie crust is filled with savory Italian cheeses, tomato sauce, and fresh basil and topped like a pizza with bell peppers and olives—delicious. We started making it in the very early days of Moosewood when we frequently used The Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas. We’ve made it our own, but we’d like to thank Anna Thomas for the inspiration.

Very pungent olives may be too dominating a flavor; use black or green olives that you like. Yellow bell peppers look especially pretty.

Yields one 9-inch pie

Serves 6

Prep time: 40 minutes; more if you make the sauce

Baking time: about 1 hour

Our Favorite All-Purpose Piecrust for 9-inch pie (here)

3 large eggs

14 to 16 ounces ricotta cheese

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup packed shredded Parmesan cheese

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 ounces)

3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1½ cups Tomato-Basil Sauce or your favorite tomato sauce (see Note)

1½ cups seeded and chopped bell peppers

½ cup chopped pitted olives

Make the dough for the piecrust, and while it chills, prepare the filling. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs and stir in the ricotta, black pepper, salt, Parmesan, mozzarella, and basil.

Roll out the piecrust and fit it into a 9-inch pie plate. Fill it with the cheese mixture. Spread the tomato sauce evenly over the cheese. Sprinkle the bell peppers and olives evenly over all.

Bake in a preheated 400°F oven for 25 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 375°F and bake until the filling is set, 30 to 40 minutes. The pie will serve more easily if you allow it to sit for 10 minutes.

VARIATION

• Top with a sprinkling of capers or with chopped red onions.

NOTE

Our Tomato-Basil Sauce is delicious in this pizza. We like to make the sauce smooth and thick, so we cook at it for at least 20 minutes at a vigorous simmer. It’s good with the optional fennel.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve Pizza Rustica with any (or many) of these sides: Quick Sautéed Greens, Cucumbers Vinaigrette, Roasted Cauliflower, Confetti Kale Slaw, Seasoned Artichokes.

CASSEROLES

Chilaquiles Casserole

Mexican Corn and Cheese Casserole

Rumbledethumps

Zucchini-Feta Casserole

Country Moussaka

Polenta Casserole

Chilaquiles Casserole

This casserole is a big favorite at Moosewood Restaurant and a family favorite in our homes. It is healthful, filling, colorful, and quite tasty. It’s a gluten-free dish, and if you substitute soy or rice “cheese,” it can be vegan as well.

Serves 6 to 8

Prep time: 35 minutes

Baking time: 30 minutes

2 cups chopped onions

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 cups seeded and finely chopped bell peppers (any color)

1½ cups fresh or frozen corn kernels

1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds

1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds

3 cups cooked black, small red, or pinto beans (or two 15-ounce cans, rinsed and drained)

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

4 cups coarsely crumbled corn tortilla chips

2 cups Smooth Hot Sauce or your favorite Mexican-style salsa

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (8 ounces)

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly oil a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking pan.

In a large covered saucepan on medium heat, cook the onions in the oil, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the bell peppers, cover, and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the corn, cumin, coriander, beans, salt, and black pepper and cook, covered, until hot, about 5 minutes.

To assemble the casserole: Spread half of the crumbled tortilla chips in the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Spoon the bean and vegetable mixture over the tortilla chips. Spread on half of the hot sauce or salsa. Sprinkle with 1 cup of the cheese. Finish with the remaining tortilla chips, the remaining hot sauce or salsa, and the remaining 1 cup cheese.

Bake until the cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown, about 30 minutes.

VARIATIONS

• Add a layer of chopped, blanched greens, such as kale or spinach, on top of the beans and vegetables layer.

• Use Refried Beans for even more flavor.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Garnish with sour cream, Chipotle Cream, Cilantro-Yogurt Sauce, chopped olives, slices of avocado with lime juice, or Simple Smooth Guacamole. Serve with Lime-Cilantro Slaw, a green salad, Confetti Kale Slaw, or Quick Sautéed Greens. Fruit Skewers are a perfect light dessert with this substantial entrée.

Mexican Corn and Cheese Casserole

This golden casserole with a sweet corn flavor and easy-to-prepare instructions is a wonderful supper dish to make with kids.

Serves 6

Prep time: 30 minutes

Baking time: 35 minutes

2 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil

1½ cups diced onions

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup diced carrots

1 cup seeded and diced bell peppers (any color)

3 generous cups fresh or frozen corn kernels (16-ounce package frozen)

1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds

1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

5 large eggs

1 cup milk

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

1½ cups shredded cheddar cheese (6 ounces)

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly oil an 11 × 7 × 2-inch baking pan.

In a covered saucepan warm the oil on medium heat. Add the onions, sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon of the salt, and cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the carrots and cook, covered, for about 5 minutes. Add the bell peppers and corn, reserving 1 cup of the corn to blend into the custard. Stir in the cumin, coriander, and red pepper flakes, if using. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a blender, purée the eggs, milk, remaining ¼ teaspoon of salt, the black pepper, and the remaining 1 cup of corn until smooth.

When the vegetables are done, spread them evenly in the prepared baking pan, pour the custard on top, and sprinkle with the cheese. Bake, uncovered, for about 35 minutes, or until golden. Test the custard by inserting a knife in the center: if it comes out clean, the casserole is ready.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

This tastes fine on its own, but is even nicer served with Our Favorite Tomato-Cilantro Salsa or Smooth Hot Sauce or Tomatillo Sauce. Simple Smooth Guacamole and tortilla chips are good on the side. It’s also nice with Green Beans with Lemon Zest Dressing.

Rumbledethumps

Rumbledethumps is the Scottish version of Irish colcannon and English bubble and squeak—all are potato and cabbage pies devised as a way to use up leftovers. It’s a dish to satisfy your craving for comfort food; rich and filling, it could be your ticket to fulfilling your dream of having just mashed potatoes for dinner.

When Tom Walls, who was a Moosewood cook for many years, wrote his recipe for Rumbledethumps for Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant, he claimed to have tried all of over one zillion versions. Tom, try this one!

Our hearty, luscious version is a rich casserole of leeks or onions and cheddar-mashed potatoes rumpled up with healthy chunks of cabbage and broccoli and topped with bubbly melted cheese. Some cooks add a pinch of nutmeg, others a spoonful of Dijon mustard. Sometimes, we swap kale for the cabbage or broccoli.

Serves 4 to 6 as a main dish; 8 to 10 as a side

Prep time: 30 minutes

Baking time: 15 minutes

6 cups peeled and chopped potatoes

2 teaspoons salt

3 cups chopped green cabbage

3 cups chopped broccoli

2 tablespoons butter

3 cups chopped leeks (3 medium leeks) (here) or 2 cups chopped onions

3 ounces cream cheese

½ cup milk or reserved potato-cooking water

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard or ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (optional)

1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Put the potatoes and 1 teaspoon of the salt in a covered soup pot with enough water to generously cover and bring to a boil on high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in another pot, blanch the cabbage and broccoli in boiling water until just tender, 6 or 7 minutes. Drain, and set aside.

In a covered saucepan or skillet on medium-low heat, melt the butter, add the leeks or onions, and cook until soft. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking pan.

When the potatoes are done, drain them, reserving a cup of the cooking water. Mash the potatoes in the pot that you cooked them in with the cream cheese and milk or potato-cooking water. The mashed potatoes should be fairly stiff and not too smooth. Stir in 1 cup of the cheddar, the remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and the mustard or nutmeg. Fold the cabbage, broccoli, and leeks into the potatoes until thoroughly mixed. Add the black pepper and season with more salt to taste.

Spread the mixture into the prepared baking pan and top with the remaining cheddar cheese. Bake, uncovered, until thoroughly hot and golden brown, about 15 minutes.

VARIATION

• In place of cabbage or broccoli, use 5 cups of chopped kale.

NOTE

If you want to prepare Rumbledethumps in advance of baking, assemble it, cover the baking pan with aluminum foil, and refrigerate. Bake, covered, at 350°F for 25 minutes, then uncover and either bake for another 15 minutes or place under the broiler to brown the top.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with fresh fruit or a tossed green salad, or Cucumbers Vinaigrette, or Beet Salad. Stout is probably the proper beverage.

Zucchini-Feta Casserole

Therese Tischler, a Moosewood founder and a superlative cook, had a hand in creating this casserole and many other long-standing favorites. Although casseroles are usually thought of as hearty winter fare, this one is lighter and puts to good use the abundance of the zucchini, tomatoes, and fresh herbs abundant at summer’s end. At the restaurant, we serve it year round and customers are always asking for the recipe.

When we put it to a vote whether people like it better made with rice or bulghur, it was pretty much a tie, so we decided to give you directions for both. See the Variation for the bulghur pilaf version.

Serves 6 to 8

Prep time: 1 hour

Baking time: 45 minutes

RICE PILAF LAYER

1 teaspoon olive oil

¾ cup brown rice, rinsed and drained

1½ cups water

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup chopped toasted walnuts

¼ cup dried currants

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

ROASTED VEGETABLE LAYER

2 cups sliced onions

6 cups sliced zucchini rounds (¼ inch thick)

2 cups sliced tomatoes (¼ inch thick)

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed (optional)

1 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1½ cups crumbled or shredded feta cheese (7 ounces)

1½ cups cottage cheese

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

To make rice pilaf: Warm the oil in a medium saucepan and briefly sauté the rice until it emits a nutty aroma. Add the water and salt, cover the pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until tender, 35 to 45 minutes. Fluff the rice and remove it from the heat. Stir in the walnuts, currants, mint, and lemon juice.

While the rice cooks, roast the vegetables.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly oil a large rimmed baking sheet, or two smaller ones.

Combine the sliced onions, zucchini, and tomatoes with the garlic, if using, the oregano, salt, black pepper, and olive oil in a large bowl. Mix until the vegetables are well coated with the oil and seasonings. Pour the vegetables onto the prepared baking sheet, spread them out, and roast until the tomatoes and zucchini are juicy, about 25 minutes. When the vegetables are done, remove them from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 350°F.

While the vegetables roast, stir together the eggs, feta, cottage cheese, and dill and set aside. Lightly oil a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking pan.

To assemble the casserole, spread the pilaf evenly on the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Top with the roasted vegetables. Spoon the feta-cottage mixture evenly over the vegetables. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes, or until the eggs are set and the top begins to turn golden. Let the casserole sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.

VARIATION

• To make bulghur pilaf: Put 1 cup of bulghur and ¼ teaspoon of salt into a bowl, pour 1 cup of boiling water over it, cover, and set aside for at least 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork and stir in the walnuts, currants, mint, and lemon juice.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

This casserole is especially nice with Cucumbers Vinaigrette. We also like it with Middle Eastern Carrot Salad with Mint and Beet Salad.

Country Moussaka

Nostimos! Telios! This Greek-influenced casserole with its golden béchamel topping and enticing aroma is a great dish. Really delicious.

There are three parts that will be assembled in layers before baking: roasted vegetables, a tomato sauce, and a béchamel sauce. None of the parts is difficult to prepare, it just takes some time. We hope you’ll find it well worth the effort—our customers have certainly found it well worth our effort for nearly forty years.

Serves 6 to 8

Prep time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Baking time: 45 to 50 minutes

Resting time: 15 minutes

ROASTED VEGETABLES

1 large or 2 medium eggplant (about 3 pounds)

3 medium zucchini (about 1½ pounds)

2 tablespoons olive oil

a sprinkling of salt and ground black pepper

TOMATO SAUCE

1½ tablespoons olive oil

1 cup finely chopped onions

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup seeded and diced bell peppers (any color)

one 28-ounce can crushed or diced tomatoes

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

BÉCHAMEL SAUCE

¼ cup butter

¼ cup unbleached white all-purpose flour

2 cups milk, heated

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

¼ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, beaten

1¼ cups shredded or crumbled feta cheese

4 tablespoons raw couscous

2⁄3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly oil two rimmed baking sheets.

To make the roasted vegetables: Either peel the eggplant or don’t, as you prefer, and slice both the eggplant and the zucchini into ¾-inch-thick rounds. Place them in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets. Brush the tops with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Bake until tender, about 30 minutes. If, when you take the eggplant and zucchini from the oven, you’re close to assembling the casserole, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F; if not, turn off the oven.

To make the tomato sauce: In a covered saucepan on low heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onions, garlic, and salt, and cook for 5 minutes, then stir in the bell peppers and continue to cook, covered to prevent sticking, until the onions are translucent. Add the tomatoes, cinnamon, oregano, and black pepper and simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes, or until you are ready to assemble the casserole. Stir in the dill.

To make the béchamel sauce: Melt the butter in a small, heavy saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook on low heat for 1 or 2 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Gradually pour in the hot milk, continuing to whisk, and cook until the sauce is thick and smooth, 3 or 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, and stir in the nutmeg, salt, and beaten eggs.

To assemble the casserole: Oil a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking dish. Preheat the oven to 350°F if not already on. Pour half of the tomato sauce into the baking dish and cover with the eggplant slices. Sprinkle with half of the feta cheese and 2 tablespoons of the couscous. Top with the remaining tomato sauce. Layer the zucchini slices, then the rest of the feta cheese and the remaining 2 tablespoons couscous. Pour the béchamel sauce evenly over the top and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 350°F, uncovered, until golden and bubbly, 45 to 50 minutes. Let sit for about 15 minutes before serving.

NOTE

You can make this dish a day or two in advance. Bake it for 40 minutes and refrigerate it covered. Then, rewarm in a 350°F oven, loosely covered with aluminum foil, for about 30 minutes. Let it sit for at least 15 minutes before serving.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with a green salad, an assortment of olives, and some warm pita bread.

Polenta Casserole

This attractive casserole with a golden cheese topping has a bottom layer of polenta seasoned with Parmesan cheese, oregano, and red pepper flakes. You can vary the casserole with different vegetables and cheeses, but in our favorite version we layer kale and mushrooms that have been cooked in olive oil with onions and garlic, fresh tomatoes, and basil, and of course, plenty of cheese. By the way, simmering polenta is as hot as molten lava—keep the flame low, use a long-handled spoon and an oven mitt, and don’t let the (spitting) bubbles scald your hand.

This casserole is perfect for a dish-to-pass. It can be completely assembled a day or two before you need it and stored in the refrigerator. It will then take a little longer to bake.

Serves 6 to 8

Prep time: 45 minutes

Baking time: 20 minutes

POLENTA

4 cups water

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil or butter

½ teaspoon dried oregano

1⁄8 to ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

1½ cups cornmeal

½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

VEGETABLES

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups chopped onions

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

2 cups stemmed and chopped kale or spinach

3 cups sliced mushrooms, white or cremini (12 ounces whole)

2 cups shredded mozzarella or mild provolone cheese, or a mixture

1 cup diced fresh tomatoes

1⁄3 cup chopped fresh basil

½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Put the water, salt, olive oil or butter, oregano, and red pepper flakes, if using, in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil. Whisk in the cornmeal as you pour it into the boiling water in a steady stream. Bring back to a boil, reduce the heat to a very low simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the texture is smooth and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Oil a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking pan. Spread the polenta evenly in the pan and set it aside while you prepare the vegetables.

In a large soup pot or skillet on medium heat, warm the oil. Add the onions, garlic, salt, oregano, and black pepper, cover, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the kale (if you’re using spinach, add it later), cover, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the mushrooms and cook, covered, until the vegetables are tender. If you’re using spinach, stir it in when the mushrooms are juicy, and cook just until it has wilted. Remove from the heat and set aside.

To assemble the casserole: Sprinkle 1 cup of the mozzarella over the polenta. Spread the cooked vegetables evenly on top. In a small bowl, mix together the tomatoes and basil and then spread the mixture on top of the cooked vegetables. Finally, sprinkle the remaining cup of mozzarella and the Parmesan evenly over the tomato-basil layer.

Cover the casserole dish and bake for 10 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese is golden brown and the casserole is thoroughly hot, about 10 minutes. Let the casserole sit for 10 minutes before serving.

VARIATIONS

• Replace some or all of the kale and mushrooms with other vegetables such as diced eggplant, bell peppers, and zucchini. Choose your current favorite vegetables, or maybe what’s languishing in the fridge or abundant in your garden. You need about 5 cups total.

• Use Pecorino Romano, ricotta salata, or feta cheese for some of the cheese.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

This casserole and a simple green salad is all you need for a great meal. For an extra treat, add Seasoned Artichokes and some Chocolate Ricotta Moose for dessert.

STUFFED VEGETABLES

Quinoa-stuffed Roasted Peppers

Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Stuffed Vegetables

Greek Stuffed Tomatoes

Indian Stuffed Eggplant

Italian Polenta-stuffed Peppers

Asian-style Stuffed Portobellos

Quinoa-stuffed Roasted Peppers

Quinoa is a high-protein, gluten-free grain indigenous to South America. It readily absorbs flavors. In keeping with its place of origin, we usually flavor it with cumin and coriander, maybe some cilantro and hot peppers, but in this recipe we give it a Mediterranean slant with saffron and tarragon.

The quinoa pilaf is tasty on its own as a side dish. Or, use it to stuff other vegetables. The roasted peppers can be stuffed ahead of time and then heated when you’re ready to serve.

Yields 6 large stuffed pepper halves

Serves 4 to 6

Prep time: 45 minutes

Final baking time: 10 to 15 minutes

QUINOA PILAF

1 cup quinoa

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

2 teaspoons olive oil

1^1⁄3 cups water

¼ teaspoon salt

pinch of saffron

3 large bell peppers (any color)

olive oil, for brushing

1 tablespoon olive oil

1½ cups finely chopped onions

¼ teaspoon salt

2⁄3 cup diced carrots

2 cups chopped mushrooms (about 8 ounces whole)

¼ cup currants

1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

salt and black pepper

4 ounces chèvre, crumbled

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet.

Rinse and drain the quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer under cool running water. In a covered saucepan on high heat, cook the quinoa and garlic in the oil for about 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the water, salt, and saffron and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook, covered, until the water has been absorbed and the quinoa is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir the quinoa to fluff and set aside.

While the quinoa cooks, prepare the bell peppers. Cut them in half lengthwise, leaving the stems on to help them hold their shape, and remove the seeds and inner membranes. Brush the inner and outer surfaces with olive oil and place the pepper halves, cut side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Roast until softened but still firm and not collapsing, about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool and reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.

While the peppers roast, warm the oil in a saucepan on medium heat, add the onions and cook, covered, for 3 or 4 minutes. Sprinkle with the salt, stir in the carrots, and continue to cook, covered, for another 3 or 4 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and cook, covered, until all of the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.

Combine the cooked quinoa, vegetables, currants, and tarragon. Stir in the lemon juice, and season with salt and black pepper to taste.

Fill the roasted pepper halves with the quinoa pilaf and top with some of the chèvre. Place the peppers in a lightly oiled baking pan, loosely cover with aluminum foil, and bake just until the peppers are thoroughly hot, 10 to 15 minutes.

VARIATIONS

• If you prefer not to have cheese, omit the chèvre and serve the peppers with Tomato-Basil Sauce or your favorite tomato sauce.

• Use crumbled feta cheese or shredded Parmesan in place of the chèvre.

• Replace the tarragon with 2 or 3 tablespoons of chopped fresh basil.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Cucumbers Vinaigrette, Tomato, Cucumber, and Artichoke Heart Salad, or one of our Not So Plain Green Vegetables makes a perfect accompaniment.

Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Stuffed Vegetables

We are often asked to recommend a holiday dish, especially for Thanksgiving, that will please vegans and vegetarians. This is a great one; it will make everyone happy. For a beautiful presentation, try stuffing the colorful combination of orange winter squash and red bell peppers.

If you have a smaller group, just halve the recipe’s ingredients.

Yields 8 stuffed acorn squash or bell pepper halves

Serves 8

Prep time: 1 hour and 15 minutes

Final baking time: 20 minutes

one 14- to 16-ounce block firm tofu (see here)

4 medium acorn, delicata, or buttercup squash, or 4 large bell peppers (any color) (or a combination of the two)

2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil

½ teaspoon ground fennel seeds

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons dry sherry or white wine (optional)

4 cups ½-inch bread cubes

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 cups chopped onions or leeks

2 cups chopped celery

4 cups sliced mushrooms (16 ounces whole)

1 teaspoon ground dried sage

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried marjoram

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

½ cup water

1 cup toasted and chopped pecans

2 cups shredded cheddar, smoked cheddar, or Fontina cheese (optional)

If the tofu is firm and fresh, there is probably no need to press it. Otherwise, press it for at least 15 minutes (see here).

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet sheet.

Cut the squash or peppers in half from stem end to blossom end. Leave the stems on the pepper halves to help them hold their shape. Remove the seeds. If using squash, arrange it cut side down in the prepared baking sheet, add about ½ inch of water, and cover with aluminum foil. Bake just until tender, about 40 minutes for most acorn squash, but the time will vary depending on size and type. If using bell peppers, brush the halves with oil inside and out and bake cut side down (no water, no cover) for 15 to 20 minutes until tender but still holding their shape. Remove from the oven and set aside. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.

While the squash or peppers bake, in a bowl, whisk together the oil, ground fennel, soy sauce, and sherry, if using. Cut the tofu into ½-inch cubes and gently toss with the marinade. Set aside for 15 minutes. Toast the bread cubes on a rimmed baking sheet in the oven for about 5 minutes. Set the bread cubes aside. Spread the tofu cubes on the baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice, until slightly browned and chewy.

In a large covered pot on medium heat, warm the oil. Add the onions and celery and cook, stirring often, until the onions are soft, about 8 minutes. Add more sherry, if you like. Add the mushrooms, sage, thyme, marjoram, salt, black pepper, and water, cover, and cook for about 10 minutes.

Add the baked tofu and toasted bread cubes to the cooked vegetables and toss. Stir in the pecans. Remove from the heat and set aside for a few minutes to allow the bread cubes to soften and the flavors to meld. Add more salt and black pepper to taste.

Turn the baked squash or peppers over on their baking sheet and mound about 1 cup of the stuffing in each half. Sprinkle with shredded cheese, if you like, cover, and bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes.

VARIATIONS

• Substitute rice or a red rice pilaf or wild rice pilaf (here and here) for the bread cubes.

• Rather than stuffing vegetables, you can bake the stuffing in an oiled 2-quart baking dish. Cover the baking dish and place it in a larger baking pan. Pour in hot water to come halfway up the sides. Bake at 325°F for about 20 minutes.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Our favorite Cranberry Sauce is our favorite thing to serve with these stuffed vegetables. Serve with lots of colorful side dishes, such as Green Beans with Lemon Zest Dressing.

Greek Stuffed Tomatoes

We love this filling with its base of rice enhanced with salty feta nicely balanced by sweet currants and tangy lemon. Add the flavor of the tomato that contains it and yum … you can also use it to stuff eggplant and bell pepper halves, grape leaves, and zucchini canoes. If you have leftover rice, the filling is that much easier and quicker to make.

Yields 8 large stuffed tomatoes

Serves 8

Prep time: about 1 hour

Baking time: 30 minutes

1 cup rinsed and drained brown rice (2½ cups cooked brown rice)

2 teaspoons olive oil

½ teaspoon salt

1½ cups water

1 cup finely chopped onions

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ cup diced celery

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ cup pine nuts

¼ cup currants

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

½ cup crumbled feta cheese

ground black pepper

8 large tomatoes

In a saucepan on high heat, stir together the rice, oil, and salt, and cook for a minute, stirring constantly. Add the water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to very low, stir once, and simmer, covered, until the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender.

Meanwhile, in a skillet on low heat, cook the onions and garlic in the oil for about 5 minutes. Add the celery, sprinkle with the salt, and continue to cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the pine nuts and currants and cook for a couple of minutes. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the dill, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and the feta and set aside.

To prepare the tomatoes: Core them and cut off about the top inch of each one. Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds and pulp; take care not to break through the shell of the tomato. Sprinkle the inside of each tomato with salt and black pepper and place in a lightly oiled baking pan.

When the rice is done, add it to the bowl with the rest of the filling and stir well. Add more salt, black pepper, and lemon juice to taste.

Spoon the filling into the tomatoes, cover the baking pan with aluminum foil, and bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes, then uncover and continue to bake until the filling is hot, about another 10 minutes.

VARIATIONS

• For an excellent appetizer, cut small plum tomatoes in half from the stem end to the blossom end, scoop out the seeds and pulp, and fill the tomato shells with the rice mixture.

• Replace the pine nuts with 1⁄3 cup chopped walnuts.

• Omit the feta.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with a simple green salad, one of our Not So Plain Green Vegetables, or Tzatziki. For a mezze feast, serve with an array of olives, Peppercorn and Lemon Marinated Feta, Classic Hummus, and toasted pita.

Indian Stuffed Eggplant

This dish is unusual and satisfying and it remains one of Moosewood’s elegant favorites. The serving of an entire half of an eggplant mounded with an exotically spiced potato and vegetable filling will silence anyone who thinks vegetarian food is bland, boring, and not filling enough. One doesn’t usually think of eggplant and Indian spices as comfort food, but this dish offers all the comfort of yummy mashed potatoes studded with diced vegetables and aromatic spices.

We admit it is a bit of a production, not something you would make on an ordinary Tuesday evening after work, but the steps are all uncomplicated and for special occasions or for more leisurely weekend cooking, your time will be rewarded with a really delightful dish.

If you’re serving fewer than eight, instead of halving the recipe, think about making the full amount of filling and saving the extra for other meals. It’s quite versatile. You can bake the filling in filo dough or pie dough to make not-fried samosas. You could add diced tomatoes instead of peppers and use the filling to stuff roasted pepper halves. Or, stuff small plum tomatoes to serve as an appetizer. Some of us make the filling to eat on its own. Both at home and in the Moosewood kitchen, sometimes it’s an effort to resist “tasting” the filling over and over before it goes into the oven!

Serves 8

Prep time: about 1 hour and 20 minutes

Final baking time: 20 to 30 minutes

4 eggplants (about 1 pound each)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

½ teaspoon salt

6 cups peeled and sliced white potatoes

2 teaspoons ground turmeric

2 cups finely chopped onions

3 garlic cloves, pressed or minced

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup seeded and diced red bell peppers

2 teaspoons ground cumin seeds

2 teaspoons ground coriander seeds

½ teaspoon cayenne

¼ teaspoon ground cloves or ground cardamom

1½ tablespoons peeled and grated fresh ginger

1 cup green peas

12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature (vegan cream cheese works, too)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, more to taste

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Oil two rimmed baking sheets.

Slice the eggplants in half lengthwise. Score the flesh in a crosshatch pattern and lightly sprinkle with salt. Brush the cut surface generously with oil and place the eggplant halves on the baking, sheets, cut side down. Brush the skins with oil. Bake, uncovered, until the flesh is tender and golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes.

While the eggplants bake, make the potato-vegetable filling. In a saucepan, cover the potatoes with water and stir in 1 teaspoon of the turmeric and ½ teaspoon salt. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.

Heat the oil in a saucepan on medium-low heat. Cook the onions and garlic, sprinkled with salt, for about 10 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally. Add the carrots and a tablespoon of water, cover, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the bell peppers and cook, covered, for 3 or 4 minutes. While the vegetables cook, mix together the cumin, coriander, cayenne, cloves, ginger, and the remaining 1 teaspoon of turmeric in a small bowl. Stir the spice mixture into the vegetables and cook on low heat for a minute or two. Stir in the peas and cook, covered, until all of the vegetables are tender, 2 or 3 minutes.

When the potatoes are done, drain them. In a large mixing bowl, mash the potatoes with the cream cheese and lemon juice. Add the vegetable mixture to the mashed potatoes and stir well. Add more salt and/or lemon juice to taste.

When the eggplant halves are done, flip them over with a spatula and make a well in each by pushing the flesh to the sides a little. Mound some filling onto each eggplant half right out to ¼ inch from the edges. Transfer them to clean, oiled baking sheets or pans. Bake at 350°F until piping hot, 20 to 30 minutes.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve the stuffed eggplant topped with yogurt or Spinach Raita and Date-Coconut-Lemon Chutney. Sometimes at home, we make just the filling and serve it, as a side dish. See the headnote for more ways to use the filling.

Italian Polenta-stuffed Peppers

Platters of red, green, orange, and yellow bell peppers filled with golden, green-flecked polenta are beautiful and festive.

Yields 8 stuffed pepper halves

Serves 4 to 8

Time: about 1 hour and 15 minutes

4 large bell peppers (assorted colors are pretty)

olive oil, for brushing

POLENTA

3½ cups water

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1½ teaspoons ground fennel seeds

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 cup cornmeal

¼ cup chopped fresh basil

1½ cups shredded mild provolone cheese

½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly oil a couple of baking pans or a large, rimmed baking sheet: whatever you have that will hold the pepper halves.

Cut the peppers in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds, but leave the stems on so that the peppers will hold their shape during baking. Brush lightly with oil inside and out. Arrange the pepper halves, cut side down, on the prepared baking pans. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the peppers are tender but still hold their shape. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

While the peppers bake, make the polenta. In a heavy saucepan, bring the water, salt, red pepper flakes, garlic, fennel, and oregano to a boil. Add the polenta in a slow, steady stream while whisking briskly. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes (the time will vary depending on your cornmeal), stirring often, until thickened and creamy. As the polenta thickens you may need to reduce the heat and stir more often. Stir in the basil, and provolone and add salt to taste. Let the polenta mixture sit for about 10 minutes to allow it to thicken more; this will make it easier to fill the pepper halves.

Fill the baked pepper halves with the polenta-cheese mixture. Sprinkle the tops with Parmesan and return the peppers to the oven for 10 to 15 minutes until the cheese has melted and the peppers are thoroughly hot.

VARIATIONS

• Use Fontina in place of provolone.

• Add finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes to the polenta while it simmers.

• Stir finely chopped raw spinach into the polenta with the cheese.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Top with Tomato-Basil Sauce, Puttanesca Sauce, or your favorite tomato sauce, with a side of Quick Sautéed Greens. For a Mediterranean feast, start with Olivada or White Bean and Basil Spread and crusty bread, and add Mediterranean Lentil Salad or Beans and Greens, and Tomato, Cucumber, and Artichoke Heart Salad to the table.

Asian-style Stuffed Portobellos

What an easy plant-based entrée that can be easily doubled or tripled to serve a multitude of friends and family. Or perhaps your family has some newly minted vegan kids coming home for the holidays—this recipe will be your go-to favorite recipe to please them. Gluten-free, too (with wheat-free soy sauce).

If you plan to serve the mushrooms on a bed of brown rice, remember to get it started before baking the mushrooms.

Serves 4

Prep time: 25 minutes (with already pressed tofu)

Baking time: 40 minutes

one 14- to 16-ounce block firm tofu (here)

4 portobello mushrooms (about 5 inches in diameter)

4 tablespoons soy sauce

4 teaspoons dark sesame oil

1 cup seeded and diced red bell peppers

½ cup minced scallions

¼ cup peanut butter

2 teaspoons peeled and grated fresh ginger

½ teaspoon Chinese Chili Paste with Garlic or Sriracha hot chili sauce (optional)

Simple Sweet and Sour Sauce

First, press the tofu for at least 15 minutes (see here).

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Oil a large baking pan.

While the tofu is pressing, remove the mushroom stems and gently rinse the caps to remove any dirt. In a small bowl, mix together 3 tablespoons of the soy sauce and 3 teaspoons of the sesame oil. Brush the mushrooms on both sides with the mixture. Place the caps, gill side up, in the prepared baking pan.

When you are ready to grate the tofu, discard the liquid that has accumulated in the bowl. Grate the tofu and transfer it to a large bowl. Add the bell peppers, scallions, peanut butter, ginger, chili paste or chili sauce, if using, the remaining soy sauce, and the remaining 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil and mix thoroughly.

Mound one quarter of the filling on each mushroom, pressing with your fingers to compact.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the mushrooms release juice and the filling is firm and slightly browned.

While the mushrooms bake, prepare the Simple Sweet and Sour Sauce.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve the mushrooms on a bed of rice, or soba or udon noodles, topped with a generous drizzle of the sauce. Garnish with snow peas, sliced scallions, and/or bean sprouts. Asian Greens are great on the side.

WRAPS, ROLLS, AND STRUDELS

Curried Squash Roti

Asparagus-Leek Strudel

Aegean Strudel

Tofu-Spinach Borekas

Black Bean–Sweet Potato Burritos

Two Quesadillas

Spinach-Cheese Burritos

Curried Squash Roti

Butternut squash is plentiful here in Central New York, and we’ve never gotten tired of creating new ways to prepare it. It has a beautiful sunset-orange color, a distinctive, mild, sweet flavor, and it cooks quickly. While packaged frozen squash is available and saves you having to peel and seed the squash, the rich sweetness of fresh squash is superior.

This dish reflects the influence of India on Caribbean cuisine. Over twenty years ago, Moosewood partner and Caribbean beach-comber, Ned Asta, turned us on to roti—pastry turnovers with a variety of highly seasoned savory fillings. We season good old New York State butternut squash with onions and peppers and an exotic spice mix and wrap it all up in flour tortillas. Sometimes, in place of squash, we make it with sweet potatoes, or even a combo of sweet and white potatoes. Each has its virtues, but butternut has the lightest texture and loads of nutritional benefits. We top roti with a tropical salsa and a cool dollop of sour cream.

Serves 8

Prep time: 40 minutes

Baking time: 15 to 20 minutes

1½ teaspoons ground cumin seeds

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

¼ teaspoon cayenne

1⁄8 teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon curry powder

6 cups peeled and cubed butternut or other winter squash (about 2½ pounds whole)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1½ cups finely chopped onions

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup seeded and diced red bell peppers

1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro (optional)

eight 8-inch flour tortillas

In a small bowl, mix together the cumin, turmeric, cayenne, cloves, cinnamon, and curry powder. Set aside.

In a covered saucepan, bring the squash to a boil with a pinch of salt and enough water to cover. Lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes until soft.

While the squash cooks, heat the oil in a heavy skillet on medium-low heat. Add the onions and salt, cover, and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the bell peppers, ginger, and spice mix, cover, and cook on low heat, for 10 minutes. Stir frequently, and if needed to prevent sticking, add some of the squash cooking water.

When the squash is done, drain it and mash with the lemon juice and cilantro. Stir in the cooked onions and peppers, and season with salt to taste.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking pan.

Place a scant 2⁄3 cup of the squash filling on the lower half of a tortilla and roll it up one of two ways: Roll into a cylinder with the ends open. Or fold like an envelope: fold the bottom up and over the filling, fold each side over the filling, and then roll it up. Place the roti, seam side down, in the prepared baking pan. Repeat with each tortilla and allow the rotis to lean against each other. Lightly brush the tops with oil. Cover the baking pan with aluminum foil and bake until hot, 20 to 30 minutes.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve the roti with Annatto Rice or Coconut Rice and top with sour cream and Our Favorite Tomato-Cilantro Sauce, Avocado Salsa, or Mango Salsa.

Asparagus-Leek Strudel

A savory filo strudel is often our customers’ end-of-the-week choice, when they are looking for something comforting yet elegant. A sumptuous filling topped with puffy, golden filo, the presentation always elicits a “wow!”

Strudels offer endless opportunities for creativity by varying the vegetables, cheeses, and herbs. Strudels look impressive, and with a little experience filo is really easy to work with. Just remember that the thin sheets of filo become brittle when exposed to the air, so work in a draft-free place if you can, and if you’re interrupted or are not working quickly, cover the stack of filo with a barely damp towel. We give you instructions for a large, flat strudel to serve several people, but experiment with the filo: You can make individual little tortas folded in a triangle shape, or rolls, large or small.

Serves 6 to 8

Prep time: 1 hour

Baking time: 40 minutes

Sitting time: 10 minutes

FILLING

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 cups rinsed and thinly sliced leeks (see here)

4 cups 1-inch pieces asparagus (2 pounds whole)

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

2½ cups shredded dilled Havarti cheese

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

4 large eggs

FILO

16 sheets filo dough, about 12 × 7-inch (about ¾ pound)

3 tablespoons butter, melted

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon sesame seeds or fennel seeds (optional)

In a large skillet or a soup pot on medium-low heat, warm the oil. Add the leeks with a sprinkling of salt and cook gently for about 5 minutes. Add the asparagus, stir, cover, and cook on medium heat until the asparagus pieces are bright green and tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the tarragon and black pepper. Using a rubber spatula, stir the cream cheese into the hot vegetables until the vegetable mixture becomes creamy. Add the Havarti and cheddar and stir until well mixed. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Beat the eggs until evenly colored and then stir them into the filling.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat the butter and oil together until hot (the mixture brushes on more easily when hot). Place the butter-oil mixture and a pastry brush within easy reach of a work surface. Lightly brush a rimmed baking tray, about 9 × 13 inches, with the butter-oil mixture. Remove the filo from the box and lay the filo sheets on a dry surface near the baking sheet, the butter-oil mixture, and the filling. Work quickly because exposed filo dries out and becomes brittle; if you’re interrupted, cover the stack of filo with a damp towel.

Lay 2 sheets of filo horizontally on the prepared baking sheet, allowing the filo to drape over the sides (see Note). Lightly brush the top sheet with the butter-oil mixture. Repeat three more times for a total of 8 filo sheets in four layers made up of 2 sheets each. Spread the filling evenly over the filo on the baking sheet. On all four sides, fold the overhanging filo up over the filling and brush the outer sheets with the butter-oil mixture. Lay 2 sheets of filo horizontally on top to cover the filling and to drape over the sides. Brush with the butter-oil mixture. Repeat three more times for a total of 8 filo sheets in four layers made up of 2 sheets each. On all four sides, tuck the extra filo under the bottom of the strudel. Sprinkle the top with sesame or fennel seeds, if you like.

Bake until golden and puffy, about 40 minutes. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.

NOTE

It’s convenient when the filo you have drapes over your baking sheet a couple of inches on all sides, so that the rim of the baking sheet can support the finished strudel. But the dimensions of baking sheets and sheets of filo vary, so it doesn’t always work out that way. It’s OK if the strudel is smaller than the baking sheet. What’s important in assembling the strudel is that the filling is encased with filo dough. The bottom layers of filo should wrap up the sides and over the filling, and the top layers should tuck under the strudel.

VARIATIONS

• Replace 1 cup of the asparagus with 1 cup of seeded and diced red bell peppers.

• Use dill instead of tarragon.

• Many different cheeses work in this filling—just do a blend of mild and sharp.

• Replace half of the cream cheese with 1½ cups of cottage cheese and add a tablespoon of flour.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve this rich and creamy strudel with something crisp and refreshing: a lovely green salad; Cucumbers Vinaigrette; Tomato, Cucumber, and Artichoke Heart Salad; or one of our Not So Plain Green Vegetables.

Aegean Strudel

Rich, golden, flaky strudel fresh from the oven elicits accolades and appreciation. We can’t begin to estimate how many strudels we’ve served at Moosewood, but it must be thousands. We have dozens and dozens of variations—we’re always trying different vegetable and cheese combinations.

Aegean Strudel is similar to spanakopita, but uses additional vegetables. We like the combination of spinach, zucchini, and artichoke hearts flavored with oregano and dill.

We’ve recently discovered the quarter-sheet pan, which is just the right size for strudel at home. Six cups of filling is perfect for this size baking tray, so use that amount and experiment with your favorite cheeses and vegetables.

Serves 8

Prep time: 1 hour

Baking time: 45 to 55 minutes

FILLING

10 cups fresh baby spinach (16 ounces)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup finely chopped onions

3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups diced zucchini

4 large eggs

one 14-ounce can artichoke hearts in brine, drained and finely chopped

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

2½ cups crumbled or shredded feta (12 ounces)

3 tablespoons unbleached white all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

FILO

¼ cup butter

¼ cup olive oil

20 sheets filo dough, about 12 × 7-inch (about 1 pound)

1 teaspoon fennel seeds or sesame seeds (optional)

Rinse and drain the spinach. In a large pot on medium-high heat and stirring constantly, cook the spinach with the water that clings to the leaves just until wilted. Turn out into a colander and set aside to drain.

In a skillet on medium-low heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onions, garlic, oregano, and salt and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the zucchini and cook, stirring occasionally, until the zucchini is tender, 5 or 6 minutes. Remove from the heat.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add the chopped artichoke hearts, cream cheese, feta, cooked zucchini, flour, dill, and black pepper and mix thoroughly. With your hands, squeeze more liquid from the cooked spinach, add the spinach to the bowl, and stir well.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat the butter and oil together until hot; this makes brushing it easier. Place the butter-oil mixture and a pastry brush within easy reach of a work surface. Lightly brush a rimmed baking sheet, about 9 × 13 inches, with the butter-oil mixture. Remove the filo from the box and lay the filo sheets on a dry surface, near the baking sheet, the butter-oil mixture, and the filling. Exposed filo dough dries out and becomes brittle, so work quickly. If you are interrupted while laying out the strudel, cover the filo with a dampened towel.

Brush the top sheet of filo with the butter-oil mixture. Pick up the top 2 sheets (one buttered and the second one not) and place them so that they’re centered on the baking sheet with of filo dough draping over the sides (see Note). Repeat four times, brushing the top sheet with the butter-oil mixture and picking up 2 sheets at a time, for a total of 10 filo sheets. (If it’s easier for you, lay 2 sheets of filo on the baking sheet first, and then brush the top one.)

Spread the filling evenly over the filo in the baking sheet. Fold all four sides of the overhanging filo up over the filling and brush with the butter-oil mixture. Top with the remaining filo, again 2 sheets at a time laid on top horizontally to cover the filling and brushing each layer as before. Fold under the overhanging filo, and use the pastry brush all around the perimeter to gently tuck in all the filo. Sprinkle the top with sesame or fennel seeds, if you like.

Bake until golden and puffy, 45 to 55 minutes. Let the strudel sit for at least 10 minutes before cutting and serving. We like to cut the strudel into 4 equal rectangles and then cut each of those pieces on the diagonal to make 8 triangular-shaped servings.

NOTE

It’s convenient when the filo you have drapes over your baking sheet a couple of inches on all sides, so that the rim of the baking sheet can support the finished strudel. But the dimensions of baking sheets and sheets of filo vary, so it doesn’t always work out that way. It’s OK if the strudel is smaller than the baking sheet. What’s important in assembling the strudel is that the filling is encased with filo dough. The bottom layers of filo should wrap up the sides and over the filling, and the top layers should tuck under the strudel.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

We can think of so many great side dishes to serve with this delicious strudel. Try it with Seasoned Artichokes or Roasted Cauliflower or Cucumbers Vinaigrette or Beet Salad or one of our Not So Plain Green Vegetables. A simple green salad is also nice.

Tofu-Spinach Borekas

We’re confident that you’ll like these flaky baked tofu- and spinach-filled filo rolls, flavorful with the slight sweetness of the currants, carrots, and cinnamon and accented with lemon and fresh dill. This recipe gives directions for entrée-size borekas. You can make little appetizer-size filo pastries, too, (see Spanokopita Bites).

There are a number of ways to spell boreka and an even larger number of cuisines that share an affection for this family of baked or fried filled filo pastries. Borekas are found in the cuisines of the countries that were part of the Ottoman Empire, especially in North Africa and throughout the Balkans, and in some Jewish traditions.

Serves 8 or more

Prep time: about 1 hour

Baking time: 30 to 40 minutes

two 14- to 16-ounce blocks firm tofu (see here)

10 cups baby spinach (16 ounces)

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus 1⁄3 to ½ cup for brushing

2 cups finely chopped onions

2 or 3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups diced carrots

½ cup currants

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1⁄3 cup chopped fresh dill

one 16-ounce package filo dough (12 × 17-inch sheets)

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

First press the tofu for at least 15 minutes (see here).

Rinse the spinach, drain it, and place it in a large pot with whatever water clings to the leaves. Cook, covered, on medium-high heat, stirring often, until the leaves have wilted, about 4 minutes. Turn out into a colander and set aside to drain.

Warm 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onions, garlic, and salt, cover, and cook on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Stir in the carrots, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes. Tip the condensation that develops on the lid into the skillet to prevent sticking. Stir in the currants and cinnamon, cover, and cook for a minute or two.

Meanwhile, grate the tofu in a food processor or by hand and place in a large bowl. Squeeze more liquid out of the spinach and put it on a cutting board. Coarsely chop the spinach and add it to the bowl of grated tofu along with the black pepper, soy sauce, lemon juice, and dill and mix well. Stir the cooked vegetables into the tofu mixture and stir well.

Lightly oil or spray a large rimmed baking sheet or two smaller ones. Preheat the oven to 375°F.

To make the borekas, place the bowl of filling and a pastry brush next to a dry work surface. Warm the oil in a microwave oven or in a small pan on the stovetop until it’s hot but not smoking; this makes it easier to spread. Unfold the stack of filo sheets with a short side nearest you. Brush the top sheet with oil. About 3 inches from the bottom, evenly mound a cup of filling in a line that runs from side to side, leaving about 3 inches on each side uncovered. Lift the bottom edges of 3 sheets of filo up and over the filling. Fold the sides over the filling all along to the top of the stack, and brush with oil. Roll up the filling and filo to the top, to make a “package.” Place the filo roll, seam side down, on the baking sheet and brush the outside with oil. Assemble the rest of the borekas, working down the stack of filo 3 sheets at a time. Leave some space between the borekas on the baking sheet; they shouldn’t touch each other.

Sprinkle each boreka with sesame seeds. On the top of each boreka, make a shallow diagonal slice through the top layers of filo down just to the filling; this allows some steam to escape and also makes it easier to cut the baked roll in half. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until golden brown and crisp.

Serve borekas warm or at room temperature.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

We like to serve these flaky filo rolls with Roasted Cauliflower and/or Beet Salad and a crisp green salad.

Black Bean–Sweet Potato Burritos

These plump and savory burritos are popular with all our customers—vegan and non-vegan, alike. Try them with Simple Smooth Guacamole or a zesty Avocado Salsa. And if you’re not vegan, pass some shredded cheese or sour cream, as well.

We use 10-inch tortillas for these burritos, but if they’re not available, or if you prefer smaller ones, that’s fine, you’ll just get more burritos. The filling can be made a day or two in advance.

Serves 6

Prep time: 45 minutes

Baking time: 30 minutes

6 cups peeled and cubed sweet potatoes (about 2½ pounds)

2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil

2 cups chopped onions

3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 fresh hot pepper, minced (for a milder “hot,” seeded first)

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground cumin seeds

1 tablespoon ground coriander seeds

two 15-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed (3 cups)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro

six 10-inch flour tortillas

In a covered saucepan, bring the sweet potatoes to a boil in salted water to cover. Reduce the heat and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain well. Mash. Set aside.

While the sweet potatoes are cooking, in a covered saucepan on low heat warm the oil. Add the onions, garlic, hot peppers, and salt and cook until the onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in the cumin and coriander and cook for another minute or two.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a large baking pan.

Combine the mashed sweet potatoes, the onion-spice mixture, and the black beans. Stir in the lemon juice and cilantro. Season with salt to taste.

Place about 1 cup of filling on the bottom half of each tortilla and roll up. The sides can be left open, or the sides can be folded over as you roll to form a tidy package. Arrange, seam side down, in the prepared baking pan. Lightly brush the tops of the burritos with oil and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until hot.

VARIATIONS

• Add a seeded and diced bell pepper to the onions as they cook.

• Replace the fresh hot pepper with ¼ teaspoon of cayenne or ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes.

• For a smoky flavor, use a minced canned chipotle pepper with a spoonful of adobo sauce.

• Stir a cup of corn kernels into the filling.

• Use corn tortillas instead of flour for a gluten-free alternative.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve on a bed of rice and top with Smooth Hot Sauce and chopped scallions. Maybe add some grated cheese or a dollop of sour cream.

Two Quesadillas

Everyone loves quesadillas. They can be an appetizer, snack, lunch, or dinner. Here are two ideas for delicious quesadilla fillings. Embellish the fillings or create new combinations with avocado, olives, fresh cilantro, scallions, hot peppers, and tomatoes. And, of course, you can go to Refried Beans for a classic filling.

If you have two skillets for heating the quesadillas, that will speed things up.

CREAMY MUSHROOM QUESADILLAS

Serves 4

Time: 30 minutes

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 cups chopped onions

3 cups sliced mushrooms (12 ounces whole)

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

four 8- or 10-inch flour tortillas

1 cup salsa

To make the filling: Warm the oil in a skillet or saucepan on medium-high heat. Add the onions and sauté for about 5 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms, salt, black pepper, and cumin, cover, and cook on medium heat for a few minutes. Uncover, stir, and continue to cook until the mushroom juices have evaporated. Turn off the heat and stir in the cream cheese and cheddar.

Spread about ½ cup of the filling on one half of a tortilla, leaving a ½-inch border around the outer edge. Fold the tortilla over the filling to form a half-moon shape. Repeat with the other 3 tortillas.

Lightly oil a large skillet on medium heat. When the skillet is hot, cook the quesadillas for a minute or two on each side, or until golden brown. Serve topped with your favorite salsa.

SWEET POTATO QUESADILLAS

Serves 4

Time: 30 minutes

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup finely chopped onions

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

½ teaspoon salt

3 cups peeled and grated sweet potatoes

½ teaspoon dried oregano

2 teaspoons ground cumin seeds

1 fresh hot pepper, minced, or 1⁄8 teaspoon cayenne

1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (optional)

four 8- or 10-inch flour tortillas

1 cup salsa

To make the filling: Warm the oil in a covered skillet or saucepan on medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, and salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft, about 8 minutes. Add the grated sweet potatoes, oregano, cumin, and hot peppers, cover, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often to prevent sticking. Add a splash of water if needed. Stir in the corn and heat through. Season with salt to taste.

Spread about ½ cup of the filling and ¼ cup of cheese, if using, on one half of a tortilla, leaving a ½-inch border around the outer edge. Fold the tortilla over the filling to form a half-moon shape. If the tortilla doesn’t stick together around the edges, brush some oil along the bottom inside edge. Repeat with the other 3 tortillas.

Lightly oil a large skillet on medium heat. When the skillet is hot, cook the quesadillas for a minute or two on each side, or until golden brown. Serve topped with your favorite salsa.

VARIATION

• If you want to serve quesadillas as appetizers, spread the filling on 2 tortillas, press a second tortilla on top of each, and cook on each side in a skillet as directed, or brush lightly with oil and bake for about 10 minutes at 400°F. Cut each quesadilla into 6 wedges.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Try either of these quesadillas with Our Favorite Tomato-Cilantro Salsa or Avocado Salsa. Mango Salsa would be especially good with mushroom quesadillas and Tomatilla Sauce would be especially good on sweet potato quesadillas. Garnish with Chipotle Cream or sour cream, if you like.

Spinach-Cheese Burritos

We thank Anna Thomas, whose recipe in Vegetarian Epicure was the inspiration for these burritos decades ago. We’re still making them at Moosewood and they continue to be a popular weekend entrée. We usually make them with flour tortillas, but for those who are avoiding wheat or simply like the taste of corn, we give you a variation that uses corn tortillas. We like them both ways.

Serves 4 to 6

Prep time: 30 to 35 minutes

Baking time: 20 to 25 minutes

1 tablespoon vegetable oil or olive oil

2 cups chopped onions

3 garlic cloves, pressed or minced

1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds

10 cups baby spinach (about 1 pound), rinsed and drained

½ teaspoon dried oregano (optional)

3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

10 ounces Monterey jack, Swiss, or cheddar cheese, shredded (2½ cups)

eight 8-inch flour tortillas

Smooth Hot Sauce, Our Favorite Tomato-Cilantro Salsa, or your favorite salsa

In a large covered soup pot or skillet on medium heat, warm the oil. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, about 7 minutes. Add the coriander and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the well-drained spinach and the oregano, if using, increase the heat, and cook, uncovered, stirring frequently, until the spinach is just wilted. Turn off the heat and add the cream cheese, stirring until it has melted.

Put the shredded cheese in a bowl and stir in the spinach-cream cheese mixture.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly oil a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking pan.

Tortillas are often soft and supple, but if they’re brittle and crack when you fold them over, soften them by warming in the oven for a couple of minutes or in the microwave for a few seconds. Place ½ cup of filling on the lower half of a tortilla, roll it up, and place it, seam down, in the prepared baking pan. Continue with the rest of the filling and tortillas. Brush the tops lightly with oil and cover the baking pan with aluminum foil.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until hot.

Serve topped with hot sauce or salsa.

VARIATIONS

• Use about sixteen 6-inch corn tortillas. Brush both sides with oil and put them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Warm them in a preheated 375°F oven until they are soft and pliable, about 1½ minutes. (Otherwise, corn tortillas are likely to crack when you roll them.) Use about ¼ cup of filling for each tortilla and roll and bake as you would the flour tortillas.

• In place of onions, use about a cup of chopped scallions and cook them in the oil with the garlic for 2 or 3 minutes, then add the spinach.

• Add a cup of seeded and finely chopped red bell peppers to the onions for the last 4 or 5 minutes of cooking.

• Add chopped cilantro to the filling with the cheese, or serve topped with chopped cilantro.

• To give the filling a little kick, add minced fresh hot peppers or red pepper flakes or cayenne to the cooking onions.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve these burritos on Spanish Rice with Lime-Cilantro Slaw. Bowls of Sopa de Lima would be a great beginning.

TOFU

Tofu Kan–style Baked Tofu

Moosewood’s Best Baked and Pan-fried Tofu

Lemon-Herb Baked Tofu

Thai Baked Tofu

County-style Soft Tofu

Mushroom Mapo Tofu

Tofu “Meat” Loaf

Dixie Tofu-Pecan Loaf

Tofu Kan–style Baked Tofu

Ithaca Soy makes a wonderful product called Tofu Kan. It’s a bronze-colored baked tofu with a chewy outer crust, a firm, creamy inside, and a simple flavor that makes it very versatile. At Moosewood, we grate it for sandwich spreads and slice it to go on salads and vegetable plates and in pitas. We’ve never found anything comparable among other commercial baked tofus, and it has frustrated us to think that tofu kan is essential to some of our recipes and that some of our readers won’t get the same dish we love so much. Nancy Lazarus, a long-time Moosewood cook, went on a quest to develop a recipe for a baked tofu that our readers can make to use in our dishes that call for tofu kan. Here is a close cousin of our beloved Ithaca Soy Tofu Kan that you can make yourself at home.

Please use fresh tofu if you can (see here). Because of the long baking time, a glass or ceramic flat-bottomed baking pan is best. If you don’t have one, use your most substantial pan. By the time the baking is done, the marinade will have been absorbed by the tofu and also evaporated, leaving a startling-looking residue on the pan. Never fear—as soon as you remove the tofu, fill the baking pan with water, and after it sits for 10 minutes or so, cleanup will be easy.

Yields two 7- or 8-ounce slabs

Pressing time: 1 to 2 hours

Prep time: 10 minutes

Baking time: 1½ to 2 hours

one 14- to 16-ounce block firm or extra-firm tofu (see here)

¼ cup soy sauce

2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 cup hot tap water

Press the tofu in the refrigerator for an hour or two (see here).

Stir together the soy sauce, brown sugar, and water, until the brown sugar has dissolved.

Drain the tofu and cut it horizontally into 2 slabs. Pour the marinade into an unoiled 8- or 9-inch square, nonreactive, heavy baking pan. Place the tofu slabs in the pan and spoon some marinade onto the tops.

Bake at 350°F until the liquid has been absorbed, 1½ to 2 hours; the baking time varies with different tofus and in different ovens. Every 30 minutes, turn the slabs of tofu over and spoon some of the marinade on top. At some point after an hour, you may think that the liquid will never be gone and the tofu won’t become firm, but more time will do it.

Cool the tofu kan to room temperature; it will firm up more as it cools. Store well wrapped in the refrigerator for up to a week.

NOTES

Recipes in this book that call for tofu kan:

—Ira’s Lunch Pita (here)

—Thai Tofu Lunch Pita (here)

—BLTease Sandwich Spread

—Saigon Sandwich

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve tofu kan sliced in a sandwich or on a salad, add it to a stir-fry it or eat it plain as a snack. It’s our “deli meat” of choice.

Moosewood’s Best Baked and Pan-fried Tofu

Both at the restaurant and at home, Moosewood cooks make various flavored tofus for snacks or sandwiches or to serve with salads, rice and steamed vegetables, gado gado, roasted vegetables … the list goes on. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature. Seasoned tofu is a great snack to keep in the refrigerator.

For forty years, we’ve been cooking and loving tofu—here are our favorites recipes. We give you both oven and stovetop methods, because each is useful in its own way: if the oven is already heated up for something else, why not take advantage of an empty rack? If it’s hot outside and you don’t want to heat up the kitchen along with the oven, try the stovetop way.

The 3-ingredient basic marinade is what we usually use. But sometimes we want additional flavor, and we each have our own favorite. Generally, we add just one of the extra flavors, although chili paste and ginger go together very nicely. At a fourth grade taste test in one of our local elementary schools, the basic marinade plus ketchup was the hands-down favorite. What is it about kids and ketchup? Maybe the sweetness.

At Moosewood, we bake tofu in our convection oven, which makes it chewy on the outside and soft and succulent on the inside. But a conventional oven can achieve a similar effect. Baked tofu is easy: just pop it in the oven and stir a couple of times. Stovetop tofu is quicker, but you need to be right there with it, turning it often. Stovetop tofu can be soft and moist, or chewy or crisp, depending on the heat, timing, and the marinade you use.

Serves 4

Prep time: 10 minutes

Baking time: 30 to 60 minutes

Stovetop time: 10 to 15 minutes

one 14- to 16-ounce block firm tofu (see here)

BASIC MARINADE

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

3 tablespoons soy sauce

OPTIONAL ADDITIONS

1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

2 teaspoons Chinese Chili Paste with Garlic or Tabasco

2 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 to 2 tablespoons minced chipotles in adobo sauce (omit the sesame oil and increase the vegetable oil to 2 tablespoons)

Baked Tofu

Preheat a conventional oven to 400°F, convection to 375°F. Lightly oil a baking pan large enough to hold the tofu in a single layer; 9-inch square, 9 × 7-inch, 11 × 9-inch, and 13 × 9-inch pans work well.

In the baking pan, stir together the marinade ingredients. Cut the tofu (no need to press) into cubes, triangles, or strips. Put them in the baking pan and gently turn to thoroughly coat with the marinade. Bake uncovered until firm, browned, and chewy. To expose all sides to the hot air, turn gently every 10 or 15 minutes. It will take 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the size of the tofu pieces and how browned and chewy you like it.

Pan-fried Tofu

Cut the tofu (no need to press) into small cubes, about ¾-inch. Mix together the marinade. Use a 10-inch or larger skillet or heavy pan.

For crisp tofu nuggets, heat ¼ cup oil on medium-high heat. Add the tofu cubes and cook for 6 or 7 minutes, stirring every minute or so. Add soy sauce and sesame oil and any other marinade ingredients (except more oil) and stir well. Cook, stirring frequently, for a couple of minutes.

To make softer tofu cubes, marinate the tofu cubes for 5 minutes or longer. Warm about 2 tablespoons of oil in the skillet on medium-high heat. When the oil is warm, add the tofu and marinade and cook, stirring often, for 10 to 15 minutes until the tofu is firm and browned. Depending on your skillet, you may need to lower the heat after a couple of minutes.

NOTE

We don’t recommend adding grated ginger to pan-fried tofu because it tends to scorch. If you’re doing a ketchup version, stir the ketchup in for only the last minute or two: lower the heat and stir constantly—the ketchup will glisten at first and then become a bit duller; remove from the skillet at that point to prevent scorching.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with almost anything. At the restaurant, we always put baked tofu on plates of Sichuan Noodles, Indonesian Rice Salad, or Gado Gado. Make a salad with chopped romaine, tomatoes, avocado, and cukes with cubes of baked or pan-fried tofu and Japanese Carrot Dressing. Serve on top of Groundnut Stew.

Lemon-Herb Baked Tofu

This tofu makes a delicious snack, so when we’re making some for a meal, we usually make extra. It will keep in a closed container or a plastic bag in the refrigerator for 4 or 5 days, although it takes self-control to keep it that long. It’s a great sandwich filling or topping for salads, and a nice side for grain salads or simple rice and steamed vegetables.

When you take the tofu out of the oven, don’t groan at the crusty deposit on the baking pan, thinking that it’s going to be a hard cleanup. Put the pan in the sink, fill it with water, and let it soak for 5 minutes—the crust will dissolve and it will be easy to wash the pan.

Serves 4

Prep time: 15 minutes

Baking time: about 1 hour

one 14- to 16-ounce block firm tofu (see here)

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil

½ cup water

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary or ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

In a nonreactive baking pan large enough to hold the tofu in a single layer (a 9-inch square or 9 × 7-inch baking pan is perfect), stir together the lemon juice, soy sauce, oil, water, rosemary or cilantro, and black pepper. Cut the tofu (no need to press) into cubes, triangles, or strips. Put them in the baking pan and gently turn to thoroughly coat with the marinade.

Bake, uncovered, for 45 to 60 minutes. After about 30 minutes, gently stir the tofu. Take the tofu out of the oven when it has browned and most of the marinade has been absorbed.

Serve right away, or warm, or at room temperature, or chilled.

VARIATIONS

• Sometimes, we add about a tablespoon of minced scallions to the marinade.

• And, sometimes when we make the cilantro version, we add a minced fresh hot pepper.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

For a simple Italian-style meal, serve the rosemary version of this tofu with Polenta, Cheesy and Vegan and Quick Sautéed Greens. For a simple dinner with a Mexican theme, make the cilantro version and serve it with Spanish Rice and Lime-Cilantro Slaw.

Thai Baked Tofu

Easy-to-make and flavorful, baked tofu is a tasty, high-protein filling for sandwiches or topping for stews and sautés, and is a great addition to combination platters and composed salad plates. We like to have some around just for snacking, maybe to dip into yummy Peanut Sauce (here).

Serves 4

Prep time: 10 minutes

Baking time: 30 to 40 minutes

one 14- to 16-ounce block firm tofu (see here)

MARINADE

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced

1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon sugar, honey, or pure maple syrup

1 to 2 tablespoons Thai green or red curry paste (see here)

Cut the tofu (no need to press) into cubes, triangles, or sticks. Lightly oil a baking pan that will hold the tofu in a single layer; a 9-inch square or 9 × 7-inch baking dish works well.

In a small bowl, whisk together the marinade ingredients. In the baking dish, gently toss the tofu with the marinade until all the surfaces are coated.

Bake, uncovered, in a preheated 400°F oven for 30 to 40 minutes, gently stirring after 20 minutes. When it is done the tofu will be firm with crisp edges, and the marinade will have been mostly absorbed. Serve hot or at room temperature.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Bake a batch to accompany Thai Noodle Salad or Indonesian Rice Salad. Thai Baked Tofu is also great on a Gado Gado plate or to top Thai Vegetable Curry. It’s good for jazzing up a plain dish like rice and steamed vegetables.

Country-style Soft Tofu

Country-style Soft Tofu comes together in only about 15 minutes and is exactly the kind of comforting meal for at home that many of us crave again and again. The taste is savory with a touch of Sichuan heat, and the texture is smooth and custardy. Stir-fried baby bok choy is our favorite thing to eat with Country-style Soft Tofu.

Serves 3 or 4

Time: 15 minutes

one 14- to 16-ounce block soft tofu (see here)

1 cup water

4 teaspoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons dark sesame oil

½ teaspoon rice vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or white vinegar

¼ to ½ teaspoon Chinese Chili Paste with Garlic

1⁄3 cup chopped scallions

Cut the tofu into 1-inch cubes and set aside. In a saucepan, stir the water and cornstarch with a fork until the cornstarch dissolves. Add the soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, and chili paste. On medium-high heat, cook the sauce, stirring constantly until it simmers, darkens, and thickens, about 3 minutes. With a wooden spoon, gently stir in the tofu cubes and lower the heat. Simmer for about 4 minutes to heat the tofu. Add the scallions to the pan and stir gently. Serve immediately on rice or noodles.

VARIATIONS

• When the sauce has thickened and you’re adding the tofu, stir in about ½ cup of sliced snow peas or fresh or frozen green peas.

• Although soft tofu is easier to work with, you can use silken tofu in this dish. Silken tofu is slippery and difficult to cut into neat cubes, but it’s fine if it falls apart a bit. Be sure to stir the delicate tofu into the sauce with a wooden spoon.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

The soft consistency of this saucy tofu goes best with chewy, short-grain brown rice, but that takes about 45 minutes to cook, so either plan ahead or serve the tofu with udon noodles or a shorter-cooking rice such as jasmine. Succulent baby bok choy can be stir-fried in a few minutes (see here) and is the perfect side dish, as is Sesame Spinach and Green Beans with Lemon Zest Dressing.

Mushroom Mapo Tofu

Traditional Sichuan mapo doufu is made with ground meat, which gives a bumpy texture that contrasts with smooth soft tofu. Po means old woman, and ma is short for mazi, a pockmarked person—Chinese legend says that the dish originated in Chengdu at the roadside inn belonging to a lady with a pock-marked face. In that city today, there are several Chen mapo dofu restaurants that specialize in the famous dish.

We make our mapo-inspired spicy vegan sauce with onions and mushrooms. It’s a wonderful mix of flavors and textures. Because the mushrooms are smooth and soft, we like the contrast of firm tofu, but soft tofu is good, too. Sichuan mapo is very spicy, usually with chili oil or paste and Sichuan peppercorns, but make it as mild or as spicy as you like, and you can use whatever “hot” you like or have on hand: cayenne, Tabasco, red pepper flakes, etc.

Also not traditional, we like our mapo with a steamed green vegetable, in the restaurant almost always broccoli. Chinese greens such as choy sum (Chinese broccoli), or broccoli rabe, or whole green beans are good also.

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 50 minutes

cooked brown rice

TOFU

2 tablespoons peeled and grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon Chinese Chili Paste with Garlic

¼ cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons white, apple cider, or rice vinegar

¼ cup sherry

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

1 cup water

one 14- to 16-ounce block firm tofu (see here)

VEGETABLES

¼ cup vegetable oil

2 cups chopped onions

4 cups chopped or sliced mushrooms (16 ounces) (see Note)

2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water

6 cups broccoli spears

toasted walnuts

diagonally sliced scallions

If you don’t have cooked rice on hand, cook some first (see here).

In a bowl, stir together the grated ginger, chili paste, soy sauce, vinegar, sherry, tomato paste, sesame oil, and water. Cut the tofu (no need to press) into 1-inch cubes and add to the bowl. Using a rubber spatula, gently turn the tofu to cover with the sauce. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet or soup pot on medium-high heat, add the onions and sauté for about 5 minutes, until softened. Add the mushrooms and sauté for about 5 minutes, until softened. Add the tofu and sauce and bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, steam the broccoli. Prepare the walnuts and scallions.

Add the dissolved cornstarch to the mushrooms and tofu, bring back to a simmer, and stir gently until the sauce thickens and becomes clear.

Serve on individual plates: arrange the steamed broccoli on a bed of rice, top with mapo tofu, and sprinkle with walnuts and scallions.

NOTE

Use any mushrooms you like, or a mixture: moonlight, cremini, fresh shiitake, even portobello (slice the cap in half horizontally, then both vertically and horizontally into ½-inch nubs).

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with a simple green salad and Japanese Carrot Dressing or Ginger-Miso Dressing. Garnish with mung sprouts and/or quickly blanched sugar snap peas or snow peas.

Tofu “Meat” Loaf

Early on, when we made “American Diner Food” one of our ethnic Sunday night menus, the Moosewood Blue Plate Special was born: tofu “meat” loaf and mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy and a side of peas and carrots. It started as a joke, but it’s become such a beloved standard at the restaurant that we now put it on the menu without even a hint of irony.

We bake tofu loaf in a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking dish rather than a loaf pan because that gives each piece a larger chewy surface.

Serves 8

Prep time: 45 minutes

Baking time: 35 minutes

two 14- to 16-ounce blocks firm tofu (see here)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cups diced onions

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 cup grated carrots

½ cup seeded and diced bell peppers (any color)

1 cup coarsely ground toasted walnuts

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons dark sesame oil

¼ cup tahini

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ cup chopped fresh basil

First, press the tofu for at least 20 minutes (see here).

In a covered skillet, warm the oil on low heat. Add the onions, sprinkle with the salt and oregano, and cook for 7 or 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the carrots and bell peppers and cook, covered, until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to a mixing bowl.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Oil a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking pan.

Grate the pressed tofu by hand or in a food processor and add it to the cooked vegetables with the walnuts, soy sauce, mustard, sesame oil, tahini, black pepper, and basil. Mix well and add more soy sauce to taste.

Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top. Bake at for about 35 minutes, or until the loaf is firm and the top browned.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve tofu loaf with Vegan Mashed Potatoes and Mushroom Gravy or Caramelized Onion Gravy and a side of peas and carrots.

Dixie Tofu-Pecan Loaf

First at Moosewood there was the ever-popular “Blue Plate Special,” our classic tofu walnut burger mix made into a loaf, served with mashed white potatoes, mushroom gravy, and peas and carrots. Now there’s Dixie Blue Plate Special with a similar tofu loaf made with pecans, seasoned differently, topped with some barbecue sauce or onion gravy and served with mashed sweet potatoes and garlicky sautéed greens or coleslaw. It’s clear that our customers think that Moosewood venturing south is a good thing.

Serves 6 to 8

Prep time: 35 minutes

Baking time: 40 minutes

two 14- to 16-ounce blocks firm tofu (see here)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cups diced onions

1 cup diced celery

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus more to taste

1 cup toasted pecans

1½ cups seeded and diced red bell peppers

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

½ cup chopped fresh parsley

3 tablespoons soy sauce

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons barbecue sauce or ketchup (optional)

First, press the tofu for at least 20 minutes (see here).

In a large, covered skillet on low heat, warm the oil. Add the onions, celery, salt, thyme, oregano, and red pepper flakes to taste, and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

While the onions cook, whirl the toasted pecans in a food processor until coarsely ground. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Grate the tofu in a food processor or with a handheld grater and add to the bowl. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly oil a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking pan.

Stir the bell peppers into the onions and herbs, cover, and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add to the bowl with the tofu and pecans. Stir in the mustard, parsley, soy sauce, black pepper, and barbecue sauce or ketchup, if using. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

Spread the tofu mixture evenly in the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until firm and browned, about 40 minutes.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve topped with Caramelized Onion Gravy or Barbecue Sauce with sides of Vegan Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Quick Sautéed Greens; collards would be especially appropriate. Or, while the oven is on, make some Roasted White and Sweet Potatoes, forego the gravy, and serve with Lime-Cilantro Slaw or Confetti Kale Slaw.

PASTA

Spinach Lasagna

Vegetable-Tofu Lasagna

Pasta al Cavalfiore

Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli

Eggplant-Mushroom Marsala

Vegetable Stroganoff

Pasta Tutto Giardino

Pasta Fazool

Pasta Primavera

Pasta with Asparagus and Lemon Sauce

Quick Uncooked Tomato Sauce for Pasta

Twelve Quick Pastas

Spinach Lasagna

There are few dishes as intoxicating as the sight and smell of a golden, bubbling lasagna.

We prepare this lasagna with our Tomato-Basil Sauce to which we add bay leaf, ground fennel seeds, and sometimes wine. We add chopped fresh, uncooked spinach to the filling because the taste of the spinach is truer, the prep time is shorter, and you have one less pot to wash. The final result resembles the tricolors of the Italian flag: red, white, and bright green. Buon appetito!

We make lasagna with uncooked noodles, and as long as there’s enough sauce, they cook nicely as the dish bakes.

Serves 9

Prep time: 30 minutes if using premade sauce, an additional 15 to 20 minutes if making sauce (the sauce can simmer while the filling is prepared)

Baking time: 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes

5 to 6 cups Tomato-Basil Sauce or other tomato sauce

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 ounces)

2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese (5 ounces)

2 large eggs

about 16 ounces ricotta cheese

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (optional)

7 cups chopped fresh baby spinach (about 12 ounces)

¾ pound lasagna noodles

Start making the tomato sauce if you don’t already have it. In a bowl, mix together the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses and set aside about a cup of the mixture to sprinkle on top of the lasagna later. In a larger mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add the ricotta, mixed mozzarella and Parmesan, nutmeg, if using, and chopped raw spinach. Mix thoroughly.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Oil a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking pan. Spread 1½ cups of tomato sauce across the bottom of the pan. Top with a layer of lasagna noodles; we usually break some noodles and use them to fill in any empty spaces. Spread half of the spinach-cheese filling on the noodles. Spread another 1 cup of tomato sauce over the filling. Top with noodles and the remaining filling. Add the final layer of noodles and top with 2½ cups of sauce. (You can add more sauce if it will fit in your pan.)

Cover the pan with aluminum foil; dome the foil so that it doesn’t touch the sauce. Bake until the noodles feel tender when a knife is inserted, probably an hour or more. Remove the foil when the noodles are tender, sprinkle the reserved cup of mozzarella and Parm on top, and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes until the cheese has melted. Let the lasagna sit, uncovered, at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

What more could you want besides a green salad or simple vegetable side dish (see here)

Vegetable-Tofu Lasagna

At Moosewood, lasagna is very popular, and we usually feature at least two variations per week. In this vegan lasagna, seasoned whipped tofu replaces the traditional ricotta layer, and mushrooms and spinach stand in for mozzarella. This is a very flavorful dish—even the non-vegans don’t miss the cheese—really!

As with all our lasagnas, the noodles are added uncooked. As long as there’s adequate sauce, they cook beautifully as the dish bakes.

The lasagna can be assembled a day ahead of time and refrigerated. When chilled, bake at 325°F for about 1½ hours.

Serves 8

Prep time: 45 minutes if using premade sauce, about an hour if making sauce

Baking time: about 1 hour

Tomato-Basil Sauce or 5 to 6 cups of your favorite tomato sauce

2½ tablespoons olive oil

1 pound mushrooms, sliced (about 5 cups)

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sherry or red wine (optional)

8 cups baby spinach (about 12 ounces)

one 14- to 16-ounce block firm tofu

1½ tablespoons soy sauce

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

½ teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

½ cup chopped fresh basil

¾ pound lasagna noodles

If you’re making Tomato-Basil Sauce, do that first, and go on with the recipe as it simmers.

In a large saucepan or skillet on medium heat, warm 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the mushrooms and sauté for a couple of minutes. Stir in ½ teaspoon of the salt and the sherry or wine, if using, cover, and cook until the mushrooms are tender and juicy, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Finely chop the spinach and set aside. Crumble the tofu into a food processor. Add the remaining 1½ tablespoons of olive oil, soy sauce, garlic, oregano, fennel, black pepper, and the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt. Whirl until the tofu mix is smooth and creamy, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides. Add the basil and process briefly to mix.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Oil a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking pan.

Spread 1½ cups of the tomato sauce over the bottom of the pan. Top with a layer of lasagna noodles; we usually break some noodles and use them to fill in the empty spaces in the noodle layer. Spread on half of the tofu filling, and then half of the mushrooms and chopped raw spinach. Spread another 1½ cups of tomato sauce over the vegetables. Top with noodles, the remaining tofu mix, and the rest of the mushrooms and spinach. Add a final layer of lasagna noodles and top it with 2 to 3 cups of tomato sauce.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil; dome the foil so that it doesn’t touch the sauce. Bake until the noodles feel tender when a knife is inserted, about 1 hour.

VARIATIONS

• Make with different or additional vegetables. At the restaurant, we might add zucchini, fresh fennel, or bell peppers to this dish. Or, replace the spinach with sautéed kale or broccoli rabe. Asparagus is good, too.

• Use Puttanesca Sauce instead of Tomato-Basil Sauce.

• For a gluten-free version, use rice lasagna noodles. We recommend cooking them first.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with one of our Simple Side Vegetables Simply Embellished or Roasted Brussels Sprouts and a crisp green salad.

Pasta al Cavalfiore

We confess that while preparing this dish you will dirty a lot of pots and bowls and the preparation is not quick and easy. But your efforts will be rewarded with a big, beautiful casserole that is golden and bubbly and looks like elegant mac and cheese delicious comfort cuisine—great to take to a dish-to-pass or add to a party buffet.

Serves 8 (more as a side dish)

Prep time: 1 hour and 15 minutes

Baking time: 40 minutes

CHEESE SAUCE

½ cup butter

½ cup unbleached white all-purpose flour

1 quart milk, heated

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups chopped onions

3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

2 tablespoons sherry, white wine, or water

1 medium head cauliflower, cut in florets

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups chopped fresh tomatoes

½ cup chopped fresh basil

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 pound chunky pasta (shells, penne, ziti, fusilli)

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

To prepare the cheese sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan on medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for a couple of minutes. Slowly add the heated milk, whisking constantly until the sauce thickens. Stir in the nutmeg, mustard, salt, pepper, and Parmesan and remove from the heat.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta.

Meanwhile, in a large pot on medium heat, warm the oil. Add the onions and garlic and cook, covered, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent, about 8 minutes. Stir in the sherry, wine, or water. Add the cauliflower and salt, cover, and cook, stirring often, until the cauliflower is tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, basil, and lemon juice and remove from the heat.

When the water for pasta is at a rolling boil, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Oil a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking pan.

In a large mixing bowl or one of the pots, combine the pasta, vegetables, cheese sauce, and half of the mozzarella cheese. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Spread the pasta mixture in the baking pan. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese on top. Bake, covered, for 20 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until bubbling and golden on top.

VARIATIONS

• In place of chopped fresh tomatoes, use two 15-ounce cans or one 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes, drained.

• Instead of baking a casserole, stir the cooked vegetables into the cheese sauce and ladle the sauce over individual portions of cooked pasta. Top with the grated mozzarella.

• OK, we know this is called cavalfiore but in the Moosewood tradition of messing around with recipes, you could replace the cauliflower with zucchini or yellow squash and the tomatoes with red bell peppers. Or, chopped spinach or chard (keep the tomatoes). Or, mushrooms. Or broccoli. Or …

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Anything more than a crisp green salad may put you into a stupor.

Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli

There’s a TV commercial for boxed mac and cheese that shows adults sneaking bites from their kids, to the anger and dismay of the kids and the rueful guilt of the parents, who still love this dish as much as they did when they were children. The point is that everyone loves macaroni and cheese. A point we want to make is that if you make it yourself from scratch, you control the quality of the ingredients (no powdered cheese or additives), you end up with a batch big enough for the whole family, it doesn’t take a lot longer to make, and, wow, does it taste better. We use whole-grain pasta and plenty of broccoli.

Sometimes we bake mac and cheese, sometimes we don’t. Eat it as soon as you put the cheese sauce in the pasta and it’s smooth and slippery. Bake it and it’s more solid with a delicious chewy crust.

Serves 6 to 8

Prep time: 30 minutes

Baking time: 20 to 25 minutes

1 recipe Cheese Sauce

12 ounces broccoli crowns, chopped into bite-size pieces (about 4 cups)

1 pound elbow pasta or fusilli

salt

ground black pepper to taste

1 cup fine bread crumbs

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for cooking the pasta. Make the cheese sauce. When the pasta water boils, add the pasta and stir. After 4 minutes, add the broccoli to the pasta pot. When the pasta is al dente, drain the pasta and broccoli. Combine the pasta, broccoli, and cheese sauce.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter or oil a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking pan or large casserole dish. Spread the pasta-broccoli-cheese mixture evenly in the baking pan. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top, then sprinkle with the grated cheddar. Bake for about 25 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and the top is lightly browned.

VARIATION

• You can serve this dish right after stirring the cheese sauce into the pasta and broccoli, and forego baking it.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with a green salad with sliced apples or pears and/or grapes and Pear-Thyme Dressing. Or with sliced tomatoes or Cucumbers Vinaigrette.

Eggplant-Mushroom Marsala

We’ve been making this dish at Moosewood for forty years. It is a vegetable-laden sauce with the sweet and rich undertones of its signature ingredient, Marsala wine. We serve it over egg noodles with a generous sprinkling of Parmesan. It is also delicious on polenta or a creamy, simple risotto.

Marsala may seem like an expensive ingredient, but it is essential here. It usually comes in a screw-top bottle and it keeps well after opening. You will find it useful in many dishes; just a little adds a distinctive, rich flavor.

You can probably keep up with the chopping as you go, getting the next ingredients ready just as you need to add them to the pot. Or, for a more relaxed time, have all the ingredients ready before you begin to cook. Put water on to boil for the polenta or noodles when you begin to cook the onions and all will be ready together.

Serves 6

Time: 50 minutes

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups chopped onions

3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups cubed eggplant (½-inch cubes) (1 eggplant, about 1¼ pounds)

1 red, yellow, or orange bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 pound cremini or white mushrooms, sliced (about 5 cups)

1 teaspoon dried oregano

one 28-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 cup Marsala wine

2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons cold water

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

freshly ground black pepper

12 ounces egg noodles

finely grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese

In a soup pot or large skillet on medium-high heat, warm the oil. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaf, and salt and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the eggplant and bell pepper and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the mushrooms, oregano, and tomatoes, stir well, cover, and bring to a simmer. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Add the Marsala and simmer, covered, until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaf.

Meanwhile, cook the egg noodles.

Just before serving, stir the dissolved cornstarch into the eggplant and mushrooms and cook, stirring constantly, just until the sauce has thickened; if the sauce is simmering steadily, this happens very quickly. Add the basil and season with black pepper and more salt to taste.

Serve on egg noodles, and top with finely grated cheese.

VARIATION

• Serve this sauce on polenta (here).

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

In place of, or in addition to, cheese, top with a dollop of sour cream. A good appetizer to nibble on is Olivada with toasted baguette rounds or with crudités. Try something light and fruity for dessert, like Low-fat Lemon Pudding Cake served with fresh berries.

Vegetable Stroganoff

Traditionally, stroganoff is a beef and sour cream dish that originated in Russia in the nineteenth century. We’re sure you’ll appreciate our Moosewood vegetarian version of this creamy, chock-full-of-vegetables sauce flavored with red wine, paprika, and dill—and never miss that beef.

Serves 6

Time: 1 hour and 10 minutes

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1½ cups chopped onions

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon dried marjoram

1½ cups carrots cut into ½-inch-thick half-moons

½ cup dry red wine

6 cups mushrooms cut into halves or quarters (about 24 ounces)

4 cups bite-size cauliflower florets

one 15-ounce can diced tomatoes

1½ cups seeded and chopped red bell peppers

2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons cold water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill, more to taste

½ teaspoon black pepper

¾ cup sour cream

12 ounces egg noodles

The goal in this recipe is for the sauce and the noodles to be done at about the same time. But, we can’t tell you exactly when to put on a large pot of salted water to boil for cooking the noodles. It depends upon how quickly your stove will boil water and how long the egg noodles you’re using take to cook. Generally, we’d put the water on about the time we add the cauliflower to the cooking stroganoff vegetables. When the water boils, cook the noodles until al dente and drain.

In a soup pot on low heat, warm the oil. Add the onions, paprika, salt, and marjoram and cook, covered, for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the carrots and cook, covered, for 5 minutes. Condensation usually forms on the inside surface of the pot lid; when you lift the lid to stir, let the water drip into the pot to keep the vegetables from sticking, and if it’s not enough, just add a splash of water. Add the wine and mushrooms and increase the heat until the wine begins to simmer, then reduce the heat, cover, and cook at a low simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the cauliflower and cook, covered, for 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and bell peppers, return to a simmer, and cook, covered, until the vegetables are tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the dissolved cornstarch and cook, stirring constantly, just until the sauce has thickened. If the sauce is simmering steadily, this happens very quickly. Stir in the soy sauce, dill, black pepper, and sour cream. Add more salt or soy sauce, black pepper, and dill to taste.

Serve the stroganoff sauce over the egg noodles.

VARIATION

• You can adjust the proportions of the vegetables to your liking with the exception of the tomatoes, as long as you have about 14 cups of vegetables (including the onions). For instance, if you love mushrooms, add more, or substitute cabbage for the cauliflower, or don’t use bell peppers at all and increase the amount of some other vegetable.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with a simple green salad with one of our homemade dressings (see here to here).

Pasta Tutto Giardino

Tutto giardino means “the whole garden,” and the beauty of this lavish, creamy vegetable sauce is that you can make it with your favorite vegetables from the garden or market as the season progresses. The sauce is easy and very pleasing. It’s great on fettuccine, and we also serve it on chunky pastas like penne, shells, ziti, orecchiette, and farfalle. One customer who loves this sauce serves it with farfalle (bow ties) and calls it “Butterflies in the Garden.”

Serves 6

Time: 45 minutes

2 tablespoons olive oil

1½ cups diced onions

2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced

1½ teaspoons salt

1 cup diced carrots

1½ to 2 cups seeded and diced bell peppers (1 red, yellow, orange, or green)

3 cups sliced mushrooms, white or cremini (12 ounces)

2 cups diced zucchini or yellow squash

½ teaspoon dried oregano

1 cup dry white wine

1 cup diced fresh tomatoes

¼ cup chopped fresh basil

1 cup asparagus (cut into 1-inch lengths), or fresh or frozen peas

½ cup butter

½ cup unbleached white all-purpose flour

2 cups hot milk

ground black pepper

1 to 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (optional)

1 pound pasta

finely grated Parmesan cheese

In a soup pot on medium-low heat, warm the oil. Add the onions, garlic, and salt and cook for 3 or 4 minutes. Add the carrots, cover, and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the bell peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, oregano, and wine. Cover and cook until the vegetables are just tender, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the tomatoes and basil. Turn off the heat. If you’re using asparagus or fresh peas, steam them separately until just tender, and stir into the vegetable mixture. If you are using frozen peas, stir them into the hot vegetable mixture.

To cook the pasta, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente.

While the pasta cooks, melt the butter in a saucepan on medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for a minute or two. Gradually add the milk, and cook, stirring constantly until thickened. Stir the white sauce into the vegetable mixture and reheat on low. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Stir in a little lemon juice to brighten the flavor, if you like. If the sauce is too thick, add a little more milk.

When the pasta is al dente, drain it.

Serve the pasta topped with the sauce and finely grated Parmesan.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Most evenings, we’d be happy with just a plate of Pasta Tutto Giardino for supper, but a crisp salad, too, would be nice to munch on.

Pasta Fazool

Traditionally, pasta e fagioli is a hearty soup, but at Moosewood we make a hearty sauce with the vegetables and beans and serve it over pasta. Substitute or add any vegetable that you like—zucchini and fresh fennel would be great. Leftovers can be thinned with more water and tomatoes and served as a satisfying soup.

This is one of the recipes we chose for the Ithaca City School District’s Cool School Food Program, a team effort to improve school lunch menus by introducing healthful and delicious plant-based options. Wynnie Stein from Moosewood worked with the team using local organic beans and fresh kale from the school district’s garden. The program conducted tasting days when the elementary school students voted on a proposed finished recipe by filling out ballots with a smiley or frowny face. Hundreds of children voted resoundingly with a smile to have this recipe appear permanently on the monthly menu. Makes us happy and proud.

Serves 6

Time: 45 minutes

1 pound short, chunky pasta (shells, penne, or fusilli)

SAUCE

2 tablespoons olive oil

1½ cups finely chopped onions

1 cup diced celery

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1⁄8 cup red wine (optional)

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup seeded and diced bell peppers

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1½ teaspoons ground fennel seeds

2 teaspoons dried oregano or 2 tablespoons chopped fresh

1 cup water

one 28-ounce can diced tomatoes

two 15-ounce cans white, pinto, or pink beans, rinsed and drained (3 cups)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

4 packed cups coarsely chopped fresh kale or spinach

finely grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese (optional)

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Try to time cooking the pasta so it is done when the sauce is.

Meanwhile, make the sauce: In large saucepan on medium heat, warm the oil. Add the onions, celery, and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions have softened, about 8 minutes. Stir in the wine, if using. Add the carrots and bell peppers and continue to cook for a few minutes. Stir in the red pepper flakes, black pepper, salt, ground fennel, oregano, and water and cook, covered, until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and beans and bring to a low boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, covered, for about 10 minutes. Stir in the basil and kale or spinach and continue to cook, covered, for about 5 minutes, or until the greens are soft but still brightly colored.

Drain the pasta. Either ladle the sauce over individual bowls of hot pasta, or mix everything together in a large serving bowl. Top with the finely grated cheese.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with a simple green salad. Start with Olivada or Vegan Spinach–Artichoke Heart Dip and crostini, and finish with Italian Sesame Cookies and fresh fruit.

Pasta Primavera

Although it can be enjoyed any time of year, this colorful dish is intended to celebrate the delicate fresh vegetables associated with spring. So, we don’t smother them in a heavy cream sauce or add any strong seasonings. Rather, we simply lightly sauté the slender sticks of vegetables and make it a little bit saucy with tomatoes and wine.

Most of the vegetables are cut into matchstick shapes about the same length as penne or rigatoni so that they cook quickly, complement the pasta, and are easy to eat. But you could use fusilli or farfalle or just about any other shape of pasta.

Serves 6

Time: 40 minutes

1 pound asparagus

1 pound chunky pasta (whole wheat is nice)

1 tablespoon olive oil

6 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

2 small carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch matchsticks

1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 2-inch matchsticks

2 small zucchini, cut into 2-inch matchsticks

2 cups chopped tomatoes

¼ cup dry white wine

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup fresh or frozen green peas

½ cup sliced fresh basil

ground black pepper

about 1 cup grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese

The goal here is for the pasta and the sautéed vegetables to be done at about the same time. You need to manage both a pot of water for the asparagus and the pasta, and a large skillet or other heavy pan for sautéing the vegetables. First, prep the vegetables and grate the cheese, and while you’re doing that, put a large covered pot of salted water on to boil and cook the asparagus.

Break off and discard the tough ends of the asparagus spears and cut them into 2-inch pieces. When the water is at a boil, cook the asparagus for a minute or two until vivid green and barely tender. Remove the asparagus with a slotted spoon and set aside. Keep the water boiling to be ready for the pasta.

In a large skillet or pan on medium-high heat, warm the oil. Add the garlic, red onions, and carrot sticks. Sauté for a minute or two, stirring frequently. Stir the pasta into the pot of boiling water, and cook. Add the bell peppers and zucchini to the skillet and continue to sauté for a few minutes. Add the cooked asparagus and the tomatoes and wine, which will quickly bubble and steam. Add the salt and finish cooking the vegetables until just tender. Stir in the peas and basil. If you are using frozen peas rinse them with boiling water before adding. Season with black pepper and add more salt to taste.

When the pasta is al dente, drain it, reserving about ¼ cup of the cooking water.

In a large serving bowl, toss the pasta with about half of the grated cheese and the reserved cooking water. Drizzle the pasta with a little olive oil if you like. Top the pasta with the vegetables, sprinkle on the rest of the cheese, and serve right away.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

After all of those healthful vegetables why not indulge in some Chocolate Ricotta Moose or Vanilla Cheesecake?

Pasta with Asparagus and Lemon Sauce

If you love asparagus, love lemon, and love pasta, this is a great recipe for you to try. It’s wonderful—simple, quick, healthy, delicious. The sauce is thick and velvety, a beautiful lemony-green, and its flavor is the essence of asparagus. One pot and a blender, and you’re good to go.

Use extra-virgin or a fruity, flavorful olive oil. Real lemon lovers should add the lemon zest. Use any shape pasta—we usually make this dish with mezze penne or penne, campanelle, casareccio, gemelli, rigatoni, or fusilli because those shapes mirror the shape of asparagus tips. Whole wheat rigatoni is one of our favorites for this dish.

Serves 6

Time: 35 minutes

1½ to 2 pounds asparagus

1 pound pasta (see headnote)

2 teaspoons lightly packed, finely grated lemon zest (optional)

1⁄3 cup fresh lemon juice

1⁄3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, more to pass at the table

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, rinse the asparagus well to remove any sand from the tips. Snap off and discard the tough ends. Cut off and set aside the tips (about 1½ inches long).

When the water comes to a boil, cook the asparagus tips until just tender, 3 or 4 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon and set aside. (Or, put the tips in a colander or sieve and dunk that in the boiling water—no fishing out required.) Put the asparagus spears into the boiling water and cook until tender, usually 6 or 7 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon or tongs and place them in a blender. Cook the pasta in the same water until al dente.

While the pasta cooks, whirl the asparagus spears, lemon zest, if using, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and black pepper in the blender until smooth.

When the pasta is done, drain it. In a large serving bowl, toss the pasta with the sauce, asparagus tips, and Parmesan. Serve immediately. Pass more Parmesan at the table.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Start with White Bean and Basil Spread or Vegan Spinach-Artichoke Heart Dip on toasted bread rounds and serve with a tomato salad, a green salad, or a fruit salad, or a simple side, such as sliced tomatoes or beets.

Quick Uncooked Tomato Sauce for Pasta

First put on the pot for cooking the pasta, because this oh-so-fresh-tasting raw sauce is made in a blender in fewer minutes than it takes to boil the water and cook the pasta. The little cubes of fresh mozzarella, just beginning to melt in the hot pasta, are luscious. When tomatoes are in season and gardens are bursting with fragrant basil, we just can’t get enough.

It’s important in a dish this simple to use fine ingredients—a good, fruity, green extra-virgin olive oil, ripe garden tomatoes, good pasta, and freshly ground or cracked black pepper. Whole wheat butterfly pasta is our favorite with this sauce. The sauce is also good with other dishes, such as sautéed summer vegetables, baked potatoes, and omelets.

Yields about 5 cups sauce

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 20 minutes

5 cups chopped ripe tomatoes

¼ cup chopped fresh basil

2 garlic cloves, pressed

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper

8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese

1 pound pasta (farfalle or other short, chunky shape)

½ cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese (optional)

Bring a large covered pot of salted water to a boil.

Put 2 cups of the tomatoes into a large serving bowl. Put the rest into a blender. Put half of the chopped basil into the bowl with the tomatoes; the rest goes in the blender. Add the garlic, olive oil, salt, and black pepper to the blender and whirl until smooth. Pour the blender sauce into the serving bowl. Cut the mozzarella into small cubes and add them to the bowl.

When the water comes to a rapid boil, cook the pasta just until al dente. Drain the pasta, add it to the serving bowl, and toss well. Top with grated cheese, if you like, and serve immediately.

VARIATIONS

• Add about 2 cups of sliced mushrooms, raw or lightly sautéed.

• To make a completely raw meal, leave out the cheese and make fettuccine-like strands of zucchini in place of pasta. You need a spiral slicer, such as a Benriner Turning Vegetable Slicer, to make this mock noodle.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with a tossed green salad, one of our Not So Plain Green Vegetables, or Confetti Kale Slaw.

Twelve Quick Pastas

In every Italian cook’s repetoire there is an easy pasta dish, called aglio e olio (garlic and oil), that is good any time and can be made on the spur of the moment with a few simple ingredients always on hand.

We owe a tremendous debt to Susan Harville, Moosewood cook, partner, dessert maker, and Italian food aficionado. Sometime in the mid-1970s, Susan fell in love with Italian food (she named her son Emilio), and she has been devising simple, elegant, and mouthwatering meals ever since for family and friends. The expectant diners eagerly await the big bowl of her latest delicious, hot pasta concoction that she will hurry to the table moments after she has tossed it all together. We asked her to write down some of those dishes for this book—we made her stop at only twelve.

With Pasta Aglio e Olio as the base, these dozen delicious pasta dishes can all be made in the time it takes to boil water and cook pasta. For consistency, we’ll assume you use 1 pound of pasta (whole wheat pasta works well in all), good-quality extra-virgin olive oil, and minced fresh garlic. Exact measurements are not important.

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 20 to 25 minutes

PASTA AGLIO E OLIO

Use spaghetti or linguine or other long-strand pasta. Sauté plenty of minced garlic (say, 6 or 8 cloves or more) in extra-virgin olive oil (maybe 3 or 4 tablespoons) for a minute, until golden. Don’t let it scorch. Toss the garlic and oil with hot drained pasta, along with finely grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese, salt, and ground black black pepper.

PASTA AL VESUVIO

Start with Aglio e Olio, but to the garlic and oil add chopped fresh parsley (about a cup), a couple of tablespoons of pine nuts, some grated lemon zest, and ½ teaspoon, or more, of red pepper flakes. Cook just until the parsley has wilted but is still bright green. Toss with hot pasta along with salt, ground black pepper, and grated cheese.

PASTA WITH OLIVES PIQUANT

Mince about 1½ cups of assorted deli olives (some kalamatas, some big green ones, some stuffed with pimientos, garlic, lemon peel, or almonds—all are good) by hand or in a food processor, pulsing just a few times so that the olives are finely chopped but not pasty. Add the olives, along with a little minced fresh parsley and maybe ¼ teaspoon of red pepper flakes, to the garlic and oil. Save a cup of pasta cooking water when you drain the pasta so you can swirl the last bits of olive out of the skillet. Toss everything with the hot pasta and sprinkle on grated cheese, if you like.

FETTUCCINE WITH FRESH HERBS

You’ll need a little more extra-virgin olive oil, say ¼ cup, in which to sauté the garlic for a minute until it starts to turn golden. Add about ½ cup each of minced fresh parsley, minced fresh basil, and minced fresh chives. Cook the fresh herbs for only about 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Ladle about ½ cup of hot pasta cooking water into the pan and set aside. Toss the drained pasta with the oil and herb mixture, salt, ground black pepper, and grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese.

PASTA WITH ZUCCHINI AND LEMON

While the pasta water comes to a boil, slice 6 to 8 small, tender, young zucchini (about 4 cups) and juice a lemon. Add the zucchini to the garlic and oil and sauté until the zucchini is golden brown. Sprinkle it with salt and ground black pepper, add the lemon juice, and remove from the heat. Toss the hot drained pasta with grated Pecorino Romano (1 to 2 cups) and top with the zucchini.

PASTA WITH BROCCOLI

Use a short, chunky pasta. While the pasta water comes to a boil, finely chop a lot of broccoli. Sauté the broccoli in the oil for about 5 minutes before adding garlic. Then season with salt, ground black pepper, and add a couple of spoonfuls of hot pasta cooking water to steam the broccoli to tenderness. Top the cooked pasta with the broccoli and about a cup of grated Pecorino Romano, Parmesan, or ricotta salata cheese or with crumbled feta or Gorgonzola cheese.

VARIATIONS

• Cook seeded and chopped red bell peppers with the broccoli or add a couple chopped fresh tomatoes at the end.

• Add about ½ cup of chopped black olives and ¼ teaspoon of red pepper flakes.

• Add about a cup of shelled cooked edamame or small red beans and/or about a cup of toasted walnuts.

PASTA WITH CHARD

Use ziti or another chunky pasta and about 1½ pounds of ruby, rainbow, or green chard. While the pasta water comes to a boil, cut the chard stems into ½-inch slices and chop the leaves. Sauté the stems first for a minute or two before adding the garlic and leaves. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the leaves are wilted but still brightly colored. Season with salt and ground black pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes, if you like. Top the pasta with the chard and grated Pecorino Romano, Parmesan, or Asiago cheese or crumbled ricotta salata. Another nice addition to pasta with chard is dried cherries soaked in a few tablespoons of hot pasta water while the pasta cooks, plus some toasted walnuts.

PASTA WITH BEANS AND GREENS

Use a short chunky pasta, such as orecchiette, penne, fusilli, or ditalini. Sauté about 1 pound of rinsed and chopped fresh greens, such as escarole, endive, mizuna, mustard greens, or broccoli rabe with olive oil and garlic. until the greens are wilted but still bright green. Add a little pasta cooking water if needed. Add a 15-ounce can of rinsed and drained beans, such as butter beans, pinto, Roman, or cannellini beans. Season with salt and ground black pepper, and add a couple of pinches of dried rosemary or oregano. Toss everything with the pasta and top with grated Pecorino Romano, Parmesan, or sharp provolone, and/or top with chopped fresh tomatoes.

PASTA WITH GRAPE TOMATOES AND FETA

Use a short, chunky pasta. While the pasta-cooking water comes to a boil, slice about 2 pints of grape tomatoes in half lengthwise. Sauté garlic in olive oil until golden, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and cook for 3 or 4 minutes until the tomatoes are somewhat softened but not falling apart. Toss the hot pasta with about ¾ cup of crumbled feta cheese and enough reserved cooking water to coat the pasta. Top with the tomato-garlic mixture and sprinkle with ground black pepper.

VARIATIONS

• Add about 2 cups of fresh green beans, cut in half crosswise on a diagonal, to the pasta cooking water after the pasta has been added and it has returned to a boil. Drain the pasta and beans together, or add about 2 cups of chopped fresh spinach to the pasta water just a minute before the pasta is drained.

• Begin by soaking about ½ cup of sun-dried tomatoes in a little boiling water until softened, 10 to 15 minutes. Cut the sun-dried tomatoes into thin strips and add them, along with a few tablespoons of their soaking water, to the skillet of grape tomatoes and garlic.

• Top the pasta with toasted pine nuts.

QUICK TOMATO SAUCE

Cook some minced garlic in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil until golden, then add about 2 cups of finely chopped onions and cook on medium heat until golden, 5 or 6 minutes. Add salt and ground black pepper and two 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes or chopped plum tomatoes with their juice. Add a few leaves of fresh basil, if you like. Simmer until the pasta is cooked. Purée if you like.

VARIATIONS

• For a quick puttanesca sauce, add a few tablespoons of capers and sliced olives, and some oregano and red pepper flakes.

• For a quick arrabbiata sauce, add about a cup of seeded and diced bell peppers along with the onions and then add 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Purée the sauce, or part of the sauce, in a blender until smooth.

ROASTED RED PEPPER SAUCE

Use penne or another chunky pasta. Cook a finely chopped onion and garlic in oil. When the onion is golden, add about 1½ cups of finely chopped fresh or canned tomatoes and some sliced, jarred roasted red peppers and minced fresh basil. Cook for a couple of minutes and then purée half of the sauce in a blender and return it to the pan. Add ¼ cup of chopped fresh parsley. Season with salt and ground black pepper to taste. Top the pasta and sauce with Gorgonzola or another blue cheese or grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese.

PASTA WITH PEAS AND ONIONS

Here’s a naturally sweet pasta dish without any garlic. Use a pasta shape that can catch and hold peas, such as orecchiette or shells. While the pasta water comes to a boil, cut 4 medium onions lengthwise into thin slices and cook them in a little olive oil until they begin to brown. Season with salt and ground black pepper. Add about 4 cups of peas with a couple of spoonfuls of the hot pasta water. Toss the drained pasta with grated Pecorino Romano cheese and top with the peas and onions.

FISH

Coconut-Lime Cashew-crusted Fish

Dukkah-crusted Fish

Pecan-crusted Fish

Spicy Chipotle Cornmeal-crusted Fish

Not Fried Fish

Fish Cakes

Flounder Rollatini

Flounder Florentine

Spicy Caribbean Fish

Teriyaki Fish

Malaysian Fish

Oven-poached Fish with Leeks and Wine

Fish Basilico

Asian-style Fish in Parchment

Fish “Tostadas”

Creamy Seafood Stew

Coconut-Lime Cashew-crusted Fish

We only occasionally fry fish in the restaurant. We think overall that baking with a minimum of oil is a healthier way to go. But that doesn’t mean that we’re immune to the pleasures of a sizzling, crisp, crusty coating and a tender, flaky interior—the hallmarks of well-fried food. To that end, we’ve developed a number of marinated fish dishes with crunchy toppings. We bake the fish at a high temperature, and a trick for achieving a crisper bottom and sides is to preheat the oiled baking pan for about 5 minutes before putting in the fish.

Serves 4 to 6

Prep time: 20 minutes

Marinating time: 1 hour

Baking time: about 25 minutes

2 pounds firm fish fillets

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

one 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk

1½ cups cashews, toasted

1 cup unsweetened grated coconut

1 teaspoon salt

1⁄8 teaspoon cayenne or ground black pepper

3 tablespoons chopped scallions

Rinse and drain the fish. In a shallow dish, whisk together the lime juice and coconut milk. Add the fish, turn to coat both sides, and allow to marinate for at least 1 hour.

Meanwhile, in a food processor, whirl the cashews until finely ground. Add the coconut, salt, and cayenne or black pepper and pulse a few times until the mixture is well combined. Set aside.

About 30 minutes before you are ready to serve, preheat the oven to 400°F and preheat an oiled baking pan large enough to hold the fish fillets in a single layer. Dredge each marinated fillet in the coconut-cashew mixture, making sure to coat all sides, and place in the preheated baking pan (see headnote). Sprinkle with the chopped scallions. Bake for about 25 minutes, more or less depending on the thickness of the fillets, or until the coating is light golden brown and the fish is flaky and tender.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Top with Mango Aioli or Lime-Dijon Aioli. If you’d like it a little spicy, try it with Mango Salsa. Serve with Vegan Mashed Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes and Quick Sautéed Greens.

Dukkah-crusted Fish

Dukkah is an Egyptian nut and seed mixture that is usually used as a dip with bread and vegetables. Many versions of the mixture can be found for sale in small markets in Cairo and elsewhere. Our first taste of it was brought back from a little store in Adelaide, South Australia, of all places. When we created our own recipe for the spice mix, we realized how good it would be on fish.

Serves 4 to 6

Prep time: 20 minutes

Baking time: 20 to 30 minutes

2 pounds firm fish fillets

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1⁄3 cup almonds

1⁄3 cup hazelnuts

1⁄3 cup sesame seeds

1 tablespoon ground toasted cumin seeds

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme

Rinse the fish fillets and place them in a large bowl. Whisk together the oil and lemon juice and pour it over the fish. Turn the fillets a couple of times to coat. Set aside to marinate while you prepare the nut and seed mixture.

In the bowl of a food processor, whirl the almonds and hazelnuts until coarsely ground. Add the sesame seeds, cumin, black pepper, salt, and thyme and whirl until well mixed.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Oil a baking pan large enough to hold the fillets in a single layer.

After the fish has marinated for about 15 minutes, place the fillets in the prepared baking pan. Discard any leftover marinade. Top each fillet with 3 to 4 tablespoons of the nut and seed mixture. Bake until the fish flakes easily with a fork, 20 to 30 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillets.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with Bulghur Pilaf and Roasted Cauliflower, or with Greek Lemony Roasted Potatoes and Beet Salad or Moroccan Carrot Salad with Currants, or with Quick Sautéed Greens and Dilled Potatoes Vinaigrette, or with Moroccan Couscous Salad … the choices are endless.

Pecan-crusted Fish

This easy and elegant way to prepare fish owes its inspiration to the South, where fresh fish, buttermilk, pecans, and fresh thyme are familiar ingredients. Buttermilk provides a moist, creamy coating that the pecan crust will adhere to. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, plain yogurt works just as well.

We serve this extremely popular dish often; the fish has a mouthwatering crust without frying it in oil, and the flavors are versatile enough that we can serve it with mashed sweet potatoes and garlicky greens for a Southern treat, or with mashed white potatoes and green beans for an East Coast dinner, or with seasoned rice and a fruit salsa for a Caribbean twist.

Serves 6

Prep time: 20 minutes

Baking time: 30 minutes

2 pounds firm fish fillets

1 cup buttermilk

¼ cup olive oil or vegetable oil

3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 cup unseasoned bread crumbs

1 cup pecans

¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley

2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

½ teaspoon salt

1⁄8 teaspoon cayenne

Rinse the fish fillets and place them in a large, shallow dish. Pour the buttermilk over them and set aside.

Warm the oil in a skillet, add the garlic, and sauté just until it sizzles and turns golden. Stir in the bread crumbs and sauté for 3 or 4 minutes until golden and crisp. Put the bread crumbs into a large, shallow dish. In a food processor, pulse the pecans until ground but still bumpy (like cracked wheat). Add the pecans, parsley, thyme, paprika, salt, and cayenne to the bread crumbs and mix well.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Oil a baking sheet or baking Pan large enough to hold the fillets in a single layer.

Using a fork or tongs or your fingers, lift each fillet out of the buttermilk marinade, letting the excess drain off, and dredge each fillet in the pecan–bread-crumb mixture to coat completely. Place the coated fillets skin side down in the prepared baking pan or sheet, leaving a little space between each fillet so that the coating can brown.

Bake covered for 10 minutes, and then uncovered for 10 to 20 minutes, until the coating is light brown and crisp and the fish is tender and flaky.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve each fillet garnished with a little finely chopped parsley or a pretty sprig of fresh thyme and a wedge of lemon. Pass Tabasco or other hot sauce at the table. Really nice served with Mango Salsa or Mango Aioli.

Spicy Chipotle Cornmeal–crusted Fish

Although at Moosewood we almost exclusively bake the fish we serve, in this recipe, we pan-fry it for a nice, crispy crust and because it’s quick and easy. Our favorite way to serve this fish is with Mango Aioli. It’s also good plain or with good old ketchup or tartar sauce.

In Ithaca, we can get locally grown and ground cornmeal and the flavor and texture of freshly ground cornmeal is wonderful. We hope you can find good-quality cornmeal where you live.

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 30 minutes

2 pounds firm fish fillets

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus oil for pan-frying

2 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice

3 tablespoons chipotles in adobo sauce

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed (optional)

1½ teaspoons salt

1 cup cornmeal (see here)

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

Rinse the fish and cut it into 4 or 6 portions. In a blender or food processor, whirl the oil, lemon or lime juice, chipotles in adobo to taste, garlic, if using, and 1 teaspoon of the salt. The more chipotle peppers, the less adobo sauce you need and the spicier your fish will be. Place the mixture in a shallow bowl. Add the fish and generously coat the fillets with the chipotle sauce. Put the cornmeal, remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and pepper into another shallow bowl or large plate. Dredge each piece of fish on all sides in the seasoned cornmeal.

Unless you have a very large skillet, you’ll probably have to pan-fry in two skillets or in batches. Fill a nonstick or well-seasoned skillet ¼ inch deep with oil. Warm on medium-high heat until the oil is hot but not smoking. Cook the fish for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness, until the fish flakes with a fork. Transfer to paper towels to drain. If you have another batch to fry, keep the cooked fish in a warm oven.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve this delectable fish with mashed or roasted white or sweet potatoes or Dilled Potatoes Vinaigrette and Quick Sautéed Greens. Green Beans with Lemon Zest Dressing also taste good as a side vegetable.

Not Fried Fish

A surprising number of our partners, six out of nineteen, grew up in or have close family ties to the state of Maryland, and with that comes sentimental ties to the seasonings of the Chesapeake region. Dave Dietrich, our most recent transplant from Maryland—albeit twenty-two years ago—feels right at home with Old Bay Seasoning. Now, there’s always a can of Old Bay on our spice shelf and fish dishes, stews, and chowders seasoned with it are popular menu items. Here’s one of our favorites, an easy, down-home fish dish.

Serves 6 to 8

Prep time: 10 to 15 minutes

Marinating time: at least 20 minutes

Baking time: 10 to 12 minutes

2 pounds firm fish fillets

2 tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

¼ cup olive oil

2 cups finely ground whole wheat or white bread crumbs, or cornbread crumbs

1 heaping tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or 2 teaspoons dried thyme

Rinse and drain the fish. In a small bowl, whisk together the Old Bay, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil. Place the fish in a large bowl, pour in the marinade, turn the fish to coat all sides, and marinate for 20 minutes or longer.

While the fish marinates, toast the bread crumbs on a baking sheet at 350°F for 5 to 10 minutes, until crisp. Check after 5 minutes, and shake the pan or stir if they need more time; watch that they don’t burn. Remove the crumbs from the oven and set them aside to cool and dry. Increase the oven temperature to 425°F.

When the bread crumbs have cooled, transfer them to a bowl or large plate and stir in the thyme. Generously oil a large, rimmed baking tray or a couple of baking pans large enough to lay out the fillets with space all around each. Heat the baking sheet or pans in the oven for 5 minutes, and then set the hot pan near the bowl with the herbed crumbs.

Working quickly, gently shake excess marinade from each fillet, dredge it in the bread crumbs, and lay it on the pan, placing the fillets side by side without touching. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the fish is flaky and the topping is crisp.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with corn on the cob and Chopped Broccoli Salad or Lime-Cilantro Slaw. You can also do a variation on fish and chips by serving Not Fried Fish with oven-roasted potatoes (see here).

Fish Cakes

When fish cakes are on the menu at Moosewood, they sell out in a nanosecond. The inspiration for our first recipe for fish cakes made with potatoes came from Davina Stein, a great cook who even back in the 1950s, when everyone else was using canned salmon, made delicious fish cakes with fresh fish. It doesn’t matter whether we make them with salmon or cod or whether we include shrimp or catfish, there is something tremendously satisfying about these baked patties that are crunchy on the outside and creamy within. Fish cakes are an excellent way to use leftover fish and potatoes.

At the restaurant, we top fish cakes with an herbed or spiced aioli, following our inspiration of the day, or to go with whatever side dish we’re serving beside the fish cakes.

Yields 10 fish cakes

Serves 5 to 10

Prep time: 1 hour

Baking time: 25 minutes

1½ pounds firm fish fillets

2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil

1 cup finely chopped onions

2½ cups diced or thinly sliced peeled potatoes

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup water

1 teaspoon salt

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1½ cups bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Oil a baking pan large enough to hold the fish fillets.

Arrange the fish, skin side down, in the pan. Sprinkle with a little salt and black pepper, and bake, uncovered, until the fish flakes easily with a fork, 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the thickness. Remove from the oven and set aside.

While the fish bakes, warm the oil in a covered skillet or saucepan on medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Stir in the potatoes, carrots, water, and salt. Cover and cook at a low boil until the potatoes and carrots are soft, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. When the vegetables are soft, drain them if there is still liquid in the pan.

If necessary, skin the baked fish. In a large mixing bowl, using a handheld potato masher, mash the drained vegetables and the fish—don’t overdo it: bits and pieces of carrots and onions are good. Add the beaten egg, mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, dill, black pepper, and ¼ cup of the bread crumbs and mix thoroughly.

Oil a large rimmed baking sheet or 2 or 3 baking pans. Pour the remaining bread crumbs into a shallow bowl. Form ½-cup patties. Cover each patty with bread crumbs. The mixture tends to be a little on the wet side, so for easy handling, rest each patty in the bowl of crumbs and sprinkle crumbs on the top. Gently transfer each patty to the baking pan, placing the fish cakes 2 to 3 inches apart. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the cakes are firm to the touch and the outside is crisp.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

In the restaurant we usually top fish cakes with Herbed Aioli, Chipotle Aioli, or Lime-Dijon Aioli. We serve them with roasted white or sweet potatoes and some seasonal vegetable or crisp cabbage salad. They are also great served on a whole-grain bun or Kaiser roll, topped with aioli or coleslaw. And in the summer, how about fish cakes with an ear of sweet corn and a sweating glass of cold lemonade or limeade?

Flounder Rollatini

Flounder is perfect for rolling because the fillets are thin and boneless. These chunky fish rolls filled with a savory filling are a crowd-pleaser for fish lovers.

Serves 4 to 6

Prep time: 25 minutes

Baking time: 30 minutes

FILLING

1⁄3 cup finely chopped toasted almonds

½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1⁄3 cup chopped fresh parsley

1⁄3 cup chopped fresh basil

2 pounds flounder fillets (2- to 4-ounce fillets)

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Oil a 9-inch square or an 11 × 7-inch baking pan.

In a bowl, mix together the almonds, Parmesan, parsley, and basil.

If any of the fillets are large, cut them in half; when rolled, they should be about 2 inches thick. Rinse the flounder and place each fillet, skinned side up, on a flat work surface. Sprinkle filling on the wide end of each fillet and roll it up. Arrange the flounder rolls, seam side down and close together, in the prepared baking pan. Melt the butter and stir in the lemon juice. Pour the lemon butter over the rolled fillets and cover the pan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the fish is white, feels firm to the touch, and flakes easily with a fork.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve the flounder rolls on rice, couscous, or orzo, or with Risotto Milanese, with a simple vegetable on the side—whatever is in season. For inspiration, look at Not Plain Green Vegetables and Simple Side Vegetables Simply Embellished.

Flounder Florentine

Flounder Florentine has been one of our most loved fish dishes for a long, long time. It’s simple, elegant, and quick and easy to make at home. It can be assembled beforehand and kept in the refrigerator, making it a great dish for dinner guests.

Sometimes we add chopped toasted almonds to the filling; sometimes we use dill instead of tarragon. Often, we top Flounder Florentine with chopped tomatoes stirred together with a splash of olive oil and some chopped fresh basil.

Serves 4 to 6

Prep time: 25 minutes

Baking time: 20 minutes

FILLING

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup minced onions

5 cups baby spinach (8 ounces)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 pounds flounder fillets (2 to 4 ounces each)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

salt

ground black pepper

2 tablespoons melted butter or olive oil

Warm the oil in a saucepan on medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until translucent.

Meanwhile, chop the spinach. Stir the spinach and tarragon into the onions and cook just until the spinach has wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice. Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Oil a baking pan (11 × 7 inch or 9-inch square).

Rinse the flounder and lay out the fillets, skinned side up, on a flat work surface. Spoon about a tablespoon of the filling onto the wide part of each fillet and roll it up. Place the rolls, seam side down and close together, in the prepared baking pan. Drizzle the lemon juice over the rolls, sprinkle with salt and black pepper, and drizzle with the melted butter or the olive oil. Bake covered for 20 to 25 minutes until the fish is tender but firm to the touch.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve on brown rice, orzo, or couscous or with Greek Lemony Potatoes or Dilled Potatoes Vinaigrette. Good with Seasoned Artichokes or Roasted Cauliflower or Roasted Brussels Sprouts.

Spicy Caribbean Fish

We added coconut milk to this spicy sauce that we’ve been making for fish since the early days of the restaurant and decided that we loved it that way. And even though it’s good without it, those of us who like cilantro love it in this sauce. Make the sauce as spicy or as mild as you like; some of us like to use spicy habanero chiles without seeding them, some prefer a milder hot pepper, and some always scoop out all the seeds and any membranes in any and all hot peppers to make them milder. At the restaurant, we tend to go for not too spicy to please the majority of our customers.

Yields about 2 cups sauce

Serves 4

Prep time: 30 minutes

Baking time: 20 to 30 minutes

SAUCE

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup finely chopped onions

1 teaspoon salt

1 fresh hot pepper, minced

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

½ teaspoon dried thyme

2 cups diced fresh tomatoes

½ cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

1½ pounds firm fish fillets

ground black pepper

In a saucepan on medium heat, warm the oil. Add the onions and salt. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the minced hot pepper, garlic, and thyme and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the tomatoes, increase the heat, and cook until the tomatoes begin to get juicy, about 2 minutes, stirring often. Add the coconut milk, bring back to a simmer, and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the lime zest, lime juice, and cilantro, if using. Set the sauce aside to cool.

While the sauce is cooling, preheat the oven to 400°F. Rinse the fish fillets and place in an oiled baking pan large enough to hold the fillets in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper.

Pour the sauce over the fish fillets and bake for 15 to 30 minutes until the fish flakes easily with a fork. The baking time will vary depending on the thickness of the fish fillets and whether or not the sauce is hot when you pour it on the fish (see Note).

NOTE

It’s fine to make this sauce ahead of time, but don’t pour it over the fish while it’s still hot if you’re not ready to bake the fish. Either wait until the sauce is cool to add it to the pan of fish you’ve refrigerated, or store the sauce separately and cover the fish with it when you are ready to bake it.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

This fish is good served on a bed of rice that will absorb all of the flavorful sauce, or with Roasted White or Sweet Potatoes. Often, we garnish with chopped scallions and lime wedges and serve it with Coconut Rice and Lime-Cilantro Slaw or sautéed kale (see here).

Teriyaki Fish

Savory, sweet, and tangy, teriyaki sauce is perfect for fish, vegetables, and tofu. It’s so easy to make that you’ll wonder why you ever bought it in jars. (And, no mystery ingredients when you make it yourself.) You might want to make a double batch because refrigerated teriyaki sauce lasts almost indefinitely.

Yields about 1¼ cups sauce

Serves 4 to 6

Prep time: 10 to 15 minutes

Marinating time: 30 minutes

Baking time: 15 to 20 minutes

TERIYAKI SAUCE

½ cup soy sauce

½ cup dry sherry or sake

¼ cup rice vinegar

1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 pounds firm fish fillets

Combine the teriyaki sauce ingredients in a small, nonreactive saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer for a minute, then set aside to cool.

While the sauce is cooling, rinse the fish and lay out the fillets in an oiled nonreactive baking pan large enough to hold the fillets in a single layer. Pour the cooled sauce over the fish through a strainer to remove the ginger and garlic. Refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes to allow the fish to absorb flavor.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Bake the fish fillets in the sauce until the fish flakes easily with a fork, 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets.

VARIATIONS

• Grill the fish after marinating. This works best with thicker fillets. Baste occasionally with the marinade as the fish cooks.

• Replace the sherry in the teriyaki sauce with mirin and reduce the sugar to 1 to 2 teaspoons, to taste.

• Add some chili paste or chili oil to give the sauce a kick.

• Some dark sesame oil is also good.

• Cook shrimp quickly in the sauce.

• Replace the fish with tofu cubes or strips.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve on a bed of rice or soba noodles, garnished with chopped scallions and a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds. Add some Gingered Broccoli and Carrots or Asian Slaw and life is good …

Malaysian Fish

In Malaysia, this very tasty sauce is served on grilled whole fish and called Ikan Percik. At Moosewood, we bake the fish in the brownish gold sauce. The finished dish is pretty and tasty sprinkled with a chiffonade of fresh basil, cilantro, or mint.

Serves 5 or 6

Prep time: 20 minutes

Marinating time: 30 minutes

Baking time: 30 minutes

2 pounds firm fish fillets

½ cup minced onions

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

2 teaspoons peeled and grated fresh ginger

1 fresh hot pepper, minced

½ cup unsweetened coconut milk

¼ cup tamarind concentrate (see here)

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon salt

a sprinkling of ground black pepper

Rinse the fish and lay it out in a lightly oiled baking pan large enough to hold the fillets in a single layer. Combine the onions, garlic, ginger, hot peppers, coconut milk, tamarind, turmeric, salt, and black pepper in a bowl. Spread the sauce evenly over the fish. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Bake the fish fillets, uncovered, until the fish flakes easily with a fork. The baking time, generally 20 to 30 minutes, depends on the variety and thickness of the fish.

VARIATION

• To make the sauce to spread on grilled fish (or tofu), stir all of the ingredients in a wok or small skillet on medium-low heat until hot, thick, and fragrant.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve on jasmine rice, brown rice, or Coconut Rice. Delicious with sides of Middle Eastern Carrot Salad with Mint and Spinach Raita. Attractive and delicious topped with whole or chopped fresh cilantro, basil, and/or mint leaves. And because they taste so good with the sauce, top with bite-size slices or matchsticks of various crunchy and not crunchy vegetables and fruits, such as mango, carrots, cucumbers, snow peas, or mung sprouts.

Oven-poached Fish with Leeks and Wine

This dish has a rich and flavorful broth, so we like to serve it on rice or couscous to soak up the mellow leek, thyme, and wine flavors.

Farmers mound soil around the base of leeks to extend the length of the white part, and some of it gets between the layers as the leeks grow. We’ve tried different techniques for removing the grit, and we think the one described in the Guide (see here) is easiest and most foolproof.

Serves 4 to 6

Prep time: 25 minutes

Baking time: 15 to 30 minutes

3 medium leeks

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

¾ cup dry white wine

several sprigs of fresh thyme

2 pounds firm fish fillets

ground black pepper

2 tablespoons capers

Clean and chop the leeks (see here). You should have about 3 cups chopped. In a heavy skillet on high heat, sauté the leeks in the oil with the salt, stirring constantly for 3 or 4 minutes. Add the wine, stir well, cover, and bring to a simmer. Add the thyme sprigs, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Uncover and remove from the heat.

Preheat the oven to 376°F. Oil a nonreactive baking pan large enough to hold the fish fillets in a single layer.

Rinse the fish fillets, place them in the prepared baking pan, and sprinkle them with salt and black pepper. Spoon the leeks (and wine with the sprigs of thyme) around and between the pieces of fish. Sprinkle the capers over the tops of the fillets. If you love the taste of thyme, lay a fresh sprig on each fillet. Cover and bake for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets, until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

VARIATIONS

• If you’d rather use dried thyme, add ½ teaspoon to the sautéing leeks.

• After sprinkling the fillets with salt and pepper, spread some chopped fresh tomatoes over them and then sprinkle with the capers.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve on rice topped with a dollop of Herbed Aioli and with a side of Quick Sauteed Greens. Or, for a nice summery meal serve this fish with Dilled Potatoes Vinaigrette and Chopped Broccoli Salad. Another time try it on Couscous with Roasted Cauliflower or Roasted Brussels Sprouts.

Fish Basilico

The secret to Moosewood’s popular, flavorful bread-crumb toppings is that we make our own bread crumbs using hearty whole wheat bread. The coarser crumb adds great texture, stands up to assertive seasonings, and well, we think whole wheat just tastes better.

Serves 4 to 6

Prep time: 15 minutes

Baking time: 20 to 25 minutes

¼ cup olive oil

3 large garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

2 cups whole wheat bread crumbs

¼ cup chopped fresh basil

2⁄3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

2 pounds firm fish fillets

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a baking pan large enough to hold the fish fillets in a single layer.

Warm the oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook for just a minute until it sizzles. Immediately stir in the lemon zest and bread crumbs and stir to break up any lumps. Keep stirring until the crumbs are golden and crisp. Stir in the basil and continue to cook for 1 minute. Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Stir in the Parmesan, salt, and black pepper.

Place the fish, skin side down, in the prepared baking pan. Pour the lemon juice over the fillets and spread the bread-crumb topping evenly over the top of the fish. Bake, covered, for 10 minutes; uncover and continue to bake until the fish flakes easily with a fork, 10 to 15 minutes.

VARIATIONS

• Fish Nicosia—When you sauté the bread crumbs, add a pinch of cayenne, 2 teaspoons of ground cumin seeds, and 1 teaspoon of ground coriander seeds. When juicy, fresh tomatoes are in season, chop 2 tomatoes and spread over the fish before topping with the bread-crumb mixture. Omit the Parmesan. Bake as directed.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with Greek Lemony Potatoes or mashed potatoes (see here). Take a look at Simple Side Vegetables Simply Embellished to get inspiration for interesting side dishes.

Asian-style Fish in Parchment

Don’t be intimidated by these parchment packages, they’re really quite easy to make. A burst of aromatic steam is released as each packet is opened. And inside, the fish and vegetables have been perfectly cooked, bathed in the savory sauce. And there’s no nasty baking pan to clean!

This recipe can easily be increased to serve as many as you wish. And, of course, use your favorite fish.

Serves 2

Prep time: 20 minutes

Baking time: 20 to 25 minutes

2 firm fish fillets or steaks (about 6-ounces each)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons peeled and grated fresh ginger

2 teaspoons dark sesame oil

2 tablespoons rice vinegar or fresh lemon juice

1 cup thinly sliced carrots

1 cup seeded and thinly sliced bell peppers (preferably red or yellow)

2 tablespoons sliced scallions

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Rinse the fish and set aside to drain. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, ginger, sesame oil, and vinegar or lemon juice. Prepare the carrots, bell peppers, and scallions.

Make two packets, one for each fillet. To make each packet: Fold a 12 × 15-inch sheet of parchment paper in half to form a 12 × 7½-inch rectangle. Trim off the corners on the side opposite the fold and then open the parchment. Near the center of the parchment next to the fold, layer half of the carrots and bell peppers and 1 fillet, drizzle it with half of the sauce, and sprinkle on 1 tablespoon of the scallions. Fold the empty half of the sheet of parchment over the fish. Starting at one side of the fold and working your way around the open edges, curl up and crimp the parchment to form a sealed half-moon–shaped packet.

Place the packets on a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, or a few minutes longer for thick fillets. The parchment paper will become puffed and golden brown. Since it is difficult (if not impossible) to open and then reseal the parchment, it’s best to err on the side of longer baking to ensure that the fish is cooked through. Because the parchment locks in the cooking juices, the fish and vegetables will remain moist and flavorful.

Once the fish is baked, it is best to serve it immediately. The packets contain a lot of juices, so put them right on large dinner plates and let each person open their own at the table.

VARIATIONS

Vary the vegetables in the packet: thinly sliced bok choy or kale is good, as are a few sliced fresh shiitakes. Some sliced water chestnuts could be added for crunch and a little chili paste or oil added for heat. But keep the amount of vegetables to about 1 cup, so the packet isn’t overfilled, making it difficult to fold.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with soba or udon noodles or rice, with sides of sautéed fresh shiitakes and Asian Greens or Asian Slaw. Other possibilities include Sugar Snap Peas and Radishes with Orange and Mustard, Green Beans with Ginger, Sesame Spinach.

Fish “Tostadas”

This dish is a wonderful jumble of crispy tortilla chips, savory bites of fish, spicy and juicy salsa, and mellow avocado. Eating it is a messy, crumbly business. We think of it as a casual dining experience filled with taste and texture sensations—just have plenty of napkins on hand.

For years at the restaurant, we served fish tostadas the usual way, with the toppings piled on a whole fried tortilla. But we noticed that sometimes the plates were coming to the dishwasher with the tortilla still on them, uneaten. We realized that some of our customers weren’t comfortable picking up the tortilla and eating it out of hand, but also had trouble cutting through all those toppings to the tortilla. So, we tried it this way, with large tortilla chips for scooping up the filling or munching separately. Problem solved; clean plates.

Serves 4 to 6

Time: about 1 hour

1½ pounds firm fish fillets

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

¼ cup olive oil or vegetable oil

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

eight 6-inch corn tortillas

½ cup olive oil or vegetable oil

¼ cup cornmeal

1 tablespoon ground coriander seeds

1 tablespoon ground cumin seeds

2 teaspoons dried thyme or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

1 teaspoon salt

1⁄8 teaspoon cayenne

1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper

shredded lettuce

salsa

avocados, peeled, pitted, and cubed

Cut each fish fillet into bite-size pieces. Place the fish pieces in a large, shallow bowl. Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, and black pepper. Pour the marinade over the fish and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes or up to several hours.

While the fish marinates, prepare the tortilla chips. Cut each tortilla into quarters. Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet on medium-high heat. Fry several quarters at a time, using metal tongs to carefully flip them over, until golden brown and crisp on both sides. Transfer to paper towels to drain, then sprinkle with salt. Reserve the oil in the pan for frying the fish.

On a platter or baking sheet, combine the cornmeal, coriander, cumin, thyme, salt, cayenne, and black pepper. Dredge each piece of fish on all sides in the seasoned cornmeal. Reheat the oil in the frying pan. Add the fish in batches and fry for about 3 minutes on each side, or until the fish is done and the coating is crisp. Add more oil if needed.

Construct each “tostada” by laying the tortilla chips around the perimeter of a dinner plate and then in the middle, make a bed of shredded lettuce and top it with several pieces of fish, some salsa, and avocado cubes.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

We like to serve these tostadas on a bed of Spanish Rice. Use Lime-Cilantro Slaw instead of the shredded lettuce—the tastes and textures are harmonious and completely delicious. A good prepared salsa is fine to use, but if you have the time, try our easy, fresh Mango Salsa or Our Favorite Tomato-Cilantro Salsa or Smooth Hot Sauce. And then, a dollop of Chipotle Aioli (see here) or Mango Aioli on top is perfect! Fresh corn on the cob is also perfect.

Creamy Seafood Stew

If you’re yearning for that “old Cape Cod” feeling, this is the dish for you. We like this stew with both fish and shellfish. See what fish you find at the market that’s fresh and reasonably priced and not on the “don’t buy” list. We call for scallops or shrimp, but could you add some clams or mussels in the shell? Sure, if you like them—clean them and add to simmering stew just before serving.

Lovely looking with colorful vegetables.

Yields 10 cups

Time: 50 minutes

2 tablespoons olive oil or butter

2 cups chopped onions

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup diced celery

1 medium zucchini or yellow squash, diced (about 2 cups)

1 bell pepper, seeded and diced (about 1½ cups) (any color)

4 cups diced white potatoes

one 16-ounce bottle or can clam juice (sometimes called broth)

1 cup water

½ cup dry white wine or sherry (optional)

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

1½ pounds firm fish fillets, cut into bite-size pieces

4 ounces cream cheese

1 cup milk

12 ounces scallops, or peeled and deveined shrimp

Warm the oil or butter in a covered soup pot on low heat. Add the onions and salt and cook for 5 minutes. Add the carrots and celery, increase the heat to medium, and cook, covered, for 5 minutes. Add the zucchini and bell pepper and cook, covered, for 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, clam juice, water, and wine, if using, stir well, and bring to a simmer. Simmer, covered for 10 minutes. Add the black pepper, dill, and fish and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes.

While the fish cooks, in a blender, whirl the cream cheese, milk, and about a cup of hot broth until smooth. Stir this mixture into the stew and bring it back to a simmer. Add the scallops or shrimp just before serving and simmer for 2 or 3 minutes.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Bread and salad are all you need.

SIDE SALADS

Chopped Broccoli Salad

Lime-Cilantro Slaw

Asian Slaw

Confetti Kale Slaw

Cucumbers Vinaigrette

Tomato, Cucumber, and Artichoke Heart Salad

Middle Eastern Carrot Salad with Mint

Moroccan Carrot Salad with Currants

Beet Salad

Sweet Potato Salad with Chipotle Aioli

Chopped Broccoli Salad

A novel addition to the coleslaw tradition—bad poetry, good salad.

Yields 4½ cups

Serves 6 to 8

Prep time: 25 minutes

Sitting time: 30 minutes

1 pound broccoli (about 4 cups chopped)

½ cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons pure maple syrup or other sweetener

4 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

¼ teaspoon salt

1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ cup currants

1 cup seeded and finely chopped bell peppers (any color)

2 tablespoons sliced scallions or snipped fresh chives (optional)

Slice off the thick bottoms of the broccoli and peel away any tough skins from the stems. Finely chop the florets and small stem shoots. Cut larger stems lengthwise into halves or quarters and then thinly slice.

In a medium serving bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sweetener, vinegar, salt, and black pepper. Fold in the broccoli, currants, bell peppers, and scallions, if using. Set aside to allow the flavors to meld for at least 30 minutes.

Our Favorite Slaws

We are amazed looking through all of our cookbooks at just how many slaw recipes we have. We make slaw often because we love its fresh, tart crunch with so many different dishes. Here are two that we turn to time and time again. Both of these are cabbage slaws with a clean, crisp flavor. They’ll help you fall in love with cabbage, if you aren’t already.

The truth is this: often, a very simple slaw is the basic best. Keep it simple and it won’t compete, but will be a refreshing break from the more complex flavors of a main dish. That said, notice all our variations. Sometimes you want a complex slaw for a simple main dish or sandwich or snack.

To slice the cabbage, use a good sharp knife to cut the head of cabbage in half. Remove the core and place a half-head flat side down on the cutting board. Cut across the grain into 1⁄8- to ¼-inch slices. Then cut across the pile of sliced cabbage into pieces about 2 inches long. Or, you can make quick work of it with a mandoline.

We make simple slaws with other vegetables, and fruits, too: broccoli, kale, celery, fennel, celeriac, jicama, daikon, turnips, parsnips, beets, firm pears, apples, to name the most usual.

LIME-CILANTRO SLAW

This cabbage slaw is tart and refreshing with lime and delicious in its simplicity. We love the way this slaw looks made with both green and red cabbage and the bright green scallions and cilantro. One large, juicy lime yields about 3 tablespoons of juice; if your limes are small or not so succulent, you’ll need two.

Cabbage varies in its sweetness so be sure to taste your slaw and add more sugar as needed.

Yields 4 cups (shrinks down as it sits and wilts)

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 15 minutes

4 cups thinly sliced cabbage (green, red, or both) (see headnote)

½ cup chopped scallions

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

DRESSING

1 tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil

finely grated zest of 1 lime

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

In a bowl, combine the cabbage, scallions, and cilantro. In a separate small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients. Add the dressing to the cabbage and stir well. Add more sugar and/or salt to taste.

Serve right away or refrigerate. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

VARIATIONS

• Make it hot: Add minced fresh hot peppers, or cayenne or red pepper flakes.

• If you don’t like cilantro, leave it out; if you love it, pile it in there.

• Use white or apple cider vinegar instead of lime juice.

• Add finely chopped bell peppers and/or grated carrots.

• Use finely chopped red onions in place of scallions.

• Add garlic, ground cumin seeds.

• Add shredded jicama.

• If you like creamy coleslaw, add some mayonnaise or sour cream.

ASIAN SLAW

If your carrots are quite sweet, you may want to reduce the brown sugar, and if your cabbage is not-so-sweet you might want to add more.

Yields 3 cups

Serves 4

Time: 20 minutes

3 cups thinly sliced cabbage (see headnote)

1 cup shredded carrots

1⁄3 cup chopped scallions

DRESSING

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

2 tablespoons vinegar (rice, white, or apple cider)

1 teaspoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 teaspoons brown sugar

dash of chili oil or Chinese Chili Paste with Garlic (optional)

Combine the cabbage, carrots, and scallions in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss well.

Serve right away or refrigerate. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

VARIATIONS

• Add about ½ cup of julienned bell peppers.

• In place of or in addition to carrots, add shredded firm pears, Asian pears, or apples.

• Add shredded daikon.

• Wilt the slaw (just a bit): Heat the oil to just below smoking and pour it over the vegetables, then stir in the rest of the dressing ingredients.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Lime-Cilantro Slaw is a perfect foil for bean-y, cheese-y Mexican dishes, such as Spinach-Cheese Burritos and Bean Tostadas (see here) or Fish “Tostadas”. It’s also good with Spicy Caribbean Fish and Chilaquiles Casserole, or for that matter, with sandwiches, potato salad, fries, roasted or grilled vegetables—the list goes on and on.

Asian slaw is the perfect accompaniment to Asian-style Stuffed Portobellos, Teriyaki Fish, Sichuan Noodles and Country-style Soft Tofu.

Confetti Kale Slaw

A colorful, fresh-flavored slaw. Sweet and tangy. We call it confetti because that’s what it looks like: kind of fluffy.

Slice the kale into thin pieces for the most tender slaw. Several of the vegetables are described as shredded, but by that sometimes we mean shredded with a hand grater and sometimes shredded with a sharp knife. It could get confusing, so we give you specific instructions for prepping the vegetables.

Yields 8 cups

Serves 6 to 8

Time: 30 minutes

DRESSING

½ cup orange juice

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

¼ cup olive oil

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 large firm apple, shredded (1 to 2 cups)

1 cup shredded green or red cabbage

1 cup shredded carrots

1 cup minced celery

¼ cup minced scallions

3 cups shredded kale, packed

To make the dressing: Whisk together the orange juice, lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and black pepper in a large bowl.

Prepare the apple and vegetables and place them in the bowl as you go: Peel the apple or don’t, and shred it on the large-holed side of a hand grater. To prevent the apples from discoloring, toss well with the dressing. Thinly slice the cabbage and then cut across the slices about every inch. Peel the carrots and shred on the large-holed side of a hand grater. Mince the celery. Mince the scallions.

To shred the kale: Rinse the kale leaves and shake off excess water. Strip the leaves from the large stems and pile on a chopping board. Gather the kale into a compact mass and thinly slice it. Then cut down across the slices, chopping the kale into 1- to 2-inch pieces. Go after those larger pieces of kale that got away from you when you were slicing it. Add the shredded kale to the bowl and toss well.

Delicious served right away, but the sweetness intensifies as it sits. This slaw will keep in the refrigerator for 2 or 3 days.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

This slaw is excellent beside a main dish that’s rich and cheesy or bland and smooth, such as Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli, a cheese omelet, baked potatoes with sour cream, or strudel. It’s also good with something spicy, and makes a cheese sandwich something special—put the slaw in the sandwich or serve as a side dish.

Cucumbers Vinaigrette

Especially in summer, when cucumbers are at their best, this is our go-to side dish for many of our richer entrées. By varying the herbs, you vary the ethnicity. It can accompany a host of main dishes, and it’s a snap to make. We serve it alongside creamy, cheesy strudels, casseroles, tarts, and turnovers.

Yields 2 cups

Serves 4

Time: 15 minutes

2 medium cucumbers, peeled and seeded if the seeds are large

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill, basil, or oregano or 1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon, mint, or thyme

a sprinkling of ground black pepper

2 tablespoons finely sliced scallions or snipped fresh chives

Peel the cucumbers, cut in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds if they are large, and slice into 1⁄8- to ¼-inch-thick rounds or half-moons, or dice. In a serving bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sugar, salt, herbs, and black pepper. Fold in the cucumbers and scallions. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Tomato, Cucumber, and Artichoke Heart Salad

This delicious salad complements almost anything. Dill and mint are our favorite flavors for it, but it’s good with one or the other, or a different herb, or no herbs at all.

Yields about 6 cups

Serves 6

Time: 20 minutes

¼ cup olive oil

2 tablespoons vinegar (apple cider or red wine)

1 garlic clove, pressed or minced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

one 14-ounce can artichoke hearts in brine

1 or 2 cucumbers

2 cups fresh tomato wedges or chunks

1 or 2 scallions, thinly sliced

salt

ground black pepper

In a serving bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, dill, and mint. Drain the artichoke hearts and cut each into quarters. Toss with the dressing in the bowl.

As you prepare the vegetables, add them to the bowl. Peel the cucumber, cut in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds if they are large, and slice. Cut the tomatoes into wedges, or if the tomatoes are large, chunks. Slice the scallions. Toss well and season with salt and black pepper.

Serve chilled or at room temperature.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

This salad is very versatile, at Moosewood we would serve it next to Zucchini-Feta Casserole, Tofu-Spinach Borekas, Mushroom Frittata, Caramelized Onion Pie, Tabouli Salad, and Fritada de Espinaca to name but a few.

Middle Eastern Carrot Salad with Mint

This is one of Moosewood’s absolute favorite side salads. It is light, healthful, and delightfully refreshing. And it’s pretty: bright glistening orange carrots flecked with mint and parsley. We’d be hard-pressed to think of many dishes that this salad does not complement.

Yields 2½ cups

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 15 minutes

3 cups shredded carrots (1 pound)

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon agave syrup, sugar, pure maple syrup, or honey

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ teaspoon ground coriander seeds

2 tablespoons minced fresh mint leaves

¼ teaspoon salt

chopped fresh parsley and/or dill (optional)

In a bowl, stir together the carrots, lemon juice, sweetener, oil, coriander, mint, and salt. You can serve the salad right away, but the flavors develop if it sits for at least 15 minutes, and the next day it’s even more delicious.

Serve sprinkled with parsley and/or dill, if you like. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Refrigerated, the salad keeps very well for 2 to 3 days.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Perfect with North African, Greek, Middle Eastern, Tex-Mex, Indian, Central American, North American, and Southeast Asian foods. This carrot salad is a lovely contrast to a smooth soup, a savory casserole, quiche or strudel, or any spicy food.

Moroccan Carrot Salad with Currants

Flecked with currants and aromatic with cinnamon and orange, this pretty salad is light and refreshing and extremely easy to make. The carrots can be coarsely grated, as we’ve done at Moosewood, but you can also cut them into very thin matchsticks for a crunchy, pretty alternative.

Yields 2½ cups

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 20 minutes

3 cups shredded carrots (1 pound)

1⁄3 cup dried currants

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ teaspoon salt

1 orange

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon agave syrup, sugar, pure maple syrup, or honey

ground black pepper

chopped fresh parsley or scallions (optional)

Stir together the carrots, currants, oil, and salt. Zest and juice the orange, and stir 1½ teaspoons of the zest and all of the juice (1⁄3 to ½ cup) into the carrots. Add the lemon juice, cinnamon, and sweetener. Season with black pepper and stir well. Set aside for at least 15 minutes for the flavors to develop.

The salad can be served at room temperature or chilled, topped with parsley and/or scallions, if you like. This carrot salad keeps in the refrigerator for 2 or 3 days.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

This sweet, fruity, crunchy salad is nice with something very savory, rich, or spicy. It’s good with Country Moussaka, Zucchini-Feta Casserole, Mushroom Piroshki, and Spanish-style Tortilla, to name just a few.

Beet Salad

Try a combination of colorful beets in this simple, gorgeous salad—perhaps an heirloom variety like Chioggia or golden and red beets.

If your beets still have their green leaves, sauté them in olive oil with a little garlic and serve them as a side dish, or use young, tender beet leaves raw in a salad.

Yields 2 cups

Time: about 1 hour

1 pound beets (about 4 medium)

2 tablespoons minced scallions

2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill

2 to 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon honey or sugar (more or less to taste)

olive oil (optional)

salt

ground black pepper

Cut off the stems of the beets to about an inch, scrub them, and place them in a pot with water to cover. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat, and simmer until easily pierced with a sharp knife. The cooking time will vary depending on the variety, size, and how long the beets have been stored. We suggest you start checking to see if they are done after 30 minutes.

Drain the beets and rinse with cold water until cool enough to handle. Slip off and discard the skins and stems, and slice the beets. In a bowl, toss the sliced beets with the rest of the ingredients. Some beets are very sweet and no honey or sugar is needed, so taste before you add any sweetener. When the beets are starchy, we add a drizzle of olive oil.

Serve chilled or at room temperature.

VARIATION

• Sometimes we add peeled, seeded, and sliced cucumbers to this salad.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

For a main dish, serve the beets on a bed of arugula, spinach, or field greens, topped with feta or goat cheese and sprinkled with toasted walnuts or Spiced Nuts. Beet Salad is also good next to many dishes, serve it with Mushroom Piroshki, Kasha and Mushroom Pilaf, and Rumbledethumps.

Sweet Potato Salad with Chipotle Aioli

We’ve always made potato salads, both classic and ones that push the potato salad envelope. As potato salads go, this is certainly not the same old, same old. Different and delicious, the spicy, tangy dressing nicely balances the sweetness of the potatoes. It’s a welcome addition to picnics and parties.

Yields 6 cups

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 40 minutes

5 cups peeled and diced sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds)

1 cup diced celery

1 cup seeded and diced red bell peppers

¼ cup minced scallions or red onions (optional)

Chipotle Aioli

1 or 2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon chipotles in adobo sauce

1 tablespoon fresh lime or lemon juice

In a soup pot, cover the potatoes with cool salted water. Bring to a boil on high heat, reduce to a vigorous simmer, and cook, covered, until tender, about 5 minutes. (The size of the cubes will determine the time they take to cook.) Drain the sweet potatoes, and spread them out to cool.

Put the celery, bell peppers, and scallions in a serving bowl. When the potatoes have cooled a bit, add them to the bowl.

To make the Chipotle Aioli: Cook the garlic in the olive oil in a microwave oven or on the stovetop, just until it sizzles. Place it in a food processor with the mayonnaise, chipotles in adobo sauce, and lime juice and whirl until well combined. Add more chipotles to taste.

Toss the vegetables with the chipotle aioli. Add salt to taste.

Serve at room temperature or chilled.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

This multipurpose salad is really good with Southwestern Bean Burgers, Moosewood’s Classic Tofu Burgers, Fish Cakes, and Pecan-crusted Fish, to name a few. For a delectable light summer dinner or lunch, serve with Lime-Cilantro Slaw and pan-fried or baked tofu (see here)

SIDES

Seasoned Artichokes

Simple Side Vegetables Simply Embellished

Green Beans with Lemon Zest Dressing

Asparagus with Garlic and Oil

Broccoli with Walnut Dressing

Quick Sautéed Greens

Asian Greens

Roasted Vegetables

Gingered Broccoli and Carrots

Roasted Cauliflower

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Greek Lemony Potatoes

Dilled Potatoes Vinaigrette

Vegan Mashed Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes

Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage Two ways

Refried Beans

Lentil Dhal

Moosewood Restaurant’s House Cornbread

Vegan Cornbread

Seasoned Artichokes

Moosewood cook Eliana Parra, who loves artichokes and grew up in Chile where they grow abundantly, has fond memories of whiling away the time sitting around the table with family and friends, chatting and pulling off the leaves of giant globe artichokes, dipping them in olive oil and lemon juice, and nibbling the tender ends. There is something relaxing and social about eating artichokes—you just can’t rush it.

At Moosewood, we most often serve artichokes with a little cup of lemon butter, but artichokes also taste great with garlicky herbed aioli, olive oil and vinegar or lemon juice, or almost any favorite salad dressing.

To eat an artichoke: Remove the leaves one by one, dip the fleshy pad at the bottom of the leaf in sauce and scrape the tender flesh off with your teeth. Discard the rest of the leaf. When you get down to the heart of the artichoke, you’ll encounter the choke where the tips of interior leaves are small and spiny and where there are tough fibers that no one eats. Scoop out this choke with a spoon and discard it to reveal the true heart of the artichoke, the thick little saucer-shaped base of the leaves that gives you a few bites of concentrated artichoke flavor after all that nibbling at the leaves.

Artichokes come in different sizes and some cook quickly and others take a long time to get tender. We suggest a range of cooking times, because there is no way to tell until they start cooking..

Yields 4 artichokes

Prep time: 10 to 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 to 60 minutes

2 or 3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped or smashed

2 or 3 bay leaves

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

1 teaspoon salt

juice of half a lemon or 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon fennel seeds (optional)

4 artichokes

Put a large pot of water with the garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, salt, lemon juice or vinegar, and fennel seeds, if using, on the stove top to boil.

Trim the artichokes: With a sharp knife, cut off the top inch or so where the leaves are tightly bunched. Cut off the artichoke stems evenly so that they will sit upright in a pot. For a “groomed” look, use kitchen scissors to snip off the sharp tips of each leaf, although once cooked they won’t be so sharp. Some artichokes have leaves with rounded tips; they may be called “thornless.” Rinse the prepped artichokes.

Place the artichokes into the pot of water as you trim them. Artichokes float and bob around if they don’t fit snugly in the pot. If your pot is large, put a colander on top to hold them down in the water. When the water boils, reduce the heat and simmer until the outer leaves are easy to pull off and the bottom of the stem can be easily pierced with a knife. This takes between 30 and 60 minutes depending on the size and quality of the artichokes.

Drain the artichokes and serve them hot.

VARIATIONS

• You can also cut cooked artichokes in half, from the stem to the top, scoop out the choke and marinate them with olive oil, red wine vinegar, or lemon juice and some minced fresh herbs such as dill, tarragon, or parsley.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with lemon butter or with extra-virgin olive oil and lemon. Or make Herbed Aioli to dip the leaves in.

Seasoned Artichokes complement lots of dishes. Try them with Quinoa-stuffed Roasted Peppers, Moroccan Couscous Salad, or Beans and Greens.

Simple Side Vegetables Simply Embellished

When the harvest is in and you’re looking for something a little different to do with all the fresh vegetables, even though you thought you would never tire of them simply steamed, look here for inspiration. With the addition of one or two extra flavors you have a new and interesting dish. Here are a few examples of what you can do.

PEAS AND ESCAROLE

Sauté shredded escarole in oil or butter until wilted but still bright green. Toss with cooked sweet peas seasoned with salt and pepper.

SESAME SPINACH

Toss steamed spinach with dark sesame oil, soy sauce, and toasted sesame seeds.

ASPARAGUS WITH PINE NUTS AND BALSAMIC VINEGAR

Top steamed asparagus spears with melted butter and balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with toasted pine nuts.

SUGAR SNAP PEAS AND RADISHES WITH ORANGE AND MUSTARD

Stir together orange juice, orange zest, Dijon mustard, and salt. Sauté sugar snap peas or snow peas and sliced radishes in oil for a minute, add some water, cover, and cook until just tender. Drain and add the orange and mustard, and maybe some minced red onions or scallions. Season with salt and pepper.

KALE OR COLLARDS WITH CRANBERRIES

Sauté chopped kale or collards in olive oil with garlic until it wilts. Add some water and chopped dried cranberries, cover, and cook until tender. Season with salt.

LEMONY SUMMER SQUASH

Sauté shredded zucchini, yellow squash, or other summer squash with garlic in olive oil for just a few minutes, until tender. Stir in fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, and season with salt and pepper. Stir in some sour cream or grated Parmesan.

PEPERONATA

Slice at least two colors of bell peppers lengthwise. Slice onions lengthwise, about half the amount of the peppers. Sauté the onions in olive oil for 5 minutes, Add the peppers and some garlic and sauté for about 10 minutes, or until the peppers are soft. Season with salt and pepper. You can add some chopped tomatoes during the last 5 minutes of cooking.

CURRIED CORN

Sauté some onions and add curry powder and fresh corn kernels cut off the cob. Heat up with unsweetened coconut milk and fresh lime juice, and season with salt and pepper.

CORN ON THE COB TOPPINGS

• Tex-Mex: On the hot corn, spread mayonnaise and drizzle with fresh lime juice and hot pepper sauce, top with grated Parmesan.

• Chipotle Mayonnaise: Stir 2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice and 2 tablespoons of minced chipotles in adobo sauce into about a cup of mayonnaise.

• Red Pepper Butter Sauce

• Ginger-Mint Butter: Add peeled and grated fresh ginger, minced fresh chives, and minced fresh mint leaves to melted butter.

CARROT COINS AND ORANGE

Steam or boil carrot rounds until tender. Drain and stir in some butter or olive oil and orange marmalade or pomegranate jelly. Maybe add some chopped chives or scallions. Season with salt.

GREEN BEANS WITH GINGER

Stir soy sauce, peeled and grated ginger, and dark sesame oil into cooked green beans.

SPINACH AND MUSHROOMS

Sauté garlic, minced red onions, and chopped mushrooms in olive oil until the mushrooms are tender. Pour directly from the pan onto a bowl of baby spinach. Toss until the spinach has wilted. Season with salt.

ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH PECANS

Stir together Dijon mustard, lemon juice, olive oil, minced red onions, and salt. Toss Roasted Brussels Sprouts with toasted pecans or walnuts and the dressing.

WINTER SQUASH AND CRANBERRIES

Toss roasted cubes of winter squash (here) with diced raw celery and apples and a little Cranberry Sauce. Season with salt and pepper.

POTATOES WITH LEMON AND CAPERS

Toss boiled potato cubes with olive oil, fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, and whole or chopped capers. Season with salt and pepper.

BEETS WITH HORSERADISH SOUR CREAM

Toss boiled or roasted beets with a dressing made of sour cream, a little olive oil, horseradish, vinegar, minced scallions, and salt and pepper.

Not So Plain Green Vegetables

It takes almost no time to make a simply dressed green vegetable that will really enhance a meal. Serve hot or at room temperature as a side vegetable, or chilled as a salad.

All three dressings work on all three of the green vegetables, and each can be used on vegetables of other colors as well, such as cauliflower and carrots. The dressings can all be made in about 5 minutes while the vegetable cooks.

Because lemon juice and vinegar dull the color of green vegetables, we use only finely grated lemon peel, which doesn’t have that effect, in the dressing. Sometimes, we serve lemon wedges on the side or sprinkle on some vinegar at the last minute. In dishes this simple, use the finest-quality oil: fruity extra-virgin olive oil or delicious walnut oil.

GREEN BEANS WITH LEMON ZEST DRESSING

An intensely flavored dressing with zing that works on all sorts of cooked vegetables—really delicious on sautéed mushrooms (use less oil) and on steamed cauliflower.

Serves 4

Time: 15 minutes

1 pound green beans, stem ends trimmed

LEMON ZEST DRESSING

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

rounded ¼ teaspoon ground fennel seeds

Steam or boil the green beans until tender. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the oil, garlic, mustard, black pepper, salt, lemon zest, and fennel.

Toss the hot beans with the dressing, coating all evenly. Add more salt and black pepper to taste. Serve hot, at room temperature, or cold.

VARIATION

• Replace the ground fennel with 2 teaspoons of minced fresh tarragon or dill.

BROCCOLI WITH WALNUT DRESSING

Walnut oil has a distinctive flavor; this dressing can transform plain steamed vegetables from mundane to magnificent.

Serves 4

Time: 15 minutes

1 pound broccoli

WALNUT DRESSING

3 tablespoons walnut oil or extra-virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ cup finely chopped toasted walnuts

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Cut the broccoli into bite-size spears. Steam or boil the broccoli until tender.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the oil, Dijon mustard, salt, and black pepper. Add the walnuts.

When the broccoli is tender place it in a serving bowl. Pour the walnut dressing over the broccoli and toss. Add more salt and black pepper to taste. Serve hot, at room temperature, or cold. Just before serving, sprinkle with balsamic vinegar.

ASPARAGUS DRESSED WITH GARLIC AND OIL

When we say garlic, we mean it! If you don’t love lots of garlic, use less.

Serves 4

Time: 15 minutes

1 pound asparagus, tough ends snapped off

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

6 garlic cloves, minced

salt

ground black pepper

lemon wedges

Steam or boil the asparagus spears until tender. Warm the oil in a skillet on medium heat, add the garlic, and cook for a minute or two, just until golden. Remove the garlic from the oil and set aside.

Place the asparagus on a serving platter. Drizzle the garlic-infused olive oil over the asparagus. Sprinkle the cooked garlic in a strip across the middle of the asparagus spears. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place lemon wedges around the edges. Serve hot, at room temperature, or cold.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

The green beans are great beside Quick Uncooked Tomato Sauce on Pasta. For an elegant brunch serve the asparagus next to an omelet or with Spanish-style Tortilla. The broccoli is an excellent side for a grain salad, such as Rice Salad with Herbs and Vegetables. Pair any of them with Moosewood’s Classic Tofu Burgers and Vegan Mashed Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes with Mushroom Gravy.

Quick Sautéed Greens

We think we crave the taste of greens because our bodies crave the nutrients. Dark leafy greens have health-giving concentrations of vitamins and minerals. In general, the darker the green, the more nutritious, but it’s a good idea to eat a variety of greens because they each have a different nutritional profile.

Each type of greens is flavorful and appealing in its own way. Chard is mild, sweet, and earthy, and rainbow and ruby chard are quite colorful and beautiful. Kale very often appears on those top ten superfoods lists because it is a powerhouse of nutrition. We cut out and discard tough kale stems; kale leaves range from smooth to crinkly, from delicate to substantial. Collards are also extremely nutritious with a grassy flavor. Broccoli rabe has a bitter sharpness that may be an acquired taste, but once acquired, may be craved. We use the stems, leaves, and florets of broccoli rabe. Sometimes when the flavor is especially sharp we blanch broccoli rabe before sautéing.

The cooking time varies depending on the type of greens and how young, fresh, and tender they are. Do a taste test to decide how long to cook. Most are done in 5 or 6 minutes.

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 15 minutes

about 8 cups chopped chard, kale, collards, or broccoli rabe

2 tablespoons olive oil (regular or extra-virgin)

4 garlic cloves, minced

a pinch or two red pepper flakes (optional)

½ teaspoon salt

ground black pepper

Cut the stems of chard crosswise into ½-inch pieces and coarsely chop the leaves. Remove the tough stems of kale or collards and discard; then coarsely chop the leaves. Cut bunches of broccoli rabe crosswise, separating out the lower stems to cook first.

In a large skillet on medium-high heat, warm the oil. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté briefly, for a minute or two. Add the stems of chard or broccoli rabe and sauté for a minute or two. Add as many chopped leaves as you can comfortably stir in the skillet. As the leaves wilt, add more. Sauté until the greens are limp and tender but still bright green. Season with the salt and a sprinkling of black pepper. Serve immediately.

VARIATION

• For a little extra spark and some Southern style, add a splash of vinegar just before serving. Vinegar will dull the bright green color a bit in time.

SERVING AND MENU SUGGESTIONS

Quick Sautéed Greens is a good, quick side dish for a cheesy rich entrée, such as Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli or Pasta al Cavalfiore or for Fish Cakes or Caribbean Red Beans. Make a Southern garden vegetable dinner: serve Quick Sautéed Greens with Sweet Potato Salad with Chipotle Aioli or Roasted White and Sweet Potatoes with Chipotle Aioli, Lemony Summer Squash, sliced tomatoes, and Cornbread (see here and here).

Asian Greens

Here is a quick and tasty treatment for green leafy vegetables such as bok choy, Chinese cabbage, and spinach. While you’re chopping them, the fresh raw greens look like a massive amount, but when cooked, they wilt and reduce to just a small mass. The wealth of powerful nutrients in greens is maintained or even improved when cooked.

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 10 to 15 minutes

1 pound baby bok choy (about 12 small heads) OR

1½ pounds Chinese cabbage (½ large head) (8 cups chopped) OR

2 pounds spinach (about 20 cups)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

2 tablespoons dry sherry, Chinese rice wine, or water

2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons peeled and grated fresh ginger (optional)

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Prepare all of the ingredients and have them near at hand before you turn on the heat and begin to stir-fry.

Rinse the greens well to remove any grit. Cut each head of baby bok choy lengthwise into quarters, leaving the leaf stems attached at the root end. Cut Chinese cabbage once or twice lengthwise and then crosswise into ½-inch strips. For large spinach leaves: remove tough stems and coarsely chop. For baby spinach: do nothing.

In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, sesame oil, and sherry wine or water and set aside.

In a large skillet or wok on medium-high heat, warm the vegetable oil. Add the garlic and ginger, if using, and sizzle, stirring constantly for about 10 seconds, then add the greens. Toss to coat with oil and stir-fry until the greens are wilted and bright green. If the greens don’t all fit in at first, as the greens in the pan wilt, add more until they’re all in. (The root ends of baby bok choy remain crisp-tender.) Pour in the soy sauce mixture and stir well to coat. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds, if you wish. Serve immediately.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve Asian Greens alongside Country-style Soft Tofu and brown rice. Or try it as a quick, last-minute side dish for Asian-style Stuffed Portobellos or Teriyaki Fish or Asian Rice Salad.

Roasted Vegetables

Roasted vegetables of all sorts are very popular with Moosewood customers. They are also very versatile. The combination of vegetables chosen, the sauces used to dress them, and what they are served with all can be varied. Try vegetables roasted with Mediterranean Dressing on a bed of polenta (here) or orzo, and top with grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese. Serve vegetables roasted with Moroccan Spice Dressing on lemony couscous (see here), topped with crumbled feta or chopped almonds. Vegetables roasted with Savory Hoisin Dressing are perfect on a bed of rice or stir-fried greens, topped with baked tofu (see here).

Perfectly roasted vegetables are speckled brown and beginning to crisp on the outside, succulent and juicy on the inside, and sweeter than if they had been cooked some other way.

Whatever vegetables you choose, cut 10 to 12 cups worth. That may sound like a lot, but some of the volume will be reduced as they roast. We sometimes separate the harder vegetables, such as potatoes and carrots, and start them roasting first, or even blanch them briefly first. But most of the time we just toss everything together. So have fun!

Serves 6

Prep time: 25 minutes

Roasting time: 35 to 45 minutes

1 large onion

2 medium potatoes

1 large sweet potato

2 bell peppers (different colors are nice)

2 to 3 cups mushrooms (10 ounces)

1 medium zucchini

MEDITERRANEAN DRESSING

1⁄3 cup olive oil

¼ cup red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar

4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary

SAVORY HOISIN DRESSING

¼ cup vegetable oil

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup rice vinegar or 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

MOROCCAN SPICE DRESSING

1⁄3 cup olive oil

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons sweet paprika

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon cumin seeds (whole or ground)

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon cayenne

3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly oil two rimmed baking sheets.

Peel the onion and cut it in half lengthwise and then into thick crescent-shaped slices. Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise and then into ½-inch-thick slices. Peel the sweet potato and slice the same way. Cut the bell peppers in half lengthwise, stem and seed them, and cut into either chunks or thick slices. Small mushrooms may be left whole, cut larger ones in half. Slice the zucchini in half lengthwise and then cut into chunks.

Prepare one of the dressings by whisking together the ingredients.

In a large bowl, toss the prepared vegetables with the dressing of your choice. Spread out the vegetables in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets. Roast for about 15 minutes. Stir and return to the oven to finish roasting. Check again in about 15 minutes; the vegetables may be done then or may require more time. When all of the vegetables are tender, remove them from the oven and pile them on a serving platter.

VARIATIONS

• Other vegetables good for roasting include carrots, cauliflower, winter squash, asparagus, green beans, Brussels sprouts, summer squash, hot peppers, corn—almost anything except leafy vegetables.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve roasted vegetables as an entrée as suggested in the headnote. Serve on a bed of greens for a salad plate. Or, serve as a side with, say, mac and cheese, fish, or a burger.

Gingered Broccoli and Carrots

At Moosewood, we pair this colorful and healthful side with Sichuan Noodles and Moosewood’s Best Baked and Pan-fried Tofu for one of our most popular salad plates.

To retain the bright green of the broccoli, don’t dress the vegetables with the marinade until about half an hour before serving. You can vary the amount of broccoli and carrots you use, or use other vegetables, such as snow peas, red bell peppers, and asparagus. Just be sure to have a total of about 6 cups of prepped vegetables.

Serves 4

Prep time: 20 minutes

2 or 3 broccoli crowns (about 4 cups of spears)

2 medium carrots (about 2 cups sliced)

GINGER MARINADE

1 teaspoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon dark sesame oil (optional)

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 teaspoons soy sauce

Cut the broccoli into spears. We recommend using broccoli crowns, but you can also use a head of broccoli, just peel the large stems. Peel the carrots and cut them on the diagonal into slices about ¼ inch thick. Steam the vegetables until crisp-tender and spread them out on large plate or a platter to cool.

In a small bowl, whisk together the marinade ingredients and pour over the vegetables. Mix well. If you have time, it’s nice to let the vegetables marinate for about 20 minutes before serving. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

This is a bright vegetable side dish for Tofukabobs with Peanut Sauce, Moosewood’s Classic Tofu Burgers, Asian-style Stuffed Portobellos, or Teriyaki Fish. To round out a meal, serve it with a sandwich such as Deviled Egg Salad or Ira’s Lunch Pita (here).

Roasted Cauliflower

Blasting cauliflower in a hot oven intensifies its natural sweetness and brings out an irresistible flavor. It’s kind of remarkable—even people who say they don’t like cauliflower can’t get enough of it. It’s like French fries: you think maybe you’ll have a couple, and then you keep going back.

We just love roasted cauliflower: plain; herbed or spiced; curried; with onions and red bell peppers; with lots of garlic, a little garlic, or no garlic; dressed with lemon juice or balsamic vinegar; topped with Parmesan. While the oven is hot, roast some sweet potatoes—yum, a wonderful flavor combination.

Serves 6

Prep time: 15 minutes

Roasting time: 30 minutes

1 large head of cauliflower, cut into 2-inch-wide florets (6 to 10 cups)

2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil

salt

ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet.

In a large bowl, toss the cauliflower with 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil, depending upon how large your head of cauliflower is. Spread the florets out in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast, stirring occasionally, for 25 to 35 minutes until tender and golden-brown. Stir after 15 minutes. (When you stir the cauliflower, take it out of the oven and close the door so that the oven temperature will stay high.) The cauliflower is done when it’s lightly browned and tender, but not falling apart.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

VARIATIONS

• Before roasting, toss with:

—pressed, minced, crushed, or whole garlic cloves

—sliced onions

—sliced red bell peppers

—minced fresh rosemary or thyme

—dried oregano

—ground coriander, cinnamon, and turmeric

—turmeric and peeled and grated fresh ginger

—curry powder or garam masala or berbere spice mix

—ground caraway

• Sprinkle roasted cauliflower with:

—shredded Parmesan or crumbled feta cheese

—chopped fresh chives

—capers

—hot sauce

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Cauliflower roasted with coriander, cinnamon, and turmeric is delicious with Tofu-Spinach Borekas, Indian Stuffed Eggplant, or Fritada de Espinaca. Roast cauliflower with rosemary and serve with Fish Basilico, Aegean Strudel, or Italian Polenta-stuffed Peppers.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

“Brussels sprouts—yuk!” That’s how some of us, and many of the people around us, used to respond before we started roasting them. Now, “yuk” has become “yum.” So try them with your favorite picky eater—no promises, but it’s worth a try! “Brussels sprouts—yum!”

Our hands-down favorite “dressing” for Roasted Brussels Sprouts is horseradish butter.

Serves 4 to 6

Prep time: 10 minutes

Roasting time: 15 to 20 minutes

1 pound Brussels sprouts

2 tablespoons olive oil

¼ teaspoon salt

1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil

Plus one of the following:

1 generous tablespoon prepared horseradish, more to taste

1 garlic clove, pressed

1 tablespoon minced fresh chives,

1 tablespoon minced fresh dill,

2 tablespoons chopped toasted pecans or almonds

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet.

Rinse the Brussels sprouts and cut off the bottoms. Discard any dry or discolored outer leaves and cut each sprout in half lengthwise. Toss with the oil, salt, and black pepper. Arrange, cut side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Roast until just tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

While the sprouts are roasting, heat the butter or olive oil and stir in the horseradish (or other ingredient).

Pour the horseradish (or other) butter or oil over the roasted Brussels sprouts and serve.

VARIATIONS

If you use only oil (no butter), roasted Brussels sprouts are a good both hot and at room temperature.

• Sometimes at Moosewood we roast chunks of carrots along with the Brussels sprouts and toss it all with horseradish butter or oil—very pretty.

• Sometimes at home when we don’t want to turn on the oven, we cook the Brussels sprouts on the stovetop in a large skillet, adding a splash of water as needed to cook them to perfection, and then we dress them with flavored butter or oil.

Greek Lemony Potatoes

Aromatic and infused with the flavor of lemons, these are scrumptious. They travel well and are good at room temperature, making them a nice choice for a dish-to-pass.

Any white or yellow-fleshed potato works. Peel or don’t peel. Red-skinned potatoes taste great and hold their shape cooked this way, but take longer to cook.

Sometimes at home, when we take Greek potatoes out of the oven, we stir a chiffonade of spinach into them and top them with crumbled feta and call it supper. Yummm.

Serves 6

Prep time: 15 minutes

Baking time: 1 hour to 1½ hours

6 cups cubed potatoes (peeled or not, 1 to 1½-inch chunks)

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

½ cup fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1½ cups hot water

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 425°F. In a 13 × 9 × 2-inch nonreactive baking pan (ceramic, glass, stainless steel, or enameled), stir the potatoes with the lemon zest, lemon juice, oil, garlic, oregano, hot water, salt, and black pepper. Bake until the water has evaporated and the potatoes are tender. The length of time in the oven depends on the variety of potato, the pan you’re using, and how closely packed the potatoes are: usually a little more than an hour. After about 30 minutes in the oven, stir every 10 minutes or so. Add more water if the potatoes begin to stick before they’re done. Season with more salt and black pepper to taste.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve next to Falafel Burgers, Flounder Florentine, or Fish Basilico. Or make a sunny Mediterranean-combo plate by serving these great lemony potatoes with Spanakopita Bites and Seasoned Artichokes.

Dilled Potatoes Vinaigrette

These simply dressed potatoes are an all-time favorite, especially during hot, sultry summer days, crisp autumn evenings, and cozy winter nights … So, there you have it. Eat them anytime.

Red-skinned potatoes are especially attractive, but any kind of potato will work just fine. Dress the potatoes while they’re hot; that way they are infused with the flavor of the dressing. These are delicious served hot, at room temperature, or chilled.

Serves 6

Time: 25 minutes

5 cups cubed white potatoes

½ cup olive oil

¼ cup red wine vinegar

1½ teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup diced celery

½ cup finely chopped scallions or red onions, or snipped fresh chives

¼ cup minced fresh dill

In a soup pot, cover the potatoes with cool salted water and add the salt. Bring to a boil on high heat, reduce to a vigorous simmer, and cook, covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 7 minutes.

While the potatoes cook, in a serving bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, salt, and black pepper. Place the celery and scallions or red onions in the bowl.

When the potatoes are done, drain well. Add them to the serving bowl and toss with the oil and vinegar while still hot. Stir in the dill and season with more salt and black pepper to taste.

VARIATION

• Mix it up with various fresh herbs: some combination of minced fresh tarragon, dill, basil, cilantro.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

A good side for fish or Barbecued Tofu Pita. Nice on a bed of greens with hard-boiled eggs and tomato wedges. Serve beside Moosewood’s Classic Tofu Burgers. Serve as one of several salads, such as Chopped Broccoli Salad, Moroccan Carrot Salad with Currants and Beet Salad for a sumptuous picnic.

Vegan Mashed Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes

We associate mashed potatoes, whether made from white or sweet potatoes, with family holiday meals, and there are many people, both adults and kids, who consider them their most favorite comfort food. At Moosewood, mashed potatoes are an extremely popular side dish. We make them creamy, with plenty of butter and milk or cream, and vegan, healthful and flavorful enough on their own that you don’t need to slather them with butter. Since vegan mashed potatoes are a little less common that’s what we give you here.

VEGAN MASHED WHITE POTATOES

Any variety of potato will work, but we recommend a yellow, buttery-flavored variety, such as Yukon Gold, or ask a farmer at your local farmers’ market for a recommendation. We predict that you won’t need any embellishment for these mashed potatoes, but there are vegan substitutes for butter, cream cheese, and sour cream in case you want them to be richer.

Keep in mind that leftover mashed potatoes will give you a head start on many creamy, puréed soups. The potato cooking water can also be used to provide flavor in many soups.

Serves 6

Time: 20 minutes

8 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

6 garlic cloves

2 bay leaves

6 cups peeled and chopped potatoes

1 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

salt

ground black pepper

Put the water, salt, garlic cloves, and bay leaves into a covered pot. Bring to a boil on high heat. While the water heats, prep the potatoes, adding them to the water as you chop them. When the water boils, lower the heat and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes until the potatoes are tender.

Place a colander over a large bowl and drain the potatoes, collecting the cooking water in the bowl. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Using a hand held potato masher or an electric mixer, mash the potatoes and garlic with the olive oil and enough of the reserved potato water (probably about a cup) to achieve the consistency you like. Season with salt and black pepper. Serve immediately or reheat just before serving.

VARIATION

• Use soy milk instead of reserved potato cooking water to mash with the potatoes. Soy milk has a slightly nutty flavor, the potato cooking water adds more pure potato flavor.

VEGAN MASHED SWEET POTATOES

In 1992, the Center for Science in the Public Interest ranked sweet potatoes higher in nutritional value than any other vegetable, but that’s only one more reason to love them.

Sometimes we want plain mashed sweet potatoes, but they’re also really delicious with a little coconut milk and lime, and with maple syrup and adobo sauce. We couldn’t decide which is our favorite, so we leave it up to you to decide.

Serves 6

Time: 25 minutes

6 cups peeled and chopped sweet potatoes (about 2½ pounds whole)

8 cups water

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice or 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup and ½ teaspoon adobo sauce from chipotle peppers in adobo, more to taste

ground black pepper

While you peel and chop the sweet potatoes, put the water, bay leaves, and salt on to boil in a covered pot. As you cut the potatoes, add them to the water. When the water boils, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes until the potatoes are tender.

Drain the potatoes in a colander. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Using a handheld potato masher or an electric mixer, mash the potatoes with either the coconut milk and lime juice or with the maple syrup and adobo sauce. Season with salt and black pepper. Serve immediately or reheat just before serving.

NOTE

Many of us didn’t believe our fellow cook, Lisa Wichman, when she suggested using an electric mixer to beat the potatoes, rather than the tried-and-true potato masher, but it works and the potatoes are creamier. Less elbow grease is required, but then, mashing old style is good for the pecs.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Mushroom Gravy and Caramelized Onion Gravy are perfect pooled on mashed potatoes. Add Moosewood’s Classic Tofu Burgers made into a loaf and you have Blue Plate Special. For a Dixie Blue Plate Special, serve mashed sweet potatoes with Dixie Tofu-Pecan Loaf. For a satisfying fish dinner, pair Pecan-crusted Fish with mashed potatoes and Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage Two Ways or try Spicy Chipotle Cornmeal-crusted Fish with mashed sweet potatoes and Quick Sautéed Greens.

Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage Two Ways

Many of us who have worked at Moosewood over the years have family roots in Eastern Europe. This colorful side dish really evokes the old world for us, and is a wonderful companion to Mushroom Piroshki, strudels, and even just mashed potatoes.

In the restaurant, we make sweet and sour cabbage the slow way, bringing out the full sweetness of onions and cabbage and adding other flavors to make it go best with whatever it will be served beside. At home, we often want sweet and sour cabbage fast and easy, and not only because we’re in a hurry to eat. If we’re having something that has complex flavors, we may want the clean, simple flavor of plain cabbage, sweet and sour. Also, we like the cabbage with a little “resistance,” al dente, if you will. So, to give you our favorite, we have to give you two recipes.

SWEET AND SOUR RED CABBAGE

Serves 4 to 8

Prep time: 25 minutes

Simmering time: 30 minutes to 1 hour

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large onion, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced into half-moons (about 2 cups)

1 teaspoon salt

8 cups thinly sliced red cabbage (a 2-pound head)

¾ cup apple juice or cider

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon whole caraway seeds

1⁄3 cup currants or raisins

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon brown sugar or other sweetener of choice

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Warm the oil in a covered pot larger than 2-quart. Add the onions and salt and cook on low heat until the onions are soft, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the cabbage, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Add the apple juice, black pepper, caraway, currants, vinegar, and sugar and cook, covered, on low heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. At this point the cabbage and onions should be greatly reduced in volume and very flavorful. They become sweeter the longer they cook, so if you have the time let them cook for 15 to 30 minutes more. Stir in the fresh dill, and add more vinegar and sugar to taste.

FAST AND EASY SIMPLE SWEET AND SOUR RED CABBAGE

Serves 4 to 8

Prep time: 10 minutes

Simmering time: 15 minutes

8 cups thinly sliced red cabbage (a 2-pound head)

2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

¾ cup water

1⁄3 cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar

3 tablespoons brown sugar

Slice the cabbage halves across the leaves, then cut the slices into 1- to 2-inch pieces.

Warm the oil in a larger than 2-quart pot on medium-high heat. Add the cabbage and salt and sauté for about 5 minutes, or until the cabbage begins to soften and cook down in volume; stir very frequently, if not constantly. Add the water, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, mainly to check that there’s enough liquid to steam the cabbage and prevent sticking.

Stir in the vinegar and brown sugar. At this point, the cabbage will be tender, with some “tooth.” Eat right away, or keep warm, covered, on low heat until you’re ready to eat.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

First and foremost, serve some next to our wonderful Mushroom Piroshki. It’s also delicious with Caramelized Onion Pie, Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Stuffed Vegetables, and Kasha and Mushroom Pilaf.

Refried Beans

Refried beans can be used in oh so many ways: in quesadillas or burritos, in Chilaquiles Casserole, in a pita with some tomato salsa and cheese, or in our favorite way at the restaurant—as a component of bean tostadas, a frequent and always popular dinner entrée at Moosewood. For our tostada, we pile refried beans on crisp corn tortillas, with Lime-Cilantro Slaw or with shredded lettuce, then we add some Smooth Hot Sauce and/or Avocado Salsa or Simple Smooth Guacamole, some grated cheese, and maybe sour cream or chopped olives. Sometimes we serve the tostadas with a side of Spanish Rice, or more often, we put the tostada on a bed of rice to keep the whole yummy pile of stuff from sliding off the plate as the waiters hurry them to the customers.

Yields about 4 cups

Time: 30 minutes (with already cooked beans)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cups diced onions

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

½ teaspoon salt

1½ teaspoons ground toasted cumin seeds

4 cups drained cooked pinto beans, liquid reserved (three 15-ounce cans) (to cook dried beans, see here)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

In a large, covered skillet on low heat, warm the oil. Add the onions, garlic, and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are very soft, about 15 minutes. Stir in the cumin and cook for 2 minutes. Add the beans and mash with a hand-held potato masher. Add the reserved liquid, a tablespoonful at a time, to achieve the consistency you like. Stir in the soy sauce and black pepper and cook, covered, on low heat until the beans are hot. Add more salt or soy sauce and more black pepper to taste.

VARIATIONS

• We like refried black beans, too. Sometimes we add a little finely grated orange zest and/or orange juice to them.

Lentil Dhal

Dhal (also dal or dahl) can be made with red or brown lentils, green or yellow split peas, chickpeas, or beans. At Moosewood we usually make dhal with brown or green lentils.

Flavorful, aromatic dhal makes a wonderful accompaniment to vegetable curries. Serve with brown basmati or jasmine rice and a little chutney and raita or yogurt for a greater dinner.

Yields about 5 cups

Serves 6 to 8

Time: 45 to 55 minutes (depending on the lentils)

1½ cups dried green or brown lentils

4½ cups water

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cups diced onions

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds

¼ teaspoon cayenne or red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

¾ to 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

Place the lentils, water, turmeric, and salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, covered, until tender, 40 to 50 minutes. Drain and return to the pan.

While the lentils are cooking, warm the oil in a skillet on medium-low heat. Add the onions, garlic, and salt, and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring frequently. Add the ginger, turmeric, cumin, and cayenne, and cook, covered, until the onions are translucent and start to brown, about 10 minutes.

Stir the onions and spices, lemon juice, and ¾ cup of the coconut milk into the drained lentils and heat thoroughly. If the dhal is too stiff, add a little more coconut milk.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with Summer Vegetable Curry, Winter Curry, or Indian Stuffed Eggplant. Leftover Lentil Dhal is good stirred into Mulligatawny.

Moosewood Restaurant’s House Cornbread

Here is a big batch of dense, moist, slightly sweet cornbread. We don’t make it every day at the restaurant, but often. When customers see it on the menu, usually with some stew or bean dish or under Mexican vegetables, many ask for a piece or two à la carte, so we always make extra. And, if there are any leftovers, we freeze them to use later to make stuffing or cornmeal crumbs for coating fish.

We use whole-grain organic cornmeal and whole wheat pastry flour, but if regular whole wheat flour is what you have on hand, that works well, too. Some of us prefer not using any white flour and eliminate it in this recipe by substituting 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour. Others of us like to substitute coarsely ground polenta for half of the cornmeal. We can’t help messing with a good thing.

Yields one 13 × 9 × 2-inch pan cornbread

Prep time: 15 minutes

Baking time: 25 minutes

1½ cups cornmeal

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour or whole wheat flour

1 cup unbleached white all-purpose flour

1½ tablespoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

1⁄3 cup pure maple syrup or packed brown sugar

2 cups buttermilk

2⁄3 cup milk

1⁄3 cup melted butter or vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Butter a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking dish.

In a large bowl, sift together the cornmeal, whole wheat and white flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, add the maple syrup, buttermilk, milk, and melted butter and whisk together.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients just until blended. Do not overmix. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until firm and lightly brown on top.

Vegan Cornbread

When we’re cooking at Moosewood, we’re lucky that we often have the flexibility to be creative and try a new technique or experiment with new ingredients and ideas. We’ve experimented a lot while making cornbread that’s vegan, and so far, this simple recipe is our favorite and most delicious you-won’t-believe-it’s-vegan cornbread recipe. It’s sweet, but not too sweet, with a moist and tender texture.

Some of us like to whip together a batch of cornbread and bake it while we’re getting ready for work. It’s easy to do and the results—well, warm, fragrant cornbread for breakfast: what could be better than that?

Yields one 9-inch round or 8-inch square cornbread

Prep time: 15 minutes

Baking time: 20 minutes

1 cup unbleached white all-purpose flour

1 cup cornmeal

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup vegetable oil

¼ cup packed brown sugar

1¼ cups plain soy milk

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly oil a 9-inch pie plate or round baking pan or an 8-inch square baking dish.

Sift the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, brown sugar, and soy milk.

As soon as you mix the wet and dry ingredients, the leavening starts working, so don’t delay getting the batter into the oven. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until mixed. Add the vinegar and stir until well mixed. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until golden and a knife inserted in the middle of the cornbread comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

VARIATIONS

• You can substitute whole wheat pastry flour for the all-purpose white flour.

• Just before adding the vinegar to the batter, stir in some finely diced scallions, seeded and diced red bell peppers, and/or corn kernels; up to a half cup each. This cornbread might take a little longer to bake.

SIDE GRAINS

Spanish Rice

Annatto Rice

Coconut Rice

Sesame Jeweled Rice

Black Rice Pilaf

Red Rice Pilaf

Wild Rice Pilaf

Bulghur Pilaf

Kasha and Mushroom Pilaf

Polenta, Cheesy and Vegan

Risotto Milanese

Couscous

Spanish Rice

Using just a few ingredients, humble brown rice can be transformed into a highly seasoned companion for Mexican, Latin American, Caribbean, Creole, and Cajun dishes. Or it can be served as a main dish by embellishing the cooked rice with toppings such as avocado cubes, shredded Monterey jack cheese, salsa, and lime wedges.

Yields 4 cups

Time: about 1 hour

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup finely chopped onions

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

½ teaspoon minced fresh hot peppers or a generous pinch of cayenne

½ teaspoon whole cumin seeds

1½ cups brown rice, rinsed and drained

½ teaspoon salt

3 cups water

EXTRAS

½ cup chopped Spanish olives

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 cup diced fresh tomatoes

½ cup finely chopped scallions

In a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid on medium heat, warm the oil. Add the onions, garlic, hot peppers, and cumin and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the rice, salt, and water, stir well, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to very low and simmer, covered, for about 45 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender. Stir in any or all of the extras.

VARIATION

• Substitute ½ cup of tomato purée for ½ cup of the water.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with Black Bean–Sweet Potato Burritos, Two Quesadillas, Spinach-Cheese Burritos, Southwestern Bean Burgers, or Spicy Caribbean Fish.

Annatto Rice

We still think it’s magical the way annatto (achiote) seeds change the color of oil to a lovely sunset orange. Some of us make annatto oil at every opportunity, just to see it happen. You can make extra oil and keep it in your refrigerator; it will keep for several weeks.

Yields 6 cups

Serves 6

Time: about 1 hour

2 tablespoon vegetable oil or olive oil

1 teaspoon annatto seeds (see here)

2 cups chopped onions

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups brown rice, rinsed and drained

3 cups water

In a 2-quart saucepan on low heat, warm the oil and annatto seeds, swirling occasionally, until the oil becomes a golden orange color. Strain the oil through a sieve to remove the seeds. Discard the seeds and return the strained oil to the pan.

Add the onions and salt and cook, covered, on medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until the onions are soft but not browned, about 10 minutes. Add the rice and water to the pan and stir well. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until the rice is tender, about 45 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with Cuban Black Beans or Caribbean Black-eyed Peas. Serve as a bed under Spinach-Cheese Burritos, Black Bean-Sweet Potato Burritos, or Caribbean Stew.

Coconut Rice

Rice is so versatile. When you add a few extra ingredients while it cooks, its depth and flavor can enhance the simplest of dishes. We think you’ll love the fragrance of this rice—there is nothing is quite like the aroma of coconut.

Yields 6 cups

Serves 6

Time: about 1 hour

2 cups brown rice, rinsed and drained

2 teaspoons vegetable oil or olive oil

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

½ teaspoon salt

2½ cups water

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

In a saucepan on medium-high heat, stir together the rice, oil, turmeric, and salt for a minute. Add the water and coconut milk and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender, about 45 minutes.

VARIATION

• If you’re in a hurry or prefer it, you can make coconut rice with white rice: reduce the coconut milk to ¾ cup and simmer until the liquid has been absorbed, about 15 minutes.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve this rice with Caribbean Red Beans, Summer Vegetable Curry, or Curried Squash Roti. Or have some with Thai Baked Tofu.

Sesame Jeweled Rice

This pretty side dish is a standby accompaniment to many of the Asian-inspired dishes we serve. Brown rice is studded with colorful diced vegetables and toasted sesame seeds, and dark sesame oil adds flavor and fragrance. If you love fried rice, try this healthful, not-fried alternative.

Most of the prep happens while the rice cooks. Leftovers can be brightened up by adding a few more peas and scallions.

Yields 6 cups

Serves 6 to 8

Time: about 1 hour

3 teaspoons dark sesame oil

1½ cups brown rice, rinsed and drained

3 cups water

¾ cup finely diced carrots

½ cup seeded and finely diced red bell peppers

2⁄3 cup minced scallions

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1 cup frozen green peas

1 tablespoon soy sauce

In a 2-quart saucepan with a tight-fitting lid on low heat, warm 1 teaspoon of the oil, add the rice, and stir so that the grains are coated with the oil. Add the water, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low.

While the rice simmers, prepare the carrots, bell peppers, and scallions. Toast the sesame seeds in a single layer on a dry pan in a toaster oven for 2 or 3 minutes, or toast them in a dry skillet on the stovetop until fragrant and beginning to brown.

When the rice has been simmering for 25 minutes, spread the carrots on top of the cooking rice and continue to simmer, covered. When the carrots are al dente, after about 10 minutes, spread the bell peppers and frozen peas on top of the carrots, cover, and continue to cook until the rice is tender and the water has been absorbed, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the scallions, sesame seeds, 2 teaspoons of sesame oil, and the soy sauce, and stir well. Cover and let the flavors meld for a few minutes before serving. Add more soy sauce to taste.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve this lovely rice with Asian-style Stuffed Portobellos, Teriyaki Fish, Asian-style Fish in Parchment, or some of Moosewood’s Best Baked and Pan-fried Tofu with a side of Asian Greens or Asian Slaw. It makes a simple meal beside scrambled eggs or an omelet.

Black Rice Pilaf

“Thai black rice,” “purple sticky rice,” and “Chinese Forbidden Rice” are all names for the rice we first discovered in rice pudding in a Thai restaurant. The brown and black, multicolored grains of raw rice cook into a purple-black pilaf with a sweet aroma and slightly sticky texture.

While cooking, the slices of ginger will float to the top of the rice, making it easy to remove them before stirring in the veggies.

Yields 4 cups

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 1 hour

1 cup brown rice, preferably short grain

½ cup Thai black rice

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4 slices fresh ginger

½ teaspoon salt

2¼ cups water

½ cup seeded and diced red bell peppers

½ cup sliced scallions

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 to 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Rinse the two varieties of rice in a fine-mesh strainer under cool running water and set aside to drain. Warm the oil in a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid on medium-high heat. Add the rice and ginger and sauté for a minute, stirring to coat the grains of rice with the oil. Add the salt and water, stir well, cover the pan, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, until the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender, about 45 minutes.

When the rice is done, remove the ginger and stir in the bell peppers, scallions, and soy sauce, and the sesame seeds, if using. Let the rice sit, covered, for at least 5 minutes, then serve.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with Moosewood’s Best Baked and Pan-fried Tofu and Asian Greens or Gingered Broccoli and Carrots. It’s also good with Teriyaki Fish or Asian-style Fish in Parchment.

Red Rice Pilaf

Wehani rice is a reddish-brown variety of basmati rice with a chewy texture and nutty flavor. We often pair this pilaf with Southern dishes and sometimes we stuff tomatoes or roasted bell peppers with it.

Yields 4 generous cups

Serves 4 to 6

Time: about 1 hour

1 cup brown rice

½ cup wehani rice

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon salt

2¼ cups water

½ cup seeded and diced red bell peppers

½ cup sliced scallions

½ cup chopped toasted pecans

salt

ground black pepper

Rinse the two types of rice in a fine-mesh strainer under cool running water and drain. Warm the oil in a saucepan on high heat. Add the rice and sauté for a minute or two, stirring to coat the grains with the oil. Add the thyme, salt, and water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, until the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender, about 45 minutes.

Stir in the bell peppers and scallions. Let the rice sit, covered, for about 5 minutes. Stir in the pecans and season with salt and black pepper to taste just before serving.

VARIATIONS

• Replace the scallions with chopped parsley.

• Add a little Tabasco or other hot sauce or cayenne to kick up the heat.

• Add some currants or chopped dried apricots to give a little sweetness to the pilaf.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with Not Fried Fish or tofu baked in Jerk Sauce with Simple Smooth Guacamole and tender fresh collard greens (see here).

Wild Rice Pilaf

Wild rice comes from a tall, aquatic North American perennial grass, not related to rice. It has been an important food, sometimes considered sacred, for some American Indians for a very long time. It is now commercially grown and is considered a delicacy by many. We like its unique flavor and texture and often combine it with brown rice in dishes like this pilaf. We use wild rice in salads, soups, and pilafs.

Yields 4 cups

Serves 4 to 6

Time: about 1 hour

1 cup brown rice, preferably long grain

½ cup wild rice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 bay leaf

1 or 2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

2¼ cups water

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup diced onions

½ cup diced celery

½ cup diced carrots

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

salt

ground black pepper

Rinse both kinds of rice in a fine-mesh strainer under cool running water and set aside to drain. Warm the oil in a saucepan on high heat. Add the rice, bay leaf, and garlic and sauté for a minute, stirring constantly. Add the water and salt, stir well, cover the pan, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, until the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender, about 45 minutes.

While the rice is cooking, in a skillet or saucepan on medium-high heat, warm the oil. Add the onions, and sauté for 3 or 4 minutes. Add the celery and carrots, sprinkle lightly with salt, cover the pan, and cook on low heat until all of the vegetables are just tender, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

When the rice is done, stir in the sautéed vegetables and the parsley. Season with salt and black pepper.

VARIATIONS

• Replace the parsley with 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh dill.

• At the end, instead of additional salt, add soy sauce to taste.

• Add about ½ cup of chopped toasted nuts, such as almonds or walnuts.

• Add some dried cranberries.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve wild rice pilaf at Thanksgiving stuffed in a baked delicata or acorn squash, or next to Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Stuffed Vegetables or Oven-poached Fish with Leeks and Wine and Roasted Brussels Sprouts.

Bulghur Pilaf

We love the chewy texture of bulghur and we love that it’s a quick-cooking whole grain. This flavorful pilaf has many uses; see some of our ideas at the end of the recipe below. For those who are avoiding wheat, the seasonings work just as well with rice. Look for whole-grain bulghur, not refined, for the best taste and nutrition.

Yields about 7 cups

Serves 6 to 8

Time: 30 minutes

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup diced onions

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary

2 cups coarse bulghur wheat

2½ cups boiling water

ground black pepper

Warm the olive oil in a saucepan on low heat. Add the onions and garlic and sprinkle with the salt. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the rosemary and bulghur, increase the heat, and cook, stirring constantly, for about a minute to toast the bulghur and coat the grains. Pour in the boiling water, using caution because it will bubble and sputter. Stir well, bring back to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.

Stir the bulghur and taste to see if it is done. It may need a few more minutes of cooking time and/or a little more water. Season with salt and black pepper. Serve hot or at room temperature.

VARIATIONS

• Stir in some chopped fresh parsley for colorful green flecks.

• Instead of rosemary, use 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried.

• To make a more elaborate dish, add ½ teaspoon finely grated orange zest, ½ cup dried cranberries or finely chopped dried apricots, and 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice. Serve topped with toasted almonds.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve under Falafel Burgers. Use Bulghur Pilaf at room temperature as part of a salad plate with Peppercorn and Lemon Marinated Feta and Tomato, Cucumber, and Artichoke Heart Salad. For dinner some night, make some Quick Sautéed Greens and some tofu (see Moosewood’s Best Baked and Pan-fried Tofu) to go with Bulghur Pilaf. For Thanksgiving, make the cranberry variation with parsley as a lovely side dish. In the summer take it on a picnic.

Kasha and Mushroom Pilaf

People seem to hold strong opinions about kasha; they either like it or they don’t. It has a unique flavor that’s hard to describe. If you’re in the love-it camp, you’ll love this pilaf. The mushrooms and soy sauce give it depth, the parsley some color, the onions cooked in butter a special flavor and richness. We think it tastes better to coat the grains with an egg and roast them in the skillet before cooking.

Yields 4 generous cups

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 30 minutes

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup diced onions

½ teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 cup kasha

4 cups chopped mushrooms (16 ounces whole)

1½ to 2 cups boiling water

1 tablespoon soy sauce

¼ cup minced fresh parsley

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

In a large covered skillet on low heat, melt the butter. Add the onions, sprinkle with the salt, and cook, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the onions cook, beat the egg in a small bowl. Add the kasha and stir well to coat the grains. Set aside.

Add the mushrooms to the onions, increase the heat to medium, and cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms begin to release some liquid. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are tender, about 8 minutes. Add the kasha to the skillet and stir constantly until the grains are dry and separate. Pour in 1½ cups of boiling water—use caution, it splatters a bit. Bring to a simmer and cook, covered, until the water has been absorbed, about 10 minutes. Taste to see if the kasha is tender; if not, add ¼ to ½ cup boiling water and continue cooking.

When the kasha is done, stir in the soy sauce, parsley, and black pepper. Season with more salt and black pepper to taste.

VARIATIONS

• You can make this with vegetable oil instead of butter, but we do like that buttery flavor.

• To make Kasha Varnishkas: Cook farfalle pasta and stir it into the kasha pilaf. Season with butter and salt.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

On a wintery evening this would be good served with Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage Two Ways and some of Moosewood’s Best Baked and Pan-fried Tofu. Maybe some Creamy Herbed Potato Soup to start.

Polenta, Cheesy and Vegan

In some areas of northern Italy, polenta is a staple food, surpassing pasta. We love its creamy, comforting taste and texture, and its versatility. Polenta’s smooth texture and mild flavor is a good medium for the addition of sharper flavors and textural accents. Sometimes we add spinach, spicy greens, fresh corn kernels, or sun-dried tomatoes to our polenta, and also an assortment of cheeses and fresh and dried herbs. At Moosewood, polenta often serves as a bed for Mediterranean or Mexican stews, and we also use it as a stuffing for bell peppers, as a layer in casseroles, and for polenta cutlets and croutons.

We make polenta with unrefined, unenriched whole-grain cornmeal. In this coarsely ground meal, the germ of the kernel, where most of the vitamins, protein, and other nutrients reside is still intact. We are tremendously lucky to have a farmer in our area who grows and dries organic corn, and a miller who grinds it. If you can find locally grown and milled corn, try it, you’ll taste the difference.

Yields 4 cups

Serves 4 to 6

Time: depends on the cornmeal

CHEESY POLENTA

3 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil

1 cup cornmeal (here)

½ cup grated Parmesan or sharp cheddar cheese

ground black pepper

Put the water, salt, and butter or oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil. Start with 3 cups of water, but keep an eye on the polenta as it simmers, because you might need to add more water, depending on the grind and kind of cornmeal. Whisk in the cornmeal as you pour it into the boiling water in a steady stream. Bring back to a boil, reduce the heat to a very low simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the texture is smooth and creamy, 15 to 30 minutes. We can’t tell you just how long it will take because cornmeal is so varied.

Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese. Season with black pepper and add more salt to taste. Pictured right with Peperonata.

VEGAN POLENTA

2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or minced

¾ teaspoon ground fennel seeds

1½ teaspoons salt

1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 cups water

1 cup cornmeal (here)

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan on high heat, warm the oil. Add the garlic, fennel, salt, and black pepper and sizzle for just a minute, taking care not to scorch the garlic. Carefully add the water and bring to a boil. Start with 3 cups of water, but keep an eye on the polenta as it simmers, because you might need to add more water, depending on the grind and kind of cornmeal. Whisk in the cornmeal as you pour it into the boiling water in a steady stream. Bring back to a boil, reduce the heat to a very low simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until smooth and creamy, 15 to 30 minutes. We can’t tell you just how long it will take because cornmeal is so varied.

VARIATIONS

• Polenta Cutlets—Pour the hot polenta into a lightly oiled, rimmed baking sheet (13 × 9 × 1-inch) to about ¾-inch depth and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Cut the firm, chilled polenta into triangles or rectangles. Transfer the cutlets to a lightly oiled, larger baking sheet that will allow at least ½ inch between each cutlet. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, turn over the cutlets, lightly brush with oil and sprinkle with cheese, if desired. Return the baking sheet to the oven for 5 minutes. Depending on the size of the cutlets, they can be served as tasty appetizers, or served as a side grain. Polenta cutlets are yummy drizzled with Tomato-Basil Sauce or Puttanesca Sauce.

• Polenta Croutons—Chill Cheesy Polenta for 30 minutes as directed for Polenta Cutlets and then cut the polenta into 1-inch cubes. Preheat the oven to 350°F degrees. Toss the cubes with oil and bake them for 30 minutes. Turn the cubes over and bake for another 10 minutes. Cool on the sheet to room temperature. Garnish soups, stews, and salads with polenta croutons, or serve as snacks.

• Vegan Polenta Plus—Mix in a vegan cheese at the end. And/or add 1⁄3 cup of diced sun-dried tomatoes and ½ cup of fresh or frozen corn kernels for the last 10 minutes of cooking.

• Herbed Polenta—Thyme, basil, and oregano all taste good in polenta. Add dried herbs to the cooking water; stir in finely minced fresh herbs when the polenta is done.

Risotto Milanese

Risotto Milanese is the classic cheesy saffron risotto. Much has been written about preparing the perfect risotto, but we’ve found that letting go of the worrisome striving to create perfection has helped us to make a most delicious risotto with just a few simple ingredients and techniques—in fact we are sure that simplicity is what was intended when this exquisite dish was first crafted. Basically, the rice’s starch is released and transformed by slowly adding the liquid, producing the finished risotto’s creamy consistency.

For a great vegetarian risotto, use homemade vegetable stock (see here) or Imagine Food’s No-Chicken Broth. Use a good arborio or carnaroli rice.

Yields 6 cups

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 45 minutes

1 quart vegetable stock or broth (see here)

1 cup water

generous pinch of saffron

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup finely diced onions

2 cups arborio or carnaroli rice

½ cup dry white wine

3 tablespoons butter

¾ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

ground black pepper

salt

In a saucepan, bring the stock and water to a steady simmer. Add the saffron.

Warm the olive oil on medium-high heat oil in a large, heavy saucepan, Add the onions and sauté for about 4 minutes, or until softened. Add the rice and stir thoroughly. Add the wine and stir for a minute or two.

Ladle in simmering stock, ½ cup at a time, stirring the rice often with a long wooden spoon and making sure the liquid has been absorbed before each new addition. Continue cooking and adding stock until the rice is tender but firm to the bite, moist and clinging together, 20 to 25 minutes total. The amount of liquid you need may vary, depending on the rice.

Gently beat in the Parmesan, black pepper, salt. the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, which helps wrap those flavors around the grains. If you don’t want to use butter, add more olive oil.

VARIATIONS

• Spinach-Feta Risotto—When most of the broth has been absorbed, stir in 10 ounces (7 cups) of washed baby spinach, in batches if necessary, and cover until the spinach has wilted but is still bright green. Substitute 1 cup crumbled feta cheese for the Parmesan.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with a simple juicy tomato salad, garlicky greens (here), tossed green salad, or one of our Simply Dressed Green Vegetables (here). Serve with Flounder Florentine or Roasted Vegetables.

Couscous

Couscous is a staple ingredient of North African cuisine and its history can be traced back to the eleventh century. Couscous is traditionally crafted by hand using crushed semolina in a lengthy process of shaking the semolina mixture through a series of sieves to produce pasta beads of a similar size. Traditional couscous is steamed in a couscoussière or over a long-simmering soup or stew in a pot with a vented lid that prevents steam condensation from dropping into the couscous and making it gummy.

The couscous we find in our stores is made of wheat and is “instant” (precooked), and it truly is quick-cooking and easy to prepare. At Moosewood, we like best the nutty, wholesome flavor of whole wheat couscous. We also like couscous that’s marketed as Israeli and sometimes Middle Eastern couscous, with its larger toasted pasta balls that cook on the stovetop like bulghur or rice. Store dry couscous well sealed in the refrigerator or freezer.

Couscous should be light and fluffy, not gummy and not gritty. We can’t explain why so many recipes and package directions call for so much liquid: we always start with equal measures of dry couscous and boiling water or stock, and rarely need to add more.

A bowl of couscous is like a blank canvas: take inspiration from what’s in your pantry and refrigerator or garden to make a couscous salad or pilaf. See our suggestions following the recipe.

Yields 4 cups

Time: 10 to 20 minutes

1½ cups couscous

1 teaspoon salt

1½ teaspoons olive oil

1½ cups boiling water or vegetable stock (see here)

Place the couscous, salt, and oil in a heatproof bowl. Add the boiling water or stock and stir briefly. Cover (we usually use a plate) and set aside for 5 minutes. Uncover and fluff with a fork to break up any lumps. If the couscous isn’t tender, add a bit more boiling water, cover, and allow the couscous to steam for a few minutes more. Fluff again and serve.

VARIATIONS

• To infuse the couscous with flavor:

—Add to the water while it comes to a boil: fresh thyme sprigs, a pinch of saffron, dried mint, or a cinnamon stick.

—Add to the dry couscous before adding the boiling water: finely grated lemon zest or orange zest, chopped fresh mint.

• Here are some things you can add to make couscous salad or pilaf:

—currants or dried apricots, pistachios (steam the couscous with orange zest and cinnamon)

—rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, red onions, fresh basil, feta cheese

—mint, cucumbers, red onions, tomatoes

—red bell peppers, scallions, tomatoes, fresh basil

—sliced snow peas, peeled and grated fresh ginger, chopped cilantro, fresh lime juice

—toasted pine nuts, fresh spinach, fresh lemon juice

—chickpeas, spinach or chard, raisins

—roasted vegetables, feta cheese

—parsley, mint, scallions, chickpeas, fresh lemon, lime, and/or orange juice, olive oil

—almonds, dates, cilantro, lemon, saffron in the water

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

This recipe makes enough couscous to serve as a bed for Moroccan Vegetable Stew, Greek Lemon-Mint Beans and Vegetables, Flounder Rollatini, Flounder Florentine, or Oven-poached Fish with Leeks and Wine.

SALAD DRESSINGS

Moosewood’s Creamy Green Dressing

Lemon-Tahini Dressing

Feta-Garlic Dressing

Japanese Carrot Dressing

Pear-Thyme Dressing

Ginger-Miso Dressing

Moosewood’s Creamy Green Dressing

This creamy, green, slightly sweet dressing has been our signature house dressing for many years. Customers sometimes ask if they could please just buy a quart or so of it to take home.

The recipe has undergone some changes over the years—we now use quite a bit more spinach and basil than we did originally, we use milk instead of buttermilk, and we don’t add any garlic—but the basic concept remains the same. And, it remains our most popular dressing.

Yields 2 generous cups

Time: 10 minutes

¾ cup vegetable oil

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup packed fresh spinach leaves

¼ cup packed fresh basil leaves, more to taste

¾ cup milk

Combine all of the ingredients except for the milk in a blender and whirl until smooth. With the blender running, pour in the milk in a steady stream. The dressing will thicken and be a lovely shade of green. Add salt and more fresh basil to taste.

Although you can serve the dressing immediately, we usually let it sit for a while so the flavors can meld. It will keep for about a week refrigerated.

VARIATIONS

• At the Moose, we use only canola oil in the dressing, but if you prefer, use ¼ cup of olive oil and ½ cup vegetable oil. Don’t use extra-virgin olive oil; it’s too strong for this dressing.

• Replace the milk with buttermilk.

• If you don’t like sweet dressing, reduce the amount of sweetener.

Lemon-Tahini Dressing

This creamy dressing has been a Moosewood standard for many years and is popular with vegans and omnivores alike. At the restaurant, we always add cumin, but it’s also delicious without.

Yields 1¼ cups

Time: 10 minutes

½ cup water

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ cup tahini

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

½ teaspoon salt

a generous pinch of ground black pepper or cayenne

½ teaspoon ground cumin seeds (optional)

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth and creamy. Or whisk the ingredients in a bowl until smooth.

The dressing will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

VARIATIONS

• Reduce the salt and add 1 or 2 teaspoons of soy sauce.

• Stir in a tablespoon of minced parsley or fresh dill.

• Omit the vinegar and add another tablespoon of lemon juice.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

This dressing is great on tossed salad, of course, but also on Moosewood’s Classic Tofu Burgers, Tofalafels, Falafel Burgers and stuffed grape leaves. It’s good for dipping with toasted pita and crudités. Or blend with chickpeas for a delicious hummus, or with roasted eggplant for baba ganouj.

Feta-Garlic Dressing

This is the dressing for those of us who can’t get enough feta or garlic. It’s ranch dressing for the rugged. Quarter a ripe juicy tomato, or roast up some potato wedges, asparagus spears, or cauliflower florets, and let the dipping begin!

Yields 2 cups

Time: 15 minutes

¾ cup grated feta cheese, packed

¾ cup milk

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper

¾ cup olive oil

2 tablespoons minced fresh dill

In a blender on low speed, purée the feta, milk, vinegar, garlic, and black pepper for a minute. With the blender running, slowly add the olive oil in a thin, steady stream. The dressing will thicken as it sits. Stir in the dill.

Japanese Carrot Dressing

This brightly colored dressing makes a beautiful topping for dark leafy greens and is easy to make. Put Japanese Carrot Dressing on shredded iceberg lettuce and you have that Japanese restaurant bento box salad. It’s thicker than most dressings and makes a nice dip for steamed snow peas, sugar snap peas, or green beans.

Yields 1¼ cups

Time: 15 minutes

½ cup packed grated carrots

¼ cup chopped onions or scallion bulbs

½ cup vegetable oil

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

1½ tablespoons peeled and grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

2 tablespoons water

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon brown sugar (optional)

ground black pepper

Combine all of the ingredients, except for the brown sugar and black pepper, in a blender and whirl on low for a few seconds, then increase the speed to medium or high and purée until smooth. Taste the dressing—if the carrots are very sweet, you may not want any additional sweetener. Otherwise, add the brown sugar, if using, and whirl again briefly. Season with black pepper and add more salt to taste.

This dressing will keep for several days in the refrigerator.

SERVING IDEAS

Serve this dressing not only on green salads, but also as a topping for plain fish or roasted beets or Brussels sprouts.

Pear-Thyme Dressing

Once upon a time, one of our most innovative cooks, Jenny Wang, decided to experiment with using a pear that was a little too ripe to serve sliced onto a lunchtime salad du jour to make a dressing. We loved the results, both the flavor and the fact that the pear adds creaminess without extra fat.

The taste and color of the dressing varies depending on the flavor and color of the pear you use. A red-skinned pear will make a dressing with flecks of red. A green pear, especially if you use the lime juice variation, will give a lovely green hue. And don’t think you have to wait for a pear to get overripe before you make this dressing, a perfectly ripe pear, or even a slightly underripe pear will do, too.

Yields 1 generous cup

Time: 10 minutes

1 pear

2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

½ teaspoon salt

1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1⁄3 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional)

1 to 3 teaspoons honey or maple syrup (optional)

Core the pear and cut it into chunks, no need to peel it. Put the pear, thyme, water, vinegar, salt, and black pepper into a blender and purée. With the blender running, slowly pour in the oil. Taste, and add mustard and honey or maple syrup, if you like.

VARIATIONS

• Use fresh lime juice instead of apple cider vinegar.

• Substitute an equal amount of tarragon for the thyme.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

A great dressing for sharper tasting greens like arugula. Use this dressing for Autumn Salad Plate.

Ginger-Miso Dressing

Creamy, salty, tangy, and piquant, this salad dressing is a Moosewood favorite on both sides of the serving window. We have staff who blissfully end their shift with a bowls of grated carrots and slices of Tofu Kan–style Tofu smothered with generous ladles of Ginger-Miso.

For many years, we called this dressing “floating cloud,” because we loved that name of a similar dressing in The Book of Miso, by William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi. We’ve revised it many times, and we published our changing versions in three previous cookbooks. This is the recipe we use in the Moosewood kitchen today, cut down to size for home cooking, of course.

The quality and type of the miso is important. Look for a sweet white or light miso. South River makes a good, organic white miso.

Yields 2 cups

Time: 15 minutes

5 level tablespoons light miso

3 tablespoons peeled and grated fresh ginger

¼ cup dark sesame oil

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

¼ cup water

¾ cup vegetable oil (not olive oil)

In a blender on low speed, whirl all of the ingredients, except for the vegetable oil, for a minute. With the blender running, slowly pour in the oil in a thin, steady stream. The dressing becomes thicker and creamy.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Besides being one of our favorite dressings for green salads, Ginger-Miso Dressing is a natural with steamed vegetables and tofu. It is also tasty when used to baste grilled vegetables and fish. We use it as dressing in pita sandwiches, for example: baby spinach, grated carrots and cucumbers, hard-boiled eggs, and tofu or tempeh.

CONDIMENTS AND SALSAS

Mango Aioli

Herbed Aioli

Lime-Dijon Aioli

Cilantro-Yogurt Sauce

Quick Banana Chutney

Chipotle Cream

Tzatziki

Cranberry Sauce

Spinach Raita

Date-Coconut-Lemon Chutney

Caramelized Onions

Our Favorite Tomato-Cilantro Salsa

Avocado Salsa

Cucumber-Tomato Salsa

Mango Salsa

Mango Aioli

We’ve said it before—we love mangoes! Their flavor, their nutrition, their color. When we first whirled them with mayonnaise and lime, it was love at first taste.

Yields about 1 cup

Time: 5 minutes

½ cup fresh or frozen mango chunks, thawed

½ cup mayonnaise

½ teaspoon finely grated lime or lemon zest

2 teaspoons fresh lime or lemon juice

Whirl all of the ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve this aioli with Spicy Chipotle Cornmeal-crusted Fish and Coconut-Cashew-crusted Fish. It is good on roasted sweet potatoes. Or for a Caribbean-inspired meal, make some Coconut Rice, bake tofu with Jerk Sauce, and arrange a platter of colorful steamed vegetables with Mango Aioli on the side.

Herbed Aioli

We often have at least one kind of aioli in our reach-in refrigerator at the restaurant. We use aioli like this one for roasted or steamed vegetables, in egg salad, on sandwiches, to top fish cakes, for cooked artichokes, in slaws. We’re sure you can find many uses for it at home as well.

Yields about 1 cup

Time: 10 minutes

1 cup mayonnaise

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

2 tablespoons snipped fresh chives or finely chopped scallions

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill, basil, tarragon, or other fresh herb

½ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Whisk together all of the ingredients. For a mellower garlic flavor, sizzle the garlic in 1 tablespoon of olive oil just until golden on the stovetop or in a microwave oven before adding it.

Lime-Dijon Aioli

The French word aïoli, comes from the old French words “ai,” which means garlic and “oli,” which means oil. We’re happy to combine them in our most French version of aioli, full of garlic with a touch of Dijon mustard and fresh thyme and tinged green with lime juice. We like it on Fish Cakes, and Coconut-Cashew-crusted Fish. Sometimes for lunch at the restaurant, you’ll find a salad plate with a medley of steamed vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots, broccoli, asparagus, and bell peppers, on a bed of fresh spinach, with hard-boiled egg and an aioli like this one.

Yields about 1 cup

Time: 5 minutes

1 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, more to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme (optional)

In the bowl of a food processor or in a small bowl using a whisk, combine the mayonnaise, mustard, olive oil, garlic, lime juice, and thyme, if using. If you prefer the mellower flavor of cooked garlic, sizzle it in the oil in a microwave or on the stovetop before adding it.

Cilantro-Yogurt Sauce

This pretty green sauce, so tangy and refreshing, makes stews, chili, stuffed vegetables, and curries special. So simple, so quick.

Yields 2 cups

Time: 5 minutes

2 cups plain yogurt

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro

¼ teaspoon salt

pinch of sugar (optional)

Purée everything in a blender until smooth and bright green.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Use as a topping however you would sour cream or yogurt. Serve with Navajo Stew, Our Best Chili, and Summer Vegetable Curry.

Quick Banana Chutney

Delicious and so quick and easy to make. Nice with curries or other spicy dishes.

Yields about 1 cup

Time: 15 minutes

3 ripe or very ripe bananas

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch of ground cardamom

pinch of salt

In a nonreactive saucepan, mash the bananas with a fork or handheld potato masher. Stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. As they heat, the bananas will release moisture. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. The chutney will gradually thicken as steam escapes—it looks like oatmeal cooking. Cool to room temperature.

Store, covered, in the refrigerator. It will keep for at least a week.

Chipotle Cream

This creamy, spicy topping may be just the thing you need to add some extra spark to many dishes. We have offered it as a topping for the chili we serve at our local Chili Fest contest, and we think it just might have helped us win. See Our Best Chili.

Try a dollop on a simple quesadilla made with beans and salsa, or an an omelet, on Black Bean–Sweet Potato Burrito, or on Southwestern Sweet Potato–Corn Soup.

Yields about ¾ cup

Time: 5 minutes

1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce or to taste

¾ cup plain yogurt

2 ounces cream cheese

1 teaspoon salt

Whirl all of the ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

Tzatziki

Recipes for the combination of cucumbers, yogurt, and herbs and spices are so popular in so many cuisines that we’ve made versions from India, Armenia, North Africa, and Scandinavia, but we come back again and again to this classic from Greece. This is a lovely accompaniment to Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes. It has a cooling effect when served with a spicy meal.

Traditionally, the cucumbers for tzatziki are salted and drained to prevent watery tzatziki, but Greek yogurt is so thick that you can skip that step. We do squeeze the grated cucumbers by hand. The flavor and fragrance of the fresh mint leaves is refreshing.

Yields about 3½ cups

Serves 6 to 8

Time: 15 minutes

2 or 3 large cucumbers, grated (about 3 cups)

14 to 16 ounces plain Greek yogurt

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed (optional)

2 tablespoons minced fresh mint leaves

½ teaspoon salt

ground black pepper

Peel the cucumbers, cut them in half lengthwise, and scrape the seeds out with a spoon. Using a hand grater or a food processor, grate the cucumbers and set aside. In a bowl, stir together the yogurt, garlic, mint, salt, and black pepper to taste. Squeeze the grated cucumbers by the handful and add to the bowl. Stir well. Serve chilled.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve next to Greek Stuffed Tomatoes, Aegean Strudel, and Falafel Burgers. We’ve served it with Winter Curry and Indian Stuffed Eggplant as well.

Cranberry Sauce

Fresh cranberry sauce is beautiful, has a bright sweet and tangy taste, and it’s so easy to make. The gelatinous cylinder that comes out a can is only a very distant cousin. We love cranberries with orange. This, our favorite recipe for cranberry sauce, has apples and maple syrup. We use fresh orange zest and juice, but orange juice straight out of the carton is good, too.

Fresh cranberries are in our markets October through December. At other times of the year, when we crave cranberry sauce, we can usually find frozen ones in the supermarket.

Yields 4 cups

Time: 20 minutes

12 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries (about 2 cups)

2 cups peeled and cubed crisp, sweet-tart apples, such as Crispin

2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest

1⁄3 cup water

¾ cup fresh orange juice

2⁄3 cup maple syrup

Rinse and drain fresh cranberries and remove any leaves, stems, and soft or wrinkled cranberries. Frozen cranberries can go straight into the pan.

In a covered saucepan on medium-high heat, bring the cranberries, apples, orange zest, and water to a boil. Remove the cover, reduce the heat, and simmer until the cranberries burst and the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes. Stir in the orange juice and maple syrup and remove from the heat. The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve the sauce with baked or roasted winter squash. Use as a condiment in sandwiches. It’s delicious with sautéed mushrooms and spinach. Serve some on the side of Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Stuffed Vegetables, Kasha and Mushroom Pilaf and Mushroom Piroshki.

Spinach Raita

Raita cools and refreshes the palate when eating curry and other spicy Indian dishes, and adds interest to the meal as a whole. Raita is prime fusion fare—an equally good accompaniment to Caribbean, African, and Middle-Eastern cuisines. On the home front, raita enhances roasted vegetables, especially potatoes (sweet and white), and grilled fish.

We’ve made this raita three ways and like them all: using thick Greek-style yogurt, using regular yogurt we drained for 1 hour, and using regular yogurt straight from the carton. The Greek-style yogurt produces a thick spread, good for dipping with crackers, chips, and vegetable sticks. It can also be slathered on sandwich bread in place of mayonnaise. The drained yogurt is creamy and thick, good as a side or as a dip for flat bread. And raita made with regular yogurt, not drained, is light and refreshing.

Yields a generous 2 cups

Serves 4 as a side dish

Time: 10 minutes (more if draining the yogurt)

6 cups baby spinach (about 9 ounces)

1 tablespoon butter or vegetable oil

½ teaspoon whole cumin seeds

½ teaspoon black mustard seeds

¼ teaspoon ground cardamom

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

2 cups plain yogurt, drained yogurt, or Greek yogurt (see headnote)

salt

Rinse the spinach. In a pot on medium heat, steam the spinach, stirring a couple of times, until wilted, about 5 minutes. Drain the spinach in a colander, pressing out the excess water. Place the drained spinach on a cutting board and when it is cool enough to handle, squeeze out more liquid and chop coarsely. Set aside in a bowl.

While the spinach cools, melt the butter in the smallest skillet you have. Add the cumin seeds, black mustard seeds, cardamom, and black pepper and sizzle the spices on medium heat until the mustard seeds begin to pop. Remove from the heat.

Add the yogurt to the bowl of spinach and stir in the spices. Mix well and season with salt to taste.

NOTE

To drain yogurt, place a sieve or colander lined with cheesecloth or coffee filters over a pot or bowl. For 2 cups of thickened yogurt use 3 cups of yogurt. Refrigerate for about an hour. For thicker yogurt, drain longer. Draining overnight will yield a yogurt of Greek-style thickness.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with any curry. We especially like this raita with Lentil-Vegetable Sambar, Indian Stuffed Eggplant, and Curried Squash Roti.

Date-Coconut-Lemon Chutney

This is an easy, uncooked chutney, one that we’ve been serving at Moosewood since the early years. It has delightful flavor, is very simple to make, and is the perfect accompaniment to almost any curry.

Yields 1 generous cup

Time: 20 minutes

1½ cups finely chopped pitted dates (8 ounces)

¼ cup unsweetened shredded dried coconut

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, more to taste

1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger, more to taste

1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds

¼ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley (optional)

Place the chopped dates in a bowl and pour 1⁄3 cup boiling water over them. Cover and set aside for about 5 minutes to soften. The dates should be quite soft. If they’re too firm, add a little more boiling water and let them sit longer.

Stir in the remaining ingredients. Add more ginger and lemon to taste. The chutney should be both sweet and tangy.

NOTE

If the dates you have are especially dry or if you don’t want to finely chop them by hand, soften them in the boiling water, stir in the other ingredients, and put the mixture in a food processor and pulse until the chutney is the consistency you like.

VARIATION

Use 1 teaspoon of ground fennel seeds instead of the coriander.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve with Lentil-Vegetable Sambar, Indian Stuffed Eggplant, Winter Curry, Summer Vegetable Curry, or Curried Red Lentil Burgers.

Caramelized Onions

Caramelized onions with their deep, rich, sweet flavor and deep, rich, golden brown color are a wonderful thing. A wonderful thing for onion soup, of course, and also for pizzas, sandwiches, casseroles, savory pies, frittatas, and omelets, and for stirring into polenta, serving next to mashed potatoes, or topping a veggie burger. The list goes on and on. Long, slow cooking brings out and browns the natural sugars in the onions.

Some people say that you have to cook onions for an hour or more to get good, sweet, brown caramelized onions, and others claim to do it in 10 minutes, but in our experience, with a heavy skillet and a little attention, you can do it in about half an hour. Caramelized onions freeze well for up to several months, so why not buy a big bag of onions and spend an evening cooking up a big mess of them, letting them cool, and packaging them in freezer bags.

Yields 1½ cups

Time: 35 minutes

1 large onion (about 4 cups sliced)

1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil

½ teaspoon salt

Cut off the root and top end of the onion. Peel it. Cut it in half from top to root and cut each half from top end to root end into slices about ¼ inch wide.

In a large, heavy skillet on medium-high heat, warm the oil. Add the onions, sprinkle with the salt, and cook, stirring constantly, until the onions begin to soften and the color darkens a bit, about 4 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and cook, uncovered and stirring every few minutes, until the onions are very soft and golden brown, about 25 minutes. Add a splash of water if the onions start to stick or brown too fast. The trick is to let them brown (by not stirring too often), but not scorch. Stir more often toward the end, scraping the bottom of the pan. A minute or two before the cooking is done, add a couple of tablespoons of water to help deglaze the pan (the water will evaporate).

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Caramelized Onions are perfect on Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Burgers and Moosewood’s Classic Tofu Burgers. Check out our suggestions in the headnote for various other uses.

Our Favorite Tomato-Cilantro Salsa

This is a quickly made fresh salsa inspired by pebre, a Chilean salsa that came to us by way of Eliana (Nana) Parra, who arrived in Ithaca from her native land, Chile, in the 1970s. Nana came to Moosewood without English, but with energy and efficiency and—pebre! It was, and is, a marvel to see her turn out a multitude of empanadas and pebre in short order. At the end of the recipe, you’ll find some recipes that are enhanced with this fresh salsa, but there are a hundreds more excuses to eat some.

Yields about 2 cups

Time: 20 minutes

¼ cup minced red onions

½ teaspoon salt

1 small hot pepper, minced

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 cups diced fresh tomatoes

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro, more to taste

Put the red onions in a bowl and sprinkle with the salt. In a microwave oven or on the stovetop in a very small saucepan, cook the hot peppers and garlic in the oil until sizzling; keep an eye on it, it doesn’t take long. Pour this hot mixture over the red onions and stir well. (This helps to take away the bite of raw onions.) Add the tomatoes, vinegar, and cilantro and stir well. For the best flavor, let the salsa sit for at least 10 minutes before serving. Stir in more cilantro, if you like.

VARIATION

• If you’d like a saucier salsa, whirl the tomatoes briefly in a food processor.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Try this salsa with a quesadilla (see here), or on Refried Beans, Spinach-Cheese Burritos, Cuban Black Beans, Southwestern Bean Burgers, or Fish “Tostadas”, or simply as a dip for tortilla chips.

Avocado Salsa

At the restaurant, we always have a case of avocados ripening, and as soon as they’re perfectly soft and flavorful, they go on the menu—often as this salsa. When we serve it with tortilla chips it’s one of our customers’ favorite appetizers. And it’s a refreshing and colorful way to garnish roti, burritos, frittatas, and other Caribbean or Latin American dishes.

Yields 2½ to 3 cups

Time: 15 minutes

2 ripe avocados, cubed

1 cup diced fresh tomatoes

½ cup seeded and diced bell peppers (any color) or peeled, seeded, and diced cucumbers

¼ cup minced red onions or scallions

¼ cup fresh lime or lemon juice

¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

¼ teaspoon cayenne (optional)

In a bowl, stir together the avocados, tomatoes, bell peppers or cucumbers, scallions, lemon juice, and salt. Let sit for about 10 minutes for the flavors to blend. Taste, and add any of the optional ingredients and more lime or lemon juice and salt if you like.

Cucumber-Tomato Salsa

This is a simply made, bright-tasting, mild salsa. We especially like it with Creole Red Beans and Falafel Burgers. You could also cut the vegetables a little bigger and serve it as a side salad for any rich, cheesy main dish, such as Rumbledethumps or Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli.

Yields 3 cups

Time: 20 minutes

2 cups diced fresh tomatoes

1 cup peeled, seeded, and diced cucumbers

¼ cup snipped fresh chives, or finely chopped scallions or red onions

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice or red wine vinegar, or a combination

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley (optional)

Put all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Add more salt and black pepper to taste. If you use dried oregano, let the salsa sit for at least 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Mango Salsa

We love mangoes! We use them every opportunity we get. In this recipe their sweetness is nicely balanced with the sharp heat of hot peppers and the tang of lime. Make the salsa as hot or as mild as you like.

Yields 5 cups

Time: 25 minutes (less with frozen mangoes)

3 cups diced mango chunks (2 ripe mangoes, peeled and diced, or a 16-ounce package of frozen mango chunks, thawed and diced)

1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced

1 cup diced fresh tomatoes

½ cup seeded and diced bell peppers (any color)

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 fresh hot pepper, minced

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

1 tablespoon chopped scallions (optional)

salt

ground black pepper

In a bowl, combine the mangoes, cucumber, tomatoes, and bell peppers. To mellow and marry the flavors, heat the oil, garlic, and hot peppers in a microwave or on the stovetop just until the garlic sizzles. Stir the garlic–hot pepper oil and the lime juice, and cilantro and scallions, if using, into the mango-vegetable mixture.

VARIATION

• Sometimes we add some cubes of fresh pineapple in addition to the mango.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Perfect with Caribbean Black-eyed Peas or Cuban Black Beans. Try some on Curried Red Lentil Burgers or Indian Stuffed Eggplant. And make sure to try it as a dip with corn tortilla chips.

SAUCES AND GRAVIES

Jerk Sauce

Simple Sweet and Sour Sauce

Tomatillo Sauce

Smooth Hot Sauce

Red Pepper Butter

Puttanesca Sauce

Three Pestos

Tomato-Basil Sauce

Cheese Sauce

Caramelized Onion Gravy

Spinach Béchamel

Mushroom Gravy

Jerk Sauce

Jerk sauce is a Jamaican-style barbecue sauce with complex flavors. The sauce is spicy, sweet, salty, and tangy all at the same time. After you’ve made it once, make it your own favorite jerk sauce by adjusting the seasonings to suit your taste.

Traditionally, jerk sauce is used as a marinade for grilled meat, but we’ve found many other uses for it. We use it as a marinade for grilled or baked tofu, roasted vegetables, and fish or shrimp.

Yields 1 cup

Time: 10 minutes

1 cup chopped onions or scallions

1 fresh hot pepper, chopped

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 garlic cloves, sliced

1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and whirl until smooth.

VARIATIONS

• Add a couple tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro.

• Replace some of the vinegar with fresh lemon or lime juice.

• Add some rum.

• Ground cloves can stand in for the allspice.

• If 1 hot pepper isn’t enough, add more. If your hot pepper is very hot, too hot for you, add less or remove the seeds.

Simple Sweet and Sour Sauce

Lovely color and great flavor for a minimum of effort! This sauce will enliven any Asian-style stuffed vegetable or stir-fry.

Yields about 1½ cups

Time: 5 minutes

1 cup orange or pineapple juice

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar

1 teaspoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon cold water

In a small nonreactive saucepan, combine the orange or pineapple juice, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, and brown sugar and bring to a boil. Whisk in the dissolved cornstarch. Reduce the heat and stir for a couple of minutes until the sauce thickens and becomes clear. Serve hot.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

This sauce transforms plain steamed vegetables into something special. Make a meal of rice, vegetables, and some of Moosewood’s Best Baked and Pan-fried Tofu drizzled with some of the sauce. Serve the sauce on Asian-style Stuffed Portobellos.

Tomatillo Sauce

Tomatillos look like small, hard, green tomatoes encased in thin, papery husks. They’re easy to grow and have become plentiful in our Ithaca Farmers’ Market. They can be used cooked or raw and their distinctive flavor is a little sour. We offer you two methods for cooking them in this recipe, one stovetop and one roasted in the oven. If your oven is on anyway, it’s a little simpler to use the roasting method, but either way works just fine.

This simple green sauce is a tasty, interesting condiment and a nice change from tomato salsa. Make it as spicy as you like.

Yields 1½ generous cups

Time: 35 minutes

1 pound fresh tomatillos (about 3 cups coarsely chopped)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup finely chopped onions

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

¾ teaspoon salt

1 minced fresh hot pepper

2 teaspoons ground coriander seeds

½ teaspoon ground cumin seeds

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Peel off and discard the husks from the tomatillos. Rinse, core, and coarsely chop.

Stovetop Method

Warm the oil in a covered saucepan, add the onions, garlic, salt, and hot peppers (let your taste be the guide for how much to use and whether to seed or not). Cook, covered, on low heat for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the coriander and cumin and cook, covered, for 2 minutes. Stir in the chopped tomatillos and ¼ cup of water. Increase the heat until the mixture begins to simmer vigorously, then cover and simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally, until the tomatillos have broken down and are saucy, about 15 minutes. Purée in a food processor or in a blender. Stir in the sugar and cilantro.

Oven-Roasting Method

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly oil a baking sheet.

In a mixing bowl, toss together the chopped tomatillos, oil, onions, garlic, salt, hot peppers, coriander, and cumin. Spread the mixture out on the prepared baking sheet and roast until the tomatillos are soft, about 20 minutes. Purée in a food processor or in a blender. Stir in the sugar and cilantro.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Use Tomatillo Sauce as a dip for corn tortilla chips, or instead of a tomato-based hot sauce for Refried Beans or Spinach-Cheese Burritos. Or use it as a condiment for Mexican Corn and Cheese Casserole or anytime you want a flavor boost for a Mexican-style dish.

Smooth Hot Sauce

We love and depend on this spicy, full-bodied sauce. If you use red bell peppers, it’s bright red; with green bell peppers, it’s a rusty brown. Either way, it’s delicious and one of our staples. This recipe makes 4 cups of sauce, and it keeps well in the refrigerator for at least 2 weeks, and longer in the freezer.

There are those among us who are connected to people who think it’s not a meal without hot sauce. Sure, in the store there are lots of choices of little bottles and big bottles of hot sauce, and we do keep some in our homes. But, when you make your own hot sauce, you can control the ingredients, flavor, and spiciness—and you can make a lot for less.

Our earlier books have hot sauce recipes that tell you to blend all the ingredients together raw and then simmer. That works, but the flavor can be harsh if not cooked long enough. In the restaurant kitchen, where the ovens are on most of the time, some cooks roast all the vegetables and spices and then blend them with the tomatoes. Others sauté the onions and peppers in our big cast-iron skillet, and that’s how most of us make hot sauce at home.

Yields about 4 cups

Time: 30 minutes

1½ tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil

1 cup chopped onions

½ teaspoon salt

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 cup seeded and chopped bell peppers

1 chopped fresh hot pepper, ¼ teaspoon cayenne, or ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

one 28-ounce can tomatoes

2 teaspoons ground toasted cumin seeds (here)

2 teaspoons ground toasted coriander seeds (here)

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Warm the oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add the onions and salt and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, bell peppers, and hot peppers and continue to sauté for about 4 minutes, or until the peppers have softened and the onions begin to brown. Remove from the heat.

Put the tomatoes, cumin and coriander, cilantro, if using, and cooked onions and peppers into a blender and whirl until smooth. Return to the pan, cover, and bring to a low boil. Simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt to taste.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve on Cuban Black Beans or Mexican Corn and Cheese Casserole. Use in Chilaquiles Casserole, to add flavor to chili and soups, or to top stuffed peppers, omelets, and frittatas. We use this hot sauce on Latin American and Tex-Mex dishes like burritos, enchiladas, tacos, bean and vegetable casseroles, bean and rice dishes. It is also a good ingredient or accompaniment to spice up Middle-Eastern and North or West African dishes.

Red Pepper Butter

This nasturtium-orange sauce makes simple dishes elegant. Try it on plain pasta and broccoli, pasta and cauliflower, pasta and olives, pasta and asparagus, pasta and peas—pasta and almost anything! Delicious on steamed vegetables or fish, and stirred into potatoes or polenta. It’s handy to have on hand; it will keep in the refrigerator for a week or more, and you can also freeze it.

The name notwithstanding, you can make this with olive oil only—no butter—for a very tasty vegan sauce. If you make it with red peppers that you’ve roasted yourself, a touch of extra lemon juice will balance the flavors.

Yields 2 cups

Time: 10 minutes

½ cup olive oil

5 garlic cloves

one 12-ounce can roasted red peppers, drained (1¼ cups)

½ cup butter, at room temperature (1 stick)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

½ teaspoon salt

a generous sprinkling of ground black pepper

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil or dill (optional)

Warm the olive oil in a small heavy pan on medium heat. Cook the garlic cloves until golden, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. (You can do this in a microwave, too.)

In a blender, whirl the roasted red peppers, butter, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper. Add the warm oil and garlic cloves and whirl until smooth. Stir the basil or dill in by hand.

Use right away or refrigerate or freeze. Thaw frozen Red Pepper Butter at room temperature and stir well before using.

Puttanesca Sauce

Puttanesca Sauce is zesty tomato sauce with body, accented with capers, kalamata olives, and red pepper flakes.

Yields 7 cups

Time: 45 minutes

3 tablespoons olive oil

1½ cups diced onions

4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

¼ teaspoon salt

two 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes

1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano (1 teaspoon dried)

¾ teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons capers, drained

1⁄3 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (optional)

Warm the oil in a covered pot on medium-low heat. Add the onions, garlic, and salt and cook for 10 minutes, until soft. Stir in the tomatoes, oregano, red pepper flakes, capers, and olives, cover, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the fresh basil and add salt to taste.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve Puttanesca Sauce over pasta with finely grated Parmesan or your favorite sharp Italian cheese. Or ladle some over Italian Polenta-stuffed Peppers, or plain fish, polenta, eggplants, or portobellos that would be enhanced by this highly flavored sauce.

Three Pestos

It’s perhaps audacious to give the name “pesto” to any sauce other than the sublime Pesto Genovese. Well, chefs are audacious. That simple purée has inspired cooks to experiment with myriad combinations of herbs, oils, nuts, seeds, vegetables, cheeses, and even fruit. You might say this classic has launched a thousand pestos, and many have strayed far from Italy. Think Thai basil and mint with roasted peanuts. Moosewood cook David Hirsch put five pestos in The Moosewood Restaurant Kitchen Garden cookbook. Pesto is a good motivation for tending a garden.

Of course, we love a dollop of pesto on pasta, and we also add it to minestrones, tomato soups, and Mediterranean stews. It is a nice spread for sandwiches and crostini. We also put it in bean dips and aioli.

We’re aware that pine nuts can be expensive, and because some people can have an almost allergic reaction to them, we often prepare our pestos using almonds or walnuts. This food processor method is easy and foolproof. If you use a blender to make pesto, chop the ingredients by hand first, and be prepared to stop and scrape—a lot.

PESTO GENOVESE

Yields 1½ cups

Time: 15 minutes

1⁄3 cup pine nuts or ½ cup almonds or walnuts, toasted (here)

4 cups packed basil leaves

3 chopped garlic cloves

½ cup plus 3 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese (the 3 tablespoons can be Pecorino Romano cheese)

½ cup olive oil (regular or extra-virgin)

salt

Pulse the pine nuts or almonds or walnuts in a food processor until chopped. Add the basil, garlic, and cheese and pulse until the ingredients are well chopped. Turn the processor on and pour in the oil in a slow, steady stream. Process to a smooth paste. Season with salt to taste.

VARIATIONS

• Sometimes fresh basil is hard to come by in large quantities. For a milder but still tasty pesto, we have substituted up to half the basil with baby spinach.

• For pesto with a slight edge, replace half the basil with arugula. When we include arugula, we blanch it in boiling water for a minute or two first to remove some of its sharpness.

• In Genoa, pesto is traditionally made with very young and tender basil leaves. At times, larger leaves can also be sharp. If that’s what you’ve got, blanch them, as well.

• If you prefer a milder garlic flavor, sizzle it for a minute in a tablespoon of the olive oil.

ASPARAGUS PESTO

When asparagus is in season we just can’t get enough of it. And when paired with some fresh tarragon, well what could be better?

Yields 1½ cups

Time: 15 minutes

1 pound asparagus

½ cup almonds, toasted (here)

2 chopped garlic cloves

¼ cup packed shredded Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ cup olive oil (regular or extra-virgin)

Snap off the tough ends of the asparagus spears at their natural breaking point, then slice the spears crosswise into ½-inch pieces. You’ll need at least 2 cups for this recipe. Steam the asparagus pieces until bright green, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Pulse the almonds in a food processor until chopped. Add the garlic, Parmesan, tarragon, salt, and black pepper and pulse until well chopped. Turn the processor on and pour in the oil in a slow, thin, steady stream. Process until uniform. This pesto has some texture because the asparagus does not purée to a smooth paste.

PUMPKIN SEED PESTO

We think you’ll like this alternative to pesto made with tree nuts.

Yields about 1 cup

Time: 15 minutes

½ cup hulled, toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) (see Note)

2 chopped garlic cloves

1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 packed cups fresh basil

1⁄3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1⁄3 cup olive oil

salt

Put the pepitas, garlic, black pepper, basil, and Parmesan in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to chop. Then, with the processor running, pour in the oil in a slow, thin, steady stream and process until smooth. Season with salt to taste.

NOTE

Pepitas are sometimes salted when you buy them, sometimes not. Add salt at the end to suit your taste.

Tomato-Basil Sauce

This is the restaurant’s house tomato-basil sauce. We use it on polenta and stuffed vegetables, in our lasagnas, and as an option for “kid’s” pasta. This recipe makes a generous amount, enough for a large lasagna, with maybe a cup or two left over. Although making your own sauce takes a little longer than opening a jar, you can season the sauce just the way you like it. And—it just tastes better. You can freeze any leftovers for later.

Yields about 7 cups

Time: 35 minutes

2 tablespoons olive oil

1½ cups finely chopped onions

4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano (1 tablespoon fresh)

1 or 2 bay leaves (optional)

¼ cup dry red wine (optional)

two 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes

¼ to ½ cup chopped fresh basil

ground black pepper

Warm the oil in a heavy, nonreactive saucepan on medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook for a minute or two, stirring often. Sprinkle in the salt and add the oregano and bay leaves, if using, cover the pan, and reduce the heat to low. Cook until the onions are soft and translucent, 7 or 8 minutes. Stir in the wine, if using.

For a sauce like we usually make at Moosewood, whirl half of the tomatoes in a blender and leave the rest chunky. For a smoother sauce, whirl all of the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes to the pan, bring to a simmer, and cook on low heat for 10 to 15 minutes. Cook longer for a thicker sauce. Remove and discard bay leaves, if used. Stir in the basil. Season with black pepper and more salt to taste.

VARIATIONS

• Add 2 or 3 teaspoons ground fennel to the cooking onions.

• For a Greek-style sauce, replace the basil with 3 or 4 tablespoons of chopped fresh dill and add 1⁄3 cup chopped Kalamata olives.

• Make it spicier with 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.

• For a creamy sauce, purée a cup or two of the sauce with ½ cup cream cheese, and stir back into the pan.

Cheese Sauce

This sauce is a great example of one of the time-honored, delicious basics. Many of the women at Moosewood remember being taught how to make a simple roux in home economics class in the early ’60s, and then to magically transform the roux into sauces. We think some of those simple lessons sparked a lifelong love of cooking, and we recommend this recipe as one of the basics to teach to your kids, boys and girls.

A roux is a classic French thickener made by cooking flour and butter into a smooth paste until the raw flavor of the flour is cooked out. It gives sauces and soups a velvety-smooth richness.

We think a great sharp cheddar is all you need for this sauce, but you might like to substitute up to a cup of shredded Parmesan, Fontina, or Gruyère to give the sauce a more complex flavor. Cheeses vary in saltiness, so we suggest you salt the sauce to taste at the end.

Yields generous 5 cups

Time: 25 minutes

10 ounces sharp cheddar cheese (2½ cups shredded)

4 cups milk

½ cup butter or olive oil

½ cup unbleached white all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons dry sherry (optional)

1⁄8 teaspoon ground black or white pepper

generous pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (optional)

Shred the cheese and set aside.

Heat the milk in a saucepan to just below boiling. Meanwhile, in a heavy saucepan on medium-low heat, melt the butter until bubbling, but don’t let it brown. While whisking, add the flour gradually to form a smooth roux. Cook, whisking constantly, for 3 or 4 minutes. (This cooking removes the raw flour taste; constant whisking prevents scorching).

Increase the heat to medium and whisk the hot milk into the roux, adding it about a cup at a time, and making sure the roux and milk are smooth before adding more. When all of the hot milk is in, the sauce will be smooth and thickened.

Add the shredded cheese, mustard, sherry, if using, pepper, and nutmeg. Reduce the heat and whisk until the cheese has melted. Season with salt to taste.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

This sauce is good on pasta, rice, stuffed vegetables, and crepes, and, of course, for Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli. You can also add some to a creamy soup or chowder to thicken it and add more flavor.

Caramelized Onion Gravy

You are going to love this savory, rich-tasting brown gravy that is low in fat, vegan, and keeps well. When you caramelize onions, the natural sugars emerge and brown. Caramelized onions are sweet and mellow tasting.

Yields 5 cups

Time: 35 minutes

8 cups thinly sliced onions

¼ cup vegetable oil

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary

¼ cup soy sauce

½ cup dry sherry

2 cups hot water

¼ cup cornstarch

¼ cup cold water

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Slice the onions in half top to bottom, and then thinly slice stem end to root end. Heat the oil in a soup pot. Add the onions and cook for 3 minutes on medium heat, stirring constantly. Stir in the salt, thyme, and rosemary, and cook, uncovered, for about 25 minutes, stirring frequently. As the onions begin to stick a little to the pan, they are beginning to caramelize. Scrape them free and stir well. The onions will soften and brown—if they begin to scorch, the heat is too high. When the onions have browned and are absolutely soft, add the soy sauce and sherry and stir well. Continue to cook for 3 or 4 minutes. Stir in the hot water and bring to a simmer.

Stir the cornstarch and cold water together in a small cup or bowl until smooth. Pour into the simmering gravy while stirring and continue to stir until thickened. If the gravy isn’t thick enough, mix an additional tablespoon of cornstarch with a tablespoon of cold water and stir it into the gravy while it simmers. Stir in the black pepper.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve this flavorful gravy with mashed potatoes (see here). Ladle some over the Dixie Tofu-Pecan Loaf or have some on Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Burgers served on rice or mashed potatoes.

Spinach Béchamel

Béchamel, or white sauce, is the thick, creamy base for many sauces and gravies. It’s made by combining a simple flour and butter roux with hot milk. For this bright, beautifully green spinach béchamel, the fresh spinach should be just barely wilted, and still vivid green. The sauce can be made with dried herbs and spices, but we think that fresh thyme and basil and freshly grated nutmeg make a big difference.

Yields 4 cups

Time: 40 minutes

BÉCHAMEL SAUCE

2 cups hot milk

2 or 3 sprigs of fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme

1⁄3 cup butter

1⁄3 cup unbleached white all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2 tablespoons olive oil

1½ cups finely chopped onions

½ teaspoon dried thyme (optional)

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

6 cups fresh baby spinach (about 9 ounces), rinsed and drained

2 to 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

To make the béchamel: Heat the milk in a saucepan to just below boiling. If you’re using fresh thyme, add it to the milk as it heats to infuse the milk with the flavor. Remove the sprigs before adding the hot milk to the roux.

In a heavy 2-quart saucepan on low heat, melt the butter until bubbling, but don’t let it brown. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the roux is smooth and starting to bubble around the edges, about 2 minutes; do not let it brown. Whisk in the hot milk and keep whisking until the sauce thickens, about 2 minutes. Stir in the salt, black pepper, and nutmeg, cover, and set aside.

Warm the olive oil in a large skillet or sauce pan on medium heat. Cook the onions, dried thyme, if using, salt, and black pepper, covered, until the onions are soft but not browned, about 6 minutes. Stir frequently and when you take the cover off, let the condensation drip back into the onions. Stir in the basil and spread the spinach on top. Cover and gently steam the spinach until it has wilted but is still vivid green, 2 or 3 minutes.

In a food processor or blender, purée the spinach and onions and their liquid with about half of the béchamel until smooth and evenly green. Stir the purée back into the pan of béchamel and mix well. Add lemon juice and more salt and black pepper to taste.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Serve over your favorite pasta, topped with finely grated Parmesan or feta cheese. At the restaurant, we frequently serve Fettuccine San Polo: Spinach Béchamel on fettuccine, topped with steamed cauliflower florets, chopped fresh tomatoes, and finely grated Parmesan. We also often use this sauce to make spinach lasagna béchamel by layering it with noodles and Italian cheeses. For lasagna tricolore, we layer the noodles with Italian cheeses and Tomato-Basil Sauce and top it with Spinach Béchamel.

Mushroom Gravy

This savory, quick, vegan, gluten-free gravy is our favorite topping for a variety of dishes. We smother some of our burgers in it, as well as our much-loved tofu “meatloaf” (here, here, and here). It’s a natural on mashed potatoes, both white and sweet, and on stuffed vegetables.

We like cremini (Italian brown) mushrooms, but also often use white button mushrooms. Or mix up your mushrooms; use a combination of fresh ones and dried, and try some varieties you haven’t tasted before. If using dried mushrooms, soak them first in hot water for about 20 minutes, and use the soaking liquid in the gravy.

Yields 4 cups

Time: 25 minutes

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1½ cups diced onions

pinch of salt

4 cups sliced mushrooms (16 ounces whole)

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme or ¼ teaspoon dried thyme

¼ cup dry sherry

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1¾ cups water

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in ¼ cup cold water

Warm the oil in a cast-iron skillet or heavy-bottomed saucepan on medium-high heat. Add the onions with a pinch of salt and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and thyme and cook until the mushrooms are tender, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Add the sherry, soy sauce, water, and black pepper. Cover and bring to a simmer. Add the dissolved cornstarch and stir until the gravy becomes clear and thickened.

Serve right away or remove from the heat and reheat before serving. Keep at a simmer, not a boil—liquids thickened with cornstarch lose viscosity if allowed to boil.

VARIATIONS

• In place of water, you can use stock. If it’s salted, we recommend starting with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, then tasting for salt at the end.

• Pan Asian Mushroom Gravy—Replace some of the mushrooms with Asian varieties, such as shiitake, straw, enokitake, or oyster mushrooms. Replace the thyme with 1 tablespoon grated and peeled fresh ginger, and add 1 teaspoon of dark sesame oil at the end.

DESSERTS

Frosted Carrot Cake

Sara’s Fresh Apple Spice Cake

Vegan Chocolate Cake

Our Favorite Pound Cakes

Vanilla Cheesecake

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Gingerbread

Moosewood Fudge Brownies

Italian Sesame Cookies

Cowboy Cookies

Chocolate–Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Ricotta Moose

Almond Shortbread

Baklava

Apricot-Almond Baklava

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble

Apple Crisp

Southern Nut Pie Eudora

Our Favorite All-Purpose Piecrust

Pumpkin Pie

Fresh Berry Ricotta Moose

Fresh Strawberry Sauce

Blueberry-Cherry Pie with Sour Cream Lattice Crust

Low-fat Lemon Pudding Cake

Creamy Vegan Rice Pudding

Vanilla Custard Sauce

Fresh Fruit Trifle

Savannah Banana

Truffles

Chocolate Cups

Fruit Skewers

Frosted Carrot Cake

This cake is one of our customers’ favorite desserts. And what better way to eat your fruits and vegetables? It has a pound of carrots as well as pineapple and raisins.

Yields one 13 × 9 × 2 inch cake; 2 cups frosting

Prep time: about 1 hour

Baking time: about 1 hour

CARROT CAKE

1 pound carrots

one 8-ounce can unsweetened crushed pineapple

1¼ cups vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups unbleached white all-purpose flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup raisins

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

½ cup butter, at room temperature

6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

½ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

about 2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter or oil a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking pan and dust it with flour.

To make the cake: Peel the carrots, cut them in ½- to ¾-inch chunks and pulse them in the bowl of a food processor until flaked. We’ve found that this method of preparing the carrots consistently works better for a cake than the more traditional way of grating or shredding them. Set the carrots aside. Put the pineapple in a colander and set aside to drain while you prepare the cake.

In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the oil and sugar until well combined. Add the eggs and beat well. Beat in the vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the egg mixture just until all the flour is incorporated. Fold in the flaked carrots, drained pineapple, chopped walnuts, and raisins.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

To make the frosting: Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until creamy. Beat in the lemon zest and lemon juice. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until the frosting is a good consistency for spreading and is to your taste. (If your confectioners’ sugar is lumpy it’s a good idea to sift it.)

When the cake is cool, spread the frosting over the top.

VARIATIONS

You can also make this a layer cake by baking the batter in two 9-inch round cake pans. They will take less time to bake, about 30 minutes. The recipe makes enough frosting for a layer cake.

The walnuts can be omitted, but we prefer the cake with them.

Sara’s Fresh Apple Spice Cake

Sara Robbins started at Moosewood in 1973 as a baker and dessert maker. She brought this cake to her hiring interview. It is a beloved family recipe from her talented Aunt Minnie of Atlanta, Georgia. This coffee cake is a classic of the American South where many households swear by their own versions. It is also perfect for upstate New York, a leading grower of apples of every variety.

The cake is moist, homey, and wholesome, and the recipe is fail-safe.

Yields one 10-inch Bundt cake or a 13 × 9 × 2-inch sheet cake

Prep time: 30 minutes

Baking time: about 1 hour

1¼ cups vegetable oil

2 cups lightly packed brown sugar

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 cups unbleached white all-purpose flour or 2 cups white and 1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

3 tablespoons apple juice or cider, milk, buttermilk, or water

3 cups chopped apples (peeled or not)

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter or oil a 10-inch Bundt pan or a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking pan. Either dust with flour or sprinkle with sesame seeds.

In a large bowl, beat the oil and brown sugar for a couple of minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition, and then beat until creamy. Add the vanilla and beat to incorporate.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom. Add to the sugar-egg mixture along with the liquid, and beat until smooth. Fold the apples into the batter. Fold in the nuts, if using.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for an hour or more until the cake is golden brown, fragrant, pulling away from the sides of the pan, and firm to the touch.

If you made a Bundt cake, cool it in the pan for 10 or 15 minutes and then invert onto a serving plate. Serve the sheet cake from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

SERVING IDEAS

Plain, this cake is good for brunch or a snack. We usually dust it with confectioners’ sugar after it has cooled. For dessert, it sure is good with whipped cream or ice cream.

Vegan Chocolate Cake

Dark and dense, moist and delicious. Over the years, we’ve made only minor changes to our Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe. We usually make a large, single layer cake topped with a simple chocolate glaze and we serve it right out of the pan. But sometimes we add peanut butter, or coconut or coconut milk, or raspberry purée, or orange zest and orange liqueur to the cake or to the glaze.

This recipe also makes the right amount of batter for a two-layer cake, two 9-inch round or 8-inch square pans (2 inches deep). To ensure that the cake layers come out of the pan cleanly, we recommend that you line the pans with parchment paper: oil the bottom and sides of the pans, cut the parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan, oil it and then dust the bottom and sides with flour.

Yields one 13 × 9 × 2-inch cake or two 9-inch round or 8-inch square layers

Prep time: 15 minutes

Baking time: about 55 minutes

CAKE

3 cups unbleached white all-purpose flour

2⁄3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (lightly packed with the back of a spoon)

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1¾ cups water

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup vegetable oil

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

VEGAN CHOCOLATE GLAZE

8 ounces semisweet chocolate

½ cup boiling water

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Oil a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking pan and dust it with flour.

To make the cake: In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Use a whisk or spoon to thoroughly mix the ingredients together. In a separate bowl, combine the water, vanilla, and oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Add the vinegar and whisk just until it is incorporated; the batter will be thinner than most cake batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s). Bake for 50 to 55 minutes until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. With this cake it is best to err on the side of overbaking, if the middle is even slightly undercooked, the cake will sink in the middle as it cools.

When the cake has thoroughly cooled, make the glaze: Put the chocolate and boiling water in blender and let it sit for a couple of minutes to soften the chocolate. Then whirl until smooth. You can glaze the cooled cake right away, but it is best to pour the glaze into a bowl and chill for 15 to 20 minutes until it is a spreadable consistency.

Our Favorite Pound Cakes

With their fine texture and rich, buttery flavor, pound cakes have been a consistent favorite at Moosewood for most of our history.

We start with a plain, vanilla cake which is great as is with a cup of tea or perfect with fresh berries spooned on top or glazed with chocolate. It’s what we use to make Savannah Banana Pudding and Fresh Fruit Trifle.

But also, we’re constantly changing a few things in the recipe to invent new cakes. Any flavor or extract is OK. You can use brown sugar instead of white. Lots of different liquids work well. In place of buttermilk, we’ve used milk, coffee, yogurt, sour cream, fruit juice, coconut milk, wine, whiskey, and green tea. You can add things like nuts, chocolate chips, dried fruit, coconut, citrus peel, or juicy fresh fruits (in which case, you eliminate the liquid). You can even reduce the flour by 1 cup and add 2 cups of cornmeal, for a nice polenta pound cake.

The cake can be dusted with confectioners’ sugar or cocoa powder, soaked with a liqueur, glazed, or frosted. It can be served with fruit and/or whipped cream, or sliced and layered with lemon curd and decorated with candied violets or edible fresh flowers.

Yields one 10-inch Bundt cake

Prep time: 15 minutes

Baking time: 1 hour and 15 to 30 minutes

1 pound butter, softened to room temperature

2½ cups sugar

6 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

4 cups unbleached white pastry flour

½ cup buttermilk or milk

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Thoroughly coat a 10-inch (12-cup) Bundt pan (see Note) with butter or cooking spray and dust liberally with flour.

Using an electric mixer, cream the softened butter and sugar until light. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until smooth. On a lower speed, mix in 2 cups of the flour until blended, then add the buttermilk and mix well. Sift together the remaining 2 cups of flour and the salt and baking powder. Add to the batter and beat well.

Spoon the batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 to 30 minutes until the cake is golden brown, pulls away from the sides of the pan, and is firm to the touch. A knife inserted into the center should come out clean. Check for doneness starting at an hour because the baking time varies with different pans and ovens.

Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 15 to 20 minutes. Invert onto a serving plate to cool. Make sure the cake has dropped out of the pan, but leave the pan over the cake for about 20 minutes while it cools.

NOTE

Not every 10-inch Bundt pan holds the same amount because of differences in the fluting and slope. For this recipe, we recommend a Bundt pan that holds at least 12 cups, because if the pan is too small, there is a risk that the batter will overflow during baking, making a mess in your oven.

VARIATIONS

Moosewood dessert makers have created an enormous number of pound cake variations over the years. Here are a half-dozen of our favorites. When you’ve invented a wild new version that you’re proud of, please tell us about it.

• Pistachio-Lemon Pound Cake—Use pure lemon extract and add the zest of 1 lemon plus a cup of chopped pistachios. Coat the cooled cake with a simple lemon glaze that you can make by stirring together 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar and 2 to 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice until smooth.

• Date-Walnut-Orange Pound Cake—Use pure orange extract and add the zest of 1 orange. Use fresh orange juice as the liquid and add I cup of chopped toasted walnuts and 1 cup of chopped dates.

• Blueberry-Lemon Pound Cake—Use pure lemon extract and add the zest of 1 lemon. For the liquid, use the juice of the lemon (about ¼ cup). Add 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries. Some blueberries release a lot of moisture, so this cake may take an additional 15 minutes to bake.

• Pecan-Cardamom Pound Cake—Use brown sugar instead of white and use ½ cup of coffee as the liquid. Add 2 teaspoons ground cardamom, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground allspice, and ½ teaspoon ground black pepper. Add 1 cup of chopped toasted pecans. You can make a coffee glaze by mixing together 1½ cups of confectioners’ sugar and ¼ cup of coffee.

• Chocolate-Hazelnut Orange Pound Cake—Add the zest of 1 orange and use the orange juice as the liquid. Add 1 cup of chopped toasted hazelnuts and 1 cup of coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate or chocolate chips.

• Amaretto Pound Cake—Use pure almond extract and either milk, cream, or almond milk as the liquid. Add 1 cup of chopped toasted almonds. When the cake has cooled, pour ½ cup of amaretto or other almond liqueur over it, and when it has soaked in, dust the cake with confectioners’ sugar.

Vanilla Cheesecake

For this recipe we went to the chocolate- and butter-smudged old notebook that the restaurant dessert makers have written, used, and revised over the years. This cheesecake is that pure, creamy, rich, plain vanilla cheesecake that so many people love. And the crust is very tasty.

We usually serve it with a fruit topping, but customers often ask for the topping on the side or not at all, because they love to have that rich flavor and velvety mouthfeel uncomplicated by any extra tastes or textures.

We give you directions for using a food processor because we think that’s the best and easiest method. If your processor is smaller than 9-cup capacity, you’ll need to do the filling in two batches and combine the batches in a large bowl. You can also make mix the filling with a blender (lots of scraping down), or a mixer (at the start, a strain on the motor). It’s helpful if the ingredients are at room temperature.

We’ve made lots of cheesecakes, and when they’ve cracked or had bubbles on top, we’ve worked hard to figure out why. Please read our cheesecake tips (see here) before you start so you’ll understand why we give you the directions we do.

With this recipe, you can make a 9-inch or a 10-inch cheesecake. As counterintuitive as it may seem, the directions are the same, and the baking times differ by only fifteen minutes. A 9-inch cheesecake will be higher, and unless you like a thick crust, reduce the crust ingredients to ¾ cup oats, ¾ cup walnuts, 1⁄3 cup brown sugar, 3 tablespoons melted butter.

Yields one 9- or 10-inch cheesecake

Prep time: 25 minutes

Baking time: about 45 minutes

In oven cooling time: 1 hour

Room temperature cooling time: 4 hours or overnight

Chilling time: at least 6 hours

NUTS AND OATS CRUST

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup walnuts

½ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup melted butter

FILLING

1½ pounds cream cheese

1 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

4 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Generously butter the bottom and sides of a 9- or 10-inch springform pan. (See headnote about pan size.)

To make the crust: Whirl the crust ingredients in a food processor until crumbly. Spread the mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan, pressing it out to the sides and against the outside edges to about ½ inch up. Bake for 10 minutes while you prepare the filling. Then reduce the oven temperature to 300°F.

To make the filling: Cut the cream cheese into 2-inch chunks. Whirl the cream cheese, sour cream, vanilla, salt, and sugar in a food processor just until smooth. Check with a spoon for cream cheese lumps—if you find any, break them up and whirl again briefly. Add the eggs, whirl briefly, and then scrape the sides and process until smooth and evenly colored, but don’t process more than necessary. Pour the filling into the springform pan and bake the cheesecake until the sides are firm and the center still moves a bit when gently shaken. A 10-inch cheesecake will take about 45 minutes, and a 9-inch about an hour. Do not overbake; the cooking process will continue during the cool-down period. Turn off the oven and open the oven door a crack. Leave the cheesecake in the oven for an hour.

Place the cheesecake, in its pan, on a countertop and cover it with a plate or a baking sheet. Let it sit at room temperature for 4 hours or overnight. Then refrigerate in the pan for at least 6 hours.

Remove the cheesecake from the pan before serving. For a clean release, run a knife dipped in water around the outside edges as you slowly release the clasp. If the bottom sticks, warm the bottom of the pan by holding it on hot water for about 15 seconds to melt the butter on the bottom of the crust just enough to release it from the pan.

SERVING IDEAS

Serve absolutely plain on a pretty plate. Or, decorate with edible flowers or slices of fresh fruit. Or, serve each slice topped with a fruit sauce, such as Fresh Strawberry Sauce. And, just so you know, cheesecake will hold birthday candles upright.

HOW TO AVOID CHEESECAKE CRACKS AND TWO OTHER TIPS

Cheesecakes have a tendency to crack, but they don’t have to.

One cause of cracking is too much air in the batter. As the cheesecakes heats up in the oven, air bubbles expand and combine with each other and rise. When they break out of the top of the cake cracks or craters appear in the cake’s surface. So, avoid overbeating the batter because overbeating incorporates additional air. Mix the batter well and eliminate cream cheese lumps before you add the eggs. To help achieve this, bring the cream cheese to room temperature or soften it by unwrapping it and placing it in a glass or ceramic bowl and microwaving for 30 to 45 seconds until slightly softened. Eggs hold air in the batter, so add them last and mix the batter as little as possible once they are in.

Another cause of a cracked surface is a too-rapid temperature change. If you heat a cheesecake too fast or cool it down too fast, it’s likely to crack. So, bake the cheesecake at a low oven temperature. A water bath isn’t essential, but it does assure that the cheesecake cooks slowly and evenly: Wrap the bottom of the springform pan in aluminum foil and place it in a larger pan with hot water in it, just halfway up the outside of the springform pan and bake as directed.

Don’t overbake the cheesecake. When perfectly done, there will still be a 2- to 3-inch diameter wobbly spot in the middle of the cheesecake. The texture will smooth out as it cools.

Cheesecake shrinks as it cools. Hence the directions for a slow, gentle cooling down. And, generously butter the sides of the springform pan before pouring in batter to allow the cake to pull away from the pan as it cools and shrinks instead of pulling apart from the middle.

If after all this, you still have a crack, and you care what your cheesecake looks like, spread on a topping or a sauce to camouflage the crevasse.

Tip: A well-constructed, heavy springform pan is a joy to use. A leaking, tinny springform pan that imparts a metallic taste ruins, or at least taints, a cheesecake. We recommend Fat Daddio brand springform pans.

Tip: Baked plain cheesecakes freeze well. When completely chilled, wrap securely in plastic wrap and then heavy-duty aluminum foil. Do not freeze cheesecakes with garnishes or toppings. Defrost in the refrigerator.

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This is a simple, moist, always pleasing cake that we turn to over and over. It’s a regular on Moosewood’s dessert menu and one of the most requested recipes on our website. It’s easy enough for any day, and judging by the requests from our customers and families, it is many people’s favorite birthday cake.

The frosting recipe makes about 3 cups, a good amount for a layer cake. Halve the frosting recipe for a larger single layer cake.

Yields one 13 × 9 × 2-inch cake or two 9-inch round layers; 3 cups frosting

Prep time: 25 minutes

Baking time: 25 minutes

BANANA CAKE

½ cup butter, at room temperature (1 stick)

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups unbleached white all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1½ cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4)

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

½ cup butter, at room temperature

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

4 cups confectioners’ sugar (1 pound)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter, oil, or spray a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking pan or two 9-inch round cake pans.

To make the cake: Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add half the dry mixture and beat until smooth. Add the mashed bananas and mix. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat until smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s). Bake until golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes for round cake pans and about 35 minutes for a 13 × 9 × 2-inch pan. Cool in the pan(s) for 15 minutes. Gently turn layer cakes out of the pans onto plates or waxed paper on a cooling rack. It’s most practical to serve a single-layer cake from the baking pan. Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting: Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Add the confectioners’ sugar, a cup at a time, and beat until smooth. Add the vanilla and beat to incorporate.

Spread the frosting on the cooled cake. If you’re making a layer cake, first spread frosting between the two layers and then on the sides and top of the cake.

Gingerbread

Our favorite gingerbread is based on a recipe from an old Fannie Farmer cookbook, and it’s been a Moosewood favorite since the very early days. We like that it’s not too sweet, and we love that so many ingredients are in half-cup measurements or multiples of. Over the years, we’ve added more ginger and some cinnamon to the original recipe.

Sometimes at the restaurant we serve gingerbread drizzled with lemon sauce, sometimes topped with a little whipped cream, sometimes shiny with a lemon glaze. Plain or slightly embellished, it’s delicious, especially when warm.

Yields an 8 × 8-inch gingerbread

Prep time: 20 minutes

Baking time: about 30 minutes

2 large eggs

½ cup sour cream

½ cup unsulphured molasses

½ cup packed brown sugar

1½ cups unbleached white all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup melted butter

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter or spray with oil an 8 × 8-inch baking pan.

Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add the sour cream, molasses, and brown sugar and beat until smooth and creamy. In a separate mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt. Beat the dry ingredients into the egg and molasses mixture until smooth. Pour in the melted butter and beat until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

VARIATION

• If you prefer to make gingerbread cupcakes, butter a standard 12-cup muffin pan or lightly coat with cooking spray. Evenly distribute the batter among the cups (they will be full). Cupcakes will take 20 to 25 minutes to bake. Cool for about 5 minutes and then transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack.

Moosewood Fudge Brownies

There’s no question that Moosewood Fudge Brownies are not health food. We’ve experimented over the years with alternative brownie recipes that include whole wheat flour, rice, prunes, carob, and even chickpeas, while never taking the real thing off the menu because there really is no equivalent for butter, eggs, and fine-quality chocolate. So, they’re immoderately rich and good, but as with all good things in moderation, they have a special place in Moosewood cuisine.

Moosewood’s menu changes—new soups, new entrées, new desserts. You never know what will be offered—except for brownies. Brownies are the one thing we never rotate off the menu and mustn’t ever run out of lest we cause some customer abject disappointment, outright disbelief, and bitter regret at their horrible, undeserved turn of fate.

In Moosewood’s early years, there were customers who needed to reward themselves with a brownie after eating all those vegetables, or maybe for trying tofu for the first time. First thing, they reserved their brownie, and then ordered their meal. Today, some customers who just can’t manage dessert right after their meal take a brownie to go.

Yields twenty-four 2-inch brownies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Baking time: 20 to 30 minutes

1 cup butter, melted (2 sticks)

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate (1 cup chips or chunks)

1 pound brown sugar (2 cups packed)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

5 large eggs

1 cup unbleached white pastry flour (see Notes)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter or coat with cooking spray a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking pan.

In a small heavy saucepan, melt the butter. Add the chocolate, stir for a minute and remove from the heat. When the chocolate has fully softened, stir until smooth.

Put the brown sugar and vanilla into a mixing bowl. Add the melted butter and chocolate and beat with an electric mixer until combined. Add the eggs and beat well. Add the flour and mix until the batter is smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 to 30 minutes until the brownies are pulling away from the sides of the pan and the middle is still moist.

NOTES

Pastry flour makes moist, fudgy brownies. If you use all-purpose flour, the brownies will be more cakelike.

We use unsalted butter when we make brownies at the restaurant, but at home we use either salted or unsalted butter, whichever we have on hand, and we think the results are equally good.

SERVING AND MENU IDEAS

Brownies are great topped with ice cream. Crumble leftover brownies and serve on ice cream. Brownie crumbs freeze well and can go straight from the freezer to a sundae with no defrosting, for an instant dessert.

Italian Sesame Cookies

In many Italian-American homes, no holiday is complete without these golden, not-too-sweet, delicate butter cookies—biscuits, almost—to dunk in espresso, coffee, tea, wine, anisette, or milk. They’re available in most Italian bakeries, but the ones you make at home are so much better.

Back in Queens, these were Moosewood cook Ned Asta’s mother’s favorite cookie, and Ned describes in this recipe how to make the traditional S shape that fits perfectly into the narrow top of a demitasse or liqueur glass.

These cookies can be kind of messy to make, but if you get an assembly line going and don’t slop the water onto your dry, floured work surface, although your hands will be coated with sesame seeds, production will hum right along.

Yields about 40 cookies

Prep time: 45 minutes

Baking time: 25 minutes

3 cups unbleached white all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup cold butter (2 sticks)

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1¼ cups sesame seeds

You can make this dough in a food processor or by hand.

To make with a food processor: Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into the food processor and pulse 3 or 4 times. Cut the butter into small pieces and pulse 7 or 8 times until just crumbly. Lightly beat the eggs and vanilla together and add to the bowl. Pulse until just moistened and uniform.

To make by hand: In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and work it into the dry ingredients with your fingers or a pastry cutter until just crumbly. Beat the eggs and the vanilla together and add to the bowl. Mix just until the dough is moistened and uniform.

Divide the dough into 4 equal parts. Keep the dough covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator until you’re ready to shape the cookies.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter or oil two baking sheets.

Lightly flour a work surface, and next to it place a cup of cold water with a pastry brush and a flat dinner plate. Put the sesame seeds in a shallow bowl, next to a baking sheet.

Roll one-fourth of the dough into a thin rope about 24 inches long. Cut into 10 pieces. Gently pinch and pull each piece to about 4 inches long and place on the dinner plate. When you have 4 or 5 on the plate, brush them with water and then roll each one in the sesame seeds to coat and place it on the baking sheet in a loose S shape. Repeat with the rest of the rope, placing the cookies about 2 inches apart. Repeat with the rest of the refrigerated dough.

Bake the cookies until firm and golden, about 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Cowboy Cookies

Our dessert makers try out a lot of different cookies at Moosewood, but most frequently they make easy Cowboy Cookies, which are sturdy, wholesome, homespun treats that might even sustain you on a hard day out on the trail.

We keep a big glass jar full of cookies near the side door that leads down the hall to the other stores in our building. Every day people from the antique shop or the toy store or the guitar workshop pop their heads in to check out the cookies of the day. When they find a beautifully frosted or filled cookie or some ethnic classic that took all morning to fill and roll and layer or some delicate airy miracle of bakers’ art, they are polite about it, but what they really want most of all are Cowboy Cookies again and again.

Yields about 24 big cookies or 40 smaller cookies

Prep time: 25 minutes

Baking time: about 12 minutes per batch

2 cups unbleached white all-purpose flour (see Note)

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, at room temperature (2 sticks)

½ cup sugar

½ cup packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups rolled oats

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks (12 ounces)

1½ cups raisins, dried cranberries, or chopped dried cherries (optional)

1 cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts (optional)

NOTE

Some of us like to use pastry flour, which makes the cookies crisper.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well. Add the dry ingredients and blend well. Stir in the oats. Fold in the chocolate chips and the dried fruit and the nuts, if using. The dough will be fairly stiff.

Drop spoonfuls of dough onto unoiled baking sheets. For large cookies, place rounded blobs of dough about the size of a ping-pong ball on the baking sheets, placing then about 4 inches apart. For smaller cookies, drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the baking sheets, placing them about 2 inches apart. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown. Transfer the cookies to wire cooling racks. Cool completely before storing in a sealed container.

Chocolate–Chocolate Chip Cookies

With easy-to-make, big, chewy, dark chocolate cookies filled with chunks of chocolate, things are looking up in the world. For the restaurant, we make these with good-size chocolate chunks, but the more readily available chocolate chips are fine.

Yields about 24 big cookies

Prep time: 25 minutes

Baking time: 15 to 20 minutes

1 cup butter (2 sticks), at room temperature

¼ cup cream cheese

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups unbleached white all-purpose flour

2⁄3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1½ cups chocolate chips or chunks (9 ounces)

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly oil two baking sheets (or four if your oven will hold them).

Using an electric mixer, thoroughly cream the butter, cream cheese, and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter and sugar mixture and blend well. The dough will be fairly stiff. Using a spoon, fold in the chocolate chips.

Drop large balls of dough (about the size of small tangerines) onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 3 to 4 inches apart. Six cookies will fit comfortably on a standard baking sheet.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the cookies feel soft in the middle, but don’t collapse under a gentle touch. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer them, while still warm, to a wire cooling rack. Cool completely before storing in a sealed container.

Chocolate Ricotta Moose

A velvety, rich, deep chocolate mousse-like pudding that has been frequently on the restaurant dessert menu since we can remember. Not cooked and with ricotta as the base, it’s just about the quickest and easiest dessert to make, other than a bowl of fresh fruit and nuts. You can eat it right away or refrigerate it to serve later.

The presentation can be as humble or as elegant as you like. At the restaurant, we spoon the pudding into clear dessert glasses and top with whipped cream, red raspberries or sliced strawberries, and a sprig of mint. At home, we often spoon it from the mixing bowl into small bowls at the table.

The quality and flavor of the ricotta and chocolate are significant—with excellent ricotta and chocolate, it is sublime.

Yields about 4 cups

Serves 6 to 8

Time: 15 minutes

6 ounces semisweet chocolate (1 cup chips or pieces)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

14 to 16 ounces ricotta cheese

1 cup heavy cream

¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon pure maple syrup or honey or 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

Melt the chocolate on the stove top on very low heat or in a microwave oven. In a food processor, whirl the melted chocolate with the vanilla and ricotta until evenly colored and very smooth. You’ll probably need to scrape down the sides a couple of times. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Before serving, whip the heavy cream with the vanilla and sweetener in a bowl. Fold the chocolate-ricotta mixture into the whipped cream until evenly colored. Serve right away or chill.

Almond Shortbread

Our Moosewood dessert makers are held in high esteem—after all, dessert is some people’s favorite meal of the day, and eating a luscious sweet is a sensual and emotional experience. Is it any wonder that Proust began Remembrance of Things Past with a madeleine pastry? Kip Wilcox is in our pantheon of most respected dessert makers. Her shortbread recipes are the basis for these delicately flavored and not-too-sweet little cookies that are our favorite shortbread, both to make and to eat.

This recipe is very versatile. You can use almost any nuts: pistachios, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, peanuts.… Vanilla is always a good extract to add, but others are good, too, say, orange extract with hazelnuts, lemon extract with pistachios, almond extract if you love that flavor.… And, you can roll out the dough and cut it into various shapes, or pat the dough into a pie plate and cut it into wedges (see Variations).

Yields 24 cookies

Prep time: 30 minutes

Chilling time: 30 minutes

Baking time: 20 to 25 minutes

½ cup almonds, plus 24 whole almonds for decoration

2 cups unbleached white all-purpose flour

¾ cup confectioners’ sugar

¼ teaspoon salt if using salted butter, ½ teaspoon salt if using unsalted butter

1 cup butter, softened (2 sticks)

1 teaspoon pure almond extract

Toast the almonds until fragrant and lightly browned, about 10 minutes in a 350°F oven. Set them aside for a few minutes to cool. Count out 24 almonds and set aside. Put the remaining almonds and 1 cup of the flour into a food processor and process until the almonds are finely ground. Add the sugar and salt, and pulse briefly to combine. Add the softened butter and the almond extract to the flour, and process until well blended. In 1⁄3-cup increments, add the remaining 1 cup flour, pulsing only briefly after each addition. Don’t overwork the dough; as soon as it can be shaped and is not sticky, you’re done.

Turn the dough out and divide it in two. Place each half on a piece of plastic wrap and shape it into a 6-inch log, patting the sides and the ends so the size of the log is uniform. Wrap the logs in the plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes or more.

When the logs are chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or, if your baking sheet is heavy, it will be fine bare and unoiled.

Remove the plastic wrap and slice each log into 12 slices, ½ inch thick. Arrange the slices on the baking sheet, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Press a toasted almond into the center of each cookie.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, just until lightly colored—if you wait until they’re golden in the oven, they’ll be overbaked. Rotate the baking sheet after about 10 minutes so the cookies bake evenly. When the shortbread is done, place the hot baking sheet on a rack and cool for 10 minutes before removing them.

Put on a pot of coffee!

VARIATIONS

• Rather than chilling the dough in a log, you can pat it out, right on the baking sheet, into 4 rounds about 6 inches in diameter and a little less than ½ inch thick. Score each round into 6 wedges and press a toasted whole almond into each wedge. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until just becoming golden. While still hot, cut each round into wedges and transfer the wedges to a wire cooling rack.

• Or, roll or pat the dough to a little less than ½ inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut into shapes with a cookie cutter and press an almond into each cookie. Bake about 1 inch apart on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

Baklava

We’ve developed baklava recipes that have less sugar, less honey, or less spice, and that substitute olive oil and whole wheat filo. But if you want the full effect and are willing to let your diet go to hell in a handbasket, then this one’s for you. This recipe will produce a tray of golden brown pieces of baklava, about 1¼ inches deep, filled with spiced, sweet nuts and topped with flaky, crisp, buttered filo pastry, generously drizzled with a sweet spiced syrup—about 1500 calories per square inch! (Well, maybe not, but close.)

Just in case you don’t have a big family or lots of neighbors or a large party to help you eat this up, we want you to know that the recipe halves easily. Use a 9 × 12-inch baking sheet and cut the filo with scissors to fit.

Covered, baklava keeps a really long time at room temperature. Somehow the syrup just preserves everything.

Yields 48 pieces

Prep time: 45 minutes

Baking time: 30 to 40 minutes

Cooling time: 20 minutes

BAKLAVA

2 cups almonds

4 cups walnuts

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground allspice

½ teaspoon salt

½ to ¾ cup butter, melted

1 pound filo pastry (approximately 28 sheets of filo, 12 × 17 inches)

SYRUP

1 cup honey

1 cup sugar

1½ cups water

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest

juice of 1 orange

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

2 to 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Grind the almonds coarsely in a food processor, and set aside in a mixing bowl. Add the walnuts to the food processor, pulse until finely chopped, and add to the mixing bowl. Stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and salt and mix well.

Set up your work area with the bowl of nut filling, the melted butter, a pastry brush, and an 17 × 11-inch rimmed baking sheet. Unfold the package of filo and place it next to the baking sheet. Turn off any fans in the room. Brush the baking sheet with the melted butter.

Lay 2 sheets of filo in the baking sheet; they should fit almost perfectly, but if any filo drapes over the sides of the pan, place them so it is evenly distributed on all four sides. Brush the top sheet with melted butter. Do this three more times, 2 sheets of filo at a time, buttering the top sheet, for a total of 8 sheets of filo. Sprinkle about 1½ cups of the nut mixture evenly on the pastry. Cover the nuts with 2 sheets of filo, buttering the top sheet. Repeat, for a total of 4 sheets. Sprinkle with about 1½ cups of the nut mixture. Repeat with 4 more sheets of filo, two at a time, buttering the top sheets as before, and top with about 1½ cups of the nut mixture. Repeat with 4 sheets of filo, two at a time, buttering the top sheet. Sprinkle with the remaining nut mixture. Top with the rest of the filo, two sheets at a time, buttering the top sheet each time. The baklava will have 4 layers of nuts and 5 layers of filo. The final layer of filo will be about 8 sheets. Butter the top sheet of filo generously.

With a sharp knife, score the baklava into diamonds, or 1½-inch squares, cutting down to, but not through, the bottom layer. To make diamonds, make two diagonal cuts from corner to opposing corner. Then make cuts parallel on both sides of each diagonal about 1½ inches apart. There will be some triangles around the edges. You know how to cut squares.

Bake in a preheated 350°F oven (don’t use a convection oven) until the filo is golden and crisp, 30 to 35 minutes. Check after 15 minutes to make sure the top isn’t browning too quickly, and if it is, reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

While the baklava bakes, make the syrup: Put the honey, sugar, water, cinnamon, allspice, orange zest and juice, and lemon zest and juice in a saucepan. If you like things lemony use the larger amount of lemon juice. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 to 25 minutes until the syrup has thickened. Be careful not to let the syrup boil over.

When you take the baklava from the oven, set it aside to cool for about 20 minutes. Then pour the hot syrup over the whole baklava, and cut along the scored lines through the bottom layer so the syrup will run down to all the layers.

SERVING IDEAS

Serve Baklava at room temperature with spearmint tea, espresso, or demitasse.

Apricot-Almond Baklava

This delicious baklava has spiced ground almonds and an apricot purée layered in flaky, crisp, buttered filo pastry and drizzled with fruity honey syrup. It’s not as sweet as a traditional baklava. Almonds, apricots, honey, and juice are all good foods, but honestly, Apricot-Almond Baklava might be a stretch if you’re seeking nutrition rather than calories and bliss.

Assembly of filo pastry can be intimidating, but after working with it a couple of times, you gain confidence. A few wrinkles or torn sheets won’t show once it’s baked. Filo can last a long time unopened in the fridge, but if you’re not sure when you’ll use it, keep it in the freezer.

Yields 48 pieces

Prep time: 50 to 60 minutes

Baking time: 30 to 35 minutes

Cooling time: 15 minutes

BAKLAVA

2 cups dried unsulphured apricots, chopped

1½ cups apple or apricot juice

4 cups almonds

2⁄3 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ to ¾ cup melted butter

1 pound filo pastry (approximately 28 sheets of filo, 12 × 17 inches)

SYRUP

1 cup honey

1 cup apple or apricot juice

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Simmer the apricots and juice in a small covered saucepan for about 15 minutes, until the apricots are soft and have absorbed the juice. Stir a few times and watch closely at the end to prevent the apricots from sticking. When the apricots are soft, purée them in a food processor and set aside in a bowl.

While the apricots cook, whirl the almonds in a food processor until ground, but not a paste. Add the brown sugar and cinnamon and whirl to mix thoroughly. Set aside in a bowl.

Set up a work area with the nut mixture, the apricot purée, the melted butter, a pastry brush, and an 17 × 11-inch rimmed baking tray. Preheat the oven (don’t use a convection oven) to 350°F. Unfold the package of filo and place it next to the baking sheet. Turn off any fans in the room. Brush the baking sheet with melted butter.

Lay two sheets of filo in the baking sheet, they should fit almost perfectly, but if any filo drapes over the sides of the pan, place them so that it is evenly distributed on all four sides. Brush the top sheet with melted butter. Do this three more times, 2 sheets of filo at a time, buttering the top sheet, for a total of 8 sheets of filo. Sprinkle about one-third of the almond mixture evenly on the pastry. Lay a sheet of filo on the nuts and butter the top. Repeat with 2 more sheets of filo. Evenly spread about half of the apricot purée on the top filo sheet. Lay a sheet of filo on the apricot purée and butter the top. Repeat with 2 more sheets of filo. Sprinkle on another third of the almond mixture. Top with 3 sheets of filo, buttering each sheet. Evenly spread the rest of the apricot purée on the filo. Layer on 3 sheets of filo, buttering each sheet. Sprinkle on the rest of the almond mixture and top with the remaining filo, buttering every second sheet of filo. There should be about 8 sheets of filo remaining for this final layer. Brush the top sheet generously with the butter. The baklava will have 3 layers of nuts, 2 layers of apricot purée, and 6 layers of filo.

With a sharp knife, score the baklava into diamonds or 1½-inch squares, cutting down to, but not through the bottom layer. To make diamonds, cut two diagonal slices from corner to opposing corner. Then make cuts parallel on both sides of each diagonal, about 1½ inches apart. There will be some triangles around the edges. You know how to cut squares.

Bake until the filo is golden and crisp, 30 to 35 minutes. Check after 15 minutes to make sure the top isn’t browning too quickly, and if it is, reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

While the baklava bakes, make the syrup: Combine the honey, apple juice, and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer on low heat and cook for 10 minutes, until thickened. When you take the baklava from the oven, set it aside to cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Then pour the hot syrup over the whole baklava, and cut along the scored lines through the bottom layer so the syrup will run down to all the layers.

SERVING IDEAS

Serve Apricot-Almond Baklava at room temperature with spearmint tea, espresso, Turkish coffee, or apricot brandy.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble

We look forward in the spring to the appearance of local strawberries and rhubarb in our markets. This crumble uses just the right amount of sweetening—enough to satisfy as dessert, but not so sweet that the flavor of the fruit is lost.

Try the crumble topping with other fruit as the season progresses, or as your taste buds dictate. Experiment with different fruit combinations. No matter what fruit you use, just be sure to have about 6 cups of slices, berries, whatever. Some of our favorites include peaches and blueberries with some lemon, peaches and mangoes with a little ginger and lime, strawberries and mangoes with cinnamon and cardamom (as in the photo opposite), apples and dried apricots with lemon—almost any combination has its fans. Of course you can make the topping with another kind of nut, but we love the rich, buttery taste of pecans the best.

We like to make extra topping and keep it in the freezer. With frozen fruit and frozen crumble topping on hand, you can quickly and easily put together a delicious dessert any time.

Serves 6

Prep time: 25 minutes

Baking time: 45 minutes

3 cups strawberries, hulled and halved or quartered, depending on the size

3 cups sliced rhubarb (¾ inch-thick-slices) (cut very wide stalks in half lengthwise before slicing)

¾ cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon cornstarch

PECAN CRUMBLE TOPPING

1 cup unbleached white all-purpose flour

1 cup chopped pecans

½ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1⁄3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

In a mixing bowl, toss the strawberries and rhubarb with the brown sugar, cinnamon, and cornstarch. Set aside while you make the crumble topping.

In the bowl of a food processor, whirl the flour, pecans, sugar, and salt until crumbly. Place the mixture in a bowl and drizzle the oil over it. Thoroughly mix the oil into the flour and pecan mixture.

Give the fruit mixture a stir and distribute it evenly among six 7- or 8-ounce baking cups or ramekins. Tap the bottom of the cups gently on a hard surface to settle the fruit. Spread the topping evenly over the fruit and place the cups on a baking sheet or large baking dish (easier to handle and also will catch any juices that bubble over).

Bake until the fruit is bubbling and the topping browned, about 45 minutes. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

VARIATIONS

• If you use frozen fruit, it is best to measure it before thawing, because the fruit compacts as it thaws. Add an additional tablespoon of cornstarch to help thicken the fruit. Most fruit is sweeter than rhubarb, so we suggest you use a little less brown sugar in other fruit mixtures: we usually use ½ cup for 6 cups of fruit. To blueberries, peaches, pears, or apples, we like to add a tablespoon of fresh lemon or lime juice and/or a little finely grated zest.

Apple Crisp

When we think of crisp, our first thought is of a mound of flavorful, sweet apples topped with a crunchy oat topping. For this recipe, we’ve made a vegan and wheat-free crisp topping that is sure to please everyone. Many supermarkets now carry gluten-free oats for those who need them.

We’re in the heart of New York State apple country, and we’ve kept it simple and straightforward, apples with some good local maple syrup. Different types of apples take different amounts of time to bake, and the time of year (how fresh or how long in storage) makes a difference, too.

This recipe works just as well with pears, or peaches, or how about pears with cranberries, or peaches and blueberries, or strawberries and mangoes, or cherries and apples. If you can think of it, we’ve probably made it, and we hope you will experiment and enjoy this crisp topping with all sorts of fruit combinations. When you use softer, juicier fruit, like peaches and berries, toss the fruit mixture with a tablespoon of cornstarch.

Serves 6

Prep time: 25 minutes

Baking time: 45 to 50 minutes

6 cups peeled and sliced apples (5 or 6 apples)

¼ cup pure maple syrup or packed brown sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

CRISP TOPPING

1½ cups rolled oats

¼ cup packed brown sugar, pure maple syrup, or agave syrup

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup vegetable oil

In a bowl, toss the apples with the maple syrup, cinnamon, cardamom, and lemon juice. Pile the apples into an unoiled baking pan (see Note for sizes that work). Bake in a preheated 375°F oven until the apples are bubbling, about 25 minutes for apples like Crispin, less for softer apples like McIntosh and Empire.

While the apples bake, toast the rolled oats on a tray in the oven for 10 minutes, stir them, and toast for another 5 to 10 minutes until fragrant and beginning to brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. When the oats are cool, whirl ½ cup in a blender or food processor until like flour. In a bowl, mix the oat flour with the rest of the toasted oats and the brown sugar and salt. Add the oil and stir until well mixed.

When the apples are bubbling, remove the pan from the oven and stir to settle the apples into the dish a little. Spread the oat mixture evenly over the apples and bake until the apples are crisp-tender and the topping is golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature. If the apples are especially juicy, let the crisp sit for 5 to 10 minutes so the oat topping can absorb some of the juice.

NOTE

Any of these pans will work with this recipe: 9-inch deep dish pie plate, 9.5-inch pie plate, 10-inch pie plate, 9-inch round cake pan, 8 × 8 × 2- or 9-inch square baking pan, 11 × 7 × 2-inch baking pan, 1½- or 2-quart casserole dish.

VARIATIONS

• If you don’t have cardamom, substitute ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg or increase the cinnamon to 1 teaspoon.

• We like the nutty flavor and crispness of oats toasted first in the oven, but it isn’t essential. And we think that whirling some of the oats to make oat flour makes a better topping, but that also isn’t essential.

• You can use melted butter in place of the oil.

SERVING IDEAS

This is good as is, but is also delicious with some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Southern Nut Pie Eudora

Sometime in the 1980s, Susan Harville, then and now a Moosewood dessert maker, heard that Eudora Welty, one of her favorite writers, was coming to Ithaca to read from her books. Susan made this pie to give to Ms. Welty as a token of her appreciation. Ms. Welty very graciously accepted the pie and said, “… the pleasure you’ve had from reading my work? Why, surely, it couldn’t add up to a whole pecan pie!”

Southern Nut Pie Eudora went into the Moosewood Collective’s first cookbook New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant in 1987. We just had to reprint it unchanged in The Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts in 1997. And here it is again, still our favorite nut pie, just the same as the pie that Susan gave Eudora.

We also have a longstanding love affair with maple syrup. Some of us have tapped maple trees in late winter and experienced the Zen of patiently watching a bubbling sugaring pan turn thin and watery sap into golden syrup. Maple syrup is our favorite sweetener for many desserts and it works beautifully in this, our Yankee version of a Southern classic.

Serves 8

Prep time: 30 minutes including crust

Baking time: 1 hour

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust (see here)

1½ cups pecan halves (sometimes we use walnuts)

¼ cup melted butter

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons unbleached white all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

3 large eggs, well beaten

1 cup pure maple syrup

1 cup half-and-half or heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Spread the nuts evenly across the bottom of the unbaked pie shell. In a bowl, whisk together the melted butter, vanilla, and flour. Add the salt, eggs, maple syrup, and half-and-half and mix until smooth. (Or, whirl everything in a blender.) Pour the filling over the nuts in the pie shell. When the nuts float to the top, gently push them back down to wet them so they won’t burn during baking.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the pie cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing.

SERVING IDEAS

Serve plain or garnished with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Our Favorite All-Purpose Piecrust

There are many different sizes of “standard” pie pans: diameters from 8 to 10 inches and depths from 1¼ to 2 inches, with volumes from 3 to 7 cups. This recipe gives you ingredient amounts for a single crust for a 9-inch standard pie plate or a 9.5-inch deep dish pie plate or a 10-inch standard pie plate.

Although at Moosewood we usually use pastry flour for piecrust, this recipe calls for all-purpose flour because we’ve learned that pastry flour is hard to find in some parts of the country and it’s not consistent from place to place and among different brands. We developed this recipe using unbleached white all-purpose flour. But some of us still swear by pastry flour, so if you can find it in your area, give it a try and see which you prefer.

The most important thing to keep in mind when making the dough is to not to overwork it, and don’t add more water than is needed because both cause a tough crust. Cold butter and ice water are important, too. Some people freeze butter for making piecrust dough.

Yields 1 single piecrust

Prep time: 15 minutes

Chilling time: 30 minutes

Rolling time: 5 minutes

FOR A 9-INCH STANDARD PIE PLATE:

1 cup unbleached white all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

2 to 3 tablespoons ice water

FOR A 9.5-INCH DEEP DISH PIE PLATE OR A 10-INCH STANDARD PIE PLATE:

1½ cups unbleached white all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup cold unsalted butter

3 to 5 tablespoons of ice water

To make piecrust with a food processor: Put the flour and salt in the bowl of the food processor and whirl to mix. Cut the butter into ½-inch pieces and sprinkle them over the flour. Pulse until the dough is crumbly; you should still be able to feel very small but distinct pieces of butter with your fingers. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of ice water over the flour and butter and pulse 6 to 8 times. Pinch a little of the dough with your fingertips and if it holds together there is enough water, if not add another tablespoon of water and pulse a few times. Turn the dough out and use your fingers to gather it together into a ball. Flatten the ball into a disk. You can roll the dough out right away, but it really rolls out more easily if you cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for about 30 minutes.

To make piecrust by hand: Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut the cold butter into small pieces and sprinkle onto the flour. Using a pastry cutter, two table knives, or your fingers, work the butter into the flour just until it resembles coarse meal, with small pieces of butter throughout. Sprinkle the ice water over the dough, a little at a time, stirring and adding more ice water until the dough holds together when you pinch it. Use your fingertips to gather it together into a ball. Flatten into a disk and proceed as above.

To roll it out: On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a round by lightly pressing with a floured rolling pin from the center out to the edges. Make a round 3 or 4 inches larger in diameter than the size of your pie plate. As you work, it’s a good idea to periodically check that the dough is not sticking to the surface you’re rolling it on, because it’s frustrating to have made a nice big round of dough only to find that you can’t lift it in one piece. So, as you go, lift up an edge, and if it’s beginning to stick, pick it up and sprinkle a little more flour on the rolling surface.

Fit the dough into the pie plate, cut away or fold under any excess dough, and crimp the edges with your fingers or a fork.

To freeze an unbaked piecrust: Roll out the dough and fit it into a pie plate. Wrap it well and store in the freezer for up to a month.

VARIATIONS

• You can substitute whole wheat pastry flour for all-purpose flour. You might need an additional tablespoon of ice water. And, the crust will be most tender if you refrigerate the dough overnight so that the bran hydrates fully.

• You can use salted butter instead of unsalted, but then omit the ¼ teaspoon of salt.

• To make a slightly sweet crust for a dessert pie, add 2 tablespoons of sugar.

• Some of the cooks at Moosewood use a different technique with the dough: Sprinkle on the ice water a bit at a time and with your hands, push the dough to the middle of the bowl to form a ball. Cut the dough in half, place one half on top of the other, and press down. Repeat the cutting and pressing steps three times until all of the water is incorporated and the dough clings together. Flatten into a disk and proceed as above.

Pumpkin Pie

We’ve made a lot of pumpkin pies a lot of different ways—various liquids, like milk, cream, half-and-half, almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk; various vegan versions; different spices; and with apples, with pears, with a pecan layer (our second favorite, the recipe is in Moosewood Restaurant’s Book of Desserts). But when it comes down to our favorite, it’s this basic pumpkin pie—maybe because it’s like the ones we had as children, made with evaporated milk (you can get it organic now). After we settled on this particular recipe as our favorite, we discovered that it is almost the same as the recipe that’s been on the label of Libby’s canned pumpkin since the 1950s, so we suppose maybe there is something to that harkening back to childhood thing.

We’ve made delicious holiday pies with baked fresh pumpkin or squash, and some of us love sweet potatoes best. But overall, at home most of us prefer canned pumpkin because it’s expedient and stressfree. We recommend real maple syrup in our pie, but brown or white sugar works, too.

Yields one 9.5-inch pie

Serves 8

Prep time: 15 minutes for the pastry; 10 minutes for the filling

Baking time: about 1 hour

1 unbaked 9.5-inch pie shell (see here) (see Note)

FILLING

one 15- or 16-ounce can cooked pumpkin purée (about 2 cups)

3 large eggs, beaten

½ cup pure maple syrup, or ¾ cup brown or white sugar

one 12-ounce can evaporated milk (or 1½ cups of other “milk”)

1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon salt

Make the piecrust and fit it into the pie plate.

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

In a large bowl, whisk the filling ingredients until smooth. Pour the filling into the unbaked piecrust and bake for 15 minutes at 425°F. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for 40 to 50 minutes more until the crust is golden and a knife inserted about 2 inches from the side comes out clean.

Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate until serving time.

NOTE

If your pie plate is 9 inches across, get out a custard cup because you’ll have a little extra filling; if it’s 10-inch, the filling won’t be as deep.

VARIATIONS

• For an easy vegan filling, omit the eggs and substitute 12 ounces of silken tofu for the milk, and add a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract. For the crust, use margarine or vegetable shortening.

• Instead of evaporated milk, use the same amount of cream, half-and-half, or soy, rice, almond or other milk.

• Decorate with walnut or pecan halves. After the pie has baked for 30 or 40 minutes, press them around the edge of the pie press them around the edge of the pie, into the filling about a ¼ inch.

• Decorate the top with poached pear slices after about 35 minutes of baking.

SERVING IDEAS

Serve with a dollop of whipped cream or some vanilla ice cream—yum!

Fresh Berry Ricotta Moose

The bright and wonderful flavor of fresh fruit at its peak makes this fluffy, simple, quick, not-cooked “mousse” divine. It’s good for brunch served in a melon wedge, welcome as dessert, and satisfying as a snack.

You can follow this recipe using any combination of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, and chopped peaches, or with only one fruit. We prefer a no-sugar-added fruit spread, just enough sweetening to heighten the natural fruit flavor.

Yields about 5 cups

Serves 6 to 8

Time: 10 to 15 minutes

14 to 16 ounces ricotta cheese

1 pint fresh strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries, rinsed

½ cup fruit spread or preserves made of the same berries (about 5 ounces)

1 cup heavy cream

In a food processor or using an electric mixer on high speed, whip the ricotta for about 2 minutes, until very smooth.

Set aside a few nice berries for garnishes. If you’re using strawberries, hull them and cut into halves or quarters. Fold the berries and the fruit spread into the whipped ricotta. Refrigerate if not serving right away.

Just before serving, whip the cream until stiff. Fold the whipped cream into the ricotta mixture. Spoon the “mousse” into dessert cups and top each with a berry garnish. Serve chilled.

VARIATIONS

• You can substitute about a pound of frozen blueberries, cherries, or raspberries (defrosted, and if there’s a lot of juice, drained). We don’t recommend frozen strawberries because they don’t retain a firm texture. Use a fruit spread made of the same fruit.

• You could add a little pure vanilla or almond extract to the whipped cream.

Fresh Strawberry Sauce

Really fresh tasting and not too gooey or sweet, so perfect for topping cheesecake, pound cake, or ice cream.

Yields 3 cups

Time: 15 minutes

1 quart fresh strawberries (1½ pounds)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 to 4 tablespoons sugar

Hull the strawberries. In a blender, purée about one-fourth of the strawberries with the lemon juice and sugar. Slice the rest of the strawberries and put them in a bowl. Pour the purée over the sliced strawberries and stir well.

Serve right away or refrigerate. If you like your strawberries softened, let them macerate in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours.

Blueberry-Cherry Pie with Sour Cream Lattice Crust

This pie makes a dramatic presentation with its rich, golden brown, puffy lattice top. We’ve been making a variation of this crust for about a quarter of a century.

In Ithaca, blueberries and cherries ripen at the same time of year, and they are even tastier and more beautiful when combined. Tart cherries are the best to use in pies; they are often available frozen if you can’t find fresh ones. At times, we’ve made the pie with sweet cherries, but it’s just not the same. We like about equal amounts of cherries and blueberries, but feel free to change the proportions.

Most of us love the sweet-tartness of this pie, but if you know that you like sweet fruit pies, you might want to add another ¼ cup of sugar.

The quantities in this recipe are just right for a 9.5-inch deep dish pie plate. If your pie plate is smaller, you may have extra filling and dough. If it’s larger, you may be hard-pressed to roll out a large enough crust and there may not be enough filling to make a perfect pie. So, if your pie plate is bigger, increase the crust and filling ingredients by about 25 percent to have enough. If it’s smaller, you may have enough for a little tart, too.

Yields one 9.5-inch deep dish pie

Pie dough prep time: 15 minutes

Dough chilling time: 30 minutes

Filling prep time: 15 minutes, longer if pitting fresh cherries

Rolling out the dough and putting the pie together time: 15 minutes

Baking time: about 1 hour

CRUST FOR 9.5-INCH DEEP DISH PIECRUST (1¾ INCHES DEEP)

2 cups unbleached white all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

1½ teaspoons baking powder

1 cup cold unsalted butter, (2 sticks), if you use salted, reduce the added salt to ¼ teaspoon

½ cup sour cream

FILLING

3 cups blueberries

3 cups fresh or frozen tart cherries

¾ cup sugar

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

¼ cup cornstarch

To make the piecrust: Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and use a pastry cutter, two table knives, or your fingers to work them into the flour until they are incorporated as small, crumbly pieces. Stir in the sour cream and use your hands to shape the dough into a ball. Divide the dough into 2 balls, one for the bottom crust a little larger than the second one for the lattice top. Flatten them slightly into disks. Wrap individually with plastic wrap and chill for about 30 minutes.

While the dough chills, sort through the blueberries and cherries, discarding any stems and unripe or discolored fruit. Pit the cherries, if using fresh. No need to thaw frozen fruit before using. Place the fruit in a mixing bowl and add the sugar, lemon zest and juice, and cornstarch. Use a spatula to mix well and set aside.

When the dough has chilled, remove the larger disk from the refrigerator and roll it out on a heavily floured surface until it is about 13 inches in diameter. The dough is soft and needs a lot of flour on the rolling surface. Fit the dough into a 9.5-inch deep dish pie plate. Fill with the fruit. Roll out the smaller disk of dough to about a 12-inch diameter and cut it into 10 strips, each about an inch wide. Arrange the strips on top of the fruit in a lattice pattern. Trim off any extra dough and crimp the edges.

Bake in a preheated 400°F oven for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375°F and bake until the filling is bubbling and the crust is golden brown, about 40 minutes more. Allow the pie to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

VARIATIONS

• We love this over-the-top crust, but Our Favorite All-Purpose Piecrust for a 9.5 to 10-inch piecrust works too (here).

SERVING IDEAS

Not that it needs it of course, but what could be bad about having some vanilla ice cream or whipped cream on this pie?

Low-fat Lemon Pudding Cake

Luscious and yet surprisingly low in fat, this American dessert classic separates into layers during baking—a tart-sweet custard on the bottom and a spongy cake layer on top. It’s pleasing any time of year. At Moosewood Restaurant, it seems to be especially popular after the winter holidays, when maybe it helps people stick to their resolutions.

We’re cooks, not nutritionists, and we’re not of one mind when it comes to eggs. Some of us make pudding cake with only two of the egg yolks, and others with all four yolks. The recipe works fine either way, and the difference in flavor and consistency is minor.

Serves 8

Prep time: 25 minutes

Baking time: 30 to 45 minutes

4 large eggs

¼ teaspoon salt

1½ cups buttermilk

½ cup fresh lemon juice

1¼ cups sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

½ cup unbleached white flour, preferably pastry flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

Lightly oil eight 7- or 8-ounce ovenproof ramekins or other glass or ceramic baking cups. Place the cups in a 2 inch-deep baking pan. Bring a kettle of water to a boil. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Separate the eggs, putting the whites into a medium mixing bowl and 2 to 4 of the yolks (see headnote) into a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and salt until stiff. Set aside.

In the large bowl, beat the egg yolks, buttermilk, lemon juice, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl and beat until smooth. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter until it is fairly smooth.

Distribute the batter evenly among the baking ramekins. Pour boiling water into the baking pan, taking care to avoid getting any water in the ramekins, until the water reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Bake for 30 to 45 minutes until puffed and lightly browned on top. The baking time will depend upon your oven and your baking cups. Remove the cups from the hot water to stop cooking.

Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled.

SERVING IDEAS

Serve plain or sprinkled with fresh berries.

Creamy Vegan Rice Pudding

A creamy beige pudding studded with bits of dried fruit, lovely topped with sliced strawberries or peaches. Rice pudding is a homey, easy-to-prepare dessert that requires little effort other than occasional stirring. It’s a satisfying snack and great for breakfast. This recipe can easily be doubled.

Yields 4 cups

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 50 minutes

2 cups cooked rice, brown or white (see Notes)

1 quart unsweetened soy milk or other vegan “milk” (see Notes)

1⁄3 cup currants or raisins

1⁄3 to ½ cup sweetener: sugar, pure maple syrup, or blue agave syrup

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

If you’re using white rice, combine all of the ingredients at once, except for the vanilla, and simmer, stirring frequently, until thickened, 25 to 30 minutes.

If you’re using brown rice, in a heavy saucepan combine it with the “milk” you’ve chosen and the currants or raisins and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently, stirring often to prevent sticking. When the rice has softened, 30 to 40 minutes, add the sweetener, cinnamon, salt, and lemon zest, if using, and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes. The pudding should thicken quickly now.

Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla, and serve warm or chilled.

NOTES

The cooking instructions are different for brown and white rice, because we’ve found that brown rice resists becoming soft and creamy and is much better at absorbing the cooking liquid when there is no sweetener present.

Lots of options for plant-based “milk” beverages: soy, rice, oat, cashew, almond, coconut. If you use sweetened, adjust for that when you add sweetener. Don’t confuse thick canned coconut milk with coconut milk beverage; look on the market shelves near the soy milks.

VARIATIONS

• Add a different dried fruit, such as dried cranberries, dried cherries, or chopped dried apricots, or no fruit at all.

• Dairy milk works fine in this recipe.

Vanilla Custard Sauce

This homey and versatile custard sauce elevates fresh fruit to a wonderful dessert. Custard sauce is an essential element of Fresh Fruit Trifle and Savannah Banana Pudding (see below), both of which are beloved at Moosewood.

Yields 2½ cups

Time: 15 minutes

2 cups milk

1⁄3 cup sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a heavy saucepan on medium heat, stir together the milk and sugar. Whisk the eggs well or whirl them in a blender for a moment until uniformly yellow. Stir the eggs into the milk and continue stirring until the custard is just under the boiling point. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

If you see that the custard has lumps, small or large, it means that the heat was too high, or you were distracted from your stirring task, or the custard got too hot at the end. You can fix it. Just whirl it in a blender for a few seconds to smooth it out. Some of us think a pinch of salt brightens the flavor; others of us would never do such a thing.

Vanilla Custard Sauce can be served warm or cold. It will keep in the refrigerator for several days.

SERVING IDEAS

Pour Vanilla Custard Sauce over fresh strawberries or blueberries, or sliced peaches. Drizzle it on poached pears or sautéed apples. It’s great on Gingerbread, Our Favorite Pound Cakes, or Sara’s Fresh Apple Spice Cake.

FRESH FRUIT TRIFLE

Trifle is a very traditional English dessert, customarily made with fruit jam and stale cake combined with spirits of some sort, custard sauce, and whipped cream, all layered in a clear glass bowl, often reserved for holidays and special occasions. Italian cuisine has made a place for this dessert also, calling it Zuppa Inglese (English Soup).

At Moosewood, we use fresh fruit rather than jam, we don’t always add liquor, and the cake needn’t be stale, although we’re always glad for leftover pound cake, which freezes very well. We like trifle at any time of year, on ordinary days as well as ceremonial occasions. A special trifle bowl is nice, but we’re happy to see trifle on the table, even if in any old mixing bowl.

To assemble a trifle, cut or break Our Favorite Pound Cakes into bite-size pieces. If you want, drizzle a little brandy, sherry, rum, or fruit- or nut-flavored liqueur over the cake and let it soak in. Place some cake pieces in either a large bowl or individual parfait glasses or dessert cups. Pour on some Vanilla Custard Sauce. Next, layer on some fresh fruit cut into bite-sized pieces: cherries, peaches, strawberries, plums, orange sections, blueberries, raspberries, mango, or kiwi. Do each layer once or twice more. Whip heavy cream with a little pure vanilla extract and maple syrup or confectioners’ sugar, and mound it on top. Decorate with a few pieces of fresh fruit. Chill until serving.

SAVANNAH BANANA PUDDING

Moosewood’s Penny Goldin loves to travel and she seizes the opportunity to do “research,” a euphemism for going to lots of local restaurants. She first tasted vanilla wafer and banana pudding during a trip to Savannah, Georgia. She thought, “A trifle really—and we’ll call it Savannah Banana!” And we do.

To make Savannah Banana Pudding, fold bite-size pieces of Our Favorite Pound Cakes, sliced bananas, and freshly whipped cream into chilled Vanilla Custard Sauce. Make more than you think you’ll need for dessert tonight, because you’re sure to want more for breakfast tomorrow.

Chocolate Confections

Here are two easy ways to make impressive and personalized chocolate confections by combining your favorite nuts or dried fruits or flavored liqueurs with fine-quality chocolate. These make a delicious gift for a valentine or a nice little dessert to serve with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. Use a food processor to chop the nuts and fruits for a speedier preparation.

TRUFFLES

Truffles are soft, melt-in-the-mouth, swoon-inducing chocolates. We give you a basic formula here, but you can invent as many variations as you can think of. You can add any kind of nut or dried fruit, emphasizing one or combining a few. Flavor the chocolate with liqueur, rum, brandy, espresso, or nothing and just go for a pure chocolate taste. Do use a fine-quality chocolate. The unsweetened cocoa provides a bitter chocolate coating on the outside that is a delectable contrast to the sweet chocolate inside.

Our favorite truffle may be a semisweet chocolate with toasted walnuts, dried cherries, apricots, and brandy (apricot brandy, if you have some). But then, we also really like the combination of milk chocolate, a hazelnut liqueur such as Frangelico, and hazelnuts. Or try dark chocolate with an orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier, and pistachios. Or add about 1 tablespoon of instant espresso powder and a chocolate or mocha liqueur along with Brazil nuts and dried mangoes.

Yields about 30 walnut-size truffles

Prep time: 30 minutes

Chilling time: at least 1 hour

16 ounces bittersweet, semisweet, or milk chocolate (about 3 cups chips or chunks)

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon flavored liqueur, rum, brandy, cognac, or espresso (optional)

1 cup toasted walnuts or other nuts, finely chopped

1 cup finely chopped dried fruit (such as apricots, figs, prunes, cherries, cranberries, or raisins)

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Melt the chocolate with the cream in a microwave or a double boiler or a bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water. Stir until smooth. Add the liqueur or espresso, if using, and stir well. Add the chopped nuts and dried fruits and mix well. Spread the mixture evenly in a nonreactive 13 × 9-inch pan or two pie plates or 8-inch square pans. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour, or until well chilled and firm. Refrigerating longer or overnight is fine.

When the chocolate is firm, spread the cocoa on a plate. Scoop out the chilled mixture by spoonfuls and roll briefly between the palms of your hands to form a ball. The balls don’t need to be perfectly smooth or even perfectly spherical. We usually make them about walnut-size. If you have little candy cups, make truffles that fit nicely in them. Roll each ball in the cocoa to coat evenly.

Place each truffle in a candy cup or arrange the truffles in a cookie tin lined with wax paper. Separate the layers with wax paper. Truffles will keep in the refrigerator for at least 2 weeks. They’re best served at room temperature.

VARIATION

For truffles that are perfectly smooth inside, don’t add any nuts or fruits to the chocolate mixture. If you want some texture on the outside, roll them in chopped nuts or shredded coconut.

CHOCOLATE CUPS

These are even easier to make than truffles. They are really nothing more than chocolate binding together other good things, like nuts, fruits, cookie crumbs, or small candies. The chocolate mixture is poured into small fluted paper or foil candy cups and it takes that shape when cool.

If you are thinking of kids’ treats, use milk chocolate and add stuff like raisins, peanuts or peanut butter chips, crisp rice cereal or cookie crumbs. For more sophisticated candies, use dark chocolate with salted pistachios and dried cranberries, or try almonds, minced dried figs, and white chocolate chips. Or maybe use white chocolate filled with slivered rose petals, candied violets, and minced dried pineapple. How about crushed peanut brittle and pieces of little pretzel sticks? Jelly beans? Candied orange peel? Crushed roasted coffee beans? Dried hot peppers?

Yields about 36 candies

Prep time: 30 minutes

Chilling time: 1 hour or more

16 ounces chocolate (bittersweet, semisweet, milk, or white)

2 cups chopped toasted nuts, minced dried fruit, crisp rice cereal or cookie crumbs, candied violets, or other good things

Melt the chocolate in a microwave or a double boiler or a bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water. Stir until smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the nuts, fruits, cereal, and other good things you’ve chosen. (If you have beautiful candied violets, save them to put on top.) Drop the mixture by the spoonful into candy cups.

Chill until firm, at least an hour, longer or overnight is fine. The candies will pop out of the paper when firm. Serve at room temperature. Tightly covered and refrigerated, Chocolate Cups will keep for at least 2 weeks.

VARIATION

Pour just the melted chocolate into small fluted candy cups and lightly press in pieces of fresh fruit, such as quartered strawberries, halved cherries or grapes, or whole raspberries or blueberries. Try to coat any cut sides of the fresh fruit pieces with chocolate, but let some of the fruit show on top. Fresh fruit chocolate cups will only keep for a day.

Fruit Skewers

If you ever thought fresh fruit was sort of a boring dessert, try this. The guava and lime glaze has a delectable and mysterious taste, new to most people. Colorful, glistening fruit threaded on a bamboo skewer becomes festive finger food, great for parties and buffets. Fruit Skewers also work well as an appetizer or side dish. Or, forego the skewers and serve the guava-coated fruit in a bowl as a salad.

Bamboo skewers can usually be found in the supermarket near small kitchen utensils. A 10-inch skewer is perfect for this recipe. Find guava paste in a wide flat tin in Latin or Asian groceries and in well-stocked supermarkets.

Yields 20 fruit skewers

Time: 25 minutes

½ ripe pineapple, peeled and cored

½ ripe cantaloupe, peeled and seeded

1 small bunch seedless green grapes (at least 20)

1 small bunch seedless red or black grapes (at least 20)

1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled

1⁄3 cup guava paste

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Cut the cored pineapple half into bite-size chunks—you should get at least 40 pieces—and place them in a large bowl. Cut the cantaloupe into bite-size cubes and add to the bowl. Put the grapes and strawberries into the bowl.

Purée the guava paste and lime juice in a blender to make a smooth, very thick dressing. Add the dressing to the bowl of fruit and gently toss to cover the fruit with the guava dressing.

On each skewer, spear 7 or 8 pieces of fruit. This is a somewhat messy procedure, but the finished skewers will be surprisingly dripfree. Begin and end with grapes, because they make good anchors. You’ll probably only have enough strawberries to put one on each skewer, but you should be able to put two pieces each of pineapple and cantaloupe. So it will go something like: grape, melon, pineapple, strawberry, melon, pineapple, grape. Arrange the finished fruit skewers, side by side, on a large platter.

Serve soon or cover and refrigerate. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Baking Pan Sizes and Equivalents

In our home kitchens, most of us don’t have a giant cabinet full of baking pans of all sizes and shapes, so when we don’t have the size pan called for in a recipe, some of us go through calculations to try to determine which of the pans that we have will substitute, and some of us just use whatever pan looks right and then deal with it when there’s too much stuff to fit or the cake turns out kind of thin.

This chart of pan volumes may save you from doing some challenging arithmetic. But, substituting one size pan for another isn’t simply a matter of the volumes of the pans, so read on.

If you’re making a casserole or a cake and you don’t have the size baking dish called for, check the volume chart, but also look at the depth and shape of the pan. Think about the relative depth of the ingredients in the dish: if the depth is greater than it would be in the pan called for, lengthen the baking time; if the depth is less, shorten the baking time. Also, the material a pan is made of, its weight, and the qualities of its surface area can make a difference in the ideal baking time and temperature.

Pie plates are all over the place in terms of their diameter and volume. The angle of the slanted sides and the depth makes a difference in volume. Sometimes they’re labeled by the diameter of the outer edges, rather than the inside measurement. Particularly with hand-thrown or thick ceramic pie plates, the actual volume may be significantly different than that of a metal or glass pie plate of the supposed same diameter. The type of crust is another thing to consider when you’re trying to decide which pie plate to use: a pie plate lined with a thick oat-and nut crust will hold considerably less filling than with a thin flour crust. Also, a pie plate holds more of mounded fillings than fillings that are level, such as custards. And, to complicate things further, the actual volume of the pan and the best filling level aren’t necessarily the same: some fillings need room to expand, and others settle during baking.

Springform pans come in different sizes, materials, and designs. If you already have one, you probably know its quirks and how best to use it. But if you’re going to buy one, we recommend Fat Daddio’s, available online and in cooking stores.

Whatever pan you’re using, fill it with batter only to the level indicated in the recipe because the batter will rise. If a cake recipe calls for two 9-inch round cake pans and you want to make a square cake, use two 8-inch square pans because the volume is equivalent. Two 8 × 1½-inch square pans = two 9 × 1½-inch round pans = one 13 × 9 × 2-inch rectangular pan.

The easiest way to determine the volume of a particular pan is to see how many cups of water it holds. This is helpful when you have unusually shaped or handcrafted pans. Of course, pans rarely hold even cups of water, and since you’d rather have some space unfilled than the mess in your oven that an overflowing filling makes, round off to the next cup down: if your pan holds 9½ cups, consider it a 9-cup pan.

When it comes right down to it, some of us have a favorite pan that we just like to use. It always turns out a perfect casserole evenly cooked throughout and not too crisp around the edges, and it washes up easily or has some sentimental value. So sometimes, we adjust the recipe to the pan.

BAKING PAN VOLUMES

Here’s a general guide to volumes that you can use to find substitutes for the pans called for in our recipes.

Volume of the pan, filled to level:

4 cups

8 × 1½-inch round cake pan

8 × 1½-inch round pie plate

5 cups

9 × 1½-inch pie plate

8 × 4 × 2½-inch loaf pan

6 cups

8 × 2-inch round cake pan

9 × 1½-inch round cake pan

8 × 8 × 1½-inch square pan

9 × 2-inch round pie plate (deep dish)

10 × 1½-inch round pie plate

8½ × 4½ × 2½-inch loaf pan

7½ × 3-inch Bundt pan

8 × 2-inch springform pan

7 cups

9 × 9 × 1½-inch square pan

11 × 7½-inch rectangular pan

9½ × 2-inch round pie plate (deep dish)

8½ × 3-inch Bundt pan

8 cups

9 × 2-inch round cake pan

8 × 8 × 2-inch square pan

9 × 5 × 3-inch loaf pan

9 cups

11 × 7 × 2-inch rectangular pan

9 × 3-inch Bundt pan

8 × 3-inch springform pan

10 cups

9 × 9 × 2-inch square pan

10 × 2-inch round cake pan

12 cups

10 × 10 × 2-inch square pan

12 × 8 × 2-inch rectangular pan

10 × 3½-inch Bundt pan

9 × 3-inch springform pan

10 × 2½-inch springform pan

14 cups

13 × 9 × 2-inch rectangular pan

13 × 9 × 2-inch baking dish

13 × 9 × 2-inch casserole dish

10 × 3-inch springform pan

Guide to Ingredients and Basic Cooking

ANNATTO (ACHIOTE)

A brick-red, triangular-shaped seed of a bush grown in the Caribbean and Central and South America, annatto has a mild, musky, peppery taste, though without pepper’s heat. It is most often used to give foods a rich, gold coloring. At Moosewood, we use it to color rice and other grains, and it is used on a grand scale in the food industry to give color to many foods, particularly butter, cheese, and margarine. To extract annatto’s color, briefly heat the seeds in oil until the oil turns red, strain the seeds, and use the oil in the preparation of your dish. Look for seeds that are red all over. Any seed that is brown or turning brown is old and tasteless and won’t give your dish a lovely golden color. Store the seeds in an airtight jar away from heat.

ARTICHOKE HEARTS

Our recipes call for artichoke hearts packed in brine, not those in an oil-based marinade. Cans of artichoke hearts are not standardized by weight or count. We’ve used cans weighing between 13.75 ounces and 16 ounces, with 5 to 12 hearts per can. The size of canned artichoke hearts varies and they may be whole, halved, or quartered. So what does one do when trying to follow a recipe? Use what is available! For our recipes, size and number are not critical; you can use any can weighing between 14 and 16 ounces. Artichoke hearts in brine are stocked in the canned vegetables aisle of the supermarket, and sometimes in specialty or gourmet foods sections.

BAKING PANS, SIZES AND SUBSTITUTIONS

see Baking Pan Sizes and Equivalents

BEANS

Canned Beans

Canned beans are a handy pantry item. The amount of drained beans in the same size cans of various brands (and even within a brand) can vary surprisingly. Our “standard” for a 15-ounce can is 1½ cups of drained beans. We’ve been dismayed to find less than a cup of beans in some cans. Our recipes’ ingredient lists give both can size and cup amount, in case you cook your own beans or the can you have is a skimpy one, but it shouldn’t matter too much in the finished dish unless you’re doubling or tripling the recipe. The saltiness also varies, so we recommend that when cooking a bean dish with canned beans you add less salt early and then add more salt at the end if needed. We usually rinse and drain canned beans.

Dried Beans

Dried beans are also handy to have in the pantry. They can be stored indefinitely in an airtight container in a cool place (not the refrigerator or freezer), although they’re best when cooked within a year. It’s easy to cook dried beans; it just takes some time. Three steps: sort, soak, and simmer.

How to Cook Dried Beans and Lentils

Sort through dried beans to remove any shriveled beans and pebbles or other debris. Put the beans in a colander and rinse with cold water.

Lentils and black-eyed peas don’t need to be soaked before cooking. Soak most beans in three times their volume of cold water for about 6 hours before cooking. Or, put them in a pot of cold water, bring them to a boil, and then remove from the heat and soak for 1 to 2 hours. It’s a mistake to soak dried beans too long. Most recipes say overnight, but if soaked too long, beans may sour or ferment, which affects flavor and makes them difficult to digest.

Pour off the water in which the beans were soaked, and add fresh water. Bring to a boil and then simmer until tender (see chart below for a guideline to cooking time and water-to-bean ratio). When we say simmer, we mean simmer: boiling can cause the cooking liquid to overflow and the beans to break apart and the skins to separate. When dried beans boil, sometimes foam forms on the top of the cooking liquid. This foam is water-soluble protein released from the beans and it will be absorbed back into the bean cooking liquid. It is not necessary to remove the foam, but it makes a mess if it boils over, so keep an eye on it to be sure that it simmers gently.

Don’t add acidic ingredients, like vinegar, tomatoes, or tomato juice, to cooking beans until after the beans are tender and cooked completely.

Cooking times vary not only with the type of beans, but also may vary with their age (amount of time since picked and dried).

BREAD CRUMBS

Use dry, stale, or fresh whole wheat, Italian, French, rye, or sourdough bread—you name it. In a 350°F oven, toast bread slices on a dry baking sheet until dried out, about 10 minutes, turning the slices over after 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature. Whirl in a food processor. Or sometimes, we first pulverize the bread in a food processor, and then spread the crumbs out on a baking sheet and bake until dry. Freeze extra crumbs, and then, before using, rebake to dry them out.

BULGHUR

Made from wheat berries that have been steamed or boiled and then dried and cracked, bulghur comes in various grinds from fine to coarse. Bulghur is probably best known in this country as the basis for tabouli salad. We also use it for other salads, for stuffings, and as a bed for stews. Bulghur cooks into a fluffy, whole grain by simply placing it in a bowl or pot, adding boiling water, and covering it and letting it sit. Store raw bulghur in a well-sealed container in a cool, dark place or in the refrigerator or freezer. This will forestall its natural oils from oxidizing and turning rancid. Bulghur is sometimes called cracked wheat. You can find it in the natural foods and international sections of supermarkets and in ethnic groceries.

How to Cook Bulghur

In our experience, different batches of bulghur need more or less water to get soft yet chewy without being too wet. Until you know the particular bulghur you’re working with, we recommend that you start with 1 cup of water per 1 cup of bulghur and then add more if it needs it.

In a heatproof bowl, pour an equal amount of boiling water over the bulghur and sprinkle with salt. Cover the bowl and let sit for 20 minutes. Taste the bulghur; it should be softened and dry (not soggy). If the water has been absorbed but the grains are still crunchy, add some more boiling water, cover, and set aside for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

BUTTER

Butter is available salted and unsalted. Unsalted is sometimes called “sweet butter.” Both have their virtues. Salted butter is less expensive because it is more popular and less perishable. With sweet butter, however, you can control the amount of salt in a recipe since various salted butters have different amounts of salt (this can be critical in baking) and with sweet butter, you can eliminate salt entirely for ingredient or health reasons. It’s also a matter of taste. If you grew up as some of us did on sweet butter, there’s really no substitute for its clean, sweet, delicate flavor. (Sometimes as kids, the bread was a mere vehicle for the butter.) But often when we hand our friends and family a slice of sweet-buttered bread, they take a bite and ask for the salt shaker. So there you are, it’s a matter of taste.

But whichever your preference, pay attention to how you store butter. It not only oxidizes quickly in warm temperatures, which leads to rancidity, but, when not well wrapped, it is a magnet for odors that affect its flavor. For the freshest, best-tasting butter, refrigerate ¼ pound in a closed glass dish and freeze the rest. If you want softened butter, 30 minutes before serving cut off the amount of refrigerated butter you’ll need and bring it to room temperature. Refrigerated butter will keep for 2 to 3 weeks; frozen butter will store for up to 3 months in a ziplock plastic bag.

Our recipes call for salted butter, unless unsalted is specified.

BUYING LOCAL

see here

CHEESE, SHREDDED AND GRATED

see here

CHIFFONADE

Chiffonade refers to a knife technique for cutting basil, mint, spinach, and other herbs and green leaves into long, thin strips—delicate little ribbons. Chiffonade also refers to the little ribbons of green themselves, as in “Sprinkle with a chiffonade of basil.” The word rhymes with “pod” and translated from French as “rags” or maybe “made from rags.”

To cut a chiffonade, first make a neat stack of about 10 leaves all in the same direction. Roll the stack lengthwise into a tight bundle. Cut across the bundle, working methodically from one end to the other, into very thin ribbons. Fluff the chiffonade and use to garnish freely.

CHINESE CHILI PASTE WITH GARLIC

This condiment adds spark to Asian marinades, glazes, sauces, and stir-fries. It’s usually a mixture of hot peppers, salt, and garlic, though some pastes contain oil and/or soy beans. Check the ingredient list, because some chili pastes contain things you may want to avoid. We like Lan Chi Chili Paste with Garlic, which is simply chilies, salt, soybean oil, and garlic. Chili paste will keep indefinitely in the refrigerator, and can be found where Asian foodstuffs are sold.

For 1 tablespoon of Chinese chili paste, substitute 2 garlic cloves, pressed, and a minced fresh hot pepper or ¼ teaspoon cayenne or ½ teaspoon ground red pepper flakes. If you’re making a dish that isn’t cooked, cook the garlic in a little oil until just golden and cook fresh hot peppers until soft.

CHINESE RICE WINE (SHAO HSING)

Chinese rice wine is an amber-colored mild-tasting wine made from rice. It can be found at Asian food stores and Asian liquor stores. Check ingredient lists to avoid things best not ingested. Dry sherry is an acceptable substitute.

CHIPOTLE PEPPERS IN ADOBO SAUCE

Chipotle is the Aztec word for smoke. Chipotles are dried and smoked red jalapeño peppers. Chipotles are available as whole dried peppers and also ground, but we like them best in their plumped, juicy form packed in adobo sauce in small cans. Adobo is typically a mélange of tomatoes, onions, oil, vinegar, sugar, herbs, and spices. Some sauces include ancho chiles as well as jalapeños.

There’s nothing else quite like these spicy, smoky peppers in their sauce. A discreet addition of chipotles in adobo sauce gives depth and mystery to marinades, sauces, salsas, soups, and stews. It is also great in aioli, polenta, cheese spreads, bean dips—the list goes on. Chipotles are hot, so start small by slicing off part of a pepper, and then mincing or puréeing it, or for the fainter of heart, begin with a small spoonful of sauce only.

We prefer the simplest ingredient lists: look for cans free of preservatives and high-fructose corn syrup. A good brand is La Preferida, though there are many more. We’ve found that the sauce recipes differ, too, so sample some until you find the one you like best. Chipotles in adobo stored in a closed glass jar in the refrigerator will keep for 1 to 3 months. Chipotles in adobo sauce also freeze well. You can put a pepper and some sauce in ice cube tray units, pop them out when frozen, store in a freezer bag, and use from the freezer as needed. Look for chipotle peppers in adobo sauce in the Latin food aisle of supermarkets, in bodegas, and online at www.google.com/shopping.

CLEAN FIFTEEN LIST

see here

COCONUT MILK

Coconut milk is a thick, white liquid made by pressing grated, fresh, ripe coconut meat. Coconut milk is a common ingredient in many tropical cuisines, most notably Caribbean, Southeast Asian, West African, and Polynesian.

You can make coconut milk yourself, but it is readily available in cans. The coconut milk we use in our recipes is unsweetened and is available in full-fat and lower-fat (sometimes called “lite”) forms. We use both. Often, a thick “cream” separates and floats to the top of full-fat coconut milk. If you’re not using the whole can, shake the can before opening and that may even it out to a smooth, creamy thickness; if not, pour the whole can into a bowl and stir well.

Don’t confuse coconut milk with cream of coconut, a sweetened product used in mixed drinks, or with coconut water, an up-and-coming beverage on the health food scene.

Store opened coconut milk in a tightly lidded container in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 weeks. Coconut milk freezes well. A frozen chunk can be chopped off and used directly in a recipe.

Our favorite brand of coconut milk is Thai Kitchen. It includes guar gum as a stabilizer, but not the emulsifiers and sulfite preservatives found in many other brands. It is available both organic and not at www.thaikitchen.com/products/coconut-milk/coconut-milk.aspx and www.vitacost.com, and in the Asian section of supermarkets, and at gourmet food stores and Asian groceries.

CORN

When the summer’s crop of sweet corn is coming on strong, it’s both economical and easy to freeze corn kernels for later in the year. But the best reason to do it is that corn you’ve frozen yourself, assuming it’s good corn when you freeze it, is so much better than corn from the supermarket freezer case. Freeze it as soon as you can after it’s picked, and when you add it to that soup in January, it will be sweet and tender, like a little taste of summer.

How to Freeze Fresh Corn

Shuck the corn and pull off most of the silk. (No blanching or cooking necessary.) With a sharp knife, cut the kernels off the cobs. To contain all the kernels, including the ones that fly off to the side as you slice, rest one end of the cob on the bottom of a large bowl and slice down the cob in strips, as close as you can without cutting into the cob. Put the kernels into a freezer bag, suck out the air to minimize frost, and pop it in the freezer. That’s it.

CORNMEAL

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COUSCOUS

Milled wheat that when raw looks like tiny yellow or light brown (whole wheat) pearls. We use precooked “quick” whole wheat couscous that is light and fluffy and ready to eat with just a few minutes of soaking with boiling water. Couscous makes a good bed for stews, roasted vegetables, and beans. We also use it in grain salads.

How to Cook Couscous

This is for quick-cooking couscous, either whole wheat or more refined. In a heatproof bowl, pour an equal amount of boiling water over the couscous, sprinkle with salt, and stir briefly. Cover and let sit for about 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Occasionally, we get a batch of couscous that needs a little more time or more water to soften. If after 5 minutes, the couscous is still crunchy, but dry, sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of boiling water over it, cover, and let sit for a few minutes more.

CREAM CHEESE

We blend soft, creamy cream cheese into soups, strudels, frittatas, and desserts. At Moosewood, we use both cream cheese and a lower-fat cream cheese, labeled “1⁄3 lower fat” or “Neufchâtel.” For our recipes, you can use either. French Neufchâtel is a cheese made in Normandy since the 1600s, and it is similar to our cream cheese, but made with whole milk, no cream added. So, calling lower-fat cream cheese “Neufchâtel” does make some sense in terms of fat content, and it probably makes good marketing sense, but French Neufchâtel is different.

DAIKON

A long, white, smooth radish popular in China and Japan, daikon has a mild, crisp taste with a bit of a bite. It is traditionally grated and used as a condiment alongside richer fare, and is often pickled and eaten at the start of a meal as an appetite stimulant. Daikon is also grown in this country and is available in Asian food stores, the Asian section of the supermarket, produce departments, and, increasingly, at farmers’ markets. It can be used like any other radish in salads and can also be cut into large enough pieces for use in stir-fries and stews. When buying, look for crisp, white daikon with uncracked skins. Peel it like a carrot before using, and store unused daikon in the crisper section of the refrigerator, in a ziplock bag to retain humidity.

DARK SESAME OIL

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DIRTY DOZEN LIST

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EDAMAME

Edamame is the Japanese name for immature green soybeans. Edamame also denotes soybeans boiled in their pods, salted, and served as a snack or appetizer. Fresh edamame are sometimes available at farmers’ markets, select supermarkets, and ethnic grocery stores, but in most areas, you can more readily find frozen edamame, both shelled and in the pod.

FENNEL

We adore fresh fennel. Raw, roasted, grilled, or braised. We slice it or shave it into salads and sauté it for our Mediterranean stews. We love its sweet, mild anise flavor and its clean, crisp texture. Fresh fennel has a bright white bulbous bottom of wide, overlapping layers and tall, pale green, celery-like stalks that end in feathery fronds. Every part of the vegetable is usable. The bulb is crisp and juicy. The stalks are crunchy and, if sometimes a bit tough, can be used to flavor stocks. The feathery tops make a lovely snipped garnish, and contribute a pleasant mild herb flavor when blended into dressings or vinaigrettes. Choose unmarred bulbs with crisp stalks. Refrigerated in a well-sealed bag, it will keep for several days.

FENUGREEK SEEDS

We use fenugreek most frequently in curries, sambars, and chutneys. The light brown, oblong seeds have an earthy, musky flavor and aroma, and we usually toast and grind them before adding to a dish or spice mix. Fenugreek seeds are available where Indian and Pakistani foods are sold, and in the spice section of well-stocked supermarkets.

FILO

The ultrathin sheets of filo pastry dough are used in savory and sweet strudels, pies, turnovers, and appetizers across the Mediterranean, Middle East, and North Africa. Filo is probably best known as the pastry of baklava and spanakopita. It is a low-fat dough made simply of flour, water, and salt, sometimes with a small amount of olive oil and/or vinegar. While it is possible, if challenging, to make your own filo dough, good filo is available in the frozen food sections of many supermarkets and online (go to www.fillofactory.com), where organic and whole wheat filo sheets can also be found. Store unopened filo for up to a month in the refrigerator. Tightly rewrap in plastic after opening, and filo will keep for a few days in the refrigerator and up to a year in the freezer. Do not refreeze after thawing, or it will become brittle.

FISH

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GMOs

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GRITS

Grits are ground, dried corn with the germ removed. We use white or yellow grits in the same ways we use polenta, mostly as a bed for beans or stews. We use stone-ground, regular, or quick-cooking grits, but never instant, which not only taste insipid but also contain various additives we’re leery of. Depending on the grind, grits take from 5 to 10 minutes to 2 hours to cook.

GUAVA PASTE

Guava paste is a conserve made from a very thick purée of guava pulp and sugar. Some guava pastes are very dense with a fruit leather-like consistency, while others are moister and slightly less gelatinous, more jamlike, but they are all intensely sweet with a distinctive flavor and a slightly gritty texture firm enough to slice. Guava paste is used in both savory and sweet dishes, and has found its way into U.S. culinary lexicon through our Mexican, Caribbean, and Central and South American citizenry.

We prefer brands such as Guayaquil that stick to the basics: guava, sugar, citric acid, and sometimes pectin. We’ve seen other brands that include high-fructose corn syrup and as many as three different artificial food colorings. It is not uncommon to have guava paste left over since recipes usually call for discreet amounts, but it keeps almost indefinitely when well-covered in the refrigerator. Check out the many recipes online that use guava paste. It is often packaged in wide, flat tins, also in packets and jars, and is available in the Latin foods section of supermarkets, in Mexican and Latin American markets, and online.

HALF-AND-HALF

Half-and-half is a homogenized commercial dairy product consisting of half light cream and half milk. Its butterfat content ranges between 10 and 12 percent. We use half-and-half in recipes when we want richness, but not as much as with full-fat cream. Half-and-half won’t whip into peaks like heavy cream or whipping cream.

You can make half-and-half by combining 3 parts whole milk with 1 part heavy cream, or 2 parts low-fat milk with 1 part heavy cream.

HERBS

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HOISIN SAUCE

This Asian condiment is spoon-thick, dark, salty, and sweet. It is used in Chinese and Southeast Asian dishes, and may be best known as the sauce spread on mu shu pancakes before they are filled and rolled. Hoisin sauce is composed of sugar, sweet potatoes, fermented soybean paste, sesame seed paste, and a range of spices. We use it as a condiment, to glaze roasted vegetables, and as an ingredient in marinades and toppings for shrimp and fish. Our favorite hoisin is made by Lee Kum Kee, packed in glass jars so the flavor stays pure. Look for it in Asian food stores and in the Asian food section of your supermarket. Tightly lidded and uncontaminated, hoisin will keep for many months in the refrigerator.

HOT PEPPERS

We enjoy the flavors of local fresh hot peppers before winter descends and we’re limited to dried chiles or what’s available from hundreds of miles away. Both dried and fresh chiles are pungent, but fresh chiles taste like what they are—a fresh vegetable. They lend a clean-tasting different kind of heat, fragrance, and flavor to the dishes they’re in. Many varieties of hot peppers are grown and eaten all over the world. The fresh hot peppers commonly found in this country, or at least in the Southern Tier of upstate New York, are poblano, jalapeño, serrano, Scotch bonnet, and habanero. This list ranges from the mildest, poblano, to the most fiery. Scotch Bonnet and habanero are tied for hottest, on this list anyway—then there are those little Thai peppers and the king of hot, the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion.

To control the spicy heat of a dish, the first step is to taste a bit of the pepper to see how hot it is. Within the same pepper crop, even from the same pepper plant, heat will vary. Secondly, the most intense heat resides in the seeds and ribs of the pepper, so if the flesh of the chile is hot enough for you, remove the seeds, ribs, and central membranes.

Remember to protect your body parts. The spicy hot oils that cling to your hands when working with hot peppers can be extremely painful in cuts on hands and fingers and when inadvertently rubbed into eyes or lips. We often use latex or nitrile gloves when working with chiles. Immediately wash your hands in warm, soapy water after handling hot peppers.

If you bite into a chile that sets your mouth afire, avoid drinking liquid because it only disperses the heat; instead eat a piece of bread, potato, tortilla, or avocado.

LENTILS

Lentils are small disk-shaped dried legumes. One of the virtues of lentils compared with other dried beans is that they cook quickly and don’t need to be presoaked. The best known and most often used are brown lentils. They absorb seasonings handily and cook in about 30 minutes. French green lentils are smaller and greener in color; their cooking time may range from 20 to 40 minutes. One virtue of French lentils is that they maintain their form beautifully during cooking and therefore look lovely in main dish salads and side dishes. Red lentils are the only hulled lentil. They start off a pretty coral color and turn yellow during cooking. Red lentils are the starchiest of the lentil family and make wonderful soups and purées. They usually cook in about 15 minutes.

For cooking directions, go to here.

Store lentils in airtight glass containers in a cool, dark place for up to a year. Lentils are available in packages and in bulk at natural food stores, in most supermarkets, in Middle Eastern and Indian food stores, and online.

LOCAL FOOD

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KALE

Kale is a leafy green often on “superfoods” lists. Its leaves are dark green, sometimes with a purple, red, or blue patina, and may be curly or flat, smooth or bumpy. To prep for cooking, strip the leaves off the stems: hold the stem in one hand, wrap your other thumb and forefinger firmly around the stem at the base of the leaf, and in one fast motion, pull away from the end of the stem; the leaf will come off the stem easily. Bunches of kale found in produce markets vary in weight and in the amount of large stems and wilted or yellowing leaves, so it’s hard sometimes to know how much you need to buy for a particular amount, but usually, with nice, fresh kale, 1 pound will yield about 5 cups of sorted, stemmed, and chopped greens.

KASHA

Kasha has an earthy flavor and sturdy yet fluffy texture. The word kasha is a Slavic term for porridge that can be made from any number of grains. In this country, kasha has become synonymous with toasted buckwheat groats, which, ironically, is neither a variety of wheat nor a grain. Kasha is a cocoa-colored triangular seed from a plant in the rhubarb family. It is gluten-free.

You can store kasha in a cool, dry place for a short amount of time, but it is best to keep it in the refrigerator, where it will last up to 3 months, or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Kasha, conventional and organic, can be purchased in packages and in bulk at natural food stores and well-stocked supermarkets. It is also found in stores that market Eastern European and Jewish food products.

How to Cook Kasha

For each cup of kasha, use 2 cups of water. Bring the water to a boil, then stir in the kasha, cover, and reduce the heat. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, and then remove from the heat and let it sit covered for about 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and add salt to taste.

Traditionally, kasha is stirred with a beaten egg in a skillet on medium heat for a couple of minutes, until dry and the grains are separated. Then add boiling water or broth and proceed as above: simmer for about 15 minutes, let sit for about 10 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

Untoasted buckwheat should simmer for about 10 minutes longer than kasha.

You can toast buckwheat groats in a dry skillet on medium heat: stir for about 5 minutes, until browned.

LEEKS

It’s important to rinse leeks well to remove the sand and grit between the layers. Use the white and tender green parts of a leek bulb. The upper, darker green parts of leeks make good stock. A medium-size leek usually yields about 1 cup, chopped.

To most easily rinse out the grains of sand that are trapped between the layers of the leeks, remove 1 or 2 outer layers and cut off the root end. Cut off and discard the top half only of the tough upper green leaves—you’ll use the rest as a “handle” while rinsing. Cut the white and light green part of the leeks in half lengthwise and then in half again into quarters. Holding the leek by the upper leaves, rinse well under cool running water, fanning the layers apart with your other hand. Cut the white and light green parts into 1⁄8-inch slices. In a colander, rinse the sliced leeks well. Drain.

MARSALA

Marsala is a fortified wine, thick and rich, almost like brandy. It originated in Sicily in the city of Marsala. Its taste and alcohol content are altered by the addition of distilled wine or fruit juice, and it is produced at three levels of refinement depending on how long it is aged and whether or not it is aged in wood. Marsala is made from red or green grapes. We use a red Marsala in our Eggplant-Mushroom Marsala and white wine Marsala is often used in desserts such as zabaglione and tiramisu.

MISO

Used throughout Japanese cuisine to flavor and add healthful benefits to soups, stews, sauces, dressings, and spreads, miso is a thick paste made of fermented soy beans and/or grain. The mixture of soy with the particular grain, and the length of fermentation, makes for very different misos. Rice or white miso is golden in color and has a sweet mild taste. Barley miso is brown and is richer and more savory. Wheat or soy miso is dark brown and tastes stronger and saltier. For everyday cooking, and especially for the cook who’s new to miso, we recommend rice miso. South River is one of our favorite brands, but there are many excellent choices available. If we had to have only one, we’d choose a milder light- or medium-colored miso. There’s no reason you can’t mix a couple of misos in one dish. Miso’s healthful enzymes are destroyed by high temperatures, so once the miso is added, don’t let the soup boil. Miso can be purchased at most natural food stores and where Japanese foods are sold.

NUTS

Toasted nuts have a greater depth of both texture and flavor. You can toast nuts in the oven or toaster oven, in a heavy skillet on the stovetop, or in the microwave oven. Nuts become crisper and darker as they cool, so stop the toasting process when they’re a shade lighter than you want. When overbrowned, nuts develop an acrid flavor. Warm nuts are easier to chop by hand, but if using a food processor, cool toasted nuts before chopping or grinding.

How to Toast Nuts

To toast nuts in the oven or toaster oven, preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread the nuts in a single layer on a dry baking sheet and bake, stirring once or twice for even toasting, until golden and fragrant. The cooking time varies depending on the nut, so check on them periodically:

• Almonds: 10 minutes

• Hazelnuts: 12 to 15 minutes

• Macadamia nuts: 12 to 15 minutes

• Pecans: 10 to 15 minutes

• Pine nuts: 5 minutes

• Walnuts: 10 to 15 minutes

• Peanuts (shelled): 20 to 25 minutes

To toast nuts in a skillet, spread the nuts in a single layer in a dry heavy skillet on medium heat, stirring frequently. When aromatic and lightly browned, remove the nuts from the hot pan because they’ll continue to cook.

To toast nuts in a microwave, spread a single layer of nuts out on a microwave-safe plate. Cook them in 1-minute intervals on full power, stirring after each minute, until the nuts begin to crisp and become fragrant. Microwaved nuts have a toasted flavor, but don’t brown.

To skin hazelnuts or peanuts after toasting, let them cool a bit, and then pour the nuts onto a clean kitchen towel spread out on a work surface. Gather the towel around the nuts and rub together until most of the skins have come off. Don’t worry about getting off every little bit of skin. Pick out the nuts. If you have a yard, go out there to shake the skins out of the towel.

OLD BAY SEASONING

Although we’ve tried, we haven’t yet perfected a spice blend that matches Old Bay Seasoning. Old Bay is a seasoning mixture that originated around the Chesapeake Bay that’s become synonymous with the shellfish cuisine of the Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia peninsula. At the restaurant, we not only sprinkle it on fish and seafood but use it in chowders, rubs, aioli, egg salad, and stews. Try it on fresh ears of corn or roasted potatoes.

Old Bay Seasoning is found in rectangular cans in the spice aisle of supermarkets and often where you buy fresh seafood. Online it can be purchased at www.google.com/shopping.

ORGANIC FOOD

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PAPRIKA

Paprika is a favored spice in Eastern European cuisines. Sweet or hot red peppers are dried and sometimes smoked, then ground to produce the three paprika varieties: sweet, hot, and smoked. Sweet paprika is the most ubiquitous and mild paprika, and the one we most often use. Hot paprika is not as pungent as cayenne. Look for paprika in the spice section of your food market.

PARCHMENT PAPER

Parchment paper is heavy, nonstick paper, usually brown, that’s very useful and can help you avoid lots of messes. You can roll out pie or biscuit or cookie dough on it. Its most frequent use is probably as a liner for baking sheets. It’s awfully nice not to have to oil (and then scrub) the baking sheet, and, especially if the baking sheet is lightweight, the parchment paper helps to keep the bottoms of cookies from browning too much. It’s also good for roasted vegetables (unless you want crusty bottoms): no scraping the pieces off of the pan. Use it when roasting or baking something that’s very acidic, like tomatoes, to prevent a metallic flavor.

Parchment paper makes it a snap to turn layer cakes out in one piece; use scissors to cut the parchment paper to the size of the bottom of the baking pan. You can also use parchment paper to make little packages filled with vegetables and bake-steam them in the oven (here). Parchment works wonderfully for separating layers of cookies or candies in a tin. With a pretty ribbon, it’s beautiful emergency gift-wrapping paper.

And, it’s just so nice to handle. Parchment paper is not expensive, and a roll goes a long way. It also comes in sheets. Plus, we use the same piece several times, until it gets so brittle that it starts to fall apart (unless we cooked something like onions on it). Don’t butter or oil the parchment paper or the baking sheet, unless the recipe says to.

PASTA

Dried pasta is an economical pantry item that keeps almost indefinitely, so you can keep a wide selection on hand. There are a few simple and effortless things you can do to make every pasta dish better. Start with good pasta, pair it with a sauce that complements its shape, and cook it right.

We recommend that you use imported Italian pastas. The Italian federal government imposes exacting standards for ingredients and manufacturing processes: dried commercial pasta must be made with pure durum semolina flour without artificial additives, colored pastas must be made with natural vegetables, and egg pastas must contain whole eggs. In Italian factories, the temperature of the dough is kept low, with a long kneading time, and then when the dough moves slowly through extrusion machines and is pushed through holes in bronze dies, that creates pasta with a slightly rough, porous surface that sauce will cling to. Drying is controlled at a low temperature for a long time.

In the United States, there are no restrictions on the type of flour used and often the flour is over-refined, artificially enriched, and soft. Frozen vegetables or just vegetable dyes are the norm. Larger American companies’ extrusion machines usually use Teflon dies and that creates a slick, glossy surface on the pasta. High-speed kneading and drying may be at a temperature high enough to risk denaturing the protein in the semolina, resulting in a softer cooked pasta.

Some American artisan pastas are extruded through bronze dies, and if you find one in your area, try it—you may find a pasta that delights you. The imported Italian-made pasta brands we like and that are widely available in this country are Bionaturae, DeCecco, and Gia Russa.

If it’s been a while since you tried whole-grain pasta, try it again now. Some of the whole wheat pastas that have come on the market lately have a firm texture and nutty flavor. Every pasta dish in this book can be made with whole wheat pasta. If you’re avoiding wheat, try pastas made from rice, corn, kamut, spelt, quinoa, and buckwheat.

How to Cook Pasta

Use a large covered pot filled with plenty of salted water, 5 or 6 quarts per pound of pasta, so that the water will quickly return to a boil after the pasta is added and so the pasta has room to float freely and cook evenly.

Ease the pasta into rapidly boiling water, stir to separate, and cover the pot until it returns to a full, rolling boil. Don’t break long strands of pasta—just push them into the boiling water and in seconds they’ll be soft enough to stir. Stir occasionally to prevent clumping. To know when pasta is done, taste it. Catch it when it is just al dente—tender but with a firm bite. This is especially important for whole-grain pastas, which become too soft when overcooked.

Drain pasta immediately in a colander, and quickly, before it starts to dry out, transfer the hot pasta to a warm serving bowl or back into the warm pot you cooked it in. Never rinse with cold water.

The many different shapes and sizes of pasta often have affectionate, humorous, and vivid names in Italian, such as angels’ hair and priest chokers. Some pasta shapes are named for how they look. Orecchiette look like little ears and penne are fountain pen–shaped. Each pasta shape has a different texture, a different mouth feel. Pair a pasta and sauce based on the consistency of the sauce. Thin flat noodles, such as fettucine and farfalle, go well with delicate cream and cheese sauces. A chunky vegetable or bean sauce is best with a heartier short pasta shape, such as penne or fusilli. Bowl-shaped cuts, such as orecchiette and shells, are good for sauces with finely chopped vegetables, because the pasta catches and holds the vegetable pieces. Match long strands like spaghetti with smooth tomato and pesto sauces so that the entire strands will be coated with sauce for that slippery sensation in the mouth. That said, the lack of a perfect pasta shape never stops us from going ahead with the sauce we want to make.

PEPERONCINI

These small, sweet peppers with a mild heat are native to the Mediterranean and are sometimes marketed as Tuscan peppers. Peperoncini are most often pickled and used whole on antipasto platters or sliced for sandwiches and salads. The color ranges from chartreuse to bright red. Peperoncini are available in the condiment aisle of the supermarket.

POLENTA

Polenta is Italian cornmeal porridge, essentially cornmeal mush. Polenta is a good bed for beans and stews and delicious as a layer in casseroles.

You can make polenta with any cornmeal: yellow, white, or blue; finely ground, coarse, or stone-ground. Finer grinds of cornmeal make smooth and creamy polenta; coarsely ground cornmeal makes a nubbier, more sturdy polenta.

The type of cornmeal you use affects the water-to-cornmeal ratio, the cooking time, and the flavor and texture of the polenta. A medium grind of cornmeal usually takes about 20 minutes to cook. Coarse stone-ground cornmeal may take an hour or more. And then, there’s a very finely ground or processed cornmeal that cooks in as little as 5 minutes. The very quick-cooking cornmeal is sometimes labeled polenta cornmeal, but any cornmeal, from “instant” to cornmeal flour and right up to a very coarse grind, may also be labeled “polenta cornmeal.”

For polenta at Moosewood, we use whole grain, coarsely ground cornmeal, locally milled from locally grown organic, non-GMO corn; the same cornmeal we use to make cornbread. Whole-grain cornmeal retains the germ of the corn kernel, so essential oils, fiber, vitamins, and minerals are not lost. It has an honest corn taste. Bob’s Red Mill Polenta, available in stores and online, is a good commercial option.

How to Cook Polenta

Notwithstanding the preceding discussion, it’s easy to make polenta. Basically, all you do is stir cornmeal into boiling water and then simmer, stirring frequently, and adding more boiling water if it gets too thick too fast, until the polenta is smooth and creamy and tastes done. We recommend that you start with a 1:3 ratio of cornmeal to water, and add more water if you need to. We salt the water. To prevent lumps, add the cornmeal in a steady stream while whisking briskly. To reduce the risk of scorching, use a heat diffuser after the polenta has thickened.

QUINOA

Quinoa hails from the South American Andes and is truly an ancient grain, between 5,000 and 9,000 years old. When we first started writing about quinoa in 1994 it was the new grain on the block in this country. Quinoa is a tasty, easily digested, gluten-free grain rich in vitamins, minerals, and protein. It is a complete protein containing all essential amino acids.

Find quinoa in packages or in bulk at well-stocked supermarkets and natural food stores. Organic and conventional quinoa is available online at www.bobsredmill.com and www.myspicesage.com.

How to Cook Quinoa

Quinoa cooks in 15 to 20 minutes, and as it cooks, the external germs, which form little bands around the little flattened spheres, spiral out in crescent-shaped tails. Quinoa grows with a protective, bitter coating of saponin that keeps birds and bugs from devouring it. In processing, most of the saponin is removed, but quinoa must still be thoroughly rinsed before cooking. Saponon lathers under running water, so rinse until there are no suds. Quinoa expands about four times during cooking.

For each cup of dry quinoa, use 1½ cups water. Rinse the dry quinoa until the water runs clear. In a saucepan on medium-high heat, warm enough oil to cover the bottom. Add the rinsed quinoa and a little salt, and stir for a couple of minutes. Stir in boiling water, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed. Turn off the heat and let sit for about 5 minutes, until tender.

RICE

Every day, we make a big pot of brown rice at the restaurant. Actually, at least two big pots. Plain brown rice serves as a good bed for all sorts of dishes, including beans, stews, burritos, and roasted vegetables. For something a little different, replace up to half of brown rice with wild rice or wehani or other red rice. We rarely make white rice, occasionally white basmati or jasmine for a dessert. We use black rice in some pilafs and puddings.

Brown rice is our bread and butter at Moosewood, our favorite rice with its chewy texture and full flavor. We like the short, plump, moist kernels of short-grain brown rice. When we want a fluffier rice, we make long-grain brown rice.

Black rice, also called sweet black rice and Chinese forbidden rice, has multicolored black and brown grains that turn almost purple when cooked. It is short-grained and high in gluten, with a sweet flavor and sticky texture.

Basmati rice, also called Texmati and “calmati,” is aromatic with a nutty flavor and smooth texture.

Wehani rice is a brown rice that turns an earthy honey-red color when cooked. It is slightly chewy and its aroma is similar to that of hot peanuts.

Wild rice is not rice, but seeds of a marsh grass that have been gathered historically in North America and China. The flavor of its long black and brown grains is distinctive, but we don’t know how to describe it. We mix wild rice with brown rice for pilafs and stuffings.

How to Cook Rice

Use a pan with a heavy bottom and a tight-fitting lid. If you have a heat diffuser, it’s a good idea to use it under simmering rice. Because most rice expands about triple during cooking, the amount of raw rice should fill no more than one-fourth of the pan. Generally, figure ½ cup of raw rice for one serving.

For larger quantities of rice, use less water proportionately. For example, for 3 cups of raw brown rice, use 4½ cups of water.

Brown and Brown Basmati Rice

1 cup rinsed and drained brown rice

2 teaspoons olive oil

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups water

In a saucepan on high heat, combine the rice, oil, and salt. Stir for a minute or two, add the water, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to very low and simmer for about 45 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed and the rice is firm but tender. When the rice is done, turn off the heat and take off the lid. Fluff the rice with a fork and let it sit for a couple of minutes.

Depending on the rice, the weight of the pan and how tightly it’s covered, and the heat, you may need to add a little more water after 30 to 35 minutes of simmering, and if there’s still water at the bottom when the rice is tender, tilt the pan to drain off the water and stir the rice and let it sit, uncovered, on very low heat for a few minutes.

White Rice, White Basmati, and Jasmine Rice

1¾ cups water

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon oil

1 cup rice

Bring the water to a boil in a covered saucepan. Add the salt and oil, and stir in the rice. Cover, reduce the heat to very low, and simmer for about 15 minutes.

SESAME OIL

An amber-colored oil with a richly aromatic nutty flavor and fragrance, Asian sesame oil is usually used as a finishing oil in Asian dishes, serving as a seasoning rather than as a cooking or salad oil. Generally only a small amount is needed to complement other flavors; more will not only compete, but dominate. Sometimes called dark sesame oil, roasted or toasted sesame oil, or simply sesame oil, it is made from crushed roasted sesame seeds, the source of its dark color. It should not be confused with the cold-pressed, pale sesame oil made from untoasted seeds that is used for cooking and frying.

Like all products, Asian sesame oils vary in quality and we encourage you to experiment. One of our favorites is Jayone, from Korea. If unavailable in your food store, it can be purchased online at www.jayone.com. Asian sesame oil can be found in the international and Asian sections of well-stocked markets. It will keep for 2 to 3 months, unrefrigerated, when stored in a cool dark place, and for a long time in the refrigerator.

SPICES AND HERBS

Herbs are the aromatic leaves of various plants. Spices are flavorful and fragrant seasonings made from seeds, roots, stems, bark, buds, and fruit. Fresh herbs and freshly ground or grated spices can transform a simple dish into something delectable. But, herbs and spices are expensive and perishable, so we’d like to give you some simple tips for making the most of them.

Fresh Herbs

Fresh herbs are one of life’s joys, but unless you grow herbs and can pick just what you need when you need it, you’ve likely had to compost a slimy half-bunch of dill or cilantro that you found in the vegetable crisper. When you have fresh herbs that you’re not going to use soon, you can easily freeze them for next week or month. Purée the fresh leaves in the blender with a little water. Pour the purée into an ice cube tray, and when frozen solid, pop out the cubes and store them in a freezer bag. Be sure to label, because once puréed and frozen, the green of basil looks pretty much like the green of parsley or cilantro. Then, you can drop a frozen cube or two into your soup or sauce.

Dried Herbs and Spices

Dried herbs and most spices lose flavor and fragrance quickly because oxidization occurs and their aromatics dissipate. When you can, buy in bulk—we suggest this not so you can stock up on large quantities of herbs and spices, but so you can buy small quantities. This will save you not only a significant amount of money, but also the waste of discarding the spice if it’s not used again for months. When buying in bulk, go to a store that has a lot of consumer traffic and so a high turnover of inventory. Buy whole, unground spices such as cardamom and cumin, coriander, and fennel seeds. Whole spices last longer than ground spices. Grind only what you need or will use within a couple of weeks. Store herbs and spices in airtight glass jars in a cool dark place. Discard after 6 months.

Toasting Spices

Toasting releases a spice’s aromatic and flavorful oils, bringing out an earthier, richer, and fuller flavor and fragrance. In some cases, as with cinnamon and fennel, the spice becomes sweeter and mellower. Toasting spices is a way to enhance your dish and your cooking experience—and it takes only minutes.

Spices that benefit most from toasting include cumin, coriander, fennel, and mustard seeds, cinnamon, cardamom, and star anise. In general, whole spices are preferred over ground spices for toasting, because whole spices better retain their natural oils and so have more flavor to release when they’re heated or ground. You can certainly toast ground spices; just keep in mind that it will take only seconds.

Don’t toast different spices in the same pan at the same time because spices brown at different speeds, and so you’d be left with either some that aren’t toasted or some that are scorched. Heat the spices slowly, so that they warm clear through to the center without burning the outside. Spices are ready when they smell rich and full-bodied and become slightly darker in color. Be careful not to scorch spices or they’ll be bitter; they shouldn’t smoke at any time during the process.

How to Toast Spices

Put spices in a cold, dry (no oil), heavy skillet or pan. Warm the pan on medium heat, and as the pan heats and the spices become fragrant, stir or shake often. Whole spices may jump a bit, and you may hear little popping sounds as they toast. When you can really smell the fragrance and as soon as the spices just start to brown, they’re ready. Transfer them immediately to a bowl or plate to cool—their residual heat will keep the cooking process going a little longer. If you wait until they are very toasted in the pan, they’ll become burnt and bitter once off the heat.

You can also toast spices in the oven or toaster oven. Spread the spices out on a dry tray and toast at 325°F until they’re fully aromatic and slightly darker.

Grind cool, whole spices to a fine texture in a coffee grinder, spice grinder, or mortar and pestle. Toasted spices are easier to grind than untoasted spices. Once toasted, spices are best used immediately, but any extra can be stored in a well-sealed jar or plastic bag.

SWEET POTATOES

Sweet potatoes are very nutritious and high in fiber and complex carbohydrates. The color of their skin may be red, brown, purple, or tan, and their flesh ranges from white through tan, yellow, orange, reddish orange, and purple. They’re on the Clean Fifteen list. They’re delicious.

But here’s the real reason we’ve included sweet potatoes in this guide: Over the years, we’ve been mystified at times because the sweet potatoes in a soup or stew have taken either a lot longer to cook than we expected, or never fully cooked at all. Eventually, we realized that it was happening when we cooked sweet potatoes with tomatoes. So, in dishes that include tomatoes, we cook the sweet potatoes until almost tender before adding tomatoes, or cook the sweet potatoes separately until just tender and then add them to the pot.

TAHINI

This thick, creamy sesame butter is made from hulled and lightly toasted sesame seeds. It is a familiar ingredient in the cuisines of Greece and Turkey and across the Middle East and North Africa. Here, it is probably best known as a principle ingredient in hummus. Tahini is available in tins and jars in the ethnic section of well-stocked supermarkets and in natural food stores, where it is often offered in bulk. Bulk tahini is rarely refrigerated, so buy it at a store with a rapid inventory turnover. Tahini has a high oil content and the oil will rise to the top. When opening a new jar of tahini, mix down the oil and refrigerate to keep it emulsified and to prevent rancidity.

TAMARIND CONCENTRATE (TAMARIND PASTE)

The fruity, sour extract of the tamarind tree pod is much used in the cuisines of Southeast Asia, India, and Latin America. It gives a sweet-tart kick to curries and is a standard ingredient in pad Thai and Vietnamese pho. It is the basis of beverages and soft drinks in Central and South America.

Though tamarind pulp is available in specialty stores and can be made into the useful concentrate, it is far easier to purchase the concentrate ready-made. It is available in small containers where Asian and Hispanic foods are sold. We like Laxmi brand. It will keep for months in the refrigerator in a tightly lidded container. In most recipes, you can substitute fresh lime juice for tamarind; the flavor is different but the sour is about the same.

TEMPEH

Tempeh is naturally fermented whole cooked soybeans and very little else—maybe a bit of vinegar to start the culturing process—pressed into a meaty-tasting cake. Basic tempeh is gluten-free, though there are varieties that include wheat and other grains. Tempeh is native to Indonesian cuisine, most popular in Java, and has been eaten in Asia for hundreds of years. Tempeh is porous and readily absorbs marinades and flavorings. It has a stronger nutritional profile than tofu and other soy products because it is made of the whole bean. It is also said by some to be more digestible than other beans and bean products because the enzymatic fermentation process “pre-digests” the beans.

Tempeh can be sliced or cubed and fried or baked, or crumbled in vegetarian “burgers.” Tightly wrap opened tempeh in freezer-proof plastic and it will freeze well. Tempeh is available in health food stores, some Asian food stores, and online at www.lightlife.com.

THAI CURRY PASTE

Thai curry paste is the source of many Thai dishes’ rich and complex flavors and heat. Curry pastes are flavorful additions to stir-fries, soups, curries, marinades, and rice and noodle dishes.

The three most common curry pastes are green, red, and yellow, which correspond to the color of the hot pepper used, and each paste uses a different array of spices. Green curry paste, often considered the hottest paste (though this is debatable and dependent on the type of green chilies used), typically includes lemongrass, Thai ginger (galangal), keiffir lime leaves, sweet basil, and coriander root. Red curry paste is made of long red hot peppers, lemongrass and galangal, and additional chili powder and other spices. Yellow curry paste is the mildest blend, made of yellow peppers and traditional Indian spices like cumin, coriander, turmeric, and ginger. Most curry pastes also include shallots, oil, sugar, and salt.

Vegetarian cooks should look closely at ingredient lists, because classic Thai pastes include fish sauce and shrimp paste, though there are a variety of options that do not. The flavor of curry pastes varies with the paste maker, so sample a few to find the one(s) you like. They can be found where Asian foods are sold.

TOFU

All tofus are not equal. The difference between good, fresh tofu and some of the nationally available brands is significant. It’s like the difference between sweet green peas just picked in your garden and canned ones, between just-pressed apple cider and bottled apple juice. When we’re away from home and buy some of the national brands we find in the supermarket, we begin to understand why tofu is something they joke about on sitcoms. It is simply not that which we’ve come to take for granted from our hometown tofu maker, Ithaca Soy. We don’t think we can overstate it: if the tofu is not so good, with the same recipe, the same other good ingredients, and the same techniques, the result is just not the same.

Good firm tofu is not chalky, not mushy, and doesn’t have the texture of liverwurst. When you bake it, the outer edges are chewy and the inside is succulent. You can easily shred it on a hand grater. When you sauté it, it has a nice resistance, a “bite” like al dente pasta. It readily absorbs flavors.

If a good fresh tofu isn’t available in your stores and there’s a Chinese or Japanese restaurant where the tofu is delectable, ask where they get their tofu. Maybe you can get some, too. Or, ask if you can buy a block from them.

Usually, tofu comes in 14-, 15-, or 16-ounce cakes. Fresh tofu, in particular, is not cut as precisely as national and regional brands packaged in little plastic tubs, and a block of it may weigh even 18 ounces. We developed and tested our recipes with 16-ounce blocks of tofu, but the recipes should work even if you have a little more or less tofu.

How to Press Tofu

Whether or not you need to press tofu depends on both how it’s used in the recipe and the quality of the tofu. Soft and silken tofus are never pressed. Firm, and even extra-firm, tofu may contain a lot of moisture, and that can affect the outcome. It may not matter too much in some recipes, for instance baked tofu—you may just have to bake it longer. But the extra liquid that some tofu holds may make something like a filling or burger mix too wet. Pressing tofu expresses some of that water, making the tofu denser and more firm. It’s surprising how much liquid pools around some tofu during pressing.

At the restaurant, we almost exclusively use firm fresh tofu, and we usually press it for an hour or so before using it to make it even firmer. We put the blocks of tofu in a flat-bottomed baking pan and put another flat pan on top of it. Then we put weight in the top pan, usually a stack of plates. In our home kitchens, depending on the recipe and if we have firm fresh tofu, we often don’t press it at all. Sometimes we simply press it gently between our hands, held over the sink, and that’s fine for many uses.

If the tofu you have isn’t a firm fresh tofu, we suggest that you always press it. Whatever tofu you have, if you’re going to grate it, we recommend that you press it.

Place the block of tofu in a broad, flat bowl or casserole dish, put a plate on top of the tofu, and balance a heavy can or book on the plate. After the tofu has pressed for about 30 minutes, drain the liquid that has accumulated in the bowl. If you’re not yet ready to use the tofu or if you want to press it more, refrigerate it.

How long the tofu should be pressed depends on the tofu you have. To be safe, if a recipe needs dense, firm tofu, press it until no more liquid has accumulated ten minutes after you poured the water off. In our recipes that call for firm tofu, we tell you when pressing is probably not necessary, and when you need quite firm tofu, in which case, you should press it well.

We can’t think of an instance in which tofu would be pressed too long, even if it were all day or overnight. On the other hand, if you’re pressed for time, just press it until you’re ready for it and it will probably be ok. If you use the same kind of tofu regularly, you’ll come to know how firm or wet it is.

How to Grate Tofu

First, press the tofu until it’s dense, until no more liquid is being expressed. At home, we usually use a hand grater, the large-holed side. In a food processor, use the large-holed blade. Like with cheese, how much pressure you apply while grating will determine how large or fine the shred is.

VEGETABLE STOCK

Every day at the restaurant, we make vegetable stock for soups and stews. At home, most of us make soups with water or with one of our favorite convenience products: quart boxes of organic vegetable, mushroom, or mock chicken broth, like Imagine and Pacific brands. Still, there’s nothing as good as a fresh homemade vegetable stock. When we make it at home, we make a big pot and freeze the extra in quart freezer bags.

How to Make Vegetable Stock

Simmer chunks of vegetables in water for about an hour. Strain through a sieve or a colander and use right away or refrigerate in a closed container for up to 4 days or freeze for up to several months.

10 cups water

2 onions, peeled and quartered

2 potatoes, washed and thickly sliced

2 carrots, coarsely chopped

2 celery stalks, thickly sliced

2 garlic cloves, smashed

2 bay leaves

½ teaspoon salt

several whole black peppercorns

Other possibilities: sweet potatoes, zucchini or summer squash, mushrooms or mushroom stems, parsnips, apples, pears, parsley, fresh herbs.

Don’t include bell peppers or eggplant (they make the stock bitter), tomatoes or other acidic fruits or vegetables (they may curdle the soup), broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, or other strongly flavored vegetables or ones whose color bleeds, like beets and greens.

WASABI

Also known as “Japanese horseradish,” wasabi is a pungent root used as a condiment, most familiarly alongside sushi and sashimi. It is prepared and used in three forms: grated fresh, dried and ground into a powder, and made into a paste. True wasabi is difficult to grow outside of Japan, so what most Westerners know of wasabi is actually a mixture of horseradish, mustard, green food coloring or spinach powder, and a binding starch. Wasabi in powder and paste forms are usually located in the Asian section of supermarkets and in Asian food stores. Imported true wasabi powder is available online and at select gourmet food stores.

ZEST

In the world of food, zest is both noun and verb. As a noun, zest is the outer, colored part of citrus rind, not including its white pith. It gives a dish an intensified essence of fruit flavor. All citrus, as well as some lesser-known tropical family members, can be zested, which brings us to the verb. To zest is to cut, scrap, or grate the zest. It is not difficult to zest a piece of citrus, but it takes some care.

A handy tool is a Microplane grater, an ultrafine-toothed grater that is readily available in cooking stores and was originally only a carpenter’s rasp. You can also zest on the fine-holed side of a box grater. Gently and shallowly run the outside of a whole fruit across the grater, to remove the colored part of the peel, but not the bitter white pith. You can also thinly slice the peel with a vegetable peeler and then mince it.

The Moosewood Collective

From the upper left corner going clockwise: Joan Adler, Eliana Parra, David Hirsch, Susan Harville, Wynnie Stein, Neil Minnis, Laura Branca, Penny Goldin, Linda Dickinson, Ned Asta, Jenny Wang, Lisa Wichman, Nancy Lazarus, Sara Wade Robbins, Dave Dietrich. The four members who were unavailable when the photo was taken are Kip Wilcox, Maureen Vivino, Tony Del Plato, and Michael Blodgett.

Index

The index that appeared in the print version of this title does not match the pages in your eBook. Please use the search function on your eReading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.

acorn squash

Aegean Strudel

almonds

Almond Shortbread

Amaretto Pound Cake

Apricot-Almond Baklava

Baklava

Dukkah-crusted Fish

Flounder Rollatini

Andean Vegetable Stew on Quinoa

annatto oil/seeds

Antipasto Pita

apples

Apple Crisp

Confetti Kale Slaw

Cranberry Sauce

Sara’s Fresh Apple Spice Cake

apricots

Apricot-Almond Baklava

arborio rice

Armenian Roasted Eggplant Salad

artichokes

arugula

Autumn Salad Plate

Spring Salad Plate

Summer Salad Plate

Winter Salad Plate

Asian Greens

Asian Rice Salad

Asian Slaw

Asian-style Fish in Parchment

Asian-style Stuffed Portobellos

asparagus

Asparagus Pesto

Asparagus with Garlic and Oil

Asparagus-Leek Strudel

Cream of Asparagus Soup

embellished with pine nuts

Pasta Primavera

Pasta Tutto Giardino

Pasta with Asparagus and Lemon Sauce

Spring Egg Salad

Spring Salad Plate

Thai Noodle Salad

Autumn Salad Plate

avocados

Asian Rice Salad

Avocado Salsa

California Pita

Fish “Tostadas”

Gazpacho

Mexican Salad Plate

Simple Smooth Guacamole

back-to-the-land movement

baking guide

baking pans

baklava

Balsamic and Dijon Vinaigrette

bananas

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Quick Banana Chutney

Savannah Banana Pudding

Barbecue Sauce

Barbecued Tofu Pita

basil, fresh

Fish Basilico

Pesto Genovese

Tomato-Basil Sauce

White Bean and Basil Spread

beans. See also black beans; butter beans; green beans; kidney beans; pinto beans; red beans; white beans

black-eyed peas

cannellini beans

lima beans

pink beans

Béchamel Sauce

beets

Beet Salad

simply embellished

bell peppers, green. See also orange bell peppers; red bell peppers; yellow bell peppers

Andean Vegetable Stew on Quinoa

Avocado Salsa

Barbecued Tofu Pita

Caribbean Stew

Chilaquiles Casserole

Country Moussaka

Creamy Seafood Stew

Creole Red Beans

Cuban Black Beans

Curried Lentil Soup

Dilled Havarti Spread

Habas Verdes con Queso

Italian Polenta-stuffed Peppers

Jambalaya

Mexican Corn and Cheese Casserole

Mexican Salad Plate

Moroccan Vegetable Stew

Mulligatawny

Pasta Fazool

Pasta Tutto Giardino

Pizza Rustica

Quinoa-stuffed Roasted Peppers

Rice Salad with Herbs and Vegetables

Roasted, Toasted Ciabatta

Roasted Vegetables

simply embellished

Smooth Hot Sauce

Southwestern Bean Burgers

Tofu “Meat” Loaf

black beans

Black Bean Ful

Black Bean-Sweet Potato Burritos

Chilaquiles Casserole

Cuban Black Beans

Mexican Salad Plate

Navajo Stew

Our Best Chili

Peruvian Quinoa and Vegetable Salad

Southwestern Bean Burgers

Texas Barbecue Bean Soup

black olives

Antipasto Pita

Olivada

Pasta with Olives Piquant

Pizza Rustica

Black Rice Pilaf

black-eyed peas

BLTease Sandwich Spread

blue cheese

blueberries

Blueberry-Cherry Pie with Sour Cream Lattice Crust

Blueberry-Lemon Pound Cake

Fresh Berry Ricotta Moose

bok choy

broccoli

Broccoli with Walnut Dressing

Chopped Broccoli Salad

Gado Gado

Gingered Broccoli and Carrots

Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli

Mushroom Mapo Tofu

Pasta with Broccoli

Quick Sautéed Greens

Rumbledethumps

brown lentils

Curried Lentil Soup

Lentil Dhal

Lentil-Vegetable Sambar

brown rice

Annatto Rice

Asian Rice Salad

Black Rice Pilaf

Coconut Rice

Creamy Vegan Rice Pudding

Greek Spinach Rice Balls

Greek Stuffed Tomatoes

Indonesian Rice Salad

Mushroom Mapo Tofu

Red Rice Pilaf

Rice Salad with Herbs and Vegetables

Sesame Jeweled Rice

Spanish Rice

Wild Rice Pilaf

Zucchini-Feta Casserole

Brown Roux

brownies

Brussels sprouts

buckwheat groats

bulghur wheat

Bulghur Pilaf

Tabouli Salad

butter, tips on

butter beans

Basque Beans

Beans and Greens

Habas Verdes con Queso

buttercup squash

butternut squash

Curried Squash Roti

Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Stuffed Vegetables

Thai Butternut Squash Soup

Winter Curry

cabbage. See also red cabbage

Asian Slaw

Caribbean Stew

Chinese

Confetti Kale Slaw

Creamy Herbed Potato Soup

Gado Gado

Groundnut Stew

Lime-Cilantro Slaw

Potato-Cabbage Soup

Rumbledethumps

Southeast Asian Rolls

California Pita

cannellini beans

cantaloupe, domestic

capers

Caramelized Onion Gravy

Caramelized Onion Pie

Caramelized Onions

Caribbean Black-eyed Peas

Caribbean Red Beans

Caribbean Stew

carnaroli rice

carrots

Confetti Kale Slaw

Frosted Carrot Cake

Gingered Broccoli and Carrots

Japanese Carrot Dressing

Moroccan Carrot Salad with Currants

simply embellished

cashews

Coconut-Lime Cashew-crusted Fish

Curried Red Lentil Burgers

Indonesian Rice Salad

cauliflower

Lentil-Vegetable Sambar

Pasta al Cavalfiore

Roasted Cauliflower

Thai Vegetable Curry

Vegetable Stroganoff

Winter Curry

celery

Confetti Kale Slaw

chard

cheddar cheese

Andean Vegetable Stew on Quinoa

Asparagus-Leek Strudel

Autumn Salad Plate

BLTease Sandwich Spread

Caramelized Onion Pie

Cheese Sauce

Chilaquiles Casserole

Creamy Herbed Potato Soup

Creamy Mushroom Quesadillas

Fritada de Espinaca

Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli

Mexican Corn and Cheese Casserole

Mexican Salad Plate

Mushroom Frittata

Mushroom Piroshki

Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Stuffed Vegetables

Potato-Cheese Soup

Roasted, Toasted Ciabatta

Rumbledethumps

Saigon Sandwich

Spanish-style Tortilla

Spinach-Cheese Burritos

Stuffed Tomatoes

Sweet Potato Quesadillas

cheese. See also cheddar cheese; chèvre; feta cheese; Fontina cheese; Parmesan cheese; Pecorino Romano cheese; provolone cheese; ricotta cheese; Swiss cheese

blue cheese

cottage cheese

cream cheese

Gorgonzola

Gouda

Gruyère

Havarti

Jarlsburg

Monterey Jack

Pepper Jack

shredding and grating

cherries

Chocolate Confections

chèvre

Fig and Chèvre Spread

Herbed Chèvre Spread

Quinoa-stuffed Roasted Peppers

Spring Salad Plate

Stuffed Tomatoes

Winter Salad Plate

chickpeas

Antipasto Pita

Classic Hummus

Falafel Burgers

Moroccan Vegetable Stew

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Spicy Chipotle Hummus

chiffonade

Chilaquiles Casserole

chili

Chilled Cantaloupe-Amaretto Soup

Chinese cabbage

Chinese rice wine

chipotles in adobo sauce

Chipotle Aioli

Chipotle Cream

Moosewood’s Best Baked and Pan-fried Tofu

Navajo Stew

Roasted White and Sweet Potatoes with Chipotle Aioli

Spicy Chipotle Cornmeal-crusted Fish

Spicy Chipotle Hummus

Sweet Potato Salad with Chipotle Aioli

Texas Barbecue Bean Soup

chocolate

Chocolate Cups

Chocolate Ricotta Moose

Chocolate Truffles

Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate-Hazelnut Orange Pound Cake

Cowboy Cookies

Moosewood Fudge Brownies

Vegan Chocolate Cake

Vegan Chocolate Glaze

Chopped Broccoli Salad

ciabatta

cilantro

Cilantro-Yogurt Sauce

Lime-Cilantro Slaw

Our Favorite Tomato-Cilantro Salsa

Classic Hummus

Clean Fifteen list

coconut, shredded/grated, unsweetened

Coconut-Lime Cashew-crusted Fish

Date-Coconut-Lemon Chutney

coconut milk, unsweetened

Coconut Rice

Coconut-Lime Cashew-crusted Fish

Curried Lentil Soup

Gado Gado

Lentil Dhal

Lentil-Vegetable Sambar

Malaysian Fish

Mulligatawny

Spicy Caribbean Fish

Thai Butternut Squash Soup

Thai Noodle Salad

Thai Tofu Dressing

Thai Vegetable Curry

Vegan Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Winter Curry

coffee

collards

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Confetti Kale Slaw

cookies

Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cowboy Cookies

Italian Sesame Cookies

cooking guide

corn

Andean Vegetable Stew on Quinoa

Chilaquiles Casserole

on the cob

Corn Chowder

curried

Mexican Corn and Cheese Casserole

Navajo Stew

Our Best Chili

Peruvian Quinoa and Vegetable Salad

Southwestern Sweet Potato-Corn Soup

Summer Vegetable Curry

Sweet Potato Quesadillas

Texas Barbecue Bean Soup

cornbread

cornmeal. See also polenta

cottage cheese

Country Moussaka

Country-style Soft Tofu

couscous

Country Moussaka

Couscous

Moroccan Couscous Salad

Cowboy Cookies

Cranberry Sauce

cream cheese

Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream of Asparagus Soup

Cream of Spinach Soup

Creamy Herbed Potato Soup

Creamy Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Creamy Mushroom Quesadillas

Creamy Seafood Stew

Creamy Vegan Rice Pudding

cremini mushrooms

Eggplant-Mushroom Marsala

Mushroom-Sesame-Tofu Soup

Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Burgers

Pasta Tutto Giardino

Polenta Casserole

Creole Red Beans

Cuban Black Beans

cucumbers

Antipasto Pita

Armenian Roasted Eggplant Salad

California Pita

Cucumbers Vinaigrette

Cucumber-Tomato Salsa

Gazpacho

Sichuan Noodles

Tabouli Salad

Tomato, Cucumber, and Artichoke Heart Salad

Tzatziki

currants

Curried Lentil Soup

Curried Red Lentil Burgers

Curried Squash Roti

daikon

dates

Date-Coconut-Lemon Chutney

Date-Walnut-Orange Pound Cake

delicata squash

Deviled Egg Salad

Dewitt Mall, Ithaca, New York

Dilled Havarti Spread

Dilled Potatoes Vinaigrette

Dirty Dozen list

Dixie Tofu-Pecan Loaf

dressings

Balsamic and Dijon Vinaigrette

Cucumbers Vinaigrette

Dilled Potatoes Vinaigrette

Feta-Garlic Dressing

Ginger-Miso Dressing

Ira’s Lunch Pita

Japanese Carrot Dressing

Lemon Zest Dressing

Lemon-Tahini Dressing

Mediterranean Dressing

Moosewood’s Creamy Green Dressing

Moroccan Spice Dressing

Peanut Dressing

Pear-Thyme Dressing

Russian Dressing

Savory Hoisin Dressing

Shallot Vinaigrette

Thai Dressing

Thai Tofu Lunch Pita

Walnut Dressing

Dukkah-crusted Fish

edamame

Edamame-Wasabi Spread

eggplant

Armenian Roasted Eggplant Salad

Country Moussaka

Eggplant Mykonos

Eggplant-Mushroom Marsala

Indian Stuffed Eggplant

Moroccan Vegetable Stew

Ratatouille

Russian Eggplant Spread

eggs

Aegean Strudel

Asparagus-Leek Strudel

Caramelized Onion Pie

Deviled Egg Salad

Fritada de Espinaca

Mushroom Frittata

Spanish-style Tortilla

Spring Egg Salad

Vanilla Custard Sauce

Zucchini-Feta Casserole

endive

escarole

Falafel Burgers

Fast and Easy Simple Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

fennel

Armenian Roasted Eggplant Salad

Green Bean, Potato, and Fennel Ragout

Mediterranean Lentil Salad

Portuguese White Bean and Kale Soup

Rice Salad with Herbs and Vegetables

fenugreek seeds

feta cheese

Aegean Strudel

Country Moussaka

Feta-Garlic Dressing

Fritada de Espinaca

Greek Spinach Rice Balls

Greek Stuffed Tomatoes

Pasta with Broccoli

Pasta with Grape Tomatoes and Feta

Peppercorn and Lemon Marinated Feta

Spanakopita Bites

Winter Salad Plate

Zucchini-Feta Casserole

Fettuccine with Fresh Herbs

Fig and Chèvre Spread

fish

Asian-style Fish in Parchment

Coconut-Lime Cashew-crusted Fish

Creamy Seafood Stew

Dukkah-crusted Fish

Fish Basilico

Fish Cakes

Fish “Tostadas”

Flounder Florentine

Flounder Rollatini

Malaysian Fish

Not Fried Fish

Oven-poached Fish with Leeks and Wine

Pecan-crusted Fish

shopping for

Spicy Caribbean Fish

Spicy Chipotle Cornmeal-crusted Fish

Teriyaki Fish

Flounder Florentine

Flounder Rollatini

Fontina cheese

Creamy Herbed Potato Soup

Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Stuffed Vegetables

Potato Florentine Soup

Roasted, Toasted Ciabatta

Stuffed Tomatoes

food sensitivities

French green lentils

Lentil Dhal

Mediterranean Lentil Salad

French Onion Soup

Fresh Berry Ricotta Moose

Fresh Fruit Trifle

Fresh Strawberry Sauce

Fritada de Espinaca

Frosted Carrot Cake

Fruit Skewers

Gado Gado

Gazpacho

Ghanaian White Beans and Vegetables with Fiery Pepper Sauce

ginger, fresh

Ginger Marinade

Gingered Broccoli and Carrots

Ginger-Miso Dressing

Gingerbread

GMOs (genetically modified organisms)

Gorgonzola cheese

Gouda cheese

grapefruit

grapes

grating, tips for

gravy

Greek Lemon-Mint Beans and Vegetables

Greek Lemony Potatoes

Greek Spinach Rice Balls

Greek Stuffed Tomatoes

green beans

Green Bean, Potato, and Fennel Ragout

Green Beans with Lemon Zest Dressing

simply embellished

green chard

green olives

Antipasto Pita

Muffuletta

Pasta with Olives Piquant

Pizza Rustica

green peas

Indian Stuffed Eggplant

Pasta Primavera

Pasta Tutto Giardino

Pasta with Peas and Onions

Sesame Jeweled Rice

simply embellished

Winter Curry

greens

Asian Greens

Autumn Salad Plate

Beans and Greens

Mexican Salad Plate

mustard greens

Pasta with Beans and Greens

Quick Sautéed Greens

Spring Salad Plate

Winter Salad Plate

grits

groats

Groundnut Stew

Gruyère cheese

guacamole

Avocado Salsa

California Pita

Simple Smooth Guacamole

guava paste

Habas Verdes con Queso

Havarti cheese

hazelnuts

health concerns

Herbed Aioli

Herbed Chèvre Spread

Herbed Polenta

herbs, tips for

Hoisin Dipping Sauce

hot peppers. See also chipotles in adobo sauce

amounts in our recipes

Andean Vegetable Stew on Quinoa

Black Bean-Sweet Potato Burritos

Caribbean Red Beans

Caribbean Stew

Gado Gado

Ghanaian White Beans and Vegetables with Fiery Pepper Sauce

Habas Verdes con Queso

Jerk Sauce

Lentil-Vegetable Sambar

Malaysian Fish

Mango Salsa

Mexican Salad Plate

Mulligatawny

Our Best Chili

Our Favorite Tomato-Cilantro Salsa

Smooth Hot Sauce

Sopa de Lima

Southwestern Sweet Potato-Corn Soup

Spanish Rice

Spicy Caribbean Fish

Summer Vegetable Curry

Sweet Potato Quesadillas

Thai Noodle Salad

Tomatillo Sauce

West African Peanut Soup

hummus

Indian Stuffed Eggplant

Indonesian Rice Salad

Ira’s Lunch Pita

Italian Polenta-stuffed Peppers

Italian Sesame Cookies

Jambalaya

Japanese Carrot Dressing

Japanese horseradish. See wasabi

Jarlsburg cheese

Jerk Sauce

kale

Caribbean Red Beans

Caribbean Stew

Confetti Kale Slaw

embellished with cranberries

Pasta Fazool

Polenta Casserole

Portuguese White Bean and Kale Soup

Quick Sautéed Greens

kasha

Kasha and Mushroom Pilaf

kidney beans

Caribbean Red Beans

Creole Red Beans

Mexican Salad Plate

Our Best Chili

Red Bean and Walnut Spread

King Arthur unbleached white flour

kiwi

kombu seaweed

lasagna

leeks

Asparagus-Leek Strudel

Basque Beans

Creamy Herbed Potato Soup

Green Bean, Potato, and Fennel Ragout

Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Stuffed Vegetables

Oven-poached Fish with Leeks and Wine

Rumbledethumps

Vichyssoise

legumes. See beans; black-eyed peas; chickpeas; green peas; lentils

lemon juice/zest

Date-Coconut-Lemon Chutney

Greek Lemon-Mint Beans and Vegetables

Greek Lemony Potatoes

Green Beans with Lemon Zest Dressing

Herbed Aioli

Ira’s Lunch Pita

Lemon Zest Dressing

Lemon-Herb Baked Tofu

Lemon-Tahini Dressing

Low-fat Lemon Pudding Cake

Pasta with Asparagus and Lemon Sauce

Pasta with Zucchini and Lemon

Peppercorn and Lemon Marinated Feta

Pistachio-Lemon Pound Cake

lentils. See also brown lentils; French green lentils; red lentils

how to cook

tips for

lettuce

Autumn Salad Plate

Fish “Tostadas”

Mexican Salad Plate

Spring Salad Plate

Winter Salad Plate

lima beans

lime juice/wedges/zest

Coconut-Lime Cashew-crusted Fish

Lime-Cilantro Slaw

Lime-Dijon Aioli

Mango Aioli

Spicy Caribbean Fish

Spicy Chipotle Cornmeal-crusted Fish

Thai Butternut Squash Soup

Thai Tofu Lunch Pita

Thai Vegetable Curry

locally-grown food

Low-fat Lemon Pudding Cake

Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli

Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association

Malaysian Fish

mangoes

marsala

meat loaf

meatballs

Mediterranean Burger

Mediterranean Dressing

Mediterranean Lentil Salad

Mexican Corn and Cheese Casserole

Mexican Salad Plate

microplane grater

mint

miso

Miso Soup

Monterey Burger

Monterey Jack cheese

Moosewood Collective

Moosewood Fudge Brownies

Moosewood Restaurant, Ithaca, New York

origins

Moosewood Restaurant’s House Cornbread

Moosewood’s Best Baked and Pan-fried Tofu

Moosewood’s Classic Tofu Burgers

Moosewood’s Creamy Green Dressing

Moroccan Carrot Salad with Currants

Moroccan Couscous Salad

Moroccan Spice Dressing

Moroccan Vegetable Stew

mozzarella cheese

Muffuletta

Pasta al Cavalfiore

Pizza Rustica

Polenta Casserole

Quick Uncooked Tomato Sauce for Pasta

Roasted, Toasted Ciabatta

Spinach Lasagna

Summer Salad Plate

Muffuletta

Mulligatawny

mushrooms. See also cremini mushrooms; portobello mushrooms; shiitake mushrooms; white mushrooms

Creamy Mushroom Quesadillas

Kasha and Mushroom Pilaf

Mushroom Frittata

Mushroom Gravy

Mushroom Piroshki

Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Stuffed Vegetables

Quinoa-stuffed Roasted Peppers

Roasted Vegetables

simply embellished

Southeast Asian Rolls

Vegetable Stroganoff

Vegetable-Tofu Lasagna

mustard greens

Navajo Stew

nectarines, imported

Not Fried Fish

nuts. See also almonds; cashews; hazelnuts; peanuts/peanut butter; pecans; pine nuts; walnuts

how to toast

Pistachio-Lemon Pound Cake

Spiced Nuts

Three Pestos

oats

Apple Crisp

Cowboy Cookies

Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Burgers

Vanilla Cheesecake

okra

Old Bay Seasoning

Old World recipes

olives. See black olives; green olives

onions

Caramelized Onion Gravy

Caramelized Onion Pie

Caramelized Onions

French Onion Soup

Pasta with Peas and Onions

orange bell peppers

Eggplant-Mushroom Marsala

Gado Gado

Peruvian Quinoa and Vegetable Salad

orange juice/slices/zest

Baklava

Caribbean Black-eyed Peas

Cranberry Sauce

Indonesian Rice Salad

Our Favorite Pound Cakes

Simple Sweet and Sour Sauce

organic food

Our Best Chili

Our Favorite All-Purpose Piecrust

Our Favorite Pound Cakes

Our Favorite Tomato-Cilantro Salsa

Oven-poached Fish with Leeks and Wine

pan sizes

paprika, varieties of

parchment paper

Parmesan cheese

Country Moussaka

Creamy Herbed Potato Soup

Eggplant-Mushroom Marsala

Fettuccine with Fresh Herbs

Fish Basilico

Flounder Rollatini

French Onion Soup

Fritada de Espinaca

Italian Polenta-stuffed Peppers

Pasta Aglio E Olio

Pasta al Cavalfiore

Pasta Fazool

Pasta Primavera

Pasta Tutto Giardino

Pasta with Asparagus and Lemon Sauce

Pasta with Beans and Greens

Pasta with Broccoli

Pasta with Chard

pestos

Pizza Rustica

Polenta, Cheesy and Vegan

Polenta Casserole

Potato Florentine Soup

Quick Uncooked Tomato Sauce for Pasta

Risotto Milanese

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Spanish-style Tortilla

Spinach Lasagna

Stuffed Tomatoes

pasta

Fettuccine with Fresh Herbs

how to cook

Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli

Pasta Aglio E Olio

Pasta al Cavalfiore

Pasta Al Vesuvio

Pasta Fazool

Pasta Primavera

Pasta Tutto Giardino

Pasta with Asparagus and Lemon Sauce

Pasta with Beans and Greens

Pasta with Broccoli

Pasta with Chard

Pasta with Grape Tomatoes and Feta

Pasta with Olives Piquant

Pasta with Peas and Onions

Pasta with Zucchini and Lemon

Quick Uncooked Tomato Sauce for Pasta

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce on

Sichuan Noodles

pastry flour

peaches

peanuts/peanut butter

Asian-style Stuffed Portobellos

Gado Gado

Groundnut Stew

Indonesian Rice Salad

Peanut Dressing

Sichuan Noodles

Tofukabobs with Peanut Sauce

West African Peanut Soup

pears

Pear-Thyme Dressing

peas. See black-eyed peas; chickpeas; green peas; sugar snap peas; sweet peas

pecans

Dixie Tofu-Pecan Loaf

Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Burgers

Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Stuffed Vegetables

Pecan Crumble Topping

Pecan-Cardamom Pound Cake

Pecan-crusted Fish

Red Rice Pilaf

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Southern Nut Pie Eudora

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble

Pecorino Romano cheese

Eggplant-Mushroom Marsala

Fettuccine with Fresh Herbs

Fritada de Espinaca

Pasta Aglio E Olio

Pasta Fazool

Pasta Primavera

Pasta with Beans and Greens

Pasta with Broccoli

Pasta with Chard

Pasta with Peas and Onions

Pasta with Zucchini and Lemon

Quick Uncooked Tomato Sauce for Pasta

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

peperoncini

Pepper Jack cheese

Peppercorn and Lemon Marinated Feta

peppers. See bell peppers; hot peppers

Peruvian Quinoa and Vegetable Salad

pesticides

Pesto Genovese

pie plates, about

pine nuts

asparagus with

Greek Stuffed Tomatoes

Olivada

Pasta Al Vesuvio

pineapple/pineapple juice

Frosted Carrot Cake

Fruit Skewers

Groundnut Stew

Indonesian Rice Salad

Simple Sweet and Sour Sauce

pink beans

pinto beans

Chilaquiles Casserole

Pasta Fazool

Pasta with Beans and Greens

Refried Beans

Texas Barbecue Bean Soup

Pistachio-Lemon Pound Cake

Pizza Rustica

polenta

Herbed Polenta

Italian Polenta-stuffed Peppers

Polenta, Cheesy and Vegan

Polenta Casserole

Polenta Croutons

Polenta Cutlets

Vegan Polenta Plus

portobello mushrooms

Asian-style Stuffed Portobellos

Mushroom Mapo Tofu

Roasted, Toasted Ciabatta

Portuguese White Bean and Kale Soup

Potage Jacqueline (Creamy Sweet Potato Soup)

potatoes. See also sweet potatoes

Corn Chowder

Cream of Asparagus Soup

Cream of Spinach Soup

Creamy Herbed Potato Soup

Creamy Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Creamy Seafood Stew

Curried Lentil Soup

Dilled Potatoes Vinaigrette

Fish Cakes

Gado Gado

Greek Lemony Potatoes

Green Bean, Potato, and Fennel Ragout

Indian Stuffed Eggplant

Mulligatawny

Mushroom Frittata

Mushroom Piroshki

Portuguese White Bean and Kale Soup

Potato Florentine Soup

Potato-Cabbage Soup

Potato-Cheese Soup

Red Lentil Soup

Roasted Vegetables

Roasted White and Sweet Potatoes with Chipotle Aioli

Rumbledethumps

simply embellished

Spanish-style Tortilla

Vegan Mashed White Potatoes

Vichyssoise

pound cakes

provolone cheese

Italian Polenta-stuffed Peppers

Muffuletta

Pasta with Beans and Greens

Polenta Casserole

Roasted, Toasted Ciabatta

pumpkin/pumpkin seeds

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Seed Pesto

Puttanesca Sauce

Quick Banana Chutney

Quick Sautéed Greens

Quick Tomato Sauce

Quick Uncooked Tomato Sauce for Pasta

quinoa

Andean Vegetable Stew on Quinoa

Curried Red Lentil Burgers

Peruvian Quinoa and Vegetable Salad

Quinoa-stuffed Roasted Peppers

rainbow chard

raisins

Ratatouille

recipes, about our

red beans

Caribbean Red Beans

Chilaquiles Casserole

Creole Red Beans

Navajo Stew

Southwestern Bean Burgers

Texas Barbecue Bean Soup

red bell peppers

Antipasto Pita

Armenian Roasted Eggplant Salad

Asian Rice Salad

Asian-style Fish in Parchment

Asian-style Stuffed Portobellos

Black Rice Pilaf

BLTease Sandwich Spread

Curried Red Lentil Burgers

Curried Squash Roti

Deviled Egg Salad

Dixie Tofu-Pecan Loaf

Eggplant Mykonos

Eggplant-Mushroom Marsala

Falafel Burgers

Gado Gado

Ghanaian White Beans and Vegetables with Fiery Pepper Sauce

Greek Lemon-Mint Beans and Vegetables

Groundnut Stew

Indian Stuffed Eggplant

Indonesian Rice Salad

Lentil-Vegetable Sambar

Moroccan Couscous Salad

Navajo Stew

Our Best Chili

Pasta Primavera

Peruvian Quinoa and Vegetable Salad

Ratatouille

Red Lentil Soup

Red Pepper Butter

Red Rice Pilaf

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Saigon Sandwich

Sesame Jeweled Rice

Southwestern Sweet Potato-Corn Soup

Spring Egg Salad

Summer Vegetable Curry

Sweet Potato Salad with Chipotle Aioli

Texas Barbecue Bean Soup

Thai Noodle Salad

Vegetable Stroganoff

red cabbage

Confetti Kale Slaw

Fast and Easy Simple Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

Lime-Cilantro Slaw

Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

red lentils

Curried Red Lentil Burgers

Red Lentil Soup

red peppers. See red bell peppers

Red Rice Pilaf

Refried Beans

Reuben Burger

rhubarb strawberry crumble

rice. See also brown rice

how to cook

Risotto Milanese

Thai black rice

types of

rice paper wrappers

rice wine (shao hsing)

ricotta cheese

Chocolate Ricotta Moose

Fresh Berry Ricotta Moose

Pasta with Broccoli

Pasta with Chard

Pizza Rustica

Spinach Lasagna

Risotto Milanese

Roasted, Toasted Ciabatta

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Roasted Cauliflower

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Roasted Vegetables

Roasted White and Sweet Potatoes with Chipotle Aioli

ruby chard

Rumbledethumps

Russian Dressing

Russian Eggplant Spread

Saigon Sandwich

sake

salsa

Avocado Salsa

Cucumber-Tomato Salsa

Mango Salsa

Our Favorite Tomato-Cilantro Salsa

Sara’s Fresh Apple Spice Cake

Savannah Banana Pudding

Savory Hoisin Dressing

scallops

Seasoned Artichokes

seaweed

sesame seeds/oil

Italian Sesame Cookies

Mushroom-Sesame-Tofu Soup

Sesame Jeweled Rice

spinach with

Shallot Vinaigrette

shao hsing (rice wine)

shiitake mushrooms

Miso Soup

Mushroom Mapo Tofu

Thai Noodle Salad

shredding, tips for

shrimp

Sichuan Noodles

Simple Smooth Guacamole

Simple Sweet and Sour Sauce

slaws

Smooth Hot Sauce

social justice

Sopa de Lima

soup, servings per amount of

sour cream

Blueberry-Cherry Pie with Sour Cream Lattice Crust

Gingerbread

Vanilla Cheesecake

Vegetable Stroganoff

Southeast Asian Rolls

Southern Nut Pie Eudora

Southwestern Bean Burgers

Southwestern Sweet Potato-Corn Soup

Spanakopita Bites

Spanish Rice

Spanish-style Tortilla

Spiced Nuts

spices, tips for

Spicy Caribbean Fish

Spicy Chipotle Cornmeal-crusted Fish

Spicy Chipotle Hummus

spinach

Aegean Strudel

Asian Greens

Autumn Salad Plate

Basque Beans

Cream of Spinach Soup

Creamy Herbed Potato Soup

Eggplant Mykonos

embellished with sesame seeds

Flounder Florentine

Fritada de Espinaca

Gado Gado

Greek Spinach Rice Balls

Mexican Salad Plate

Miso Soup

Moosewood’s Creamy Green Dressing

Pasta Fazool

Polenta Casserole

Potato Florentine Soup

Spanakopita Bites

Spinach Béchamel

Spinach Lasagna

Spinach Raita

Spinach-Cheese Burritos

Spring Salad Plate

Summer Vegetable Curry

Thai Butternut Squash Soup

Tofu-Spinach Borekas

Vegan Spinach-Artichoke Heart Dip

Vegetable-Tofu Lasagna

Winter Salad Plate

Spring Egg Salad

Spring Salad Plate

springform pans

sprouts

stock, vegetable, homemade

strawberries

Fresh Berry Ricotta Moose

Fresh Strawberry Sauce

Fruit Skewers

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble

Stuffed Tomatoes

sugar snap peas

embellished with orange and mustard

Gado Gado

Summer Salad Plate

summer squash

Groundnut Stew

lemony

Summer Vegetable Curry

sustainability

Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

sweet peas

sweet potatoes

Black Bean-Sweet Potato Burritos

Caribbean Stew

Groundnut Stew

Lentil-Vegetable Sambar

Moroccan Vegetable Stew

Navajo Stew

Potage Jacqueline (Creamy Sweet Potato Soup)

Roasted Vegetables

Roasted White and Sweet Potatoes with Chipotle Aioli

Southwestern Sweet Potato-Corn Soup

Sweet Potato Quesadillas

Sweet Potato Salad with Chipotle Aioli

Thai Vegetable Curry

Vegan Mashed Sweet Potatoes

West African Peanut Soup

Winter Curry

Swiss cheese

French Onion Soup

Muffuletta

Reuben Burger

Russian Dressing

Spinach-Cheese Burritos

Tempeh Reuben

Tabouli Salad

tahini

tamarind concentrate

tempeh

Tempeh Reuben

Teriyaki Fish

Teriyaki Sauce

Texas Barbecue Bean Soup

Thai Baked Tofu

Thai black rice

Thai Butternut Squash Soup

Thai curry paste

Thai Dressing

Thai Noodle Salad

Thai Tofu Lunch Pita

Thai Vegetable Curry

tofu

Asian Rice Salad

Asian-style Stuffed Portobellos

Barbecued Tofu Pita

BLTease Sandwich Spread

Country-style Soft Tofu

Dixie Tofu-Pecan Loaf

Falafel Burgers

Lemon-Herb Baked Tofu

meat loaf

Meatballs

Miso Soup

Moosewood’s Best Baked and Pan-fried Tofu

Moosewood’s Classic Tofu Burgers

Mushroom Mapo Tofu

Mushroom-Sesame-Tofu Soup

Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Burgers

Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Stuffed Vegetables

preparation of

Saigon Sandwich

Thai Baked Tofu

Thai Tofu Lunch Pita

Tofalafels

Tofu Kan-style Baked Tofu

Tofu “Meat” Loaf

Tofukabobs with Peanut Sauce

Tofu-Spinach Borekas

Two Tofu Salad Pitas

Vegetable-Tofu Lasagna

Tomatillo Sauce

tomatoes

Andean Vegetable Stew on Quinoa

Antipasto Pita

Avocado Salsa

California Pita

Caribbean Red Beans

Caribbean Stew

Creole Red Beans

Cucumber-Tomato Salsa

Eggplant Mykonos

Eggplant-Mushroom Marsala

Gazpacho

Greek Stuffed Tomatoes

Green Bean, Potato, and Fennel Ragout

Groundnut Stew

Habas Verdes con Queso

Jambalaya

Mango Salsa

Mediterranean Lentil Salad

Mexican Salad Plate

Moroccan Vegetable Stew

Mulligatawny

Mushroom-Sesame-Tofu Soup

Navajo Stew

Our Best Chili

Our Favorite Tomato-Cilantro Salsa

Pasta al Cavalfiore

Pasta Fazool

Pasta Primavera

Pasta Tutto Giardino

Pasta with Beans and Greens

Pasta with Grape Tomatoes and Feta

Peruvian Quinoa and Vegetable Salad

Pizza Rustica

Polenta Casserole

Portuguese White Bean and Kale Soup

Puttanesca Sauce

Quick Tomato Sauce

Quick Uncooked Tomato Sauce for Pasta

Ratatouille

Red Lentil Soup

Roasted, Toasted Ciabatta

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Russian Dressing

Smooth Hot Sauce

Sopa de Lima

Spicy Caribbean Fish

Spinach Lasagna

Stuffed Tomatoes

Summer Salad Plate

Summer Vegetable Curry

Tabouli Salad

Tempeh Reuben

Texas Barbecue Bean Soup

Thai Vegetable Curry

Tomato, Cucumber, and Artichoke Heart Salad

Tomato-Basil Sauce

Vegetable Stroganoff

Vegetable-Tofu Lasagna

West African Peanut Soup

Winter Curry

Zucchini-Feta Casserole

truffles

Tzatziki

Vanilla Cheesecake

Vanilla Custard Sauce

vegan

Creamy Vegan Rice Pudding

Polenta, Cheesy and Vegan

Vegan Chocolate Cake

Vegan Chocolate Glaze

Vegan Cornbread

Vegan Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Vegan Mashed White Potatoes

Vegan Polenta Plus

Vegan Spinach-Artichoke Heart Dip

vegetables

Andean Vegetable Stew on Quinoa

Ghanaian White Beans and Vegetables with Fiery Pepper Sauce

Greek Lemon-Mint Beans and Vegetables

greens

Moroccan Vegetable Stew

Not So Plain Green Vegetables

Roasted Vegetables

simply embellished

stock/broth

Thai Vegetable Curry

tips for cutting

Vegetable Stroganoff

Vegetable-Tofu Lasagna

Vichyssoise

walnuts

Baklava

Broccoli with Walnut Dressing

Chocolate Confections

Date-Walnut-Orange Pound Cake

Fig and Chèvre Spread

Frosted Carrot Cake

Greek Spinach Rice Balls

Moosewood’s Classic Tofu Burgers

Muffuletta

Mushroom Mapo Tofu

Red Bean and Walnut Spread

Sara’s Fresh Apple Spice Cake

Tofu “Meat” Loaf

Vanilla Cheesecake

Walnut Dressing

Winter Salad Plate

Zucchini-Feta Casserole

wasabi

Asian Rice Salad

Edamame-Wasabi Spread

watermelon

wehani rice

West African Peanut Soup

wheat. See bulghur wheat

white beans

Ghanaian White Beans and Vegetables with Fiery Pepper Sauce

Greek Lemon-Mint Beans and Vegetables

Pasta Fazool

Portuguese White Bean and Kale Soup

Texas Barbecue Bean Soup

Vegan Spinach-Artichoke Heart Dip

White Bean and Basil Spread

white mushrooms

Creamy Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Eggplant-Mushroom Marsala

Mushroom-Sesame-Tofu Soup

Mushroom-Tofu-Pecan Burgers

Pasta Tutto Giardino

Polenta Casserole

Wild Rice Pilaf

Winter Curry

Winter Salad Plate

winter squash

Autumn Salad Plate

Curried Squash Roti

simply embellished

yellow bell peppers

Armenian Roasted Eggplant Salad

Asian-style Fish in Parchment

Eggplant-Mushroom Marsala

Gado Gado

Peruvian Quinoa and Vegetable Salad

Ratatouille

yellow squash

Andean Vegetable Stew on Quinoa

Creamy Seafood Stew

Moroccan Vegetable Stew

Pasta Tutto Giardino

yogurt

Chipotle Cream

Cilantro-Yogurt Sauce

Spinach Raita

Tzatziki

zest. See also lemon juice/zest; lime juice/wedges/zest; orange juice/slices/zest

zucchini

Aegean Strudel

Andean Vegetable Stew on Quinoa

Country Moussaka

Creamy Seafood Stew

Ghanaian White Beans and Vegetables with Fiery Pepper Sauce

Greek Lemon-Mint Beans and Vegetables

Groundnut Stew

Jambalaya

Moroccan Vegetable Stew

Pasta Primavera

Pasta Tutto Giardino

Pasta with Zucchini and Lemon

Peruvian Quinoa and Vegetable Salad

Ratatouille

Roasted Vegetables

Summer Vegetable Curry

Zucchini-Feta Casserole

The Moosewood Restaurant Cookbook Library

New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant

Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant (James Beard Nominee)

Moosewood Restaurant Kitchen Garden

Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home (James Beard Award Winner)

Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for a Crowd (James Beard Award Nominee)

Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites (James Beard Award Winner)

Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts

Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special

Moosewood Restaurant New Classics (James Beard Award Nominee)

Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates (James Beard Award Nominee)

Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers

Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health

MOOSEWOOD RESTAURANT FAVORITES. Copyright © 2013 by Moosewood, Inc. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

“Southern Nut Pie Eudora,” has been excerpted from New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant, copyright © 1987 by Moosewood, Inc., with permission from Ten Speed Press, 999 Harrison Street, Berkeley, CA 94707.

Photographs of Moosewood Restaurant and The Moosewood Collective by Justin Zoll

www.stmartins.com

ISBN 978-1-250-00625-7 (paper over board)

ISBN 978-1-4668-3466-8 (e-book)

First Edition: September 2013

eISBN 9781466834668

First eBook edition: August 2013