Fast, Fresh & Green (11 page)

For variety, I’ve included some recipes that are made in a nonstick skillet (a medium 10-in/25-cm size or a large 12-in/30.5-cm size) and others that require my truly favorite pan, the 10-in/25-cm straight-sided sauté pan. You don’t have to spend a ton of money on a nonstick skillet with the latest hi-tech finish, but you do want something relatively hefty, with an aluminum base or core for good heat conductivity. If you want to splurge on something that will really last, you should check out Swiss Diamond skillets and the Anolon Advanced line of pans.

This is a very streamlined recipe, even more so than some of the other foundation recipes in this book. It’s really just a starter kit to build on. Straightforward though this recipe is, don’t miss the beauty here—hands-on sautéing is one of the quickest techniques in a cook’s repertoire for preparing vegetables on a weeknight.

The other nice thing about a sauté is that it works with lots of different kinds of vegetables. For deeper flavor, I recommend including a little onion in your sauté, though I’ve made it optional in this recipe. I wouldn’t use the onion with super-quick-cooking vegetables like collards or spinach unless you give it a head start, as it won’t have enough time to soften up. On the other hand, when combining onions with longer-cooking vegetables, you should cut the onion into decent-size pieces (like 1-in/2.5-cm dice or ½-in-/1.25-cm-thick slices) so that it doesn’t overcook before the other vegetables are done. As it browns, the onion will give off its magical flavor, which generally enhances anything. If onions aren’t your thing, you could replace them with bell peppers, which work in a similarly aromatic way because of their high moisture content and bold flavor. You can also combine two or more vegetables in one sauté if their cooking times are similar.

1 TBSP EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

1 TBSP UNSALTED BUTTER

12 OZ TO 1 LB/340 TO 455 G YOUR CHOICE OF VEGETABLE
trimmed; see the table on
page 81
for choices and how to cut them
)

1 SMALL YELLOW, RED, OR SWEET ONION (
2 to 3 oz/60 to 85 g), cut into slightly larger pieces than the vegetable (optional)

¾ TSP KOSHER SALT

½ TO 1 TSP FRESH LEMON OR LIME JUICE

FRESHLY GROUND BLACK PEPPER

2 TSP FLAVORED BUTTER
(
page 29
; optional
)

1
In a large (12-in/30.5-cm) nonstick skillet
, heat the olive oil and ½ Tbsp of the butter over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the vegetable, the onion (if using), and the salt; toss well and raise the heat to medium-high. (If the pan seems crowded, turn up the heat to high.) Cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are softened and well browned, 2 to 15 minutes, depending on the vegetable (consult the table on
page 81
), or until wilted, 1 to 4 minutes, in the case of collard greens, spinach, and Swiss chard. Turn down the heat to low, add the remaining ½ Tbsp butter, and stir until melted. Sprinkle the lemon juice over all, stir again, season with pepper, stir, and serve. Alternatively, skip the ½ Tbsp butter and lemon juice and use 2 tsp of one of the flavored butters on
page 29
.

Serves 3 to 4

This is one of my favorite recipes in the book. Use this recipe as a template and feel free to make substitutions. Instead of cilantro, use mint or basil (or a combination); replace the lime zest with lemon; or try a combination of ground cumin and coriander in place of the ancho chile powder. You could also use a little diced bell pepper in place of some of the onion, or add ½ tsp of minced serrano pepper to the onions.

2 TBSP UNSALTED BUTTER

1 TBSP EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

1½ CUPS/165 G SMALL-DICED YELLOW ONION (
1 medium-large onion), preferably sweet

1 TSP KOSHER SALT,
and more if needed

2 SLIGHTLY HEAPING CUPS/315 G FRESH CORN KERNELS (
from 4 medium ears; see tip on
page 67
)

½ TSP ANCHO CHILE POWDER

1 TSP FINELY GRATED LIME ZEST

FRESHLY GROUND BLACK PEPPER

¼ LIME

3 TBSP CHOPPED FRESH CILANTRO

1
Melt 1 Tbsp of the butter
with the olive oil in a 10-in/25-cm sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and ½ tsp of the salt, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Uncover, turn up the heat to medium, and sauté, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, 4 to 5 minutes more.

2
Add the remaining 1 Tbsp butter
, the corn kernels, and the remaining ½ tsp salt. Cook, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, until the corn is tender but still slightly toothy to the bite, 4 to 5 minutes. (It will begin to intensify in color, glisten, and be somewhat shrunken in size.) Add the chile powder and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in the lime zest and remove the pan from the heat. Let the corn sauté sit undisturbed for 2 minutes. Stir again, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

3
Season the sauté
with a few generous grinds of pepper and a good squeeze of the lime. Stir in half of the cilantro. Let sit for another couple of minutes if you have time. Stir and season with more salt, pepper, or lime juice. Stir in the remaining cilantro just before serving.

Serves 4

Sautéed shiitakes are so flavorful that they act like aromatics in this dish, lending the spinach their intensity. I sauté them in butter, not oil, because that buttery-mushroomy flavor and texture do great things with the silky spinach. A little touch of Asian seasonings—sesame oil and soy sauce—at the end means there’s a slightly nutty and salty flavor, too. If you don’t like Asian flavors, no worries. There is another, more straightforward spinach sauté in this chapter. Spinach is ultra-speedy to cook, making it a weeknight no-brainer. This dish, in fact, comes together in under 20 minutes; washing and spin-drying the spinach is the most time-consuming part.

This recipe feeds just two people (or one for an all veg-dinner), and would be just the thing with a couple of seared juicy rib-eyes.

2 TBSP UNSALTED BUTTER

3½ OZ/100 G SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS,
stems removed, caps thinly sliced (about ¼ in/6.5 mm thick)

¹
/
₃
CUP/21 G THICKLY SLICED (
about ½-in/1.25-cm
) SCALLIONS (
white and light green parts; about 4 medium
)

¼ TSP KOSHER SALT

4 CUPS/115 G LIGHTLY PACKED STEMMED FRESH SPINACH LEAVES,
washed and lightly dried

1 TSP LOW-SODIUM SOY SAUCE

¼ TSP SESAME OIL

1
In a medium (9- to 10-in/23- to 25-cm) nonstick skillet
over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Add the shiitakes and scallions and season with the salt. Toss and stir to coat with the butter. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shiitakes are shrunken and very lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. (Don’t brown too much, as shiitakes tend to toughen.) Add the spinach and the soy sauce and stir until all of the spinach is wilted, and it’s well combined with the mushrooms, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat, drizzle the sesame oil over the vegetables, stir, and serve.

Serves 2

This is, without a doubt, the easiest and quickest recipe in this book. The reason is that really good, really fresh sugar snap peas, with their sweet spring flavor and super-crunchy texture, need barely more than a turn in a hot sauté pan to be the perfect side dish. Yet there’s a reason you often see peas with ham—all that sweetness benefits from a salty contrast. Salami is a fun and unexpected twist on this combination, since it’s a slightly more flavorful cured pork product. It also gets delightfully crispy in the pan, as the peas brown and take on a deeper flavor, too. The payoff’s big here for very little work.

This would be nice on one of those still-cold spring nights, served with creamy polenta snuggled up next to a piece of sear-roasted fish. Genoa salami is very flavorful and widely available (I like Applegate Farms); just make sure you buy it thinly sliced.

1 OZ/30 G VERY THINLY SLICED GENOA SALAMI

1 TSP EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

8 OZ/225 G SUGAR SNAP PEAS,
tails removed

¹
/
₈
TSP KOSHER SALT

1
Stack the salami slices
and cut them across into ¼-in/6.5-mm-wide strips. Pull the strips apart and spread them out in one layer on the cutting board (they’re much easier to add to the pan when they’re not clumped together).

2
In a large (12-in/30.5-cm) nonstick skillet
, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot (it will loosen up and spread out), add the sugar snap peas and salt. Toss well. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the peas turn bright green, blister, and begin to turn a very light golden brown in spots, about 3 minutes. Add the salami strips and toss well.

3
Continue to cook
, stirring occasionally, until the peas are browned in spots on both sides and the salami strips have shrunken, turned a darker brown color, and feel crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. (The salami will probably be crisp on the edges but still somewhat pliable after 3 minutes. You can stop at that point if you don’t want to cook the peas further, but I like the texture of the fully crisp salami, and the peas stay crisp even when cooked more.) Transfer to a serving platter or dinner plates.

Serves 3 to 4

Carrots and olives were made to go together—I guess it’s kind of a sweet and salty thing. Whatever it is, I love how it works in this gutsy sauté. Sometimes when I make this, I eat the whole thing myself. But if you’d like to share, serve the carrots with lamb chops rubbed with a Middle Eastern blend of spices like cumin, coriander, and cinnamon.

For this sauté, it’s not necessary to fuss too much over the size of the carrot sticks. A little variation in size is no big deal. I usually wind up with a few extra-thin sticks that get a little bit blackened—and I love them.

By the way, I often make this recipe without the almonds. Either way, it’s tasty; you could save the almonds for dressing this up a bit when you serve it to company.

2 TBSP EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

1 TSP RED-WINE VINEGAR

½ TSP DIJON MUSTARD

KOSHER SALT

1 LB/455 G CARROTS,
peeled cut into sticks ¼ to
³
/
₈
in/6.5 to 9.5 mm thick and 2 to 3 in/ 5 to 7.5 cm long

1 TSP MINCED FRESH GARLIC

2 TBSP FINELY CHOPPED PITTED KALAMATA OLIVES

2 TBSP CHOPPED FRESH MINT

2 TBSP COARSELY CHOPPED TOASTED ALMONDS
(optional; see tip on
page 36
)

1
In a small bowl
, combine 2 tsp of the olive oil, the red-wine vinegar, mustard, and a pinch of salt. Whisk until emulsified.

2
In a large (12-in/30.5-cm) nonstick skillet
, heat the remaining 1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot (it will loosen up), add the carrots and ½ tsp salt and toss well. Turn up the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring and tossing occasionally with tongs, until the carrots have lost their stiffness and are all nicely browned on at least one side (they will be a deep amber color with browning in spots), 10 to 12 minutes. (If they’re browning too quickly, turn the heat down to medium.) Add the garlic, stir, and cook until fragrant and well combined, about 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat and carefully add the vinegar mixture (it will sputter), stirring immediately to distribute well. Add the olives and stir gently until well combined. Add half of the mint and stir again. Transfer to a serving platter or dinner plates and serve garnished with the remaining mint and the almonds, if desired.