Vegan Southwestern Spelt and Squash Bowl

It finally feels like fall, and after a week of vacation in Southern California, we were desperate for some healthy eating. This vegan grain bowl foots the bill perfectly, composed of chewy spelt, roasted butternut squash, onion, sage, pepitas and a kick of smoky chipotle chili powder. That's this dish is vegan was basically accidental--it dawned on me while we were eating it that it contained no meat or dairy ingredients. That said, some crumbled queso fresco or feta cheese would be good here, as would some dried cranberries.

Vegan Southwestern Spelt and Squash Bowl

1 cup spelt berries
Salt, to taste
16-20 oz. butternut squash (peeled and seeded), cut into 3/4-inch cubes
4 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 large or 3 medium celery stalks, halved and diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
Seasoned salt, to taste
1 tbsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. or more chipotle chili powder
2 tbsp. fresh sage, minced
15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup roasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
Juice from 1 lime

1. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan with a lid. Rinse the spelt and add to the boiling water with a pinch of salt. Reduce heat to simmer, covered, until the berries are tender but still chewy, about 40 minutes. Drain any excess water.

2. Preheat oven to 475 F. Combing cut squash with 2 tbsp. olive oil and 1/2 tsp. kosher salt. Spread in an even layer on an aluminum-foil-lined baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes. Use a spatula to flip the squash cubes over and continue roasting until lightly browned, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool slightly, the use the spatula to remove from the foil.

3. In a large steep-sided saute pan, heat 2 tbsp. olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, celery and garlic, season with seasoned salt, cumin and chipotle chili pepper, and sauté until softened, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in the sage and black beans and cook another couple minutes until fragrant and heated. Stir in the roasted squash, cooked spelt, pumpkin seeds (pepitas) and lime juice and turn off the heat. Serve in large shallow bowls.

Roasted Tomato and Kale Pasta

This is the other dish I made with the tomatoes I roasted the other weekend. With the cheese, it's vegetarian; without, it's vegan. Either way, it's delicious and simple to prepare if you've pre-roasted the tomatoes. This is an ideal dish to share with friends and family and eat outside on your patio.

Roasted Tomato and Kale Pasta

Salt, to taste
1 lb. whole-wheat pasta (I used gobbetti, which looks like it's identical to cavatappi)
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch lacinato kale, stems removed and discarded, leaves cut into 1 1/2 to 2-inch pieces (about 3 cups of leaves)
1 cup (or so) simple roasted tomatoes, from 3 lb. fresh tomatoes (see recipe below)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp. Aleppo pepper flakes
1 tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
Grated pecorino-romano cheese

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook pasta 1 minute less than package directions for al dente (pasta will finish cooking in the sauce). Reserve 3/4 cup pasta cooking water. Drain pasta and set aside.

2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over moderate heat (medium to medium-high). Add onion and garlic and sauté until softened, about 8 minutes. Add the kale and cook, stirring occasionally, until the kale wilts. Add the tomatoes, season with salt (to taste), pepper, Aleppo pepper and thyme, and stir to combine, then add the reserved pasta cooking water and stir. When the mixture boils, reduce heat to simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the cooked pasta and continue simmering another minute or two until the pasta is chewy but cooked through.

3. Serve pasta in shallow bowls with grated pecorino-romano cheese.

Simple Roasted Tomatoes

3 lb. fresh tomatoes, stem end removed, cut into 1 to 2 inch pieces
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, plus olive oil spray
Kosher salt, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Add the tomatoes to a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and toss to combine. Spray a 9 X 13 baking dish with olive oil. Spread the tomatoes in an even layer in the baking dish.

3. Bake the tomatoes until they have reduced significantly in size, look shrived and are starting to brown around the edges, about 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Stir every hour for the first couple hours, then more frequently, up to every 10 to 15 minutes when you hit the 3-hour mark, to prevent the tomatoes from burning.

4. When done, remove from the oven, allow to cool, then transfer to a container to store in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to use.

Vegan Lemon Cake with Lemon Icing

Vegan baking isn't something I thought I'd be into. Butter and eggs are hallmarks of almost every type of baked treat such as cookies and cakes. Forgoing those ingredients might mean making substitutions that just don't quite give you the same richness or texture.

That's why this recipe by ShopCookMake appealed to me. Rather than substitute for those ingredients, it just omits them. And the results weren't just adequate, they were fantastic. This is a delicious lemon cake perfect for springtime. Instead of butter, the cake is made with vegetable oil, which is a common substitution anyway, even if the cake recipe also uses eggs. Yes, the cake wasn't quite as rich as a cake with butter and eggs, but frankly the lack of richness contributed to this being a "lighter" treat in keeping with the season.

I made a few alterations to the recipe. First of all, I increased its volume to be appropriate for a 9 X 13 baking dish. Although the original author declined to specify the size of the baking dish for her recipe, its volume of 1 1/2 cups of flour suggests to me that it was ideal for a 9 X 9 pan (although her cake is clearly rectangular--she must have a different size pan I'm not used to). Additionally, I used only lemons, instead of lemons and limes, and I omitted the vinegar, which struck me as superfluous. The reason a cake recipe would have vinegar is to contribute acid to activate the baking soda and thus create leavening. This cake already has a generous amount of acid from the lemon juice and, given that lemon cakes are comparably more delicate in flavor as compared to, say, a chocolate cake, I was concerned the vinegar could add unwanted flavor. Omitting it just makes the recipe simpler.

Vegan Lemon Cake with Lemon Icing
Adapted from a recipe by ShopCookMake for Instructables

Cake:
2 to 3 lemons (enough for 1/3 cup of juice and 3 tbsp. of zest)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 2/3 cups demerara or turbinado sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/4 cups water
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil, plus more for the pan

Icing:
3 tbsp lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
1 1/4 cup confectioner (powdered) sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

2. Zest the lemons, then juice them. You'll want 1/3 cup of juice and about 3 tbsp. of zest.

3. Whisk together the flour, sugar and baking soda in a large bowl, then stir in the lemon zest. Whisk together the lemon juice, water, vanilla and oil, then add to the dry ingredients and whisk together until combined.

4. Brush a 9 X 13 baking dish with vegetable oil, then pour the batter into the dish. Smooth the top with a spatula. Bake until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and set on a cooling rack. Cool completely before icing the cake.

5. Combine the remaining lemon juice and powdered sugar in a small bowl, using a spoon to mix the icing until smooth. Pour over the top of the cake. Serve the cake from the pan, cut into squares.

Loaded Quinoa Bowl

If you live in Washington, D.C., I hope you've gotten to try Beefsteak, José Andrés' vegetable-focused fast-casual restaurant located on the George Washington University campus. Shortly after I visited it a few months ago, I was inspired to make a sugar snap pea salad. More recently, after seeing Andrés quinoa bowl recipe in Food & Wine magazine, I was inspired again to revisit the Beefsteak approach.

What I like about the Vegetable Quinoa Bowls with Garlic Yogurt recipe is the combination of lightly cooked and raw ingredients tossed together with a grain (or seed, in this case, since the base is quinoa). I used a similar combination of ingredients but added a few of my own and left out the lettuce and garlic yogurt--my bowl had enough going on with the honey-lemon dressing.

I also used a combination of white and red quinoa--mostly because I had just a little bit of red left in a bag I wanted to use up--but I like the resulting color contrast. Feel free to use just one color.

Loaded Quinoa Bowl
Inspired by Vegetable Quinoa Bowls with Garlic Yogurt by José Andrés, Food & Wine

Kale chips:
12 kale leaves, thin part removed from stem (stems discarded) and torn into 2-inch pieces
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Seasoned salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste

Quinoa:
3/4 cups white or red (or a mix) quinoa, rinsed (it's okay if it's still a little damp from rinsing; it will dry out quickly in the hot pan)
1 cup water

Cooked ingredients:
1/2 lb. green beans, ends trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 zucchini, cut into 1/8- to 1/4-inch slices

Raw ingredients:
1 beefsteak tomato, cut into 1/4-inch thick pieces
1 cucumber, partially peeled, seeded and sliced into 1/4-inch thick pieces
1 avocado, peeled, seed removed and sliced into 1/4-inch thick pieces
2 tbsp. unsalted toasted pumpkin seeds

Dressing:
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. honey (substitute agave nectar to make the recipe vegan)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Roast the kale chips: Preheat oven to 250 F. Spread kale leaves evenly across two baking sheets. Toss or spray with olive oil. Season with seasoned salt and pepper. Bake until dried and wilted, about 30 minutes. Set aside to cool.

2. Cook the quinoa: Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the quinoa and toast, stirring frequently, until the quinoa is fragrant and makes a popping sound almost continuously, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the water and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the seeds are just tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow pan to sit covered for 5 to 10 minutes.

3. Cooked ingredients: Bring a medium saucepan half-filled with water to boil. Add the green beans and cook until tender, about 3-5 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water to cool and set aside. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan or sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and zucchini, and sauté until softened and lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes.

4. Combine ingredients: In a large bowl, combine the kale chips, quinoa, green beans, onion, garlic, zucchini, tomato, cucumber, avocado in  large bowl. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over the vegetable-grain mixture. Toss to combine. Serve in large bowls.

Related

No Beef with Beefsteak

Crunchy Sugar Snap Pea Salad

Roasted Chickpea "Potato" Salad

It's almost summertime, the season of picnics, cookouts and family get togethers. In some ways, that season began Memorial Day weekend and is therefore already underway.

This is a variation on a previous recipe that I've made a couple tweaks to, which I think makes it even better. I call it a "potato" salad because it includes ingredients common to the traditional picnic potato salad: sweet onion, red pepper, sweet pickles, fresh herbs and a tangy-sweet dressing.

First, I roasted the chickpeas, which subtly changes their texture and flavor, making their exterior almost crunchy and their interior softer while softening and warming their flavor. I also eliminated the mayonnaise in favor of an olive-oil-and-vinegar dressing. This also makes the salad vegan--a welcome thing if you have vegans in your group given how "meaty" outdoor cookouts can be. This recipe is also delicious enough to please the nonvegans.

Roasted Chickpea "Potato" Salad

2 28-oz. cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
Seasoned salt, to taste
2 tsp. smoked paprika
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 sweet onion, minced
1 red bell pepper, cored and minced
2/3 cup minced sweet pickles
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp. wine wine vinegar
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 tbsp. agave nectar
Hickory smoked sea salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil.

2. Combine chickpeas, 1/4 cup olive oil, seasoned salt, smoked paprika and cumin in a large bowl. Stir to coat the chickpeas evenly. Divide the chickpeas among the two baking sheets and spread in an even layer. Bake chickpeas until golden brown, about 35-40 minutes, stirring at the halfway point. Set aside to cool.

3. In a large bowl, combine the roasted chickpeas, sweet onion, bell pepper, sweet pickles, parsley and dill. In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, mustard, agave nectar, smoked sea salt and black pepper, then whisk in the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil. Pour dressing over salad and toss to combine. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Peach and Tomato Salad with Tofu

Last month's issue of Food & Wine included this wonderful summer salad, an unexpected but pleasing combination of flavors that's as tasty to eat as it is beautiful to look at.

The salad was created by Hugh Acheson, the celebrated Southern chef of Five & Ten in Athens, Georgia, who's a frequent Food & Wine contributor and known for his turns as a judge on Top Chef.

This salad is a wonderful way to showcase tomatoes' versatility, which play well with the sweet peaches and spicy quick-pickled jalapeños, which I substituted for the serrano chiles called for in the original recipe. The quick-pickle method is very easy and produces far tastier chiles than what you can get canned. I'd definitely recommend this for other applications, like tacos and nachos. The crispy-edged fried tofu adds yet another interesting textural element.

I made a slight modification in the recipe below: I used olive oil in the dressing instead of canola oil.

Given how much we're loving our area's new Southern-themed restaurant, Macon Bistro & Larder, I've been wanting to get into more Southern cooking. I'll definitely be on the lookout for other great recipes from Acheson.

Peach and Tomato Salad with Tofu
Adapted from Tomato-and-Peach Salad with Crisp Tofu by Hugh Acheson, Food & Wine

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 jalapeño chile, seeds and ribs removed and thinly sliced
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
6 oz. extra-firm tofu, drained well and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 cup baby arugula leaves
2 heirloom tomatoes, sliced into wedges
2 peaches, cut into wedges
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

Dressing:
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp. lime juice
1 tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1. Combine water, rice vinegar, sugar and salt and bring to a boil in a small saucepan or in a small microwave-safe bowl in the microwave. Cook until the sugar dissolves, then remove from the heat and add the sliced jalapeños. Let the mixture with the chiles stand for 15 minutes, at which point it will cool to around room temperature. Drain off the liquid.

2. Heat the oil in a cast-iron skillet or wide medium-size saucepan over medium to medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the tofu and fry until, turning until crisp, for about 5-6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer tofu to a paper-towel-lined plate.

3. Divide the arugula among the plates. Arrange the tomatoes, peaches, basil, pickled jalapeños and fried tofu on individual plates.

4. Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Drizzle each salad plate with a spoonful of dressing.

Fattoush (Middle Eastern Tomato and Pita Salad)

For years, I've been a devotee of heirloom tomato panzanella during summertime. Once New Morning Farm starts delivering its beautiful, flavorful rainbow of seasonal heirloom tomatoes to my neighborhood every Saturday morning, that's all I want for dinner on Sunday. Most of the rest of the year we eat wine and cheese for Sunday dinner, but not from around late June to late September when we instead gorge on fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and dressing-soaked toasted Tuscan bread.

Then, this year, I learned about fattoush, a similar Middle Eastern dish. My spidey senses began to tingle as I thought about the possibilities. I knew I had to try it.

We ordered fattoush during a recent dinner at Zaytinya. Although we generally liked everything we ate that night, the fattoush was actually our least favorite thing. Nonetheless, I still wanted to try making the salad myself.

I found a recipe on the Bon Appétit website that seemed like a good starting point for my salad. I also consulted one of my cookbooks, The New Middle Eastern Vegetarian by Sally Butcher, who writes that fattoush (or rather fatoush, as she spells it) is "eminently tweakable," open to all sorts of ingredients that you may have on hand.

In that spirit, I added red pepper to the Bon Appétit recipe and omitted the lettuce. I think some olives or cheese--feta or fresh mozzarella--would be good in this too.

Finding a couple of the ingredients for this salad proved particularly challenging. I couldn't find pomegranate molasses anywhere. I asked the Washington Post Food section staff about this during a recent chat, and Bonnie Benwick told me I could make it myself by reducing pomegranate juice. Of course! I picked a bottle of POM at Whole Foods, skipping over the other pomegranate juice options that where either made from concentrate or included other juices (in The Bar Book, Jeffrey Morgenthaler said they aren't any good anyway and I trust him).

The other elusive ingredient was ground sumac. Whole Foods had a spot for it on the spice shelf, but according to the employee I asked for help, they hadn't stocked it in months. I did, however, find a za'atar spice blend there that listed sumac as its primary ingredient. So I bought that and used a fine mesh sieve to filter out the larger ingredients, which were mostly sesame seeds and dried thyme.

Fattoush
Adapted from a recipe in Bon Appétit

Makes 3-4 servings

Note: You can make pomegranate molasses yourself if you can't find it in the store: Combine 1 cup pomegranate juice, 2 tbsp. sugar, and 1 tsp. lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 1/4 cup of syrup. Allow to cool.

Dressing:
2 tsp. ground sumac
2 tsp. warm water
1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. pomegranate molasses (see note)
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1 tsp. white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. minced fresh mint
Salt, to taste

3/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salad:
2 8-inch round white pitas
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
1 cucumber, peeled, halved, seeded and sliced into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh spearmint

1. Make the dressing: Soak ground sumac in warm water for 15 minutes in a small bowl. Add the lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, garlic, vinegar, mint and salt. Whisk to combine, then whisk in the olive oil.

2. Prepare the pitas: Preheat the oven broiler with the rack adjusted about 5 inches below it. Place pitas on a baking sheet and toast under the broiler until lightly browned, about 2 minutes per side. Remove from oven and allow to cool a bit, then tear into chunks about 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide. Add to a large bowl, drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat.

3. Make the rest of the salad: To the large bowl with the pitas, add the tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, scallions, parsley and mint. Pour about 3/4 of the dressing over the salad and toss to combine. Add additional dressing as needed. Serve immediately in shallow bowls.

Peas 3-Ways Risotto with Mint

Three-ways can be a little controversial. Take, for example, the recent three-way between Pamela, John Ross and Emma on Dallas, which got tongues wagging. Well, this three-way is sure to get your tongue wagging too, but in a different way.

English peas have to be shelled first. You end up with about half as much peas by weight as you get with peas in the pod, so plan accordingly.

This risotto features three different types of peas: the basic English variety, which I've pureed, sugar snap peas, which are blanched and stirred into the cooked rice, and sautéed pea shoots (also sometimes called pea tendrils). All three types came from New Morning Farm, my neighborhood farmers market that I'm getting an even deeper appreciation for as I read the farmer's son's memoir, A Farm Dies Once a Year.

Sautéing the pea shoots

I also got to use some fresh spearmint from my garden. When I originally planted the mint in April, I put it in the same pot as a peppermint plant. This turned out to be a mistake. After a few weeks, the spearmint looked pretty unhappy, turning a dull shade of green with some brown spots. I repotted the spearmint so that it had its own, larger pot, and what a difference. Now the plant is vibrant green and growing steadily. Definitely going to be time for mojitos soon.

This is a pretty simple and adaptable recipe. To make it vegetarian, substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth. You could even make it vegan by omitting the cheese and using only olive oil instead of butter.

Adding the pea puree to the risotto.

Peas 3-Ways Risotto with Mint

4 cups chicken broth
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, diced
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
3/4 cup dry white wine (I used a Chenin Blanc/Viognier blend)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1 lb. sugar snap peas, ends trimmed and peas cut in half
5 oz. shelled English peas (about 10 oz. unshelled)
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 oz. pea shoots
Pinch of red chili pepper flakes
3 tbsp. fresh chopped spearmint
1 cup grated pecorino romano cheese

1. Warm the chicken broth in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.

2. Heat butter in a Dutch oven or large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until softened, about 10 minutes. Add rice and cook until lightly toasted, stirring occasionally, about 3-4 minutes. Add wine and stir to combine. Cook until the wine is absorbed by the rice (when running a spoon across the bottom of the pot leaves a dry space). Add 2 cups of chicken broth, stir to combine, and simmer over medium heat until the broth is absorbed. Then, continue adding broth by 1/2 cupfuls, stirring to combine and waiting between additions until the previous addition is absorbed by the rice. In total, this should take about 20-25 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Reduce heat to low to keep warm.

3. While the rice cooks, prepare the peas. Bring a large saucepan to boil over medium-high heat. Add the sugar snap peas and cook for 2 minutes. Remove peas from the boiling water and transfer to an ice-water bath. Add the English peas and cook for 2 minutes. Transfer the cooked English peas to a tall container, add about 1/2 cup of warm water and puree with an immersion blender (alternatively, transfer to a food processor and process until pureed).

4. Heat olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add pea shoots, season with salt and red chili pepper flakes, and cook until wilted and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

5. Stir the pea puree and cooked snap peas into the risotto, along with the fresh mint and grated pecorino romano. Serve the risotto in shallow bowls topped with sautéed pea shoots.

Best of 2013: Pasta and Grains

Top L to R: Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce, Sweet Corn Agnolotti with Mushrooms, Parsley Pesto Spaghetti. Middle L to R: Modernist Mac & Cheese with Bacon and Roasted Cauliflower, Roasted Tomato Risotto, Bolognese-Style Lasagna. Bottom L to R: Farro Bowl with Sugar Snap Peas and Kielbasa, Sausage-Zucchini Pasta, Multi-Grain Risotto with Broccolini and Brussels Sprouts.

My lists of the year's best cocktails and salads, soups, starters and sides were pretty lengthy. For my favorite pasta and grain recipes, I decided to limit myself to my 10 favorites, which are a great mix of styles, original and adapted recipes and ingredients from all the seasons.

1. Modernist Mac & Cheese with Bacon and Roasted Cauliflower. I adapted this recipe from Modernist Cuisine at Home by Nathan Myhrvold. Their technique for the cheese sauce is so simple and works very well: just water and sodium citrate (the sodium salt of citric acid, available from Amazon). The sauce is amazingly smooth and comes together much faster than the traditional roux-to-béchamel-to-mornay version.

2. Butternut Squash, Goat Cheese and Sausage Lasagna. This alternative to tomato-based lasagna is one of my absolute favorites. It's perfect for fall when squash are in season, which go so well with goat cheese, sage and sausage.

3. Roasted Tomato Risotto. What makes this risotto special is the homemade roasted tomato and fennel broth I made first and used instead of store-bought chicken or vegetable broth for cooking the risotto, which includes additional roasted tomatoes.

4. Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce. During the late summer, when tomatoes are in season, we eat massive quantities of them. One of my favorite ways to do so is a simple, quick pasta sauce with fresh basil.

5. Lasagna, Bolognese Style. This was the first dish I ever made from a recipe by lauded Italian cookbook writer Marcella Hazan, who, sadly, passed away this year. If you're used to the tomato-ricotta version of lasagna, this version, made with bolognese and béchamel is a nice change of pace. (After Hazan's death, I also made her Pasta all'Amatriciana, which is also amazing.)

6. Sweet Corn Agnolotti with Mushrooms. Admittedly, recreating Mike Isabella's very popular Graffiato pasta dish is a lot of work. So, if you're in the mood for an intensive cooking project, feel free to tackle this. Despite the effort, the result is a very rewarding dish with amazing sweet corn flavor.

7. Multi-Grain Risotto with Broccolini and Brussels Sprouts. Who says risotto has to be rice? This multi-grain version, adapted from a recipe that appeared in The Washington Post, uses farro, wheat berries and barley.

8. Farro Bowl with Sugar Snap Peas and Kielbasa. Speaking of farro, the quick-cooking whole grain is the perfect base in this summery dish with sugar snap peas, turkey kielbasa and mint.

9. Parsley Pesto Spaghetti. This Bon Appétit recipe is as basic as pasta recipes get, although isn't that often when they're best? The magazine selected my photo among their "Cook the Cover" submissions (mine is #2).

10. Sausage-Zucchini Pasta. Vegan sausage? Normally, I wouldn't be interested. But at a friend's urging, I gave the Field Roast brand a try in this pasta dish and was pleasantly surprised at how well it stood up to the other ingredients in this dish.

Honorable mention: Okay, I just can't limit this to 10. And since the Pasta all'Amatriciana snuck in up there at #5 anyway, I'm not going to flinch in also sharing this Mushroom-Bacon Risotto, a perfect late winter dish to warm yourself on a cold night.

Wheat Berry Salad with Butternut Squash, Hazelnuts and Sage

This is another side dish I'm excited about this year. There are a lot of refined grains in Thanksgiving meals: the pie crusts, the stuffing cubes, the gravy thickener. Whole grains don't frequently factor in. A good side dish salad like this is the perfect opportunity to introduce some, providing chewy texture and (don't tell) something healthy.

Last year, I made a Roasted Parsnip and Quinoa Salad, this year I turned to wheat berries for my whole-grain side. If the cooking time of wheat berries turns you off, you could use a quicker-cooking grain, such as farro.

Despite wheat berries seeming like non-traditional Thanksgiving fare, the roasted butternut squash, fresh sage and dried cranberries give this dish a lot of traditional holiday flavor. This tastes great leftover too.

Wheat Berry Salad with Butternut Squash, Hazelnuts and Sage

1 lb. butternut squash, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Salt, to taste
1/2 cup wheat berries, rinsed
1/4 cup hazelnuts
1 sweet onion, diced
3 tbsp. chopped fresh sage
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 carrot, shredded
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 475 F. Toss butternut squash with 1 tbsp. olive oil and a pinch of salt and spread in an even layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 15 minutes, stir squash and roast an additional 15 to 20 minutes until cooked through and lightly browned. Set aside to cool.

2. Combine 1 3/4 cups water, wheat berries and a pinch of salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 1 hour until the grains are tender. Drain excess water and set wheat berries aside to cool.

3. Heat a small frying pan over medium-low heat. Add hazelnuts and toast until fragrant, about 10 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally. Set a clean kitchen towel on a work surface. Transfer the nuts to the towel. Fold the towel over the nuts and rub vigorously between the two layers of towel to remove the nuts' skins. Coarsely chop the nuts.

4. Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped sage and cook another 5 minutes until the onion is quite soft and lightly browned and the sage is very fragrant. Set aside to cool.

4. In a large bowl, combine the squash, wheat berries, nuts, dried cranberries and shredded carrots. Whisk together the remaining 2 tbsp. of olive oil and lemon juice with freshly ground pepper. Pour dressing over salad ingredients and toss to combine.

Cold Chickpea-Tahini Soup

Summer's days are numbered, but that doesn't necessarily mean there won't still be some hot days to come. And fresh summer produce is still around: the tomatoes at my local farmers market continue to be fabulous.

Mix together the vegetable topping separately. Kind of looks like a chunky salsa.

If you find yourself with a hot day and an abundance of fresh vegetables, this cold chickpea soup, which ran in the New York Times in the spring, is just perfect. It comes together quickly too.

Using a blender makes this soup come together super fast.

I didn't change a lot from Mark Bittman's original recipe, although I did omit the crumbled feta cheese, which actually makes this soup vegan. I also left out the chopped olives, since I thought they might make it too salty. If you enjoyed the Parsnip-Carrot Soup with Tahini and Roasted Chickpeas from last winter, consider this a simpler, warmer weather cousin of that delicious dish.

The soup will be thick but should still be pourable.

Cold Chickpea-Tahini Soup
Adapted from a recipe by Mark Bittman for the New York Times

1 cup diced fresh tomatoes
1 cup diced cucumber
1/4 cup minced onion (I used sweet onion, the original recipe called for red)
1/4 cup chopped Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 cups (2 15 oz. cans) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1 small garlic clove
2 to 3 tbsp. tahini
1-2 cups of water

1. Combine tomatoes, cucumber, onion, parsley and a sprinkle of salt and pepper in a small bowl.

2. In a blender, combine the chickpeas, lemon juice, 1 tbsp. olive oil, cumin, garlic, tahini and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Turn the blender on and, through the feed tube, gradually add enough water until the mixture is pureed with a smooth texture and is thin enough to pour (you will need at least 1 cup of water).

3. Pour into bowls and top with the vegetable mixture and a drizzle of good olive oil.

"Green" Salad

This ingredients in this salad have a unifying theme: their color. Everything in this salad is green, making it not just a green salad but a "green" salad.

"Green" Salad

3 cups loosely packed baby arugula
1 cucumber, peeled, quartered, seeded and sliced
2/3 cup green grapes, seedless, halved
1/2 cup shelled, unsalted pistachios
Fresh mint, about 15-20 leaves, roughly torn
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 tsp. honey
Salt and fresh ground black pepper

Combine arugula, cucumber, grapes, pistachios and mint in a large salad bowl. Whisk together oil, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper. Pour dressing over salad and toss to combine.

Sausage-Zucchini Pasta

There's an interesting twist to this pasta dish, but I'll save that reveal for later.

Sausage, zucchini and tomatoes are a great combination for pasta sauce. Since tomatoes aren't in season yet, I used canned Cento crushed tomatoes, which is quite tasty and means this dish comes together quickly in about 30 minutes.

So what's the big twist? This dish is vegan (*unless you put cheese in it). I used Field Roast Italian sausages, which are made from grain, red wine, a mix of vegetables (eggplant, onion, red pepper) and spices. I was skeptical about whether I would like them, as I'm suspicious of foods that masquerade as other foods, but they were actually pretty tasty. Of course, feel free to substitute cooked meat sausage in this dish, but if you've never tried vegan "meat," this is a good opportunity to give it a chance.

Sausage-Zucchini Pasta

1 lb. short pasta, such as casarecce

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1 sweet onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

Salt, to taste

2 green zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch coins

2 yellow zucchini (summer squash), cut into 1/4-inch coins

2 tsp. dried thyme

2 tsp. dried oregano

Pinch of ground nutmeg

Pinch or two of red pepper flakes

Fresh-ground black pepper

1/2 lb. cooked vegan Italian sausage (such as Field Roast), cut into 1/4-inch coins (may substitute uncooked meat sausage that is browned separately or first before adding the onion and garlic). 

3/4 cup dry white wine (such as sauvignon blanc)

28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

*Grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese (optional, served at the table; obviously no longer vegan if you add cheese)

1. Cook pasta in salted boiling water according to package directions for al dente. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add onion and garlic, season with salt and sauté until softened, about 6-8 minutes. Add zucchini and sauté another 8-10 minutes until softened and the onions are starting to brown. Add thyme, oregano, nutmeg, red pepper flakes, pepper, and sausage, and sauté just a few minutes until the spices are fragrant. Stir in the wine, then add the tomatoes and water. Increase heat and cook until the mixture bubbles then reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Stir in and half the fresh basil, reserving the rest to top the pasta dishes. Add the pasta to the pan and stir with the sauce until evenly combined. Serve topped with fresh basil and, if desired, grated parmesan cheese.

*The addition of parmesan cheese, while tasty, would make this dish vegetarian rather than vegan.