Who's In?

1 lb. potatoes, cut in ¼ inch-thick slices
1 ½ lb. Savoy or other green cabbage, cut in half-inch ribbons
4 T butter
3 T chopped sage (half rosemary works too)
1 garlic clove
1 ¾ c. milk
3 eggs
½ c. freshly grated Parmesan
1/3 c. all purpose flour

Lightly butter an 8 x 12-inch gratin dish. Bring a gallon of water to boil while you prep veggies.

Add 1 T salt to the water, add the potatoes, and boil until nearly tender (6 min).

Scoop out taters, drain in colander, then add cabbage to pot and cook 5 minutes. Drain, rinse in cool water and squeeze in a dishtowel to get out all the water you can.

Combine cabbage and potatoes in a bowl.

Melt butter in small skillet with sage (and/or other herbs you’re using) and garlic. Cook for one minute, no browning. Pour over cabbage and taters. Toss well, season with S&P. Put in baking dish.

Whisk remaining ingredients together, pour over veggies, and bake until firm and lightly browned, about 50 minutes. (I threw a few pieces of crumbled bacon on top for the last few minutes.) Let cool 10 minutes, then cut and serve.

These are a great starter or main part of a meal with bread and salad. The recipe is based on the mussels served at Westport, Mass., standout The Back Eddy. It isn't exactly like the restaurant's version (which is exquisite, especially eaten with a view of the water), but pretty close and very tasty. Done in a flash:

 

Put 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a hot saute pan. Add 1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger and a sprinkling (up to 1 Tbsp.) of ground chilis or red pepper flakes. Cook hot for one minute.

Add 1 clove garlic, minced or pressed and 1 lb. mussels in their nice closed shells. Spread 'em around then cook till they open.

Add 1/4 c. hoisin sauce, cook another minute. Add 1/2 c. coconut milk and cook for 1 minute longer. Turn off heat. Add juice of one lime.

Garnish with fresh cilantro, if you happen to have it. Serve with crusty bread.

This soup is actually kind of dry, more like a wet pasta, but very tasty and springlike. It’s very quick to make and satisfyingly efficient—you can be chopping the stuff that comes later while the first stuff is cooking. Here's how:

 

Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a large saucepan. Add 1 chopped leek (white & light green parts) and cook over moderately high heat until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add 6 c. chicken stock and bring to a boil. Stir in 1 c. small pasta (ditalini, stars, etc.) and ½ t. salt. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Add 10 skinny asparagus stalks cut into 1-inch lengths, 1 small fennel bulb (diced), ¼ lb.sugar snap peas, 1 c. chopped Swiss chard and 1 can drained cannellini beans. Simmer until pasta is tender, about 5 minutes longer.

Add 1 c. frozen peas (thawed). Recipe called for 2 Tbsp. chopped mint (I didn't have it). Salt and pepper and simmer for 1 minute longer. Ready to eat! Grate parmesan on top.

Roasted cauliflower apparently made the rounds in the food blogosphere awhile ago, but I have never claimed to not be behind the times.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Take a head of cauliflower, break or cut it into small bite-size pieces, a bit smaller than you might usually. Toss it with a few Tbsp of olive oil, 2-4 cloves garlic minced, kosher salt and a sprinkling of fresh lemon juice. Spread it on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Take out of oven and grate Parmesan cheese over it.

Meanwhile, heat a few Tbps. of olive oil in a saute pan, add another few minced up garlic cloves. In a minute add half a pound of peeled shrimp (ideally fresh wild-caught Maine shrimp, button-cute and tender). Saute till they whiten.

Serve together with a green salad, Chardonnay. Good.

Slap some oil, salt and pepper on a little pork tenderloin and grill till cooked thru, not dry—depends on size. The simple recipe below comes (slightly adapted) from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

Boil 3 c. water. Add 1/2 t salt and 1-1/4 c. rinsed quinoa. Lower heat, cover, simmer till tender, 12-15 min. Drain.
Chop 1 mango into bite sized squares.
Toss cooked quinoa with mango plus 3 sliced scallions (including an inch of green), 1 jalapeno seeded and diced or a smaller portion of whatever spicy chile you have around, and the vinaigrette—see below.
Sprinkle with 1/3 c. almonds, roasted.

Vinaigrette
Pound 1 clove garlic with 1/4 t. salt in mortar until smooth. Combine with 2 T yogurt, 1 t curry powder. Stir in 1-1/2 T lemon juice. Then whisk in 5 T light oil (safflower, sunflower). Let stand 15 minutes. Stir in 2 T finely chopped cilantro.

This is adapted from a recipe on Down Home Soul Food Cooking Blog.

1-1/2 lb. shrimp, shelled & deveined
1 can coconut milk
1/3 c. fresh lime juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 t salt
1 t ground black pepper

Rinse shrimp and pat dry. Place in large sealable plastic bag. In a bowl, combine coconut milk, lime juice, garlic, S&P. Pour that over the shrimp, seal bag and marinate in fridge for 30 min.

That gives you some time to make some rice or a salad, shuck some corn, or contemplate your wine selection (dry riesling was nice).

Fire up your grill. Toss shrimp in a grill pan, or put them on skewersand grill until just pink. Very nice, delicate sweet flavor. Reasonably healthy. Fast and painless in hot weather.

 

Got this recipe from a friend—don't know its original provenance. It suits all requirements of being good for you and fast. Can even make it vegan by replacing milk with almond milk and butter with o.o. Here 'tis.

Heat 1/4 c. olive oil and 4 T butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook 1 onion (chopped) till soft, not brown—about 5 min.

Add one 2-lb. butternut squash (peeled and chopped), 1 tsp. curry powder, salt and pep to taste. Cook 5 minutes.

Add 2/3 c. milk and 2 c. water, bring to boil.

Simmer 30 min. Add 1 c. chopped cashews. Blend, blend, blend till smooth and thick.

I used roasted unsalted cashews, seemed to work. A swirl of yogurt or creme fraiche looks pretty on top and adds a nice tang.

Simple. Two pounds fed 3 adults well. I winged the rub, but it went about as follows:

A 2-lb boned Icelandic, free-range, grass-fed, herded by Icelandic pony-riding cowboys leg of lamb
1 big clove garlic
1.5 T olive oil
t salt
t balsamic vinegar
fresh rosemary (dry works all right, too)
black pepper

Preheat oven to 475-500. Mash garlic and salt in mortar & pestle. Add oil and vinegar and broken up rosemary leaves, plus pepper to taste. Stir it up and smear it on the meat (leave the strings on). Put in hot oven for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 425 for another 40-50 minutes.

Very tasty. Delicata squash and green salad a nice accompaniment. Halve the squash, scrape out seeds, lay cut side down on a baking sheet or flat pan and put in the oven for the last 20-25 minutes while the meat cooks. Plop butter in the cavity to serve.

A Spanish jumilla goes nicely, as does apple crisp.

This is from the food blog Toast. It’s quite good and super fast. Flexible, too. I adapted with what I had on hand and was very happy with the results. We had corn on the cob and steamed broccoli with it, done in half an hour.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
¼ c chopped parsley
¼ c cilantro leaves
1 clove garlic (I used 1 shallot)
1 jalapeno pepper (optional; I used half a dried red chili)
¼ c olive oil
juice of 1 lemon (I used a lime)
2 small ripe tomatoes, chopped
salt and pepper
1 tsp grain mustard

Put the herbs, garlic, and pepper in a food processor (or use immersion blender). Zap them with a drizzle of olive oil and continue adding oil and lemon/lime juice until you have a thin sauce.

Make a few diagonal slits in the chicken breasts with a sharp knife. Slather half the herb sauce on them, pushing some into the slits. Salt and pepper, and place them on a hot grill.

In the meantime, chop the tomatoes and toss them with the rest of the reserved sauce and the mustard. When the chicken is grilled on both sides and done in the middle, serve them over a helping of the saucy tomatoes.

Although white wine might be indicated (especially on a hot night), a soft Bardolino served just fine.

Preparation time: 25 minutes. I ever so slightly adapted this from a recipe on the blog Simply Recipes. It is incredibly easy to make, given how tasty the results. The key ingredient is the clam juice, the blogger Elise says, though you can prepare it for people with shellfish allergies substituting fish stock or water. I used haddock, which worked nicely.

5 T olive oil
1 cup of chopped onions
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
2/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
8 oz of clam juice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup of fresh chopped tomato
2 tsp tomato paste
1 lb fish fillets (use halibut, cod, sole, sea bass, shark, orange roughy), cut into 2-inch pieces
Touch of dry oregano, Tabasco, thyme, pepper

Heat olive oil in heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and garlic and sauté 4 minutes. Add parsley and stir 2 minutes. Add tomato, tomato paste and cook 2 minutes longer. Add clam juice, dry white wine, and fish and simmer until fish is cooked through, less than 10 minutes. Add seasoning. Ladle into bowls and serve.

Serves 2 generously, or 4 as first course.