As the proud owner of a part of a CSA share — and thus the owner of 2 lbs of summer squash every week for the last month and a half –- my recent discovery of the “Recipes for Health” series in the New York Times’ Health section has been a real boon. Operating on [...]
Archive for the ‘Home Cooking’ Category
Pisto de La Mancha or: How I learned to deal with two pounds of summer squash
Posted in Home Cooking, Recipe, Vegetarian, tagged tomatoes, squash, eggs, zucchini on September 5, 2008 | No Comments »
Carrots, Braised ‘n’ Glazed
Posted in Cheap, Home Cooking, Recipe, Tips, Vegetarian, tagged carrots, braising on September 4, 2008 | No Comments »
At my elementary school, we were often subjected to “glazed carrots,” which somehow combined the worst elements of candy and vegetables. Simultaneously tasteless and grossly sweet (even to eight year-olds), a lot of glazed carrots wound up in the dumpster behind Duncan Chapel Elementary.
Needless to say, I am wary of sweetened carrots. But, sick of [...]
New Potatoes
Posted in Cheap, Home Cooking, Recipe, Vegetarian, tagged potatoes on September 2, 2008 | No Comments »
I thought for years that “new potatoes” was just a silly name for a specific breed of potatoes. It’s not. “New potatoes” refers to any kind of freshly dug potato. Despite their image as the most seasonless of all vegetables, potatoes actually are available fresh during the summer and fall.
Fresh potatoes, which Claire used in [...]
Warm Corn Salad with Sungold Tomatoes and Red Onion
Posted in Cheap, Home Cooking, Quick, Recipe, Tips, Vegetarian, tagged tomatoes, red onion, salad, corn on August 28, 2008 | No Comments »
As Claire pointed out to me yesterday, we’ve been on a pretty salad-focused kick here at Food Junta, a lot of said salads involving tomatoes, corn, warming, or some combination thereof. But this salad was so good, I had to share it. Repetitiveness be damned.
Though I’m pretty sure this is a common-ish dish out there [...]
Another Peach Post: Roasted Peaches with Figs and Honey
Posted in Dessert, Home Cooking, Raves, Recipe, Tips, tagged peaches, figs on August 26, 2008 | 1 Comment »
I’ve been meaning to write about this delicious dessert for a while, and Kevin’s post yesterday about his discovery of the beauty of peaches is a good segue. A good friend of the Junta made this when I was in San Francisco, with glorious peaches, and glorious figs. But they were made all the more [...]
Warm Basil, Corn, and New Potato Salad
Posted in Home Cooking, Recipe, tagged potatoes, bacon, salad, basil, corn on August 24, 2008 | 4 Comments »
I love potato salad, but not that gross, mayonnaise-laden stuff that typically passes for potato salad around these parts (the U.S. being these parts). Sometimes that mayonnaise-y stuff can be really good, but more often than not, it’s basically disgusting. Tastes disgusting, looks disgusting, IS disgusting, as Coolio might say.
Enter in the vinegar-based potato salad. [...]
Ratatouille Pasta and the Art of Improvisation
Posted in Home Cooking, Philosophy, Tips, Vegetarian, tagged eggplant, pasta, ratatouille on August 21, 2008 | No Comments »
I am probably much more pleased with myself for this than I deserve to be, but what is a food blog good for if not self-aggrandizement? Nothing as far as I’m concerned.
So here’s the story: I made too much ratatouille. Much too much ratatouille. My dinner guests ate ratatouille. I ate ratatouille. I ate more [...]
Ratatouille - Not Just For Cartoon Rodents Anymore
Posted in Home Cooking, Recipe, Vegetarian, tagged bell peppers, eggplant, entertaining, tomatoes on August 19, 2008 | No Comments »
Ratatouille (or Tian of Vegetables, as it is also known) is the very fancy-sounding name for a very rustic Provencal dish. It is, in essence, a bunch of summer vegetables stewed together in the oven.
Ratatouille is a great dish for entertaining because it can be prepared ahead of time in vast quantities and simply slapped [...]
The Ultimate B.L.T. (and A & E)
Posted in Cheap, Home Cooking, Quick, Raves, Recipe, tagged avocadoes, bacon, eggs, lettuce, sandwiches, tomatoes on August 17, 2008 | 2 Comments »
This may be the most brilliant thing I’ve ever made. And one of the easiest. And now that I know how brilliant and easy it is, one of the most destructive, as I will now be eating it on a really regular basis, and it might be best saved as an occasional treat. But no [...]
My Prize-Winning Margarita Pie
Posted in Dessert, Home Cooking, Raves, Recipe, Vegetarian, tagged limes, pie, tequila, triple sec, whipped cream on August 12, 2008 | 4 Comments »
With this post, readers, I introduce to you the concept of a “concept pie.” Yes, much like the concept album, but this time ensconced in a delicious, buttery crust.
This particular pie came about at the previously mentioned Olympics party, during which I was — in the same conversation — discussing jello shots and invited to [...]
Panzanella (Italian Bread and Tomato Salad)
Posted in Home Cooking, Quick, Recipe, Vegetarian, tagged Italian, salad, stale bread, tomatoes on August 12, 2008 | 1 Comment »
One good tomato salad deserves another. Claire wrote about the Caprese salad yesterday, and today I move northward in Italy to bring you Panzanella.
Panzanella might be one of my favorite foods of all time. Simple to prepare, beautiful, seasonal, and delicious. And it’s great summertime fare because you don’t have to turn on the oven. [...]
Olympics Special: Insalata Caprese
Posted in Home Cooking, Quick, Raves, Recipe, Vegetarian, tagged basil, coolio, mozzarella, tomatoes on August 11, 2008 | No Comments »
In honor of the Olympics opening ceremony, a friend of the Junta proposed an innovative party idea: a potluck dinner party for which each guest brings an international dish of some sort. I was super-excited for the party, of course, but I was also tired and jet-lagged and generally unprepared to make anything particularly elaborate. [...]
Pretty Thai for a White Guy
Posted in Cheap, Home Cooking, tagged shopping, thai on August 6, 2008 | No Comments »
Do you like delicious meals that are also easy to make? Well, do you also like sweating while you eat? Because if so, I’ve got something you’ll love: Thai food!
My own relationship with Thai food was born in part out of convenience. For the past year or so, I’ve been living in [...]
Embrace the Pig - Braised Pork Chops and Cabbage
Posted in Home Cooking, Recipe, tagged braising, cabbage, pork chops on August 4, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Thanks to The Amateur Gourmet’s post a couple of weeks back, I had really been craving pork chops and cabbage. So I made them. This is a pretty wintry dish, as it’s quite hearty and gut-warming, but good cabbage is available year-round, so the seasonal eater in you does not need to worry about this [...]
Semi-Homemade: Soup
Posted in Cheap, Home Cooking, Quick, Raves, Tips, tagged soup on July 31, 2008 | No Comments »
I don’t even know if this counts as semi-homemade, but I make “semi-homemade” soup all the time, so it seemed worth sharing with the world. What is semi-homemade soup? It is soup that would be plain and boring if just heated up out of the carton, but is instead delicious and wonderful because you’ve added [...]
