Sopas de Nopales, Cactus Soup

08. August 2003 Vegetables + Salads 0
I was walking in the Washington Heights area one Saturday afternoon when I saw cactus pads, or nopales in Spanish, on display in one of the grocery stores. I immediately remembered our trip to Mexico where we had numerous unforgettable meals. In the town of Pochutla in Oaxaca, we ate several times at Lichita Restaurant ...

Green Tea Noodle and Cucumber

I adapted this from a Nigella Lawson recipe from The New York Times. In New York City, you can get green tea noodles from Sunrise Mart for less than $5 for two bunches. You can use soba noodles as a substitute, you just won’t have that interesting green color. If you don’t have an Asian ...

Celery Granita

29. July 2003 Vegetables + Salads 0
Sicilian granita is a semi-frozen dessert of sugar and water. You can substitute the celery from this recipe with almost anything that’s in season. I first tasted a homemade version of granita in Vermont when one of the boy’s professor served us a small snack flavored with raspberries he grew in his yard. He mentioned ...

Chilled Beet Soup

23. July 2003 Vegetables + Salads 0
In the summer, the farmers’ market sells a lot of beets. It takes a while for them to get soft but this summer soup is worth all the time. Your beet will be smoother if you use a more powerful blender. I have to get married first in order to get one of those, so ...

Battered Eggplants and Zucchini with Skordalia

20. July 2003 Vegetables + Salads 0
I picked up Modern Greek: 170 Contemporary Recipes from the Mediterranean and read about skordalia, or garlic sauce. The recipe suggested fried vegetables, like eggplant and zucchini, to serve and dip in it. I used bread as a thickener for the sauce but you can always use potatoes or even walnuts for a nuttier taste. ...