Vegetables - Alan's Cookbook

Vegetables 

a chapter from 

Alan’s Cookbook 

Alan G. Yoder

Vegetables 

This section has mostly pure vegetable dishes, as opposed 

to other dishes which are combinations of grains and 

vegetables. Those appear in the grains section.

Eggplant 

Properly made, eggplant is the closest thing in the vegetable 

kingdom to butter. 

Eggplant 

Coarse sea salt 

Inexpensive (bulk) olive 

oil 

Eggplant should be glossy and firm when bought. 

Though it can be kept for a few days, it’s really 

best to buy it within a day or two of using it. 

If you like, peel the eggplant. Slice it into 3/4” 

thick slices. Sprinkle some salt in a cereal bowl, 

place a slice on it, sprinkle again, place another 

piece on top of that, and continue until you’ve 

made a tower of all the slices with salt on each 

side of every slice. This will sweat the eggplant 

and get the excess water out of it. 

Let sit for 1/2 hour, draining off water once or 

twice. Don’t overdo this; too long and the finished 

pieces will be too salty. 

Rinse each piece with water, fold in a cloth towel, 

and press down hard with the heel of your hand. 

One towel should be good for two eggplants. 

They’ll look pretty squashed, but fear not, frying 

will fix that. 

Use 1/8” to 1/4” of oil in a very hot pan, and fry 

the slices until golden brown on each side. Drain 

onto paper towels. Serve plain or use in 

numerous other recipes in this book. 

Serves 6 

Cooking time: 1 hour 

- 73 -

Mashed Potatoes 

An American staple 

Potatoes 

Broth or water 

Milk 

Butter 

Cream 

Salt and pepper 

Use large mature white potatoes. Baking 

potatoes work fine too. But avoid baby red 

potatoes--these have been known to turn into 

glue when whipped. 

There is a great discussion of potato mashing in 

The man who ate everything, by Jeffrey Steingarten. 

A potato ricer is required for my version of 

smooth mashed potatoes. This is so that the 

potato starch cells are disturbed as little as 

possible, as each passes through the tool only 

once. This yields the smoothest results. 

If, on the other hand, you like lumpy mashed 

potatoes, you can use a whisk or even--gasp--an 

electric mixer. Again, the key is to not over whip 

the poor darlings. 

Serves 1 per large potato 

Cooking time: 1/2 hour 

Peel the potatoes (or not!) and cut into evenly 

sized pieces, say 1/2” by 1”. Cook over high heat 

in salted water or broth until tender. 

Drain the liquid off. If you used broth, strain it 

and save it for later use in another dish. 

Press the potatoes through the ricer into a large 

bowl. Toss in a couple tablespoons of butter. Add 

a dollop of milk and as much cream as your 

natural timidity and fear of fat will allow. Grate in 

a couple turns of pepper. 

Incorporate everything with a large wire whisk. It 

should take only a few stirs to get a smooth 

consistency. Add milk, or not, as necessary to get 

them as runny or stiff as you like them. Salt to 

taste and serve. 

- 74 -

Mixed Vegetables 

It’s easy to forget the combination of potatoes, carrots and 

broccoli because it’s so clichéd. But cliches are generally founded 

upon truths, and this combination is delicious by itself, or with 

meat or fish as well. 

Potatoes 

Carrots 

Broccoli 


Use small red potatoes if you can; these are the 

best for plain eating. Carrots and broccoli should 

be as fresh as you can get them. Vegetables that 

have been in the fridge for a week tend to taste 

like it. Shop accordingly. 

Bring a large kettle of water to the boil. 

Peel the carrots and cut into bite sized pieces. Cut 

the potatoes into similarly sized pieces. I prefer 

mine with the skin on. 

Put carrots and potatoes into boiling water, lightly 

salted, and cover. 

Cut the broccoli into attractive small pieces. Add 

it to the kettle about 10 minutes after the 

potatoes and carrots go in. 

Remove the vegetables when all are tender, 

which will be well before the broccoli turns grey. 

You may want to run cold water over them 

briefly, to stop them from continuing to cook in 

their own heat. It’s perfectly okay to serve them 

at room temperature, but if you prefer you can 

rewarm them a bit in the microwave. 

Have salt and pepper handy at the table. 

Serves 3-4 per lb. veggies 

Cooking time: 30 minutes 

An alternative—and I think better—way to do 

things is to steam the broccoli separately. Plunge 

it into cold water to stop the cooking process as 

soon as it gets al dente. You can worry less about 

the potatoes and carrots this way too, as they are 

far more forgiving. Combine them all, then, when 

serving. 

- 75 -

Glazed carrots 

A wonderful side dish that goes with almost everything. 

Carrots 

Broth 

Virgin olive oil 

Cane sugar 

Parsley 

Rum 

Optional 

Note: The sauce is 

optional. These 

carrots are also 

delicious just 

sprinkled with 

parsley. 

When sugar is necessary in a recipe, I prefer 

organic cane sugar, personally. In this recipe 

especially, it caramelizes so nicely. 

Most any kind of not-too-strong broth will do. 

Even water is fine in a pinch. 

Peel the carrots and julienne them. To do this, cut 

them lengthwise into long strips 1/4” by 1/4” or 

so. Then gather them up and cross cut the strips 

into 1” pieces. 

Boil the carrot pieces gently in the broth until 

they’re al dente. Drain, saving the broth. 

Put the carrots into a chefs pan with a bit of oil, 

and turn up the heat. Add a couple tablespoons of 

sugar and mix around well. The goal is to get the 

sugar to caramelize a bit, but if that doesn’t 

happen, no worries, it will still be delicious. Cook 

for 5-10 minutes. 

While the carrots are working, reduce the broth in 

a small saucepan over high heat until it’s a syrup. 

If you like, add a splash of rum. Pour the syrup 

over the carrots, sprinkle very generously with 

chopped parsley and serve. 

Serves 3-4 per lb. 

carrots 


- 76 -

Green beans 

I serve these more often than any other vegetable. They are 

delicious, simple, and a great color contrast to most main courses. 

Fresh green beans 

Fresh grated salt 

Most of the cooking time here is heating up the 

kettle of water. I often use hot tap water to 

shorten the cycle, on the grounds that the water 

heater heats water more efficiently than my 

stove anyway. 

The key to cooking green beans really perfectly is 

what Thomas Keller calls large pot boiling. Use 

your largest boiling pot and fill it 2/3 with water. 

When it is boiling hard, put in the beans. You’ll 

know you have enough water if it doesn’t stop 

boiling. If it stops boiling because your pot isn’t 

large enough, never mind, you tried. 

Cutting the ends off of green beans is a lot easier 

if you do it a handful at a time. Grab a loose 

handful and tamp it on the counter until all the 

ends are against the counter. Lay it down and cut 

a quarter inch off with a big knife. Repeat on the 

other end. Voila! 

Serves 4-6 per pound 


Bring a large kettle of water to boil. De-stem and 

get the beans boiling as above. You want to get 

them out when they are almost done, six to eight 

minutes usually. This is because they keep 

cooking in their own heat after you start taking 

them off the stove. If they even try to start to 

turn color, so they’re not bright green anymore, 

haul them off of the heat immediately. 

Dump into a strainer and then immediately into a 

pan of cold water. This will turn tepid with the 

heat from the beans. Drain it off and cover the 

beans, which should be now just warm and still 

bright green, until it’s time to serve. Wave a salt 

grinder at them before serving. 

- 77 -

Green beans with oyster mushrooms 

Delicious even without the Campbell’s mushroom soup! 

Fresh green beans 

Oyster mushrooms 

Blanched sliced almonds 

Oil 

Sea salt 

Parsley 

Optional 

If you can’t get oyster mushrooms, thinly sliced 

button mushrooms will do nicely. 

Cook the green beans as on page 77. Fry the 

almond slices in a hot dry pan until smoking but 

not burnt. Saute the mushrooms crisply in oil, 

and salt heavily. Combine all, add chopped 

parsley. Heat in the oven or microwave to serving 

temperature if necessary. 

Serves 4-6 per lb beans 


- 78 -

Spinach and pears 

A pleasant variation on plain steamed spinach 

Fresh spinach 

Anjou pears 


Pine nuts 

Onions 

Optional 

Wash the spinach more than you think is 

reasonable. I can’t emphasize this enough. 

There’s nothing worse than biting down on a few 

grains of sand that got away in an otherwise 

perfect spinach dish. A big tub of water and a 

salad spinner are good allies in the war against 

sand. 

If the pears are not quite ripe, steam them gently 

for a couple minutes after you cut them into 

pieces. 

Peel, core and cut up the pears into 3/4” pieces. 

Place the washed spinach in a hot chefs pan with 

a wee bit of water to get things going. It should 

begin to reduce quickly and provide its own 

water. If you’re making a lot of it, add it in shifts 

as the previous lot reduces. When it’s about 2/3 

reduced—amazing how much it does reduce!— 

add the pear pieces. Season to taste and serve. 

Optional 

Saute minced onions before adding spinach. 

Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan and sprinkle 

over. 

Serves: 2 per bunch 


- 79 -

Creamed spinach 

When I was in grade school we were routinely tortured at 

lunchtime with reheated spinach out of a #10 can. 

This is the opposite of that. 

Fresh spinach 

Wondra flour 

Cream 


Be sure and wash the spinach very well, as 

explained on the previous page. 

Wondra flour is a branded kind of flour that is 

ground very fine, and has been treated with who 

knows what to keep it from clumping when it’s 

put into a warm liquid. So it’s useful for making 

gravies without butter or roux. 

This recipe is basically a shortcut for cooking 

spinach and a very light bechamel (page 26) 

separately, and combining them. You can always 

do that instead if you prefer. 

Cook the spinach as on the previous page. When 

it is about done, add cream to the liquid the 

spinach has given off until it is more white than 

green. When the liquid has come back up to a 

simmer, lower the heat and start adding in 

Wondra flour and stirring, until the liquid gets 

just thick enough so it won’t run all over a plate. 

Season to taste with salt and pepper. It will take 

a fair bit of salt on account of the flour and 

cream. 

Serves 2 per bunch 


- 80 -

Vegetable kabobs 

Excellent served with rice or pita bread, or as a side to barbequed 

meat or kabobs 

Eggplant 

Tomatoes 

Bell peppers 

Zucchini 

Onions 

Tamari (wheat-free soy 

sauce) 

Olive oil 

Garlic paste 

Ginger paste 

Garlic and ginger paste are available in small jars 

in the grocery store. 

Tamari can be found in most large groceries 

nowadays as well. It has a different flavor from 

regular soy sauce. Be sure to get the wheat-free 

variety. 

Any standard olive oil will do. 

Salt the eggplant, let rest and press dry as on 

page 73. 

Cut the vegetables into roughly 1/2” x 2” x 2” 

pieces. 

Whisk a small amount of garlic and ginger into 

some tamari to get a thick liquid. Add about triple 

the oil, whisk together and keep the whisk 

handy—it will want to separate. 

Put the vegetables onto skewers and brush with 

the marinade. Grill over a nice flame, whisking up 

and brushing on a bit more marinade if they get 

too dry looking. If you run low on marinade, just 

add more olive oil, as that always gets used up 

first. 


- 81 -

Corn, sweet potato and pecan goulash 

An odd-sounding but delicious combo—a derivative of corn 

chowder—very comforting on a cold dark night. 

Sweet potatoes 

Corn 

Roasted & salted pecan 

pieces 

Sea salt 

Pepper 

Arugula or parsley 

leaves 

Olive oil 

Optional 

Fresh sweet corn, boiled 8 minutes, dunked in 

cold water, and cut off the cobs immediately is 

the best, of course. A good brand of canned or 

frozen corn will do. 

Corn should slightly dominate this dish, followed 

by sweet potato. Be sure to use real sweet 

potatoes, not yams. Use as many pecans as will 

not overpower the other ingredients. 

I prefer a very dark seasoned sea salt, such as 

“Sale Toscano”, from Tuscany for this dish. 

Wash the sweet potatoes. Bake in a medium oven 

(350°) until done, approx. 1 hour. Cut into small 

pieces, removing skin if you prefer (I like the skin 

myself). 

Cook the corn, as above, or according to the 

directions on the can or package. 

Gently combine the corn and sweet potato pieces. 

Add a bit of olive oil if you prefer. Anoint with sea 

salt and cracked pepper. Top with pecans and 

toss lightly. Garnish generously with arugula 

leaves or parsley. 

Serves 4 per sweet potato 


- 82 -

Sweet potato mash 

A wonderful variation on mashed potatoes. 

Sweet potatoes 

Fennel root 

Celery root 

Broth 


Optional 

Nonfat or regular milk 

Butter 

Cream 

Use yellow sweet potatoes, not yams. 

Fennel root is also called sweet anise by some 

groceries. Celery root (“celeriac”) is larger and 

much uglier than fennel root. Either may be 

omitted from this recipe if you can’t find it. 

I use one celery root, one fennel root, and three 

large sweet potatoes for this dish. Either 

vegetable or chicken broth will work. 

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into 1” 

pieces. Boil them gently in broth, about 45 

minutes. 

Peel celery root, cut into pieces and add to the 

broth about 15 minutes after the sweet potatoes. 

Follow this with quartered anise root. Cook all 

until done. 

Run the celery root and fennel root through a 

food processor to puree their stringiness into 

submission. Continue either in or out of the 

processor with the sweet potatoes, adding oil 

liberally, and broth (or milk) to get the desired 

consistency. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Butter and cream do nice things to the taste, but 

are not required. 

Serves 8-10 


- 83 -

Yam frites 

A fine variation on french fries; not as crispy, but as yummy as 

yams can be. 

Yams 

Oil 

Sea salt 

Peel the yams if you prefer. Otherwise, wash 

them thoroughly. Cut into thick julienne strips 

(about 1/2”). Arrange on a cookie sheet and 

sprinkle liberally with oil. Bake in a preheated hot 

oven (425°) about 20 minutes, or until done. 

Sprinkle very lightly with salt and serve. 

Serves 2 per yam 


- 84 -

Fried baby potatoes with rosemary 

A wonderful side dish with any sort of barbequed meat. The 

potatoes become almost liquefied in the center, with lots of savory 

crusty goodness around. 

Baby red potatoes 

Olive oil 

Fresh rosemary branch 


Potatoes up to about 2” in diameter work fine, 

but the larger the potatoes the longer the cooking 

time. I normally buy the ones that are so small 

they bundle them up in 2 pound packages. 

I normally use a very large frying pan over an 

outdoor gas grill. Smaller pans need to be used 

indoors, because you want the fire from the stove 

to cover as much of the bottom of the pan as 

possible. 

Small potatoes may be done in as little as 30 

minutes, but I have had medium ones take an 

hour. 

If you’re in a hurry, cook the potatoes most of the 

way through in the microwave to get them 

started. Ten minutes in the pan will suffice then. 

Wash the potatoes well and cut out any obvious 

eyes and flaws. Place in a frying pan with just 

enough oil to coat the potatoes. Strip the leaflets 

off the rosemary branches by pulling your fingers 

down “against the grain” of the leaves, and toss 

them with the potatoes. 

Fry over a medium hot flame, turning 

occasionally. The rosemary will get quite 

scorched, and that is okay. When the potatoes 

are getting close to done, they will pierce easily 

with a fork. Salt them with a salt grinder and 

wave a pepper grinder at them too, then cook 

another five minutes if they can handle it. They 

should be a very dark brown, if not almost black. 

Remove from heat and cover until served. 

Serves 4 per lb 

Cooking time: up to 1 hour 

- 85 -

Roasted garlic 

A simple way to get lots of garlic mash for use as a spread or in 

other dishes 

Whole garlic 

Water 

Preheat the oven to 350° or so. The temperature 

isn’t that important, so you can do this in combination 

with other things if you need to. 

Cut just enough of the root off the garlic bulb(s) 

that they will sit upright. Trim enough of the top 

off that the end of each and every clove is 

exposed. 

Put the bulb(s) into a small baking dish, add just 

a bit of water, and put in the oven. After about 40 

minutes they should be so soft that you can let 

them cool and literally squeeze them out. 


- 86 -

Roasted peppers 

Knowing how to roast a pepper opens up a whole new cuisine— 

Spanish cooking. The technique is valuable in Cajun and Mexican 

cuisine as well. 

Red bell peppers 

Olive oil 

Optional 

Before you roast a pepper, you need to deseed it. 

The easiest way to do this is to cut the top of the 

pepper off crossways, exactly at a line just below 

where the stem meets the pepper. This gets the 

stem off, leaves you with a beautiful little pepper 

ring to eat as a snack, and reveals the seed pod 

inside without disturbing it. Simply grab it out, 

and shake out the few remaining seeds. Voila! 

There are several ways to roast peppers. One fun 

but somewhat finger-scorching method is over a 

hot charcoal grill. Another is in the broiler. 

Another is over a simple gas flame. However you 

do it, the idea is to get the skin of the pepper so 

hot that it blackens and partially bubbles off. 

You’ll have to turn the peppers frequently with a 

tongs to get the unpeeled parts closer to the heat 

and the already done parts away. 

When they’re properly blistered, the flesh of the 

peppers is also partially cooked. Bring them off 

the fire, let them cool enough so they can be 

handled, then pick off the skin by hand while 

rinsing them in tepid water. They’re now ready to 

be refrigerated, preserved in olive oil, or used in 

chili, canapes or another dish. 


- 87 -

Pimientos de Padrón 

The name merely means “peppers from Padrón”. If you can find 

them, these are one of the most delightful party treats ever. 

Pimientos de Padrón 

Olive oil 

Sea salt 

These peppers are a special variety hailing from 

the town of Padrón, Spain. Delightfully mild and 

sweet, with a perfect amount of light heat on the 

average, it is well to remember that 

• they get hotter as the season progresses 

• they get hotter as they sit in the fridge 

• they get hotter as they get larger 

• about 1%, of them are quite hot, just to keep 

you on your toes 

• all the rest of them are amazing 

A pound of peppers will feed a dozen people, and 

satisfy about three. 

Bring about 1/4” of oil in a large pan to bubbling 

heat. Wash the peppers and dry them with a 

towel to prevent splatter. Put enough in the pan 

each batch that all the peppers in the pan are 

level and touch the oil. Cook over high heat, 

turning and stirring them, until the peppers are 

all singed, with blisters over much of their surface 

and a black spot here and there. 

Remove from heat with a slotted spoon to a 

paper towel, and start the next batch. Sprinkle 

the ones just done with a liberal amount of 

coarsely grated sea salt. 

To eat them, take one by the stem, bite off the 

pepper, and discard the stem. 


- 88 -

Creamed jalapeños 

Jalapeños have a reputation as a very hot pepper, but this recipe 

tames them quite nicely. You end up with a delicious creamy treat 

with just the right amount of heat. 

Fresh jalapeños 

Chicken broth 

Oil or butter 

Flour 

Cream or crème fraiche 


Optional 

Corn tortillas 

The average person will eat 3 or more peppers at 

a sitting, when made this way. 

Wash, destem and deseed the jalapeños. Cut 

them into halves or quarters lengthwise. Either 

wear rubber gloves to do this, or go now and 

scrub your hands really thoroughly with soap 

before you get a chance to thoughtlessly swab 

jalapeño juice in your eye. 

Place the peppers in a soup pan with just enough 

broth to cover them. Bring to a simmer and cook 

gently for about 15 to 20 minutes, until they’re 

no longer bright green. 

Make a roux (page 25), about 1 pat of butter’s 

worth for every 5 peppers. Strain the broth into 

the roux to make a thick sauce. Add cream to 

make a nice pepper flavored bechamel (page 26). 

Stir in the peppers until they’re nicely coated, and 

serve. 

A nice accompaniment is tortillas that have been 

rolled up and steamed in the oven. 

Serves 1 per 4 peppers 


- 89 -

Fried baby artichokes 

It’s hard to believe that anything this delicious could actually be suitable 

for vegans to eat, but there you have it. 

Baby artichokes 

Olive oil 

Lemon 

Sea salt 

Baby artichokes are a seasonal treat in California, 

especially near Castroville, the self-proclaimed 

artichoke capitol of the world. Near the Pacific 

coast with its 50 - 60 water, its climate is cool 

and foggy most of the time; perfect for 

artichokes. Babies are available on and off from 

April through June. 

Trim the tops off the babies. It helps to have 

eaten mature artichokes to understand what I’m 

saying here. What you’re trying to do is to get rid 

of the part that you’d normally not scrape 

anything off of with your teeth, or just eat 

outright, and leave on the part that you would. 

Artichokes are much more tender when young, so 

you can imagine just chewing up and swallowing 

on down the portion of the leaf you normally 

scrape. 

So also trim around the sides to get rid of the 

little spiky bits. “Squaring the circle”, in other 

words cutting it so it looks like a square viewed 

from the top, instead of a circle, actually works 

very well. 

Fry the babies in hot olive oil. Sprinkle on a small 

bit of sea salt, and squeeze lemon juice liberally 

over them as they fry. 

Serve at once. 

Serves 1 per 3-6 chokes 


- 90 -

Steamed artichokes 

The classic way of preparing artichokes is wonderfully easy. 

Artichokes 

Butter 

Aioli 

Olive oil 

Optional 

Artichokes are available year round in better 

groceries. I find this very charming, in spite of my 

admiration for seasonal cooking. 

When selecting artichokes, one with a longer 

stem is preferred, all else being equal. Also, the 

more splayed the outer leaves, the more mature 

the choke. This actually isn’t good. You want big 

and immature. Really mature chokes are good for 

dried flower arrangements. This is a thistle, after 

all. 

Peel the rough stuff off the stems with a 

vegetable peeler. Trim off the dried up stem end. 

Slice across the top to get a nice flat surface. 

Wash the chokes. 

Place chokes in a large pot, top down. Add about 

an inch of water. Cover tightly and steam them 

until a meat fork stuck into the base of them goes 

in easily, about 15-20 minutes. Remove and 

serve. 

Sucking the leaves is fun, but the best part is the 

heart and stem. You can also eat just the leaves, 

and reserve the heart and stem for a salad the 

next day (e.g. page 53). 

Dip each leaf in aioli or melted butter as you eat 

it. A great olive oil or good mayonnaise is also 

delicious. 

Serves 1 per choke 


- 91 -

“Spanish” style hash browns 

These hash browns borrow from the spanish tradition, in which potatoes 

with paprika are one of many popular tapas. 

Potatoes 

Leeks 

Rice flour 

Oil 

Lemon 

Paprika 


Use one leek per medium-large potato. I prefer 

white potatoes for this dish. 

One lemon should be enough for 4-6 potatoes. 

Use spanish paprika if you can get it. Hungarian 

paprika is too hot, really, but will do in a pinch. 

Either olive or peanut oil will yield excellent 

results. 

I leave the potato skins on but you can peel them 

if you prefer. 

Shred the potatoes and immediately squeeze 

lemon juice over them and toss. Shred or finely 

chop the leeks and add them. 

Stir in enough rice flour to make the whole mess 

quite sticky, but not too ricey. This is a surprisingly 

excellent substitute for eggs, which are 

normally used as the binder. 

Add a good glop of paprika. It’s hard to use too 

much. Salt and pepper liberally, and stir. 

Take the resulting mess, form it into patties and 

fry over high heat in oil until cooked through (test 

with a fork). The insides will still be white, the 

outsides brown and crispy. Drain on towels and 

serve. 

Serves 1 per potato 


- 92 -

Butternut squash 

This Afghan recipe is a great favorite. For a special treat, try the more 

Western version with lox and lavender. 

Butternut squash 

Chicken or vegetable 

broth 

Stick cinnamon 

Coriander seed 

Powdered ginger 

Optional 

Sour cream or yoghurt 

Parsley 

Lox 

Lavender 

Crème fraiche 

Getting the skin off of butternut squash is a pain. 

Do the best you can. What I do sometimes is cut 

it into slices first, and then peel the skin off each 

slice. 

Buy the squash with the longest neck you can 

find, as only the neck is useful for the standalone 

version of this dish. You can use the rest of it, cut 

up, in another dish though. 

You can also use pumpkin in this recipe. “Blue” or 

other very hard pumpkin species are preferred. 

Cook the pumpkin until it is very soft, but not 

falling apart and stringy. 

Slice the neck of the squash about 1/2” thick or a 

bit more. Place flat in a pan and cover with 

chicken broth. Add a stick of cinnamon, a few 

coriander seeds, and a dusting of powdered 

ginger or a few thin slices of fresh ginger. Simmer 

gently until tender, about 20 minutes. Remove 

from broth. 

Serve as a side dish. Garnish with sour cream or 

yoghurt, and a sprig of parsley. 

Variation 

Use clam juice and water instead of broth and 

spices to cook the squash. Finely chop lox and a 

few fresh lavender leaves and mix them into 

enough creme fraiche to hold them together 

easily. Garnish each slice liberally with this 

concoction. 

Serves 6-8 


- 93 -

Yellow beets with port wine sauce 

Golden yellow beets have a milder flavor than red beets, and appeal to 

more people. The combination described here goes wonderfully with a 

piece of lamb. You can also do this with apples. 

Golden beets with tops 


broth 

Port wine reduction 

Garlic 

Oil 

Salt 

Get the largest beets you can, within reason. 

Once the skin is off of small ones, there isn’t 

much left. 

Use a port wine reduction like the one on 

page 28. 

Scrub the beets thoroughly. Cut off the tops and 

place them, stem down, in a glass of water to 

keep them fresh. Cut the root tails off the beets 

and discard. Trim the tops flat so they stand up 

without rolling. 

Place prepared beets in a glass baking dish, add 

1/4” of broth, and bake in a 350° oven until 

done, about 30 to 40 minutes. Take out and, with 

a tongs and fork, peel the skin off of them. You 

can run them under cold water first if you want to 

use your fingers. Cut them in half crosswise to 

reveal the grain. 

Coarsely chop the garlic. Cut the stems off the 

beet tops and wash them very well. Very, very, 

very, did I say very, well, to get all the sand and 

dirt out. Saute them quickly in a hot chefs pan 

with a bit of oil and the garlic. Liberally sprinkle 

them with fresh ground salt or Sale Toscano. 

Serve the beets by spooning a bit of reduction on 

the plate, then placing a beet half on top. Place 

the tops to the side. 

Serves 1 per beet 


- 94 -

Yellow beets and tomatoes, with rice 

Yellow beets and tomatoes go divinely together. This is only one 

way—the simplest one—to serve them. 

Golden yellow beets 

Fresh or canned whole 

tomatoes 

Wild rice mix 

Olive oil 


Garlic 

Onion 

Celery 

Sugar 

Optional 

If you are using fresh tomatoes, blanch them 

briefly in boiling water and remove the skins, 

then cut them in half and bake them with the 

beets. 

Otherwise bake the beets as on page 94 and 

warm the tomatoes from the can in the 

microwave. 

Prepare the rice according to directions. Serve 

the beets and tomatoes on a bed of rice. If you 

like, make a nice runny sauce out of the juice 

from the canned tomatoes, combined with a 

teensy mirepoix of very finely chopped onion, 

garlic and celery, and pour that over the rice first. 

Salt and pepper the tomato parts to taste—the 

beets will be fine as is. If necessary, add sugar, a 

pinch at a time, to stabilize the flavors of the 

tomato parts. 

Serves 1 per beet 


- 95 -

Ratatouille 

This classic country French dish is often served, and seldom 

gotten right. The key is to not overcook anything, and to not let it 

sit. Simple, huh? 

Eggplant 

Whole or canned whole 

tomatoes 

Bell peppers 

Onion 

Garlic 

Parsley 

Thyme 

Olive oil 


Optional 

Sausage 

Fresh bay leaves 

Basil 

Do not prepare ratatouille ahead—it should be 

prepared in such a way that it is ready when all 

your guests are already sitting down. 

Most of the quoted 45 minute cooking time is 

taken up with salting the eggplant. Things go 

very fast once that’s done. 

Salt and rinse the eggplant as on page 73. Cut 

into generous cubes or strips. 

Deseed and cut the bell peppers up into large (1/ 

2” x 1 1/2”) julienne strips. 

Cut the tomatoes into generous size pieces. 

Mince and fry the onion, garlic and herbs in olive 

oil, gently, until translucent. Set aside. 

Fry the eggplant pieces in very hot oil for 5 

minutes. Add the pepper pieces. As everything 

starts to get just done, add the tomatoes and the 

onion/herb mirepoix. You may want to reduce the 

heat a bit at this point. Cook until the tomatoes 

are just warm, season to taste and serve immediately. 

If you want to include sausage, mince the bay 

leaf and basil and combine with the sausage. Fry 

them separately and serve on top of the 

ratatouille. 

Serves 6 


- 96 -

Broccoli or cauliflower with brie sauce 

Both broccoli and cauliflower are wonderful by themselves, of 

course, and who needs a cookbook for those? Well, ummm, maybe 

my Mom, bless her heart and may she rest in peace. But at least 

she always served them with cheese sauce. 

Broccoli 

Cauliflower 

Brie sauce 

Both broccoli and cauliflower are best prepared 

steamed. You need one of those collapsible 

vegetable steamer doohickeys they sell at 

grocery stores, or any fancy modern steamer pot 

variation on that theme. Put a half inch of water 

in a large saucepan, place the steamer thingy 

over it, put the vegetables in that, and you’re 

ready to go. 

Steam the broccoli and cauliflower as above. 

Either can be omitted. Do not overcook them; 

both are ready when a fork easily pierces the 

stems. This is usually on the order of 10-12 

minutes. If they look the least bit overdone, 

plunge them in cold water to stop the cooking 

process. 

Prepare a brie sauce as on page 30. Drizzle over 

the vegetables in the serving dish, or serve on 

the side, as you like. 


- 97 -

Kale and radish hearts with clam sauce 

If you love kale, you’ll adore this. 

Kale 

Green onions 

Radishes 

Garlic 

Olive oil 

Clam broth 


broth 

Fresh thyme 

Fresh parsley 

Butter 

Cream 

Optional 

Fresh fennel 

The radish tops go very well in a salad. They wilt 

very quickly after being cut off the radishes 

though, so be prepared for that. 

Wash and cut the radishes into eighths, meaning 

first cut them in half, then cut those halves in 

half, and finally those halves in half. I do this 

more to get them the right size than for show. 

Now start the sauce. Put a jar of clam juice and a 

can of broth into a saucepan over high heat. 

Place the radishes in the broth and boil until 

they’re just al dente. Remove the radishes and 

set aside. Add the bouquet of parsley and thyme; 

a bit of fresh fennel will give it mystery. Fish out 

the bouquet when it’s used up, poor thing, and 

discard it, but keep reducing the sauce. 

Chop the green onions most of the way up the 

stalk into 1/4” pieces. Peel and coarsely chop the 

garlic. Very coarsely chop the kale (1/2” strips 

cut off the bunch sideways works well). 

When the broth is reduced so that it coats the 

back of a spoon, it’s ready. Whisk in a bit of 

butter to give it shine, and a scant amount of 

cream. Set aside. 

Now mix all the vegetables together, including 

the radishes, in a heavy chefs pan and fry in just 

enough oil to make it possible to toss them with 

your wrist the way fancy chef’s do. This doesn’t 

take long, three or four minutes say. 

Add the sauce, stir around to incorporate, and 

serve. 

Serves 4 per bunch kale 


- 98 -

Vegetables - Alan's Cookbook

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