Even though we may spend months anticipating the bounty of
summer vegetable season, it's easy to fall into a rut of preparing
the same dishes over and over once the vegetables arrive at the
market. Chef Amanda Cohen of the restaurant Dirt Candy shows us
how to break out of the boring vegetable routine. Cohen, who
penned a cookbook named
after her restaurant, shakes things up by grilling vegetables
that aren't typically grilled, like leafy greens such as spinach or
kale.
Frugality has led Cohen to additional interesting discoveries.
She hates to waste any food, so she uses the green tops of
vegetables like carrots, celery, and radishes instead of throwing
them away. Celery tops are one of Cohen's favorites, especially
Chinese celery. She uses the leafy tops in stir fries. "It has
that punch-you-in-the-face, bitter-arugula taste," she says. Cohen
also uses corn cobs left over from grilling to make a smoky corn
broth.
Desserts are another surprising place that Cohen uses
vegetables. She serves a carrot meringue pie, which "has this soft,
luscious sweet carrot taste to it-but it's not overpowering, so you
don't feel like you're eating a vegetable," she notes. Strawberries
and tomatoes share the spotlight in a cobbler. In addition to these
creative ideas, the article includes recipes for tomato and
smoked feta salad and zucchini and pasta noodles with a garlicky
yogurt sauce.
Photo of carrot top pesto from Stonesoup in the EYB
Library