Notes about Recipes in this book

• Sautéed heirloom tomatoes on garlic-rubbed toast

  • lselke on September 03, 2010

    Simple as can be, but delicious.

• Red sweet potato curry with tofu, bok choy, and caramelized shallots

  • lselke on September 02, 2010

    Tasty but somewhat awkward to pull together. A lot of pans for a modest profit.

• Wine-braised lentils over toast with spinach and red pearl onions

  • lselke on September 03, 2010

    Another tasty recipe that's just a little fussy for every day.

• Summer potatoes stewed with eggplant, peppers, and olives

  • Avocet on August 11, 2017

    This seemed a bit bland, so added some white wine, red pepper flakes, more garlic, and some basil, which pepped it up.

• Gnocchi with winter squash and seared radicchio

  • Christine on February 16, 2015

    I was consultant rather than cook for this recipe since my mom made it for us while visiting when I wasn't feeling well. We skipped the radicchio, but did make the optional sauce which was really delicious. Roasted the squash instead of sauteeing or steaming as that is our favorite way to prepare it. Perfect served with some Romano cheese on top.

  • Nancith on October 01, 2014

    Wow! Delicious! I prepared the butternut squash the alternative way, by slowing browning in olive oil rather than steaming, and also made the broth-y sauce suggested. Definitely a recipe to make again, & special enough for guests.

• Chickpeas and chard with cilantro and cumin

  • Christine on June 11, 2014

    I received Swiss chard and cilantro in my first CSA box of the season, and this was one of the few recipes in my collection I also had all the remaining ingredients for on hand. It was a little time consuming for a weeknight, but it turned out quite delicious. I really love the flavor combination of cilantro and cumin. I may have over-salted a bit, but that was a silly mistake on my part that I will be more careful about next time. I sometimes worry too much that a "healthy" dish will be bland that I am a little overzealous with the salt and pepper -- oops! I couldn't really imagine eating this as a full meal on its own, so I served it over quinoa. I think it would also be good served over couscous. I only used half the amount of chard called for as suggested in the recipe headnotes -- Madison says she likes the dish chard-heavy, but I liked the proportions better using the smaller amount (and that's all I had!)

  • Emily Hope on November 18, 2010

    This is tasty and nourishing, if not earth-shattering. Pretty simple to make, as I recall.

• Pasta and chickpeas with plenty of parsley and garlic

  • kjwright on July 07, 2011

    Quick and easy pantry-based dinner. The final flavor is greater than the sum of the ingredients, and great protein for a meatless meal.

  • clcorbi on November 01, 2017

    I think I've tried all of Deborah Madison's chickpea and pasta recipes at this point, and this one was good just like all the others. I think I prefer her recipe in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone that has sage and garlic, though. That one has you simmer the aromatics in oil and then pour it over the pasta and chickpeas, which makes a really flavorful finished dish.

• Labor Day spaghetti with golden peppers, black olives, and sun gold tomatoes

  • priyamaine on October 03, 2010

    Flavorings are delicious, but more fresh herbs and garlic would have helped.

  • aeader on September 23, 2018

    Very nice end of summer dish. I left out the capers and served with chickpea spaghetti.

• Long-cooked tomato sauce

  • TrishaCP on January 08, 2022

    I made this in the summer to deal with a tomato glut, and then froze it. This makes a sweetish, pleasant basic tomato sauce that can be flavored with other herbs and spices as needed. I would make this again as a base sauce.

  • Meags on October 30, 2022

    Good

• Fideos with pasilla chiles, avocado, and crema

  • TrishaCP on April 10, 2015

    I completely forgot the crema but this was tasty nonetheless. This was only slightly spicy but very comforting. I didn't like the idea of the pasilla strips hanging out in the pasta, so I simply blended them into the sauce and that worked well. If you make the sauce in advance, this is doable for a weeknight meal, but you will definitely be dirtying a few pots with this recipe.

  • Wlow on May 20, 2021

    Special ingredients: Dried pasilla, New Mexican or guajillo chiles; Roma tomatoes OR 1 can fire-roasted tomatoes; Mexican crema OR creme fraiche OR sour cream; Feta OR queso fresco

• Crookneck squash and rice gratin with summer herbs

  • TrishaCP on June 26, 2020

    This was really delicious. Deborah Madison loves her marjoram, but I didn’t have any (my plant mysteriously died) and I subbed with dill. The dill was great with the summer squash. I had about a pound of crookneck from my CSA, and that was a good ratio for me since we aren’t huge squash fans. I agree that the final sprinkle of zest and the garlic and herbs mix is lovely.

  • Nancith on July 21, 2017

    Lovely herbal notes to this flavorful gratin, and the lemon zest added after baking adds a nice zing to the flavor. The texture of well-cooked summer squash is not my favorite, but that's my only quibble.

• Yellow peppers stuffed with quinoa, corn, and feta cheese

  • aeader on September 09, 2018

    These were delicious and worth the effort. Maybe not a weeknight meal as there's a bit of prep. The flavors were terrific. I ended up with extra filling but it's nice as a side as well. Skipped the cilantro and used about a Tbsp of dried jalepeno flakes (found them at Penzeys) since I didn't have fresh. Used frozen corn and frozen chopped spinach (thawed). Would definitely make again.

• Fragrant red lentils with basmati rice and broccoli Romanesco

  • captious on July 29, 2013

    The recipe was fine, but it was more work than other red lentil recipes I’ve made, without being particularly exciting. I won’t make it again. I much prefer Madison's "Red lentil soup with lemon and spinach." Do note, however, that the recipe calls for romanesco, which I couldn’t find, so I used cauliflower instead. (But maybe broccoli would have been a better choice?) The romanesco is sautéed with the same basic seasonings as the lentils, then everything is combined and garnished with cilantro and yogurt.

• Garden ragout for midsummer with marjoram pesto

  • Nancith on August 11, 2015

    This is utterly delicious! The marjoram pesto absolutely makes this dish. I had hardly any parsley on hand, but the pesto was still outstanding. Had to use canned beans, a blend of black, kidney & pinto rather than white beans, but it still tasted great.

• Late-summer vegetable tian of slowly roasted peppers and onions

  • Nancith on September 08, 2014

    This was a delicious, melt-in-your-mouth dish. It requires about 2 hours in the oven, and filled the house with a wonderful aroma. Will definitely be making this in the future.

• Feta and ricotta cheese skillet pie

  • Nancith on June 12, 2014

    Absolutely delicious, light texture & very rich flavor, probably rather high in calories since it is loaded with ricotta & feta cheese. Perhaps my oven is off, but it took quite a bit longer than the recipe said to set up, and the oven temp had to be turned up as well.

• Polenta squares with Gorgonzola cream, braised greens, and cannellini beans

  • Nancith on November 28, 2016

    Very rich dish with lots of flavors going on. I used red kale for the greens as chard was not available; it worked quite well, but the chard sounds even better to me. Keep an eye on the Gorgonzola cream sauce. While preoccupied with other preparation, it overcooked a bit, & was an unpleasant blue color, rather than white flecked with blue, as well as tasting somewhat overdone. This worked for me as a main dish, & also as an accompaniment to chicken paillards for the omnivores in the family.

• Bare-bones tofu curry

  • Wlow on May 20, 2021

    Very good with broccoli, carrots added. Kids liked. Cilantro garnish. Didn’t have basil but good to try when in season.

• Stir-fried sesame broccoli and tofu with glass noodles

  • clcorbi on May 17, 2018

    Not great, and sort of fussy to boot. This recipe produces a lot of dishes between blanching the broccoli, soaking the egg noodles, soaking the dried mushrooms, etc, and the flavor doesn't really pay off. Also, I don't think it's really fair to call this dish a stirfry, since the recipe has you add around a half-cup of mushroom soaking liquid to the pan. It's more like simmering some Asian ingredients in a sauce.

• Brown rice supper with tofu, roasted peanut sauce, and stir-fried carrots

  • clcorbi on August 14, 2018

    I like this. It's not the most amazing thing I've ever tasted, and it is, as Madison says, a little austere, but it's healthy and flavorful and leftovers keep really well for lunches. The peanut sauce is definitely on the thicker side, which doesn't bother me when mixed in with the rice, but next time I might substitute my own peanut sauce recipe that I like better instead. Otherwise, I like the idea of this meal, and I think you could easily switch in a variety of other proteins and vegetables.

• Spinach quesadillas

  • luolili on February 17, 2018

    These are delicious!! Incredibly flavorful!

• Romesco sauce

  • sscholl on February 07, 2019

    Very good, Deborah Madison delivers again. I used canned plum tomatoes and jarred roasted red peppers. My version needed an extra teaspoon of vinegar and lots of salt.

• Zucchini skillet cakes with capers and pine nuts

  • lesleybelle on March 07, 2020

    Subbed almond flour for the breadcrumbs, added two tablespoons of olive oil to the batter and baked in 1/3 cup patties at 425 for 30 minutes one one side and flipped for another 15 minutes.

  • Meags on November 04, 2022

    Very good! I used lemon pepper and 3 eggs. I also used basil, a squirt of lemon juice (because I didn't have lemon for zest), walnuts for pine nuts and chopped green olives for capers.

• Whole wheat penne with masses of broccoli, green olives, and pine nuts

  • Meags on October 30, 2022

    Fantastic! I subbed toasted slivered almonds for pine nuts. I forgot the oregano, fine without it. Half batch plenty for four.

• Spicy tofu with Thai basil and coconut rice cakes

  • Meags on November 04, 2022

    Delicious!

• Sweet and sour tofu (or tempeh) with summer vegetables and black rice

  • Meags on November 04, 2022

    Eric really liked this. I used edamame for the green beans.

• Ricotta omelet

  • Meags on July 18, 2021

    Delicious and easy. I used basil instead of marjoram. I also used 5 egg whites and one whole egg. (I had the egg whites leftover from another recipe that needed five yolks.)

• Black bean tostadas with slivered cabbage, avocado, and pickled onions

  • Meags on May 23, 2021

    Fantastic! Easy too! I used a can of low sodium beans and didn't add extra salt to the beans. Tasted great!

• Eggplant gratin layered with fresh mozzarella cheese

  • Meags on October 30, 2022

    Yum! I used 8 oz mozzarella and 4-5 oz gruyere. I layered cheese on each layer - sauce, eggplant, ground pepper, cheese, torn basil leaves, sauce (3 layers), sauce on top.

• Eggplant gratin with saffron custard

  • Meags on October 30, 2022

    Delish!