Notes about Recipes in this book

• Spicy Korean-style pickles

  • mlbatt on April 24, 2020

    Did not have chili-garlic paste, so I added a few smashed garlic cloves to some Sambal Oelak I had in the fridge. These came out great.

• Quick-glazed carrots

  • joeljkp on January 17, 2022

    Straightforward glazed carrots, enjoyed by the family. I've made it several times; this last one with 1/2 tsp of thyme leaves added with the carrots. For some reason Bittman doesn't include hard herbs added at the beginning as a variation, but it's definitely a good option.

• Posole with beans

  • joeljkp on March 13, 2022

    This strikes me as a template recipe with a pretty blank-slate flavor. Hearty enough for a full meal, but I was thankful for a spread of toppings to jazz it up.

• Pearl couscous tagine

  • joeljkp on March 14, 2022

    Satisfying and loads of veggies, as dc151 mentioned. I ended up adding quite a bit of salt at the end, maybe 2tsp+.

  • dc151 on October 20, 2021

    Perfectly fine dish. Not really memorable either way, but plenty of veggies in there

• Fresh tomato sauce

  • joeljkp on July 16, 2022

    Made this many times during the summer as a variation on his Fast Tomato Sauce. It's always good. The new edition doesn't mention peeling or seeding the tomatoes. This ends up thinner than the standard sauce with canned tomatoes, but probably because the brand I use is packed in puree instead of juice. I use 1 tsp salt and add garlic, 2 tsp Italian seasoning, and 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper.

• Linguine with raw tomato sauce (Linguine con salsa cruda)

  • joeljkp on July 31, 2022

    Made this tonight with some summer tomatoes to go with leftover pasta, and it was great. So quick and easy, and really hits the spot on a hot summer evening. I didn't have any basil ready so I swapped in a good sprinkle of dried oregano.

• Creamy pasta with peas

  • joeljkp on April 01, 2022

    Made for a weeknight dinner with dried egg noodles. Quick and easy, but /very/ tart when using Greek yogurt in place of cheese. Too much for the family.

• Pasta with caramelized onions

  • joeljkp on January 30, 2022

    Made this for the family tonight, and it was loved by all (adults, anyway). Nice filling pasta dish, relatively simple, with a sweet/savory flavor. The flavor isn't very complex; for that I'll try the variation with olives next.

• Mario Batali's vegetarian ragù

  • joeljkp on January 24, 2023

    This turns a mountain of vegetables into a really hearty sauce that went great with rigatoni for dinner. I couldn't believe it would actually work until somehow it did, and turned out delicious. The family appreciated the fried breadcrumb topping. We served this over pasta instead of mixing it in. I used something like 2 tsp salt in total and had to process the veggies in two batches.

• Pad Thai

  • joeljkp on March 27, 2022

    Made this yesterday as written, using soy sauce in place of the "fishless fish sauce", as suggested. It was well-liked, but emerged bland without an extra sprinkle of salt at the end. The tofu method was confusing - it calls for sliced tofu, sauteed for a few minutes, then tossed in with the noodles at the end. I didn't see any instruction to dice it, so instead the slices kind of got tossed around with the noodles and broken up that way. It was fine, but it seems like that would be worth a mention in the recipe if that's what was intended.

• Cucumber salad with soy and ginger

  • joeljkp on March 27, 2022

    Good flavor, but the cucumber was swimming in dressing! I used supermarket cucumbers and the towel-wring method after salting, so it could be I compressed my cucumbers too much by doing that. Otherwise it was a satisfying side.

• Cherry tomato salad with soy sauce

  • joeljkp on July 17, 2022

    So easy, and very good. I used cherry (halved) and slightly larger tomatoes (quartered), and skipped the herbs since they weren't readily available. The flavor was great for me; another commented that it seemed very heavy on the dressing, but I think that's just the way the dish works - the dressing pools at the bottom.

• Green beans tossed with walnut-miso sauce

  • joeljkp on April 11, 2022

    This recipe may be perfectly authentic, but it left me cold. The sauce needed quite a bit of extra water to blend properly in a regular Oster-style blender, and when assembled it just seemed more gloppy than anything. Served cold, and also didn't hold together when heated. Just wasn't a match for what I or the family enjoy.

• Anything-scented peas

  • joeljkp on April 20, 2022

    Essential recipe.

• Oven-roasted potatoes

  • joeljkp on January 22, 2022

    Straightforward roast potatoes with great results. On a sheet pan using white potatoes, these turned out cubes crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside - like cubic french fries.

• Curried stir-fried potatoes

  • joeljkp on March 28, 2022

    These were good as a side to Braised tofu and peas in curried coconut milk - a warm almost sweet flavor without much spice (I used the pinch of cayenne option). Red potatoes worked well. I used Bittman's garam masala recipe.

• Winter squash with coconut milk and curry

  • joeljkp on January 16, 2022

    Made this with butternut squash and served over basmati rice for an easy family meal. Really satisfying - sweet, substantial, nice flavor. Added pan-fried tofu for protein. Our squash was really ripe, so the initial simmer didn't really need to be a full 15 min. By the end, the squash had disintegrated into the dish, making sort of a squash curry gravy (still good).

• White beans, Tuscan style

  • joeljkp on May 01, 2022

    I did something wrong with this one - after draining the liquid and mixing in the final ingredients, this ended up as a big dry mass of half-mashed beans. I'm guessing I wasn't supposed to drain all the liquid, just "as necessary", but that's not super clear. The flavor was good, needed a good amount of salt, probably 1-2 tsp.

• Mung bean dal with apples, coconut, and mint

  • joeljkp on March 07, 2022

    Good hearty dal, but with a nice light flavor. I had to get the mung beans on Amazon; I couldn't find them at the local grocery store. We served it over rice, but noticed the flavors got lost that way. Eaten alone or with naan was really nice. Update: I wasn't in love with this for leftovers. The flavor ended up pretty one-note and improved by some acid or heat (I used Patak's Hot Mixed Pickle).

• Chili non carne

  • joeljkp on January 09, 2022

    This is more in the category of charro beans than chili - there's no chile-based sauce here. But it was enjoyable for the family alongside some corn bread. Mild as written. Needed 1-2 tsp of salt for flavor and additional water at the end to avoid a mashed-bean consistency. Would be improved by some smoked paprika or ground chipotle.

• Hoppin' John with smoked tofu

  • joeljkp on January 03, 2022

    This was a winner for New Years dinner paired with greens and cornbread. The smoked tofu was a bit hard to find, but was a welcome addition. Makes enough for leftovers. 2 hours start to finish.

• Baked beans

  • joeljkp on July 12, 2022

    Seems like a pretty great vegetarian baked beans recipe to me. I followed the recipe as written and ended up with a tender, hearty, sweet pot of beans. The timings seemed accurate. I added several dashes of salt (other recipes indicated 1tsp) and probably 1 tbsp more molasses after the original 1/2 cup.

• Crisp panfried tofu

  • joeljkp on January 16, 2022

    Easy technique for crisp-skinned tofu. Worked great, though I had to replenish the oil in the pan for the 2nd skillet batch.

• Braised tofu and peas in curried coconut milk

  • joeljkp on March 28, 2022

    Made this for an Indian dinner with store-bought naan. It turned out a bit thin and soupy compared to the picture in the book, though I wouldn't be surprised if this was caused by my ratios being off. I used 1 1/4 lb tofu and a can of coconut milk, which was probably a bit too much. Next time I'll measure the coconut milk instead. Once salted, the flavor was good, if mild.

• Everyday pancakes

  • joeljkp on January 07, 2022

    These are our go-to basic pancakes (actually the buttermilk variation). Tried it with cottage cheese today as suggested by the headnote, and it definitely needed thinning with some milk before mixing the batter. The taste and rise was good.

• Vinaigrette

  • joeljkp on March 13, 2022

    Basic vinaigrette, I've made it many times. This is one that highlights Bittman's unwillingness to specify salt/pepper amounts. Especially in a book targeted at beginners, this is not overly helpful for a number of recipes. I made this several times at first, ending up at a loss for why it tasted dull, until I consulted Joy of Cooking and saw that 1/2 tsp salt per 3/4 cup oil is a good starting point.

• Rice cakes with sweet soy sauce and vegetables

  • thecharlah on May 08, 2020

    Simple, very tasty, and easily adaptable.

• Whole roasted cauliflower with raisins and balsamic glaze

  • lou_weez on December 02, 2018

    Great side dish! Really easy to throw together and tasted wonderful.

• Braised chard with olive oil and rice

  • MariaSwe on July 22, 2022

    I used brown rice per the note in the instructions and that worked nicely. Not a lot of flavour but good as a side to a more flavourful dish.

• Lentil soup

  • pewells on June 21, 2021

    Listed as Egyptian Lentil Soup in Eating Well Magazine

• Hard-boiled eggs in quick tomato curry sauce

  • rgraham on July 03, 2020

    Quick easy sauce which can be used for vegetables or garbanzos too.

• Tofu and bok choy "goulash"

  • AugustaLarson on September 21, 2020

    I used half a fresh red chilli, instead of the flakes. I added two small spring onions which I needed to use up. I didn't have any ginger, but it still worked out delicious. I used scallion-infused oil. One I will absolutely make again. Very quick and simple but amazing flavor.

• Arame and bean threads with ponzu dipping sauce

  • AugustaLarson on August 18, 2020

    I added tofu croutons (from the same cook book) to make it a complete meal.

• Kitchn

  The latest edition of this book includes recipes that represent how we think about vegetable-focused cooking today, so expect to find chia pudding next to a basic...tasty recipe for lentil soup.

  Full review

• Food52

  12 things Emily Stephenson learned from working on the book.

  Full review