Vegetables

So many people enjoy this simple salad. It is easy, keeps well and is refreshing in summer, at a bbq supper, or as a side with a meal. It doubles and triples well for a crowd.

I made this up a few years ago based on all the things I like in a traditional turkey stuffing. It is designed to be old-fashioned, flavorful, and easy and stop you from every buying stuffing that comes in a box. This is beyond pretty darn good. I am not above using a convenience product but when tasty, natural and quick and easy all converge, what's the point? Holidays should be about the real stuff - especially the stuffing.

Oven bake this incredible gourmet cranberry sauce. The oven deep bakes the flavor so the fruits meld just so, and no mixing and pot-watching for you. Just layer, bake, one stir and serve. So good –you’ll have to roast a turkey as an excuse to devour all the sauce. Recipe doubles well. As one of our testers pointed out, you can chuck this in the oven with the turkey to save burner space. Same tester (hey Jan in Vermont!) said and we quote "Hate to change the tried and true traditional things of Thanksgiving but change Is good and this cranberry sauce recipe is so, so good!".

The trick here is to brown the matzoh in the oven first for more flavor. Baking this in a deep 9 or 10-inch quiche dish makes for a more attractive presentation but any ovenproof casserole is fine.

The very first scene in the movie Like Water for Chocolate showcases buckets of diced onions – as a symbol of tears and heartache. This salad makes short work of zesty onions and hot peppers and heartache, if any, is sheerly physical, not emotional! I use surgical gloves (my fruit and vegetable store stocks them). They make handling the hot peppers a piece of cake. This can be enjoyed on it its own but I prefer it on baguette sandwiches or atop a mixed green salad. The vinegar is optional - it does make things a bit more watery but gives it an acidic bite. The salt also makes things watery. You can leave that out too and add it as you dole out the salad. For more recipes from this film, check out the novel by the same name, which includes most of the recipes seen being prepared in the film.

There are many versions of this standard pastry wrapped mashed potato entrée. This is pretty traditional and as good as any knishes off a New York street vendor. If your kids or anyone else doesn’t like onions or a pronounced onion taste, omit the sautéed onions and use the onion powder called for. This makes tons of little knishes or about 2 dozen hefty, grandma styled knishes. If you were really busy, you could even use boxed mashed potatoes for a shortcut and still have amazing knishes. You can also use storebought puff pastry or Sour Cream Mock Puff Pastry.

Nothing beats a tender, crispy, slightly sweet, golden corn fritter. This is a summery morsel that is a meal on its own but it is intended as as side dish or appetizer. Fresh corn is best but even canned corn comes up shining in this delicious teaser. Serve with hot sauce or go sweet with a spritz of pure maple syrup or peach chutney.

April in Paris quiche is more like it…Younger than springtime is this quiche, with its herbs and cheese mix. Perfect with lamb’s lettuce salad. You could substitute tender, sauteed leeks for the asparagus on another day.