This dish is a starter, or you can place it into a salad for a larger dish. Tobiko is the bright orange or red flying fish roe most often seen on the outside of California rolls. You can get it at Japanese markets and better fish mongers. If it is frozen, that’s fine as that is usually how it is shipped. This recipe only uses a little, so freeze what you won’t use within a few days. Chervil is an herb not used so much in the US, but is loved in France. Think of basil, tarragon, fennel, or anise, only much more delicate and subtle. Here, it brings a nice contrast to the brininess of the tuna and tobiko. A sharp knife is important to the success of this dish, and if you wish, you can freeze the tuna for 10-15 minutes to firm it up before cutting.
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Colorful and sunny flavors of the south of France, with nice crunch enhanced by soaking the vegetables in cold water for a while prior to serving.
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This is easiest to make using various colored zucchini shaped summer squash, although with a little thought patty-pan and crookneck squash will also work. If your rosemary stalks are not the firmest, run them in with a metal skewer or a bamboo one that has been soaked in water first so it does not ignite.
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Vaguely Middle-Eastern and Indian in influence, this is a colorful dish with surprising flavors. Remember, peeling purple carrots may render them simply orange, so use a scrub brush or wash cloth to gently clean the outside of these carrots and remove any hairy rootlets. Roasting the carrots deepens the flavor, as well as the color, which adds to the contrast with the sharp mustard.
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Use this as a salad dressing for slaw, or on shellfish. It is also great on shaved fennel salads.
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Although this is typically made with dry herbs, you could give it a whirl with fresh ones if you wish.
Chervil is an herb not often seen fresh in the US. It is a delicate herb, in structure and flavor. It has a flavor similar to basil, tarragon, and anise, but is far subtler, and there is a bit of an Italian parsley note as well. It lends a pleasant clean and sweet note to the blend that is enhanced by the marjoram. Tarragon adds an earthiness that melds with the chives and parsley, and enhances the anise notes of the chervil. Chives are the bass line of the group, and parsley wraps them all together with its clean, almost sharp, flavor.
Try this fresh if you wish, or dried for the traditional take. This blend goes well with fish, chicken, and vegetables such as summer squash and carrots. It is good added to a beurre blanc at the end, or scattered over grilled lamb meatballs at the end as well.
Chervil and chives are not herbs that do well with long cooking, so wait until the end of a recipe before adding, or add if the cooking time is short or quite gentle.
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There are many dishes where the greens of things such radishes, turnips, and carrots are combined with used as a sauce for the roots they are attached to. Here is a recipe that has a powerfully “green” flavor to it similar to that of nettles, and is colorful as well. Be sure to wash the leaves in several changes of water as they seem to hold sand and fine particles well.
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Unless you have home made tomato sauce, canned tomatoes work best here, especially if you have good Italian San Marzanos. Otherwise, just use your favorite. Be sure to use a really big pan for sautéing the squash, or do it in batches. If the squash is crowded it will steam and just get mushy.
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This technique works with other syrups as well, such as mint, ginger, or lavender.
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This could have been named “Sweet and Sour Escarole” but the sour is not that pronounced, unless you choose to add vinegar to the dish. Escarole is a chicory that is milder than most radicchios, and is a great foil for dishes such as grilled steaks and chops. It has a mild pleasant bitter flavor and a little bit of chewiness with a silky texture when cooked. This is a basic recipe for sautéed escarole and is easy to elaborate on. Escarole cooks in minutes so is great for meals on the fly.
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This dressing has more garlic than usual, and was made with grilled vegetables in mind, but will work for milder greens if you have a yen for garlic. Still, this is not really strong as garlic dressings go. If that is what you want, just add more garlic cloves.
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This salad combines smoky grill flavors with fresh vegetable crunch, and drapes it all in a mildly garlicky dressing. The little bit of cheese on top rounds out the interplay between the slight sharpness romaine and summer squash have, while the grilling of the two helps to emphasize the sweetness the underlies these two vegetables.
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This is a mash of fava beans studded with small bits of summer squash flash sautéed to crisp them up a bit. This dish could serve as a topping for crostini or something from the grill. Here it is served in small Romaine leaves as a mezze. This dish has flavorings more from the Middle East, but switching the cilantro for mint or basil, and removing the cumin will swing it towards Italy, France, and Spain.
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For when you want something rich with big flavors. This is not a “diet” dish by any means. The recipe looks long, but it really does not take all that long to do this. You could cook all the components and make the custard the day before and then combine them and bake them just before dinner when you need them.
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A quick sauté using a dressing originally used for a Strawberry Spinach salad.
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This is another recipe where cooked vegetables stand in for a normal sauce. The “sauce” could be used on its own or with pasta or grains as well. The recipe uses tilapia, but feel free to substitute other firm white fish such as cod, halibut, etc. Swordfish would work also, or toss it with grilled or sautéed shrimp. This dish is easiest to make the day after you have cooked artichokes. Cook a 2-3 extra to have with this dish, or just eat the leaves one night and use the hearts the next.
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This dressing was made to go with the Strawberry Spinach Salad, but will work to dress other things as well. This would work well on a salad of arugula, mizuna, mei quin, and mushrooms, or would be nice on grilled fish or pork skewers. Just remember to go easy with the sesame oil. Use just enough to detect it, but not enough to flat-out taste it. The same with the soy sauce.
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This soup uses potato to give it a creamy feel, and there is no dairy in it at all. The garlic used is young “green” garlic which has a lovely garlic aroma and a mild flavor without any heat. If you wish, omit it. The soup is excellent either way. This soup is also good served cold a la Vichyssoise. See Notes for ideas. By the way, you do not want this soup to boil- boil this soup and it will turn khaki and smell very broccoli-esque. This recipe includes a step where the stock is simmered with the peelings of the broccoli to add flavor. This is optional, and omitting it won’t hurt.
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This balsamic vinaigrette has a little more nuance from the honey mustard, and since that brings flavor to the dressing, you can save the better balsamic vinegars for other things.
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This is a twist on Insalata Caprese, the ubiquitous tomato, mozzarella, and basil “salad” that often features as a starter when tomatoes are in season. This version, however, is more of dessert meets the cheese course. The basil syrup called for in the recipe was developed originally for making grown-up sodas.
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