A good tasty use for a variety of vegetables is vinegar pickles. Unlike fermented pickles, which take weeks or months, these are ready to eat in a few minutes and will keep for a week. These pickles can be used in a variety of ways and are good to have on hand to brighten up a charcuterie plate—or as an hors d’oeuvre on their own. Prepare the pickling solution by combining all the ingredients listed below and bringing them to a boil. Cook each type of vegetable separately in this boiling brine, scooping them out when they are cooked but still a little bit crisp. Set them aside to cool. Once all the vegetables are cooked and cooled, and the pickling solution has cooled to room temperature, combine the vegetables, transfer to jars or another covered container, cover with the pickle brine, and refrigerate. Use this method to pickle little florets of cauliflower, sliced carrots, quartered pearl or cipolline onions, halved okra pods, small turnips cut into wedges with some of their stems still attached, whole green beans, small cubes of celery root, and more. Sometimes I just slice red onions very thin and pour the boiling brine over them. By the time they cool they will have cooked just enough, and they are delicious served with smoked fish and new potatoes. Feel free to alter the ingredients of the brine: try using red instead of white vinegar, or adding a bit of saffron, or other kinds of dried chiles, or fresh slices of jalapeño.
Turn humble onions into this thrifty yet luxe pasta dinner.
Serve a thick slice for breakfast or an afternoon pick-me-up.
This pasta has some really big energy about it. It’s so extra, it’s the type of thing you should be eating in your bikini while drinking a magnum of rosé, not in Hebden Bridge (or wherever you live), but on a beach on Mykonos.
Caramelized onions, melty Gruyère, and a deeply savory broth deliver the kind of comfort that doesn’t need improving.
Reliable cabbage is cooked in the punchy sauce and then combined with store-bought baked tofu and roasted cashews for a salad that can also be eaten with rice.
This is what I call a fridge-eater recipe. The key here is getting a nice sear on the sausage and cooking the tomato down until it coats the sausage and vegetables well.
This is the type of soup that, at first glance, might seem a little…unexciting. But you’re underestimating the power of mushrooms, which do the heavy lifting.
A dash of cocoa powder adds depth and richness to the broth of this easy turkey chili.