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¼ cup olive oil

1 garlic clove, peeled and lightly crushed

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Zest of ½ lemon, minced

½ fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into strips

1. Combine half the olive oil with the garlic in a small saucepan and turn the heat to medium-low. Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the garlic begins to sizzle. Remove the garlic from the oil and the pan from the heat.

2. Add the cold oil to the hot, along with salt, pepper, and lemon zest. Serve the fennel with the dipping sauce.

FENNEL GRATIN

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 20 MINUTES

THIS IS AN almost universal technique for vegetables, an honest, simple gratin with a topping of just a couple of ingredients. Since one of them is rich, flavorful blue cheese, butter isn’t even included. My vegetable of choice here is fennel—an underappreciated and almost always available bulb—but you could put this topping on almost any vegetable. For the cheese, you can use Gorgonzola, the soft Italian cheese; bleu d’Auvergne, a mild cheese from France; Maytag blue, the premier domestic variety; Stilton, the classic English blue; or Roquefort, which is made from sheep’s milk. All are good, but my preferences are for the stronger cheeses, such as Roquefort and Maytag.

1 fennel bulb (about 1 pound)

½ cup coarse bread crumbs

¼ cup crumbled blue cheese

Freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Bring a pot of water to a boil.

2. Trim the fennel, then cut it into about ¼-inch-thick slices and cook in the boiling water until just tender, less than 5 minutes. Drain and layer in the shallow baking dish. (You can also drain the vegetables, then stop their cooking by plunging them into ice water, then drain again. In this manner you can finish the cooking up to a day or two later; increase the baking time to 20 minutes.)

3. Top the fennel with the bread crumbs, then with the cheese; season all with pepper to taste (hold off on salt, because the cheese is salty). Put in the oven until the cheese melts, about 10 minutes.

4. Run the baking dish under the broiler until the top browns, checking every 30 seconds. Serve hot or at room temperature.

FIGS STUFFED WITH GOAT CHEESE

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 15 MINUTES

FALL IS THE time for fresh figs, which people who live in Mediterranean climates (including many Californians) take for granted but which are a real treat for the rest of us. Fresh figs may be green or dark purple; color does not affect flavor (ripeness and variety do), but most people perceive purple figs as more attractive. This is obviously a fruit dish, but the fruit functions like a vegetable in this preparation.

3 to 4 ounces soft fresh goat cheese

1 tablespoon good-quality balsamic vinegar

12 fresh figs

1. Use your fingers to roll the goat cheese into 24 small balls, each ½ inch or less in diameter. Put them on a plate and drizzle with the vinegar. Shake the plate gently to coat the cheese balls evenly.

2. Cut the figs in half and press a cheese ball into the center of each. As the figs are stuffed, return them, stuffed side up, to the plate where the cheese was marinating. Serve within an hour.

COOL COOKED GREENS WITH LEMON

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 20 MINUTES

A CLASSIC PREPARATION, useful year-round, and especially convenient when you want to cook the greens in advance.

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 pounds dark leafy greens, like collards, kale, or spinach

Several tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 lemons, cut in half

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Trim the greens of any stems thicker than ¼ inch; discard them. Wash the greens well.

2. Simmer the greens until tender, just a minute or two for spinach, up to 10 minutes or even longer for older, tougher greens. Drain them well and cool them quickly by running them under cold water.

3. Squeeze the greens dry and chop them. (You may prepare the salad in advance up to this point; cover and refrigerate for up to a day, then bring to room temperature before proceeding.) Sprinkle with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and serve with