What We Eat When We Eat Alone - Deborah Madison [20]
POLENTA
1-1⁄2 TABLESPOONS OLIVE OIL OR OIL AND BUTTER, MIXED
4 SCALLIONS, INCLUDING SOME OF THE GREENS, CHOPPED
1 CUP FROZEN CORN
6 SHRIMP (DEFROSTED IF FROZEN), PEELED AND DEVEINED
SALT AND PEPPER
2 TABLESPOONS CHOPPED CILANTRO
1. Start the polenta. While it’s cooking, heat the olive oil in a 10-inch skillet. When hot, add the scallions, corn, and shrimp. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste, and sauté over high heat, jerking the pan back and forth to turn the shrimp. When the shrimp are pink and firm to the touch the corn should be done. Taste to be sure. Add the cilantro.
2. Serve yourself a bowl of polenta and cover with the shrimp and corn and more black pepper.
Green Panini with Roasted Peppers and Gruyère Cheese
If you’re going to use fresh spinach, you might as well look to more pungent greens like broccoli rabe, mustard, or turnip greens. And break them down Southern style, that is, cook them until they’re really tender. Mustard greens have more punch than spinach, and a bunch yields twice as much, giving you enough for two or three hefty sandwiches. If you’re wary of them, know that when mustard greens are cooked until tender, they are as mild and delicious as can be.
1 BUNCH MUSTARD GREENS, LEAVES CUT OFF THE STEMS AND WASHED BUT NOT DRIED
SALT AND PEPPER
RED PEPPER FLAKES, A FEW PINCHES
1 GARLIC CLOVE, PRESSED OR MINCED
PEPPER SAUCE OR RED WINE VINEGAR
2 PIECES CIABATTA, OR YOUR FAVORITE RUSTIC BREAD
OLIVE OIL
GRATED GRUYÈRE OR FONTINA CHEESE
ROASTED BELL PEPPER CUT INTO WIDE STRIPS
DIJON MUSTARD
1. Put the mustard greens in a pot over high heat with the water that clings to the leaves plus 1⁄2 cup. Sprinkle with 1⁄2 teaspoon salt, the pepper flakes, and cover. Once the leaves have collapsed, reduce the heat to medium and cook until they’re tender when you taste one, about 7 minutes. Drain, then squeeze the excess water out of the greens. Put them in a bowl and season with additional salt, if needed, pepper, the garlic, and pepper sauce or vinegar to taste.
2. Slather the outside of the bread with olive oil. Cover one slice of the bread (the dry side) with cheese, pile on a half or a third of the greens, and add the pepper strips. Spread the top slice with Dijon mustard, then cover.
3. Cook in your panini maker or in a skillet until the bread is crispy and the cheese melts. When a wave of melted cheese hits the hot surface, there’s a bonus tang, but don’t let it burn. Slice it diagonally—it’s easier to eat that way and it looks jaunty, too.
English Muffin with (spiceless) Ragu and Sharp Cheddar
Feel free to add spice. Well, not spice, exactly, but herbs —oregano, minced rosemary, torn basil leaves, chopped parsley. They do make everything taste so much more interesting. And if you have tapenade on hand, spread some over the toasted muffin before adding the cheese.
1 ENGLISH MUFFIN
GRATED SHARP CHEDDAR CHEESE
3⁄4 CUP TOMATO SAUCE OR RAGU, WARMED
PEPPER
CHOPPED FRESH HERBS
Toast the muffin, then lightly cover both halves with cheese. Divide the tomato sauce between the two halves, cover with a little more cheese, and heat in a toaster oven until the cheese starts to bubble and melt. Season with pepper and liberal pinches of chopped herbs.
Roasted Potato Wedges with Red Chile
These chile-dusted potatoes are simple and good. Use pure ground chile, such as New Mexican molido, or whatever your favorite chile substance is, and add it once the potatoes are tender so that it doesn’t burn and take on a bitter taste. These are excellent with cooked greens (chard, spinach, and kale) and all kinds of sauces (garlic mayonnaise and romesco sauce), fried eggs, and alongside chicken or meat. They’d also be a great addition to the breakfast burrito.
1 OR 2 RUSSET POTATOES
OLIVE OIL OR CANOLA OIL
SALT
GROUND RED CHILE (NEW MEXICAN MOLIDO), SMOKED PAPRIKA, OR GROUND CHIPOTLE
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil a baking