Ingredients
From Chef Mark Reinfeld's menu for A Holiday Vegan Feast:
Eggplant, so good on its own, is also a culinary chameleon, absorbing herbs and spices to become any number of different dishes. In Romagna, palm-sized slices are steeped in garlic, basil, parsley and olive oil before grilling over hot coals. Eaten either hot or at room temperature, this is one of those simple, but ultimately satisfying dishes that goes with almost anything and is so good eaten on its own.
Ingredients
Each summer, Johannes Sailer—chef at Les Abeilles in the Provencal village of Sablet—creates an all-tomato menu. One year he opened the meal with this stunning soup: all red, all fresh, all full of honest tomato flavor. This liquid blend of tomatoes, seasoning, top-quality olive oil, and vinegar makes you fee as though you are drinking your salad!
The mild cream-Dijon dressing keeps this salad wine friendly.
Tender chunks of pork ribs are a wintery specialty from Ferrara. Tomato, olives, and basil add especially rich flavors to the meaty ribs. A thick beef chuck blade roast can be substituted with great success. With either meat, this dish evokes snug evenings in Ferrara farmhouses, when everyone gathers around the big kitchen table for hours of good talk and good food. Serve this on the first really cold night of winter, if possible in front of an open fire.
This is celebration in a lasagne pan.
A fruity Spanish olive oil, preferably from Andalusia, is important, as is a good sherry vinegar, preferably aged. Both can be found at specialty groceries or mail-ordered. If you can spare the time, garnish the gazpacho with tiny bread croutons fried in olive oil.
This is a summer classic. Make large batches for lunch, supper or any time a refreshing, low-fat pick-me-up or a one-dish meal is needed. You can snack on this soup all day, especially when it’s hot, humid, and the idea of actually cooking is enough to drive you to the drive-thru.