Dgourmac's Blog

As a vegan/vegetarian, I sometimes think that all I need is high quality fresh vegetables, olive oil, salt and pepper, and a good sauté pan.  Plus bread and wine.

The other night, it was late and I wanted to do something delicious and not too complicated.   Here is the step-by-step story of what came out.

Cut up 1/2 small onion into large dice.  Do the same with one large carrot and one zucchine (remember, this is just for me).  Add Portuguese olive oil (extra virgin always) to a sauté pan and cook until almost tender.

diced onion, carrot, and zucchine

Add fresh peas, chopped Italian parsley, dried oregano, salt and pepper, and chopped garlic.  Continue to sauté until slightly browned.

add peas and herbs

Take some thinly-sliced radicchio, add to the pan, and cook another few minutes.  Then add a few slices of pickled banana peppers (from Portuguese market in this case).   Stir to brown a little more and combine.

In the meantime, since you already had some radicchio in the refrigerator, I will assume there was 1/2 a head of frisée there, too.   Cut that up into 1/2″ wide strips, and sauté it until crispy/tender in a separate pan.  Or you can move the vegetables to a plate and use the original pan, if you wish.  Then add the cooked frisée to serving bowl, atop the other vegetables.

Slice some some homemade whole grain bread, and fry/toast the slices in olive oil in the already-used sauté pan.   Plate the vegetables with the bread, and pick your wine.  In this case I chose an Alvarinho Vinho Verde from the same Portuguese supplier, the Portugalia store in Fall River, MA, a short drive from Providence, RI.

Great, colorful, simple meal, Portuguese theme, but you can adapt the recipe to any style you like, using any vegetables available.

Last night I was eager to use more of the organic Italian chickpeas which I had cooked the day before.  I also needed to use some Yukon potatoes and the organic collard greens leftover from the day before.  The result was a Southern Italian-style soup of great flavor, texture, and healthy qualities.

Cut into small or medium dice, as you prefer:

• 1/2 red onion
• 1 leek
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 stick of celery
• 1 medium potato
• 1 zucchine
• a few handfuls of fresh peas
• 1-2 cups of cooked chickpeas
• 1-2 cups of cooked organic collard greens (Swiss Chard and spinach are alternatives, and so are Italian bitter greens, like escarole and chicory)

Sauté the first three items, then add the next three after the first ingredients are tender.  Add the chickpeas and greens.  Season with wild Calabrian fennel seed, dried Italian oregano (not Mexican, please), salt & pepper, and a sprinkle of hot Calabrian red pepper flakes.  If you cooked your own dried chickpeas, then use the broth from the legumes for the soup.  If not, add water or vegetable stock.  Cook for 30 minutes to an hour, until the potatoes are cooked through and the collards are smooth and silky.

Serve with a crusty loaf of bread and a medium-bodied white wine, like Rkatsiteli from Georgia or Falanghina from Campania.  I actually had made an Overnight White Bread (Ken Forkish bread recipe) last weekend, and topped the broiled slices with a Bistro Cooking Provençal anchoïade (anchovy, garlic, parsley and red wine vinegar), which complemented the soup beautifully.