The Purloined Recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 2-pound squash, peel, cubed\ - 6 Cups
1 14 1/2-oz can diced tomatoes, drained
2 tablespoons dry Sherry
2 1/2 C(or more) canned vegetable broth
2/3 cup nonfat milk
2 Tbs chopped fresh thyme or 2 tsp dried
Nonfat plain yogurt, Fresh thyme sprigs

Other varieties of sweet yellow-fleshed winter squash-such as acorn squash-are perfect for this soup.

Heat olive oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add butternut squash and sauté until beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and Sherry. Boil until almost all liquid evaporates, about 30 seconds.

Stir in 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until squash it very tender, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Puree soup in blender in batches until smooth. Return soup to same saucepan. Stir in milk and chopped thyme. Bring to simmer.

Season soup to taste with salt and pepper.

(Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover tightly and refrigerate. Bring soup to simmer before serving, thinning with more broth, if desired.)

Ladle soup into bowls. Top with dollop of yogurt. Garnish with thyme sprigs.

Recipes By Ingredient, The Recipes, onions, soups, squash - winter, thyme, tomatoes

makes 4 quarts

2 cups walnuts, roasted
2 cups garlic, roasted
2 cups cider vinegar
3 cups vegetable oil
3 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
fresh or dried thyme

Coarsely chop walnuts and garlic. Mix together. Taste. Adjust

Recipes By Ingredient, The Recipes, garlic, salad dressings, thyme

Serves 2 to 4

This pretty vegetable ragout should prove, if any doubt lingers, that members of the cabbage family can be delicate and pretty, especially in early summer.

Improvise with what you have: small onions or red scallions, spring leeks or green garlic, shallots in the fall, bunched spinach or loose leaves.

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
6 spring onions or shallots, halved
6 or more small turnips, scrubbed and quartered
2 or 3 small kohlrabi, about golf ball size, peeled and quartered
1 thyme or lemon thyme sprig
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound pod peas, shelled
a few handfuls of baby spinach
dollop crème fraîche
4 large basil leaves, slivered

1. Melt the butter in a skillet and add the onions, turnips, kohlrabi, and thyme. Add water to cover halfway and a teaspoon of salt. Simmer while you shuck the peas.
2. As soon as the vegetables are tender, after 12 to 15 minutes, add the peas and spinach and cook until the spinach has wilted down, a few minutes more. Stir in the crème fraîche and add the basil. Taste by itself. With a starch (puff pastry, ravioli, even buttered toast), it can be offered as a vegetarian main dish.

Recipes By Ingredient, The Recipes, basil, cabbage, entrees, kohlrabi, side dishes, spinach, thyme, turnips

Serves 6

At first glance, you may think that these vegetables are overcooked to death. Long slow roasting though allows the individual flavors to intermingle. The potatoes are meltingly tender without becoming mushy, the onions are marvelously sweet and the spices have mellowed. The smoked cheese adds a meaty quality so although this is a great side dish for grilled poultry and pork, it is also substantial enough to satisfy a hearty vegetarian appetite.

2 large onions, thinly sliced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb. yellow zucchini, cut in 1/3-inch rounds
½ lb. small red potatoes, scrubbed, sliced into ¼-inch rounds
3 large ripe tomatoes, cored and coarsely chopped
1 each red and green bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into 1-inch squares
1 Serrano pepper, seeded and minced…(use your Chilepenos)
6 ozs white mushrooms, sliced ¼-inch thick
1 Tbs. each fresh thyme and basil leaves
¾ cup white wine
4 ozs smoked mozzarella, shredded
½ cup Parmesan, freshly shredded

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a roasting pan and place onions and garlic in pan.

Add olive oil and coat the vegetables. Cover with foil and roast for 30 minutes.

Remove and add remaining ingredients except cheese. Cover again and bake or 45 minutes. Cover and roast for another 45 minutes.

Remove cover, sprinkle with cheese and bake for 20 minutes or until cheese has melted. Serve hot or just slightly warm.

Recipes By Ingredient, The Recipes, basil, chiles, entrees, garlic, onions, peppers, potatoes, side dishes, squash - summer, thyme, tomatoes

(recipe from the book Local Flavors used with permission of the author, Deborah Madison)

Serves 4 as a main dish.

This September soup is flushed with the colors of early fall. In addition to their attractive appearance, the yellow-hues signify more sweetness in the peppers and less acidity in the tomatoes, making a soup with a softer flavor than if it were made with the green peppers and red tomatoes bought, perhaps, a few weeks earlier. If you have thick, meaty peppers and the time to grill them first, they’ll make the soup slightly smoky and silky textured. Otherwise, just chop them with the skins on. Smoked Spanish paprika will also give the soup a hint of smoke.

1 pound yellow or orange tomatoes
1/3 cup white rice
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
3 yellow or orange bell peppers (add Whipstone peppers to taste)
2 tablespoons olive oil
pinch saffron threads
1 bay leaf
2 thyme sprigs, leaves plucked from the stems
1 teaspoon sweet paprika or ½ teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 quart Vegetable Stock, Chicken stock, or water
slivered opal basil or chopped marjoram and parsley for garnish

1. Bring 2 quarts water to a boil. Slice an X at the base of each tomato. Plunge them, 2 at a time, into the water for about 10 seconds, then remove and set
   aside. Add the rice and ½ teaspoon salt to the water, lower the heat to simmer, and cook until the rice is tender about 12 minutes. Drain.
2. Chop the onion. Mince the garlic with a pinch of salt until mushy. Dice the
   peppers into small squares, removing the seeds and membranes first. Your
   should have about 2 cups. Peel and seed the tomatoes, reserving the juice, then
   dice the walls and mince the core.
3. Warm the oil in a soup pot and add the onions, peppers, saffron, bay leaf,
   thyme, and paprika. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion
   has begun to soften and color, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic, then stir in the
   tomato paste and 1 teaspoon salt. Give it a stir and add 1/4 cup water. Stew for 5
   minutes, then add the tomatoes, their juice, and the stock. Bring to a boil, then
   reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 25 minutes.
4. When ready to serve, reheat the soup with the rice, then ladle it in bowls. Or make a mound of rice in each bowl and spoon the soup around it. Season with
   pepper and garnish with fine slivers of opal basil leaves or marjoram chopped
   with a few parsley leaves.

basil, garlic, onions, parsley, peppers, soups, thyme, tomatoes

(recipe from the book Local Flavors used with permission of the author, Deborah Madison)

Serves 4.

Don’t just throw them away! The tender tops that come with your carrots are delicious in soups. Here’s one that uses both the carrots and their tops.

(serves 4)

1 bunch (6 small to medium) carrots, the tops and the roots
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons white rice
2 large leeks, white parts only
2 thyme or lemon thyme sprigs
2 tablespoons chopped dill, parsley, celery leaves, or lovage
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
6 cups Vegetable Stock, light chicken stock, or water

dill, parsley, thyme