Extremely charred broccoli makes for such a great salad. I dream of the burnt broccoli salad from Superiority Burger in the East Village. Brooks Headley, the chef, is really a vegetable wizard; he always comes up with the most brilliant combinations that are so unique, and just work so well. Nothing could be more perfect than that salad, but this plays with some of the sweet, spicy, salty, charred flavors that I love so much about that dish.
This dish is on regular rotation in my house, especially on nights when we don’t think we have much on hand to prepare and eat. It relies heavily on pantry staples, with the chard being the only fresh ingredient needed. Feel free to substitute the chard with cooked nettles, beet greens, mustard greens, turnip or kohlrabi greens, or a mixture of any and all.
INGREDIENTS
With a bigger-than-usual meat patty topped with mashed avocado and fresh pico de gallo, these burgers are a double handful of drippy good fun. Mexican chorizo does the heavy lifting, flavor-wise, along with a bounty of fresh cilantro in both meat and pico. As for the cheese, American is the platonic ideal for burgers—salty, creamy-melty, and, well, what burgers need in order to taste like burgers.
Serves 3 or 4
Carrots stand up well to quite aggressive spicing, and they really deepen in colour and change texture when roasted. In this dish I use my jerk seasoning, which is a wonderful blend of earthy spices. It’s really lovely as a sweet glaze with the salty and creamy texture of the vegan feta cheese. I’m a big fan of sweet and salty flavours in the same dish. This feels like it could be a good weekday dinner with a couple of other sides.
When Major Jackson was fresh out of college, he found a Cajun restaurant in Philadelphia that had the best Chicken Big Mamou he’d ever had. When the restaurant closed he tried to recreate the recipe but it never came out quite right. That is, not until one of our producers did some digging and found the original recipe for him.
Almost every region has its version of seasoned rice and beans, and the Middle East is no exception. For me, the highlight of mujaddara is the deeply caramelized onions that are simply irresistible. The dish also uses lentils, which largely retain their shape and give the dish its name: “mujaddara” means “pockmarked” or “pimpled” in Arabic. In this version, we cook the cauliflower rice and lentils separately to maximize texture.
Tzatziki, meanwhile, is a similar preparation to the Indian raita, but is usually thicker and creamier in consistency because it is made with Greek yogurt. I find the pairing of these dishes particularly alluring as a complete meal.
I am always looking for quick and easy weeknight meals, but I am never willing to sacrifice taste. That’s why I created this stew. It’s easy to make, and it’s literally bursting at the seams with flavor. I recommend making a double batch and freezing some. That way, on nights when you are feeling tired after work and want a comforting meal, you can defrost it in minutes and enjoy. For this recipe, I like using orzo or any small pasta shape, and if you are gluten-free, feel free to use a gluten-free pasta. Gluten-free pasta often requires a few more minutes of cooking time, so be sure to keep an eye on it. And while I love using spinach in this stew, use whatever greens you have on hand: kale, escarole, chard, or the like. Once the stew is done, I recommend adding a generous pinch of freshly grated cheese on top. Serve with a side of crusty sourdough bread.