Ingredients

• 1½ cups sugar
• 2½ pounds pork belly or butt, sliced into thin, inch-long strips
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp. fish sauce
• 2 heaping teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 dash sesame oil
• 1 medium Vidalia onion, sliced
• 4 scallions, sliced, green part only
• Rice for serving

Preparation

1. Cover bottom of a large, heavy skillet with one cup sugar and place over medium low heat. As soon as it melts and turns golden, add pork, raise heat to medium, and stir until coated. (Sugar will become sticky and may harden, but it will re-melt as it cooks, forming a sauce.)

2. Stir in remaining sugar, salt, pepper and fish sauce. Cover and cook 2 minutes. Uncover, stir in garlic and oil and lower to simmer to reduce sauce for about 20 minutes [CP: Or much longer! Reduce until the sauce has roughly the consistency of your usual Asian-food sticky brown sauce.].

3. Stir in Vidalia onions and cook until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Pork should be caramelized; if not, raise heat and sauté while sauce further reduces. Transfer to serving bowl, and sprinkle with scallion greens.

Yield: 4 servings.

Michael and Thao Huynh, New York Times

Ingredients

Makes: 6 servings

• 9 cups water
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 white onion
• 2 1/4 pounds pumpkin or winter squash, peeled, seeded, cut in 1/2-inch cubes (about 4 cups)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 pound tomatoes, finely chopped
• 2 sprigs epazote

Toppings: Crumbled queso fresco, chopped onion, chopped green chilies, lime quarters

Preparation

1. Combine water, 2 of the garlic cloves and salt in a stockpot. Cut one slice off the onion half; add to pot. Heat to a boil; cook 5 minutes. Meanwhile, chop remaining onion; reserve. Add pumpkin to the pot; lower heat to medium. Cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Discard onion slice and garlic.

2. Finely chop remaining 2 garlic cloves. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add chopped garlic and chopped onion; fry until translucent, 1 minute. Add tomatoes; fry until reduced, about 5 minutes.

3. Place about 1 cup cooked pumpkin in a blender with some broth; puree. Return to pot. Add tomato mixture to soup. Season with salt if necessary. Add epazote; simmer over low heat, about 10 minutes. Set aside to season, about 30 minutes. Heat through; serve with toppings as desired.

Diana Kennedy, Chicago Tribune

Ingredients

• 1 cup of water
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups (240 g) of whole wheat flour
• 1 cup (120 g) of whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 1/2 tsp of yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• about 1/3 cup corn meal on baking sheet

Preparation

Add all ingredients (except cornmeal) to a bread maker and set it on the dough cycle. After the dough cycle concludes (about 1 hour and 20 minutes), remove the dough and divide into two balls. Roll each ball in a cylinder about 12 inches long. Make sure the cylinder is consistently the same width. Pour corn meal in two strips on a cookie sheet. Cut slits in the baguettes with a sharp knife. Brush the tops of each baguette with water to keep the dough from drying out. Cover with a towel and place somewhere warm for about 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, preheat the oven to 450º. Brush the baguettes with more water and place in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool on a rack. Bread will be very crisp on the outside, but still soft inside.

Adapted from healthy vegan blog

Ingredients

• 1 box okra
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 lg. can tomatoes or 1-2 lg. fresh tomatoes
• dried basil or oregano (optional)

Preparation

Cut the stem tips off the okra (but don’t cut off the top of the pod)

Saute sliced onion in olive oil or butter until translucent.

Add chopped fresh or canned tomatoes.

Add okra, salt and pepper.

Add enough water to keep it from sticking.

Simmer until it looks like it’s supposed to. (Taste before done and if the tomatoes are too tart, add a pinch of sugar.)

If you want, you can and an herb of your choice. Oregano is good. Basil, too.

Ingredients

• 4 c cabbage
• 1 red onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 c cream
• 1-2 tsp salt
• white pepper to taste
• 1-2 tsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice

Preparation

Chop cabbage into rough dice. Shred onion.

In a saucepan or large skillet, combine cabbage, onion, garlic and cream. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat, allow to simmer until tender.

Correct seasoning with salt, pepper, sugar and lemon juice to taste.

Serve with Meatballs and a spoonful of lingonberry jam.

Gretchen’s Cookbook

Ingredients

• 5 lbs well-marbled pork butt
• 1 cup cold wine (red or white)
• 1 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 5 tsp salt
• 5 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh ground pepper
• 1 tsp cayenne
• 5 tbsp fennel seed
• 2 tsp crushed chili peppers
• 5 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp anise, optional (ground)

Preparation

Cut the pork butt into long, relatively thin strips. Mix with all the remaining ingredients and marinate overnight. Process twice through a meat grinder.

Taken from Emeril Lagasse and Lesley’s Recipes

Ingredients

• 3 large bunches Swiss Chard (about 2 1/4 pounds total)
• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1/3 cup quartered pitted oil-cured black olives (2 to 3 ounces)
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preparation

Cut stem from center of each chard leaf. Slice stems crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces; place in medium bowl. Cut leaves crosswise into 1 1/2-inch-wide strips.

Bring large pot of water to boil; salt generously. Add chard stems; cook until just tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Add chard leaves. Cook until just tender, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes. Drain in large colander, pressing out any water. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand in colander at room temperature.

Heat 4 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add olives and garlic. Sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add chard and chard stems. Toss until heated through and any remaining water evaporates, about 4 minutes. Mix in lemon juice and remaining 1 tablespoon oil; season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl and serve.

Bon Appetit, March 2010

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups quinoa (9 to 10 ounces), rinsed, drained
• 4 cups (packed) baby spinach leaves
• 2 15- to 16-ounce cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed, drained
• 1 3/4 cups 1/3-inch cubes unpeeled English hothouse cucumber
• 1 1-pint container multicolored baby heirloom tomatoes, halved (2 1/2 cups)
• 1 cup (packed) fresh mint leaves
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely crumbled feta cheese (about 7 ounces), divided
• 1/4 cup Sherry wine vinegar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Preparation

Place quinoa in large saucepan; add enough salted water to cover quinoa by 1 inch. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer until quinoa is tender, 15 to 16 minutes. Drain. Chill until cool.

Meanwhile, combine spinach leaves, garbanzos, cubed cucumber, halved tomatoes, mint leaves, and half of feta cheese in extra-large bowl. Add cooled quinoa and toss gently to blend.

Whisk vinegar and smoked paprika in small bowl. Gradually whisk in oil. Season dressing with salt and pepper. Pour dressing over salad; toss to coat. Season generously with salt and pepper. Sprinkle remaining feta over.

Bon Appetit, July 2010

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 med onion
• 2 zucchini
• 2 yellow squash
• 1 small can of lima beans
• 1 small can of corn kernels
• 1 small can mild green chile

Preparation

Melt butter and cook zucchini, squash, and onion until softened. Add limas, corn, and green chile and cook until heated. Serve.

Ingredients

• 1 medium-sized pork shoulder roast
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 4 c. (or more) chicken broth
• 1 lg. onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• 1/4 c. (or more) chile powder (pref. New Mexico; see below for alternate with Bueno red chile)
• cumin (to taste)
• mexican oregano (to taste)
• salt (to taste)
• corn tortillas (for serving)
• fried eggs (for serving) cheddar cheese (for serving)

Preparation

Brown the 2 tbsp. of flour in a large dutch oven. Add a bit of chicken broth to turn into a roux, making sure to avoid lumps. Cut the pork shoulder into small cubes, and add it to the pot. Add enough broth to cover. Add the onion and garlic. Cook for a few hours, until the meat is nearly tender.

Add a few tbsp. of the cooking stock to the chile powder in a small bowl, and stir to form a paste. Add the paste to the pot, along with the cumin, mexican oregano, and salt to taste. You may need to thicken by adding either more chile powder or a thickener like flour. Cook the meat with the chile a little longer, until it’s fork-tender.

Limp your corn tortillas in the stock, and serve flat-stack style with cheddar cheese and a fried egg on top.

Another Option: You can replace the 1/4 c. of red chile powder with quite a lot more (maybe as much as half of the standard container, 1-2 cups) liquid Bueno mild red chile. Add some mixture of masa and water (or just flour and water) to the chile at the end to thicken things back up since you’re missing the chile powder.