Vegan Collard Greens
Collards are often cooked with a smoked ham hock to add a meaty, smoky flavor; this mildly spicy vegan collard greens recipe from Boricua Soul, a Puerto Rican–Southern restaurant in Durham, North Carolina, achieves the same depth of flavor with quality vegetable broth, adobo seasoning, and a hint of liquid smoke. Soak up the juices (potlikker) with cornbread, or drizzle over steamed rice.
In Praise of Parsnips, the Humble Heroes of the Vegetable Drawer
I’m rooting for the parsnip, and you should, too.
Microwave Eggplant with Scallion-Chile Crisp Oil
This microwave eggplant recipe from Andrea Nguyen requires none of the usual fuss of salting and straining the nightshade beforehand. Cooking a whole eggplant in the microwave effortlessly, evenly, and quickly cooks its flesh to soft, silky tenderness while preserving its antioxidant-rich skin. Cut into thick slices and drizzled with generous spoonfuls of flavorful sauce, microwave eggplant is an easy and delicious side dish that comes together in 20 minutes flat. Just be sure to poke holes all over the eggplant before microwaving it to prevent it from exploding.
Seaweed and Greens Salad
In this hearty side salad that blends sea greens and land greens, fresh salad greens, carrots, radishes, and cucumber get a boost of salinity and texture from three different types of nutritious and delicious seaweeds: kelp, dulse, and Irish moss. The trio of mineral-forward sea vegetables is nicely balanced by rice vinegar dressing. Dulse, a red seaweed that commonly grows in the Northeastern Atlantic and around the UK, and Irish moss, which has a frilly, bushy shape, can be purchased at seaveg.com. Sustainably farmed kelp from Maine can be purchased at atlanticseafarms.com.
Braised Red Cabbage with Apples and Bacon
F&W editor Melanie Hansche really disliked sauerkraut growing up, but sweeter, milder "rotkohl" she could get on board with. This sweet-and-sour, traditional Bavarian braised red cabbage is always served with goose, duck, or pork. To make it, the cabbage is gently braised with tart apple, smoky bacon, orange zest, and spices. You can make the braised cabbage 1 day ahead and refrigerate it overnight; reheat on low to serve. Remove any thick, white ribs when shredding the cabbage so the dish cooks evenly.
Gamja Jorim (Soy Sauce–Lacquered Potatoes)
For his gamja jorim recipe, a riff on Korean soy sauce–braised potatoes, 2021 F&W Best New Chef Angel Barreto of Anju in Washington, D.C., simmers tiny peewee potatoes in a sweet-and-savory syrup infused with soy sauce, garlic, and ginger, resulting in potatoes with a creamy, tender interior and a gorgeously lacquered skin. It's important to pay close attention to the glaze while it's reducing: It can go from a lovely, shiny glaze to a very thick and dark syrup fairly quickly. If you'd like, garnish this side dish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and chopped fresh chives.
