Potato

This is one of my all-time favorites in my repertoire of Indian dishes. The addition of coconut milk identifies it as a typical southern Indian dish, where coconut milk is a common ingredient. (Coconut milk is rarely found in the cooking of the colder, mountainous climate of northern India, where coconuts don’t grow.) It can be made in about 5 hours and served hot, warm, or at room temperature, like a traditional potato salad. Cooking times will vary according to the type and size of potatoes you use.

Pretty much everyone has a neighbor or friend (kind of a June Cleaver type) who loves to cook and also somehow manages to be a CEO and raise three Rhodes scholars while spending three hours a day (minimum) in the kitchen. This is the recipe you give that person when she says, “Oh, I’d so like to make something for you.” This is a labor of love, and while not quite as physically intensive as, say, coal mining, it takes a bit of effort. But it’s worth it, because the recipe is big enough to be made in ramekins so it can serve as six little meals, and it stores well, too.

Potatoes get a bad rap as being one big carbo load with little or no nutrition. That’s a shame, because it’s not true of all varieties, especially not purple Peruvian potatoes. Smashing, as the name suggests, uses muscle to get what you need, instead of lots of butter and milk like typical mashed potatoes. A hand mixer will do, but I prefer my mom’s old potato masher from 1953. As you pulverize all of those inner starches, you’ll produce a fluffy texture, a lot of flavor, and, with these potatoes, a gorgeous and unusual color.

If there’s a safe haven in the vegetable kingdom, it’s sweet potatoes. In fact, I bet that if every kid’s introduction to veggies were a sweet potato, it would knock down parental stress over healthy eating by at least 50 percent. I mean, what’s not to love? Sweet taste, beautiful color, and fantastic nutrition, not to mention a creamy texture that allows you to introduce chopped greens in a nonthreatening manner. Here, I’ve added kale, which has some outstanding anticancer properties, and ginger, which aids digestion, for a little zip.

A lot of people have only had a close-up encounter with broccoli as raw crudités or boiled until it’s gray and limp, which is unappetizing and often difficult to digest. Here, sautéing the broccoli in olive oil, infusing it with broth, and then blending releases all of its sweetness and cancer-fighting properties and helps everything go down nice and easy.

I like the way nature balances her books. In summertime, everyone gets hot and loses water. So what does Mother Nature do? She produces an abundance of summer squash, which happens to be full of water, making it an ideal vegetable to combat dehydration. I think of zucchini as the perfect party guest. It’s mild and mixes well with a crowd. The key with zucchini is good prep, so that the flesh stays somewhat firm and tasty.

Thank heavens that sweet potatoes are no longer relegated just to Thanksgiving. For years bodybuilders, who follow strict eating regimens to repair their muscles after workouts, have feasted on sweet potatoes because of their outstanding nutritional content, ease of digestion, and pleasant flavor. Chock-full of beta-carotene, vitamin A, and other body boosters, sweet potatoes are also extremely anti-inflammatory, which may protect against cancer growth. As a cook, I like sweet potatoes because they make a wonderful creamy canvas for warming spices such as cinnamon and ginger. This soup is an especially great meal for people with a lingering metallic taste in their mouth due to chemotherapy. It’s delicious served with a dollop of Apricot Pear Chutney (page 175).

Soft and warm, these rolls have a wonderful aroma. I have given proportions for a large batch because I find these rolls get gobbled up quickly. They also freeze well, so you can keep a batch in the freezer, defrosting, then warming a few . . . whenever.

This is classic slicing bread, great for toast in the morning, and wonderful for sandwiches. Make it the morning after a big supper when you have leftover mashed or baked potatoes.

These are especially good with soups containing beets, cabbage, or strong greens.

The peppery flavor of watercress provides a delightful contrast to the sweetness of summer corn.

This cheerfully colored soup can be the centerpiece of a summer meal, served with crusty bread or sandwiches and a bountiful salad.

This cold soup is as appealing to look at as it is to eat. Serve with fresh bread and follow with a pasta salad for a light summer meal. Use really lush, ripe (even overripe is fine) tomatoes for best results.

Here’s a cold soup that is substantial as well as refreshing. Serve with a fresh flatbread and tabbouleh salad.

Mild potatoes contrast with the earthy tones of arugula in a lightly curried soup.

This brightly colored soup makes a delightful introduction to a summer dinner, or it can be the centerpiece of a light meal accompanied by salad-filled wraps.

This soup was a favorite discovery of mine while traveling through New Orleans and across the American South many years ago. It’s still a soup love to make when in the mood for eggplant.

This hearty curry becomes the centerpiece of a satisfying meal served over hot cooked grains, and accompanied by Chapatis (page 158) and a simple, palate-cooling salad of cucumbers and tomatoes.

Though undoubtedly Indian influenced (it bears a passing resemblance to the traditional East Indian mulligatawny soup), this is actually an adaptation of a classic curried chicken stew recipe from the American South.

This classic stew, menestra de verduras, has many regional variations, and can be made with different vegetables according to season. Constant ingredients include potatoes, carrots, and green peas; artichokes are the most characteristic. Fresh artichokes are called for in traditional recipes, but using the canned variety simplifies the process.