Side

Curry powder and ground cumin add an unexpected flair to traditional split pea soup.

Enjoy a bowl of this soup for a light lunch, or pair it with a dark green or spinach salad or Balsamic-Marinated Vegetables (page 78) for a heartier meal.

When the dog days of summer arrive, turn to this no-cook chilled soup. It is low in sodium and calories, contains no fat, and is quite refreshing.

A touch of spicy curry paste makes this sweet-potato soup sing. It is an obvious choice to serve with Asian food, but don’t overlook it for other meals as well. Try the soup with roasted turkey for Thanksgiving, serve it tonight with Pork Chops with Herb Rub (page 196), or warm up a fall picnic by sharing some of it from an insulated container.

Beautiful in color, this soup is creamy without using dairy products. The crunchy pumpkin seeds provide a nice texture contrast. Serve the soup hot in the winter and chilled in the summer.

Attractive, fragrant, and so tasty, these kebabs are a great way to fit more servings of fruit into your diet.

This spicy mixture is delicious on cucumber rounds or unsalted baked corn tortillas.

Focaccia can be either savory or sweet. Topped with grapes, figs, and candied orange peel, it’s a great breakfast or brunch bread. This is one of the favorites from my cooking classes. You can substitute the grapes and figs with other fresh fruit such as strawberries and peaches. Keep the toppings light; don’t overload the focaccia.

Luscious cannellini beans are one of my favorites, whether plain, drizzled with olive oil, or baked with melting garlic and rosemary. They can be cooked in a wood-fired oven, in embers in the fireplace, or over indirect heat on a grill. Cook the sausage at the same time. This recipe is extraordinarily easy to make, letting the clay pot and the fire be the star flavor contributors, along with the sausage.

This recipe is adapted from a recipe my friend Deborah Madison shared in her book, Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison’s Kitchen. It is absolutely gorgeous! Purple eggplant, red peppers, and golden saffron custard are a beautiful combination. Eggplant and red peppers are the perfect ingredients to cook in a wood-fired oven, as they both take on the wonderful smokiness of the fire. In this recipe, the eggplant is lightly sautéed in a skillet in the oven. The red peppers, tomatoes, and garlic are roasted whole, directly on the floor of the oven or in the embers, until the skins are blistered and beautifully charred. When cooled, they are skinned and seeded. Peppers roasted this way have a more complex flavor than when blackened on the stove top.

In the south of France, beautiful large ripe tomatoes are often stuffed with herbs and bread crumbs, then served with grilled fish. Here, the tomatoes are wood-roasted for added flavor. You can play with other herbs such as dill or marjoram in the stuffing.

These potatoes are the best roasted potatoes you’ve ever tasted! The radiant heat from the salt crisps the skin while holding in the natural moisture of the potatoes. This method can be used for roasting other vegetables, such as beets, sweet potatoes, and even small acorn squash. The salt can be saved and reused for roasting another batch of vegetables. Or you can place some of the salt in a jar to add to the flavored-salt collection in your pantry.

As soon as it’s artichoke season, I often make this dish when I’m firing the oven for making bread or pizza. It’s so very simple in both ingredients and technique, you’ll want to make it often. After you’ve baked your bread, throw this dish in the oven for a quick accompaniment to your meal. The heat from the oven slightly caramelizes the outer leaves of the artichokes and the skins of the lemons. You’ll be amazed at how flavorful and sweet artichokes taste cooked this way! The lemons and juices are used to make a dipping sauce.

Often people are intimidated by the thought of making a soufflé, but soufflés are actually quite easy to make and are delicious. This simple version has seasonal herbs and greens and is baked as a casserole in a shallow dish. It doesn’t have to be served before it deflates, because the amount of pouf is less important in this presentation. This casserole is wonderful for brunch or a light lunch served with some lightly dressed tender salad greens. If you want a traditional presentation, this same recipe can be made in an 8-cup soufflé dish.

Brussels sprouts are misunderstood. They are often served overcooked, mushy, with not a lot of flavor. When wood-fire roasted along with shallots, however, they become caramelized, subtly smoky, and sweet.

Scalloped potatoes was one of my favorite childhood dishes. I’ve added the classic combination of crab and spinach to this version and lightened the sauce a bit by using milk instead of cream. You can substitute shrimp or lobster meat for the crab.

This delicious stew of roasted baby artichokes, trumpet mushrooms, and asparagus is a nod to spring. Deborah Madison and I developed this recipe at her Santa Fe home using ingredients from the local farmers’ market and topped it with a lovely goat cheese from northern New Mexico. Upon returning home to Northern California, I roasted the ragout in a clay baker in my wood-fired oven, which further highlighted the earthy flavors. It’s easy to prepare, and the rich broth and meaty mushrooms are so satisfying. All you need is a few hunks of crusty bread and some beautiful cheese and you have a robust supper.