You can never have too many green bean or broccoli recipes. These two Kelly green vegetables are present at every grocery store, have a subtle sweetness and lend themselves well to all manner of cooking: roasting, steaming, blanching, or even raw. Priya Krishna’s new green bean and potato sabzi is an excellent addition to your green bean repertoire. In a clever twist, Priya uses almond butter to give the veggies an almost tempura-like coating, and a dusting of chaat masala gives the finished dish a tart, salty sparkle. You could tuck this recipe into your broccoli folder as well: The florets may need an extra minute or two of cook time, but they make an excellent sub for the green beans.
Featured Recipe
Crispy Green Bean and Potato Sabzi
That’s a great side to bring to a gathering. If you’re on main duty, take a look at this hot sauce roast chicken, a recipe by Josef Centeno and Betty Hallock adapted by Alexa Weibel. Before you ask — yes, you can use whichever hot sauce you like. Just make sure it’s good and vinegary, like Cholula or Crystal, though one reader, Mark, shares in the notes that he successfully used Frank’s Wing Sauce as a less-spicy option. The recipe includes a tangy kale salad to serve alongside; the fresh, crunchy salad is a nice complement to the tender chicken.
Kay Chun’s kimchi soondubu jiggae also has a good spicy kick, and she swaps mushrooms for the pork to make this classic Korean stew vegetarian. (Vegetarians will want to inspect the ingredient list of their kimchi, as many varieties are made with shrimp, fish sauce or oysters.) And if you’d like to make your own kimchi — a great weekend project with friends, especially with cabbage in season — Eric Kim’s wonderful recipe includes substitutions for making yours vegan.
For something doubly satisfying, there’s this creamed spinach pasta from Colu Henry. We say doubly because one, it’s creamy pasta, and two, it’s a lot of spinach, so you can feel good knowing you’ve put away a pound of greens.
Finally: bread, which needs no explanation. Naz Deravian’s Cuban sandwich is an excellent excuse to go on a treasure hunt for a loaf of Cuban bread (and to devote a rainy afternoon to slow-roasting a pork shoulder), but soft French bread, bolillo bread or hero rolls will work as well. Lidey Heuck’s French toast casserole calls for day-old French bread, but lots of different loaves — cubed up and dried out, of course — would be delicious soaked in an easy custard and baked in a deep dish. Brioche would be brilliant, sourdough might be stellar, ciabatta could be charming. …