Five feel-good recipes to deliciously kick-start January
Swiss Chard with Chickpeas and Yogurt from ‘Ottolenghi Simple’
By Leslie Brenner
We’ve had our fun. Now it’s time to eat to feel great. Here are five recipes that do the trick with panache.
Ottolenghi’s Chickpeas and Swiss Chard with Yogurt
Hearty and warming, this sauté of chickpeas, Swiss chard, onion, roasted carrots, cumin and caraway seeds gets a nice dollop of yogurt for contrast, and lots of fresh cilantro or parsley and mint. With tons of flavor, it’s comes to the table without much fuss (the chickpeas are canned) — perfect for a weeknight. It’s from Ottolenghi Simple.
Hannah Che's Fragrant Dressed Tofu
Briefly blanched tofu that gets tossed with salt and sesame oil and folded with herbs is a type of Chinese dish known as liangban. This one comes from The Vegan Chinese Kitchen by Hannah Che. In the summer, you can serve the dish chilled; this time of year it’s lovely when it’s still warm.
Joan’s Chicken Soup
If feeling good means feeling better, chicken soup is the answer. At my house, it’s my mom’s, without question. This is the chicken soup I grew up with, and the one I make when someone in my family is under the weather. It’s delicious and soul-soothing.
Wilted Dandelion Greens Salad
This Lebanese salad, known as hinbe, is a family recipe too; it comes from chef Rose Previte’s cookbook Maydān. Previte is chef and owner of the renowned Washington, D.C. restaurant of the same name (and several others). In her headnote, she tells the story of picking wild dandelion greens by the side of the road with her parents when she was a kid; her mom would then prepare it this way — sautéed in olive oil with garlic and finished with a squeeze of lemon. Fried shallots go on top. Dandelion greens are said to be the most nutritionally dense plant that exists, making this salad super restorative.
Quinoa, Pea and Mint Tabbouleh
I’m never without at least a couple of bags of frozen petit peas, and this salad is one of the reasons. Made with quinoa, red onion, mint and a lot of parsley, it’s absolutely delicious. Did you know that peas offer outstanding health benefits? But that’s kind of beside the point — it’s also lip-smackingly good.
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