In my opinion, polenta is a quintessential comfort food. I love it as side dish, where it is particularly apt at complementing robust stews, or as a main course topped with a traditional pasta sauce. This version, which contains the luscious combination of corn and chiles, also works as a main course on its own. I like to serve it with a tossed salad, sliced tomatoes with vinaigrette or some marinated roasted peppers, all of which would add a panoply of valuable nutrients to the meal.
It’s hard to believe that a dish so simple to make can taste so delicious. This is the perfect combination of ingredients — they seem to work synergistically, each enhancing the flavor of the others. The slightly sour tang of the yogurt makes a particularly nice finish.
I love this chili. The combination of beef, butternut squash, ancho chiles and cilantro is a real winner in terms of taste, as well as nutrients. Don’t be afraid to make extra — it’s great reheated.
I first tasted this delectable combination many years ago in Charleston, South Carolina, and I haven’t been able to get enough of it since. Serve this to guests for a special lunch with a crisp green salad or fresh asparagus in season. Or just it enjoy it with your family, as I often do.
I love the flavors in this classic French country soup: the hint of licorice in the fennel and the nip of paprika is nicely balanced by the pleasing blandness of the potatoes and beans.
This spread, which is Greek in origin, is unusual and particularly delicious. Although fava beans do figure in Greek cuisine, for most Greek people fava is synonymous with yellow split peas, one of the major indigenous foods of the island of Santorini. In Santorini, they make many dishes using yellow split peas, including this spread. Serve this with warm gluten free flatbread, plain brown rice crackers or celery sticks and wait for the compliments.
I find this version of caponata, which contains a sweet red pepper and capers, particularly delicious. Spread it on your favorite gluten-free crackers or flatbread, or over thinly sliced cucumber or spears of Belgian endive, or that old stand-by, celery sticks.
Published in 1927, La bonne cuisine de Madame E. Saint-Ange, which contains over 1,000 recipes, became a bible of cooking for French housewives and inspired culinary superstars such as Julia Child. Here I have adapted her variation of pots de crème, which contains the delectable combination of chocolate, coffee, caramel and vanilla. Serve this with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream.
