Dried Cranberry

PAT Broccoli, broccoli, broccoli! We love this simple vegetable. Nothing is easier than blanching broccoli, and once this delicious dressing—a little sweet, a little savory, a little sour, and a little spicy—is added, the transportable dish becomes super-duper. As Gina always says, “A great dressing is like a great handbag and shoes. It makes the whole outfit look (taste) perfect.”

I first tasted Ralph Watterson’s Six Rivers Tuna last year when he and his group of bicycling buddies passed through Frederickburgs on a four-day cycling trip. His tuna provides hearty lunches for the group as they cover 300 miles and cross six rivers on their annual spring cycling trip. I asked for the recipe, which he described as his mother’s version, plus a few embellishments of his own. I made it, tried it out at the bakery, and our tuna sandwich sales skyrocketed. Ralph’s Six Rivers Tuna is now a part of our regular menu. Given its proven track record as a recipe that travels, I figured it would be great for an outdoor picnic or a potluck. On bike trips, Ralph says he often serves it with crackers. I wanted something more substantial and created a soft, honey-kissed roll that when split and filled with tuna makes a memorable and satisfying sandwich that travels with ease.

When I’ve got a crowd to feed and a tight budget, I turn to rice salad. I love its versatility: Simply add meat or shellfish for a heartier dish, but omit them for vegetarians. Sometimes I divide the rice mixture into two serving bowls before adding meat or shellfish, reserving one for my non-meat eating friends. It’s hard to beat homemade mayonnaise, which tastes fresher and richer than the commercial stuff. I’ve included a recipe for the mayonnaise we use at Rather Sweet Bakery & Café.

My backyard fig tree is not always the most reliable producer, but when I have figs I make this dessert. It pairs an old-fashioned pound cake (recipe courtesy of my great-aunt Emma) with a chunky sauce made with my homegrown Brown Turkey figs. I love this dessert’s down-home elegance—a figgy topping poured over individual pound cakes baked in cupcake pans. You can use any fresh fig that’s available—light green, brown, or purple. In Texas you’ll most likely find Brown Turkeys, which I’ve been told were planted throughout the state by early homesteaders. If fresh figs are not available, use Bosc pears or tart apples. If you want a large, belt-busting dessert, use Texas-size cupcake pans. Standard-size cupcake pans will give you double the servings.

This side dish is a great accompaniment to Bubby’s Granola (page 206), Crunchy French Toast (page 133), or, even simpler, seven-grain toast and jam. Try to buy Greek yogurt, which tastes richer and creamier than regular yogurt.

This rich, dense bread is flecked with green from the zucchini and adorned with delicate zucchini blossoms on top. The flowers, which are available at gourmet specialty stores, are a beautiful addition, but the loaf is equally delicious with or without them. You can also use this batter for muffins, in which case you’ll have about twenty-four muffins and you’ll need to bake them for 20 to 25 minutes.

Good, ripe bananas lend plenty of natural sweetness to these muffins. Feel free to substitute another nut for the pecans if you like. I like using All-Bran for these muffins, as opposed to bran flakes, because it holds up very well during baking and lends a great nutty bran flavor to the muffins.

In Greece and Turkey, this bread is called Christopsomo or tsoureki (also known as lambpropsomo during Easter). It differs from stollen in that it’s proofed before baking, but the proofing time is shorter than for panettone. Mastic gum, also called mastica, is an aromatic gum resin derived from the bark of a Mediterranean shrub tree in the pistachio family. It can be found at stores that specialize in Greek and Middle Eastern ingredients. It adds a subtle and......breath-freshening flavor and aroma (no surprise, it has long been used as a natural breath freshener).

Cranberries are native to North America and were used by indigenous peoples long before the Pilgrims arrived. They were mashed with deer meat for pemmican because their natural benzoic acid helps slow spoilage. For a slightly untraditional cranberry sauce, the dried berries, citrus flavor, and port beautifully complement a juicy turkey. Serve with wild rice pilaf or mashed potatoes.

I was doing a cooking demonstration in health-conscious Los Angeles, and when I melted the half-stick of butter that this recipe calls for—a modest amount by my standards—a woman near the front row panicked and exclaimed, “Oh my God! Look at all that butter he’s using!” I’m not sure these cookies fall into the “healthy” category, but with just a half-stick of butter for nearly 2 dozen cookies, I’d say you shouldn’t feel all that guilty about indulging in one—or maybe two, for those of you who really want to live on the edge. These cookies are a riff on Anzac biscuits that were created as sustenance for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac). I adapted a recipe from Cooking Light magazine, adding dried cranberries and naming them “cranzac cookies,” but I’ve left them lean enough to keep those who eat them in fighting weight.

These chewy low-fat cookies make the perfect afternoon snack. Chock-full of fiber and protein, they’re a nutritious pick-me-up—and they’re quick and easy to make.

This tea bread gets its nutty flavor and texture from wild rice. The nuts and cranberries inside make an appealing visual presentation. Spread a little nonfat Greek-style yogurt on top, instead of cream cheese, for a delicious low-fat breakfast.

When a confirmed, dyed-in-the-wool meat eater starts claiming a vegetable dish is his favorite meal of all time, that’s when I know I’m onto something. I made this for my husband, Gregg, and he went absolutely ga-ga over it. (And no, Gregg’s not one of those guys who would say it’s great just because I made it. He’s an honest food critic.) I’ve noticed that a lot of people who avoid vegetables gravitate to this dish. It could be because it’s colorful or comes in its own bowl, but I really think it’s because the hearty taste elicits a comfort food response. Squash has so many things going for it. It’s easy to digest and has numerous qualities—anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immunity-boosting—that make it a boon for anyone dealing with cancer. Squash is also a natural vessel for all sorts of wonderful fillings. And if you aren’t in the mood for roasting squash, this quinoa pilaf makes for a yummy dish all on its own.

For a lot of people, working with greens is reminiscent of a high school science project. I used to feel that way too. I remember the first time I brought home a bunch of Swiss chard. I laid those big, leafy stalks on my counter and thought to myself, “Should I just put these in a vase and stare at them? Or should I wait until summer and fan myself with them?” The truth is, for many of us, our aversion to greens goes back to childhood because kids are very sensitive to bitter tastes and, many greens, if not prepared properly, can be bitter. However, all it takes to remove that bitter taste is a very simple fix: a quick bath in olive oil and a little heat. Sautéeing chard in olive oil—or any green, for that matter—makes the flavor and consistency much more palate friendly. Adding orange to the mix makes these greens especially yummy, and that’s a great thing because greens and the phytochemicals they contain are a must-have for maintaining health.

Subtly sweet and ultra-crispy, these twice-baked Italian cookies are an all-purpose treat. Great for dipping, dunking, or just plain snacking, they’re wonderful to have on hand any time of day. I like mine dunked in tea, and my kids like theirs partnered with vegan ice cream.

Dried cranberries provide vitamin C and dried apricots offer vitamin A in this fruit-filled cupcake. As a mom, I’m happy to see the boys pack this in their lunches. You can also serve it for dessert with Cream Cheese Frosting (page 95), another perfect example of healthy food that tastes great.

Bobby loves broccoli; Jamie loves bacon; Brooke loves pine nuts and dried cranberries; and everybody loves ranch dressing, so this salad just kind of “appeared” in the bowl one day when we were all feeling hungry. Also try it with Quick-’n’-Easy Chicken ’n’ Dumplings (page 131).

This is Brooke’s favorite kind of salad—nutty and sweet (just like her dear husband maybe?). It’s a light, tasty side that goes with just about anything, but especially with a rich dish, like Sautéed Ravioli with Cheese and Bread Crumbs (page 166) or Buttery Chicken “Scampi” Pasta (page 106).

There’s no better side dish for a barbecue on a hot summer’s day than this layered salad, which is sweet and salty all at once. If you like Hawaiian pizza, with bacon and pineapple on it, this salad is for you.

To be fair, bread pudding is an extremely delicious dish that was simply tagged with a terrible name and a rather unfortunate look. As a youngster I could hardly stomach the sight of it, all soggy and sad in its bowl, like a sandwich that had fallen into the pool and then been tossed in the blender. Now that I’m older and smarter, I see the beauty of bread pudding. It’s a day-old visionary’s dream that delivers so much texture and spice it’s suddenly not so hard to understand what keeps it shuffling down through the generations. You can use any bread you choose, just make sure it’s something sturdy.