Poached Cod in Tomato Broth from martha

  • 3 cups veggie or fish broth
  • 1/2 medium red onion, very thinly sliced (about 1/3 cup)
  • 2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise, divided
  • 8 ounces fingerling potatoes, sliced crosswise into 1/4-inch rounds
  • 3 sprigs basil, plus fresh basil leaves for garnish
  • 1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
  • Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 4 skinless cod fillets (4 ounces each)
  • 4 ounces sugar snap peas, trimmed and thinly sliced on the bias
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, plus 4 lemon wedges, for serving
  • Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
  1. Bring broth, onion, 1 1/2 cups tomatoes, potatoes, basil sprigs, red-pepper flakes, and 2 teaspoons salt to a boil in a large, deep, straight-sided skillet with a tight-fitting lid. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until potatoes are crisp-tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Season cod with salt and pepper, add to broth mixture, and cover. Simmer until fish is opaque throughout and just cooked through, about 7 minutes.

  2. Remove and discard basil sprigs. Add sugar snaps, remaining 1/2 cup tomatoes, and lemon juice to skillet, gently stirring to combine; cook just until warmed through. Divide fish, vegetables, and broth among 4 bowls. Garnish with basil leaves, drizzle with oil, and serve with lemon wedges for squeezing.

 

Green Bean Salad with Mustard Seeds and Tarragon From Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Timimi

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1 1/4 cups green beans, trimmed
2 1/4 cups snow peas, trimmed
1 3/4 cups green peas (fresh or frozen)
2 tsp coriander seeds, roughly crushed with a mortar and pestle
1 tsp mustard seeds
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon nigella seeds
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1 mild fresh red chile, seeded and finely diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 Tablespoon chopped tarragon
coarse sea salt
1 cup baby chard leaves (optional)

Fill a medium saucepan with cold water and bring to the boil. Blanch the green beans for 4 minutes, then immediately lift them out of the pan and into the iced water to refresh. Drain and dry.

Bring a fresh pan of water to the boil and blanch the snow peas for 1 minute only. Refresh, drain and dry. Use the same boiling water to blanch the peas for 20 seconds. Refresh, drain and dry. Combine the beans, snow peas and peas in a large mixing bowl.

Put the coriander seeds, mustard seeds and oil in a small saucepan and heat up. When the seeds begin to pop, pour the contents of the pan over the beans and peas. Toss together, then add the nigella seeds, red onion, chile, garlic, lemon zest and tarragon. Mix well and season with salt to taste.

Just before serving, gently fold the chard leaves, if using, in with the beans and peas, and spoon the salad onto plates or into bowls.

Chef notes:

  • For what it’s worth, we didn’t use separate pans of boiling water for the snow peas and green beans as the recipe instructs. We just used one pan of water.
  • We used frozen peas and omitted the optional baby chard leaves. (We love how they look in the salad pictured in the cookbook, but we didn’t have access to baby chard leaves.)
  • We didn’t have nigella seed so we added a bit of coarsely ground black pepper instead.

Crunchy Noodle Salad – Ina Garten

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Kosher salt
1/2 pound thin spaghetti
1 pound sugar snap peas
1 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds, divided
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded, and thinly sliced
4 scallions (with and green parts), sliced diagonally
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook
according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, bring another large pot of salted water to a boil, add the sugar snap peas, return to a boil, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until crisp tender. Lift the sugar snap peas from the water with a slotted spoon and immerse them in a bowl of ice water. Drain.

For the dressing, whisk together the vegetable oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, garlic, ginger, 2 tablespoons sesame seeds and peanut butter in a medium bowl.

Combine the spaghetti, sugar snap peas, peppers and scallions in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the spaghetti mixture. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds and the parsley and toss together.