sprouts, beets, rutabagas, and turnips can be Vinaigrette appetizing (well, in small pieces) with some help from vinaigrette. Some of the sturdier vegetables are improved after a night in inaigrette is one of the most useful vinaigrette, especially the less popular root items you can have on hand. It is vegetables like beets, which tend to be more an instant source of flavor, a best enjoyable marinated or pickled, anyway. friend of vegetables, easy to tweak Once vegetables have been tossed with Vin any ethnic direction, and can be always vinaigrette they can be served at any waiting on the other side of the refrigerator temperature, which removes a lot of pressure door. You can create it at the last minute from mealtimes. If temperature isn’t an issue, directly in your mixing bowl and just add your you can blanch, steam, or roast vegetables or vegetables, or you can make a couple whenever time allows; apply the vinaigrette; of cups at a time and use it for weeks. It’s a then move on to any part of the menu that simple process using basic ingredients, and is may not be so flexible. They even taste good particularly gratifying for a cook who values the next day. (Note that broccoli and green maximum effect for minimum effort. beans tend to turn a brownish-yellow by that time, however.) Vinaigrette on just about anything Just about any collaboration of vegetables, Make it ahead fruit, grains, beans, pasta, and meat will Vinaigrette technically lasts indefinitely if kept benefit from an encounter with good cold, but it does taste better when it is vinaigrette. With the help of some freshly younger. If you store the vinaigrette in a glass grated Parmesan, this vinaigrette will turn a jar in the refrigerator, in time the oil will head of romaine lettuce into an unforgettable solidify on top, which means you have to tossed salad that can be a first course in its bring the whole bottle to room temperature to own right. (See recipe on page 132.) recombine it. It will return to a It will dress up leftover brown rice (some relatively quickly once it begins to respond to minced celery and onion doesn’t hurt) and the the warmer atmosphere, but the warming- dowdiest canned beans, should they have to and-chilling routine won’t be necessary if you make an unscheduled appearance at the table. follow my suggestion in the first Note below Toss whole mushrooms in some vinaigrette the recipe for and Vinaigrette on and you will have a succulent and delicious the next page. antipasto dish within a half-hour. (They turn dark and pickled by the next day, but they still taste good.) Vinaigrette will also pinch hit as a Last-minute vinaigrette marinade for meat. The simplest vinaigrette can be made by combining , oil, salt, and pepper in a Cooked vegetables with vinaigrette bottle and shaking it, or directly in a mixing One of vinaigrette’s most valuable bowl. (Taking the time to add a freshly contributions is in the area of vegetable crushed clove of garlic is worth the trouble.) consumption. Some children (and grownups) Then all you do is add a few cups of hot who may have a hard time getting excited beans or cooked grains or vegetables. Instant about eating cooked vegetables will veritably gratification. (See examples of this method gobble steamed or roasted broccoli, cauliflower, with on page 131 or Luscious carrot, asparagus, and green beans if they are Limas on page 161 or Tabbouleh on page 178.) served dressed in vinaigrette. Even Brussels

Excerpted from Good , Great Medicine1 by Miles Hassell, MD and Mea Hassell. For more information see: www.goodfoodgreatmedicine.com

4 If you use an immersion blender, which Garlic and Mustard I do, turn the speed to a low setting so the Vinaigrette vinaigrette won’t thicken too much before all the oil is blended in, and place the container There is usually a diminishing bottle of this on a damp cloth to keep it from dancing all-purpose vinaigrette in our refrigerator. If around. You can add the oil faster than with not, I can put it together quickly with the hand-whisked method. You will create a ingredients I always have on hand. There is creamy and more stable that will something about this combination that works, usually remain pourable even when chilled. and I think it is both the satisfying roundness and intensity of the flavor. We splash it on 4 A mini-processor also works well for just about anything that will stand still long vinaigrette: process everything but the oil for enough to be tossed and eaten. 10 seconds, and then add the oil and process for another 10 – 15 seconds. (Makes about 1 cup) 4 With my pepper grinder, about 60 grinds ¼ cup gives me a teaspoon of ground pepper. I 1 tablespoon freshly crushed garlic never bother to measure. 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard 1 tablespoon honey 4 Don’t forget that you will probably still 1 teaspoon salt need to add to whatever it is you are dressing with the vinaigrette. 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

¾ cup extra-virgin Lemon and Cumin Vinaigrette 1. Combine all ingredients except olive oil in a 2-cup measuring jug and whisk This simple little dressing can turn a can of thoroughly. (The honey will dissolve beans (rinsed and well drained) and ½ cup of quickly.) minced sweet onion into a respectable little side dish. Some chopped fresh cilantro is a 2. Slowly add olive oil in a thin stream, magnificent addition. Even if you don’t have whisking steadily. If oil begins to collect on any lemon and use apple cider vinegar instead, top, stop pouring and whisk until oil has been the presence of cumin, chili, and Tabasco will blended. handle the situation.

3. Transfer to a glass jar and store in your (Makes about ⅓ cup) refrigerator. (See Note.) You can refrigerate the vinaigrette for weeks to use 2 tablespoons lemon juice as needed. It will separate after a while, so ½ teaspoon ground cumin blend it well each time before you use it. ½ teaspoon chili powder ½ teaspoon salt Note: ¼ teaspoon Tabasco 4 Hand-whisked vinaigrette may separate 1 teaspoon honey fairly quickly depending upon how vigorously 1 teaspoon freshly crushed garlic you whisk. You will find it more user friendly 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (especially for last-minute needs) to divide the Combine all ingredients in a small mixing recipe into ¼-cup portions immediately after bowl and whisk for about 15 seconds or until blending it. Recycled glass jars work honey is blended. well, or little Rubbermaid ½-cup containers.

Excerpted from Good Food, Great Medicine2 by Miles Hassell, MD and Mea Hassell. For more information see: www.goodfoodgreatmedicine.com