Double Decker Portobello Burgers

Looking for a satisfying veggie burger recipe? These portobello burgers will win you over from beef burgers … they’re that good. Portobello mushrooms have a meaty texture that appeals even to committed carnivores.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:37]

Spicy Sweet Potato Wedges

These sweet potato wedges have a spicy foil to their sweetness. They’re reminiscent of sweet potato fries, but a whole lot healthier. Look for the dark-skinned sweet potatoes with bright orange flesh (also, erroneously, called garnet yams).

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:139]

Sauteed Sesame Bok Choy

Letting the bok choy get nice and browned in some places–what the Chinese call “the breath of the wok”–adds a smoky savoriness to the fast, stir-fried side dish.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:54]

Garlicky Sauteed Spinach

This sauteed spinach recipe wins over even those who normally snub the vegetable. Pre-washed greens makes this dish come together in a flash. You can use this technique with any tender greens, such as beet greens or chard.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:55]

Roasted Acorn Squash Salad with 
Wheat Berries and Blue Cheese

Acorn squash skins are quite leathery and the cooked flesh will pop out of it as you cut the wedges. Use a butter knife to help separate the skin and flesh if needed. This combo of winter squash, hearty wheat berries, toasted walnuts and blue cheese is the essence of fall. Soaking the wheat berries overnight is smart trick to help slash the cooking time in half. It’s the same principle as soaking dried beans.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:140]

Kitchen Sink Fried Rice

You’ll see this fried rice recipe come up every few months in Nourish Weekly Menus, always in a different guise. Sometimes with cabbage, sometimes with bok choy, sometimes with shredded pork, sometimes with spicy shrimp … you get the picture. Feel free to use add basic recipe to your rotation with anything calling from your fridge. It’s a great way to use up leftover rice, veggies — whatever you have on hand.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:147]

Crispy Mashed Potato Cakes

I’ve always wanted a potato cake recipe like this, and I spent some time perfecting it. Would it be better to coat the mashed potato cakes in panko? I wondered. It turned out to be too much trouble, and didn’t make the cakes that much crispier. What if I sprinkled cheese on the outside to make a crisp, savory crust? Nope. That didn’t add as much punch as I’d expected. This straightforward recipe — it takes just a few minutes to pull together if you have leftover mashed potatoes on hand — yielded the best results, and will be a potato pancake I go back to again and again. I hope you do, too.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:142]

Peanut-Sweet Potato Soup

Strangely enough, peanuts and sweet potatoes make a great pair. Between the warm fall hues of this sweet potato soup and the crisp, bright flavors of the Fennel-Apple Salad accompanying it (get the recipe in the Nourish Weekly Menus archive), this meal is truly a feast for the senses.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:144]

Easy Mushroom Ragu

This easy vegetarian mushroom ragu has plenty of meaty main-dish heft. It’s also an incredibly versatile little number. Toss it with pasta, serve it over polenta, or spoon it onto crostini smeared with goat cheese. The optional mascarpone lends extra richness to this mushroom ragu, but skip it to make it a vegan dish.

easy-mushroom-ragu-recipe2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons minced shallot
5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1-1/2 pounds wild mushrooms (or cremini), cut into thick slices
2 teaspoons minced thyme
¼ cup dry marsala
2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese (optional)
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat and add shallot. Cook for 5 minutes, until shallot is a deep golden brown. Add garlic and cook another 2 minutes, until softened. Add mushrooms and thyme to pan, and saute for 8-10 minutes, until mushrooms are golden brown.

Pour in marsala and scrape up any bits stuck to the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until most of the liquid is evaporated. Swirl in mascarpone, season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with parsley.

Serves 4.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 17 minutes

“Melted” Summer Squash

This is one of my favorite ways to serve summer squash. You can use any type of squash, but I prefer the denser, green-fleshed varieties, such as zucchini. It’s a great summer squash recipe to use up a bumper crop. I also like to add a dash of Guatemalan smoked chile pepper a friend of mine gave to me; this is a great dish to be adventurous with anything special you want to play with too.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:60]