By: Teresa Genaro;

My salad days,
When I was green in judgment, cold in blood…
Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, I.v.76-77

Thus says Cleopatra at the end of Act I, and it’s one of the hundreds of phrases that Shakespeare invented; it was not in common use in the early seventeenth century, when the play was written, and I, having seen the phrase in at least one other place (the novel Gone with the Wind), assumed that it had taken its place in the literary lexicon. Until, that is, a professor questioned my use of it with a big question mark in the margin of a paper that I wrote in college, using the phrase to describe a character.

It seems that the phrase continues to be misunderstood; taken on its own as a three-word phrase, “my salad days” could mean those days when one is young, fresh, full of life. In the context of the second line, though, it’s clear that the focus is on “green,” in the sense of “young,” yes, but also inexperienced and lacking in good judgment.

Our salad days will be those when we want to eat something healthful without having to put too much work into it. I’m not a nutritionist nor do I dispense advice about healthful eating, but my own personal meal credo is that on work days, lunch doesn’t much matter. I care what I eat for breakfast and dinner, but as long as lunch is filling, inexpensive, and reasonably good for me, I don’t ask for a lot more.

To that end, I’ve compiled a bunch of easy-to-make salads that I can throw in a reusable container to bring to work. You can make them for yourself or for your guests at a dinner party, and the ingredients are easily found. None of these salads will take you more than fifteen minutes to make (not counting grilling the chicken for the chicken curry), and most will take less than ten.

Basic green salad

• One to two cups of the lettuce of your choice. I like mesclun or romaine, but you should use what you like, and as much or as little as you like.
• Two radishes, sliced
• One half of a medium cucumber, peeled and sliced
• Half a dozen grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
• ¼ cup feta cheese, crumbled
• Dried herbs; I prefer a blend of Italian seasonings.
• Lemon pepper
• Salt
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar

Toss all the ingredients except the herbs and dressings in the bowl in which you’ll serve the salad. Add dried herbs, lemon pepper, and salt to taste (go easy at first on the herbs and lemon pepper; they will add more flavor than you initially think). Drizzle olive oil (about two tablespoons) and balsamic vinegar (about the same amount) over the salad, toss, and serve. I like a heavy taste of vinegar; you might want to start using a little less and add to taste.

You could also mix the oil and vinegar separately, adding a teaspoon (or to taste) of Dijon mustard to add another flavor, or use a bottled dressing of your choice.

Serve chilled if possible.

Gorgonzola-cranberry salad

• One to two cups of the lettuce of your choice
• Half a medium cucumber, sliced
• ¼ cup dried cranberries
• ¼ cup gorgonzola or other blue cheese, crumbled
• One radish, sliced

Mix all the ingredients in the bowl in which you will serve the salad, and dress it as above, or with the dressing of your choice.

Curried chicken salad

• One skinned chicken breast, grilled and cut into ½” chunks
• One half of a Granny Smith apple, diced
• 1/3 cup of yellow raisins
• ¼ cup lowfat mayonnaise
• Curry powder

Mix all the ingredients in the bowl in which you will serve the salad. Reduce or increase the amount of mayonnaise, depending on your taste, and begin by adding a teaspoon of curry power. If you like a stronger flavor, add more.

I prefer to eat this in a bowl, but you could also stuff a pita pocket with it or spread it on your favorite bread.

By: Teresa Genaro;

Like many kids, I wasn’t much fond of spinach and broccoli when I was little. I did fine with peas and green beans and carrots, but I turned up my nose at spinach and broccoli.

At my aunt’s one day, when I was about seven, I was served a plate of pasta with some green stuff in it. I asked what it was, I was told it was parsley, and I contentedly ate it.

Of course, it was not parsley; it was spinach, as I learned several years later, when my mother shared this recipe with me. I don’t think that either she or my aunt was particularly adamant about getting spinach into me; their subterfuge was less about nutrition than about taste. I think that this was just a dish that they liked, and they didn’t want to make it without the spinach.

It’s incredibly easy to make; it serves a crowd with minimal effort; it freezes well; it tastes great; and it doesn’t cost very much. You can prepare the dish a day or two ahead of time and pop it in the oven 30 – 40 minutes before serving.

A few words about the ingredients:

The sauce: You can of course make your own, and I often do, but if you want something easy, you can get away with jarred sauce in a recipe like this. I’ve included below a recipe for marinara sauce, and to keep the ease factor high, make a bunch at one time and freeze it, taking it out to use on occasions like this.

The vegetables: Thank goodness that last year Mark Bittman in the New York Times took us all off the hook for using frozen vegetables. As he wrote, they’re just as nutritious as fresh, and it doesn’t matter whether you buy a name brand or a store brand. I have used frozen vegetables with enthusiasm and without guilt ever since. I know that he specifically names broccoli and spinach as vegetables it’s easy to use fresh, but again, in a recipe like this, I don’t think it matters. If it matters to you, you can pre-cook the vegetables and then add them to the pasta, but it takes some of the ease out of the recipe.

Mama Genaro’s Baked Pasta

• One pound of the pasta of your choice. I like to use something for the vegetables to stick to and crawl into, like shells, but you can use whatever you like, or whatever’s in the house.
• The equivalent of one 16 oz. jar of marinara sauce
• One package of frozen broccoli, defrosted and drained
• One package of frozen spinach, defrosted and with excess water squeezed out
• One 15 oz container of good ricotta cheese
• One 16 oz block of good mozzarella cheese, sliced into ¼” slices
• Grated parmesan or romano cheese

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the pasta in salted water until it’s not quite done, probably about ten to twelve minutes, depending on the type of pasta you’re cooking.

As the pasta is cooking, slice the mozzarella and prepare the vegetables; defrost them in a microwave, or if they’re already defrosted, drain them.

Mix the vegetables, sauce, and ricotta cheese in a large bowl and set aside. If you want to eliminate another dish to wash, keep the ingredients separate and mix them individually with the pasta.

When the pasta is finished, drain it and pour it into a disposable aluminum baking pan—12” by 10” and about an inch and a half deep. Add the vegetables, sauce, and ricotta, turning well so that the ingredients are evenly mixed.

Top the pasta mixture evenly with the slices of mozzarella.

Bake the dish for about 20 – 30 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the ingredients are heated through. Serve in pasta bowls, topping to taste with grated cheese.

If you going from refrigerator to oven, you will probably need 30 – 40 minutes in the oven, so that the ingredients are heated through.

Easy marinara sauce

This is the most basic of tomato sauces; I prefer sauce with some meat and other vegetables, but if you need a decent sauce quickly, this will do.

• Olive oil
• Two cloves of garlic, chopped
• One small onion, chopped
• One 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• ¼ cup chopped fresh basil (use dried if you can’t find any, or use basil-infused tomatoes)
• ¼ cup red wine

In large sauce pan over low heat, sauté the garlic and onion for about five minutes, until the onion is translucent.

Add the canned tomatoes and basil, and cook for about ten minutes.

Add the red wine and cook for five minutes more.

By: Teresa Genaro:

“What?” you ask. “What the heck does tennis have to do with eggs?”

Nothing, fortunately, that will wind up on your table. But if you’ve ever wondered why a score of zero in tennis is called “love,” look no further for the answer than in that carton sitting in your refrigerator. Because an egg looks basically like a zero, when tennis was played in early France, a score of zero was called “l’oeuf” (the egg), and when the game made its way to England, English pronunciation changed it to “love.” This explanation is both espoused and disputed. True or not, it makes a good story, and it serves as a wonderful transition to an explanation of why I love eggs.

In this country we far too often think of eggs as exclusively breakfast food; in Europe, the omelet, quiche, or frittata is perfectly acceptable and common as a mid-day or evening meal. I’ve experimented with all three, and I have landed firmly in the frittata’s corner. The quiche is out because I’m just not much on crusts, and my experiments in omelet-making, while usually tasting good, are often a splattered mess on my plate and in my pan. If you are adroit with a pan, flip away; otherwise, join me as a fan of the frittata; making one is criminally easy, as well as adaptable to the palates of anyone you are serving.

In the category of breakfast for dinner falls another New York Times recipe, which I discovered last spring and which I’ve made numerous times since. In fact, as soon as I finish writing this, I’m going to make it for myself. Melissa Clark chooses ingredients that meld perfectly together, the creaminess of the grits and eggs gorgeously set off by the crunch of the chard. Yum.

The basic frittata

6 eggs
½ cup of grated parmesan or other cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Beat the eggs and cheese together in a bowl while a non-stick pan with olive oil or butter heats over medium heat. Pour the mixture into the pan, and cook for about five minutes, until the eggs at the bottom of the pan are set. Remove the pan from the stovetop and put it into the oven, cooking for an additional fifteen minutes or until the mixture is firm on top.

That’s it. You’re done. I swear.

Another great thing about the frittata is that you can add pretty much whatever you want to jazz it up. Among my favorites: sautéed onion; chorizo; sun-dried tomatoes; artichoke hearts. If what you’re adding doesn’t need to be pre-cooked, simply add it to the egg/cheese mix before pouring it into the pan.

If you want to add onion or broccoli or another vegetable, sauté it in the pan as you are mixing the eggs and cheese in a bowl, and then pour the mixture right into the sautéing pan.

Served warm, cold, or room temperature, this makes a great meal with some bread or a small salad; you can also cut it into cubes and serve with toothpicks for a terrific hors-d’oeuvre.

Grits, eggs, cheese and greens, from the New York Times. I haven’t tried this recipe with polenta, because I fell in love with the grits/eggs/chard version the first time I tried it. Recently, while making this recipe without any chard in the house, I discovered some leftover frozen spinach in the fridge, and I sautéed that with some garlic and olive oil, substituting it for the chard. While lacking the crunch of the fresh chard, the flavor was wonderful. Be sure that you squeeze excess water from the spinach before sautéing it.