Vegan

You know that one dish that shows up at every cookout, every potluck, every casual Tuesday night when nobody feels like cooking? Yeah. This is that dish. This marinated cucumber, onion, and tomato salad has been in my life longer than half the people in my contacts list. I remember my mom pulling it out of the fridge in a big green Tupperware bowl — condensation clinging to the lid, the smell of vinegar and dill sneaking out before it even hit the table. She didn’t follow a recipe, not really. It was just “a splash of this, a sprinkle …

You know those side dishes that people actually get excited about? You know, the ones that are just as likely to disappear first as the main event? Well, roasted asparagus and carrots fall squarely into that “everyone-will-want-seconds” territory at my house. Maybe it’s because I grew up with so-so boiled vegetables (sorry, Mom!), so the first time I bit into a caramelized, olive oil-roasted carrot, I thought, “Ohhh, we can do THIS with carrots?” And asparagus? Forget it. My family eats it like fries every time I throw it in the oven—crispy tips, slightly charred edges, a couple of grins …