Here’s a truth that’s inconvenient for the dinner-in-a-sack industry but is great for the rest of us: fast food doesn’t have to be junk food. You’ve probably already got a lot of tasty quick meals loitering about in your kitchen, from canned beans that can be made into hearty salads to canned squash or pumpkin [...]
If you grow or make a miniature version of something, people invariably call it cute. Just think of fingernail-sized champagne grapes, baby cherry tomatoes, and the Mini-Cooper. (I’d say the cutest car in the world is the VW Bug, but since it only comes in one size, it doesn’t make the list.) The one jarring [...]
Continue reading about Never Underestimate the Power of a Sprout
We cut them up and then toss them to the curb uneaten, we use them as home decor, we even make containers and musical instruments out of them…but we don’t eat very many of them. I’m talking about squash. Poor, overlooked squash. It’s relatively easy to prepare — assuming that you have a sharp and [...]
I think creamy veggie soups are the perfect fall dish — they’re thickly hearty and warming, but all the vegetables remind me of summertime. (Ah, my poor garden! But hopefully the winter months will give the freshly laid compost some time to sink in…) And the fact that there are lots of ways to make [...]
Continue reading about A Mediterranean Take on Cold-Weather Comfort Food
Although sweet pies typically feature fruit enclosed by crust on both the top and bottom, savory pies are made with veggies and/or meat and often sport only a top deck. Shepherd’s Pie, for example, is made with beef and veggies on the bottom and a “crust” of mashed potato on top. An English version of [...]
Roasted kale and popcorn are probably my two favorite snacks (or dinners, for that matter). They’re both crispy-crunchy and can be tossed with a variety of spices and umami-rich flavors: kale with tamari and sesame and popcorn with anything from Ethiopian berbere spice blends to Indian curry powders. My only problem is that I tend [...]
Continue reading about Kale: It Just Keeps Getting More Delicious!
When you think of Greek cheese, you probably think of salads topped with feta. Or — if you’re old enough to have frequented restaurants before the days of increased fire code safety — you think of cheese with flames shooting up from it and a waiter yelling “Opa!” (That dish, saganaki, is typically made with [...]
Their skyrocketing popularity took them across the ocean to feed a nation…but then they fell prey to a blight and triggered the near-collapse of that nation. In other parts of the world, they’ve been feeding people nonstop for 10,000 years. They were once a mainstay in the U.S., too, but then they were lumped into [...]
Trees aren’t the only plants that acquire jewel tones in fall — cauliflower does, too. And the thick-skinned winter squashes certainly have their own quirky multi-colored and multi-shaped lumpy and bumpy appeal. In other words, this is prime time to find unusual produce at the farmer’s market! Especially since these cool-weather crops last longer than [...]
Continue reading about Fall: It’s Tastier (and Easier) Than You Think
Pan-frying a filet of fish is easy, but pan-frying little smelts is even easier. Talk about the ultimate fish for a fish and chips meal! Just dip each smelt into a dusting of your choice and sautée in butter or ghee for about five minutes. Done. And the nearly-bite-sized smelt are much less expensive than [...]
