It’s Monday, it’s lunchtime, and you’re lunch-less and hungry. Odds are, you’re stuck going to the nearest faux-healthy restaurant. (Ever looked at the ingredients in a Panera sandwich? If you print out what’s in the Turkey Artichoke Panini, it’ll take up almost a full 8 1/2″ x 11″ page. But hey, I guess that’s better [...]
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 [...]
Although popular conception would have you believe that the vaunted Mediterranean diet mostly consists of olive oil and vegetables, in reality, it also involves a lot of pastured eggs and dairy. What self-respecting Greek would be without her feta cheese? Or halloumi or kasseri? Then there’s the whole extra-thick, double-strained yogurt that has caught on [...]
Continue reading about Mediterranean Meals: More Than Just Olives
The time has come again for that quintessential summer dish, the one I could relish eating every day, the reason I have scads of basil in my garden every year: Insalata Caprese, or salad made in the style of the isle of Capri (off Italy’s southwestern coast). I get even more excited about making this [...]
Continue reading about How Milking Buffaloes and the Island of Capri Are Connected
This may look like a Danish pastry, but it isn’t a pastry and doesn’t taste anything like one. I’d be willing to bet, in fact, that this concoction doesn’t taste like anything you’ve had before: the saltiness of the sharp cheese, the sweet smokiness of the roasted pepper, and the rich depth of the dark [...]
Continue reading about The Marriage of the Millenium: Cheese & Chocolate
Sure, Brie and and Roquefort are brilliant cheeses, but so are Gouda and Edam. Now, one could argue that the French make sublime wine to pair with their sublime cheeses, and that would be a fair point. The Dutch, though, have their fair share of classic specialties, ranging from hearty whole-grain breads to deeply savory [...]
Continue reading about Why “Going Dutch” Ought to Be About the Cheese
Lately, paneer has started popping up in mainstream markets. This is fantastic news for anyone who likes Indian food, cheeses of all kinds, or likes to try out new ingredients. You can substitute a firm fresh cheese like queso fresco for paneer — or even tofu, if you’re so inclined — but paneer is tops [...]
Of all the grains in the world, rice might be my favorite: it makes great flour, freshly-cooked rice is welcome in everything from pilafs to grape leaves, leftover rice is perfect in savory casseroles as well as sweet puddings, and even in the U.S., there are dozens of varieties of rice on our grocery store [...]
Have you ever thought about the classic burger “periodic table”? You know: your burger, your bun, your pickles, tomatoes, cheese, mustard, lettuce, and ketchup. If you deconstruct the ingredients, you wind up with the Holy Burger Trinity of tomatoes, cheese, and pickles. (Ketchup and tomatoes are redundant, especially if you have juicy, fresh tomatoes, and [...]
Continue reading about An All-American, Three-Ingredient Salad
While many cultures have a “little bites” tradition — Middle Eastern mezze, Russian zakuski, Italian antipasto — it seems like the Spaniards are the most passionate about theirs. Tapas bars are everywhere you look in Spain, and diners are just as likely to make a full meal of tapas as they are to sit down [...]
