Five or so years ago, I was having a conversation with my brother about salad dressing nationality when I made the observation that our U.S.A.-made salads were in need of a little patriotism. Italy, France and Russia all have dressings bearing their names. “What about America?” I wondered out loud. “Why isn’t there an American…
Happy day food: Lemon spaghetti, a la Giada
Ah, lemon. Is there anything more fresh, more beautiful or more satisfying than a citrus-infused dish or dessert? I think not. A while back, Jared grabbed a gigantic sack of organic lemons from the grocery store; he figured we could put them to use before their time ran out. And use them we have (think…
Back to basics: Dill fingerling potatoes
In many ways, a potato is just that — a potato. It’s plain, starchy, simple and unpretentious. It doesn’t pretend to be fancy, require loads of prep work or demand an onslaught of unfamiliar ingredients to make it an edible dish. Potatoes are like the ultimate blank canvas, and it really only takes one or…
Vegetable Week: It’s like Shark Week, but healthier
This week will go down in history as the week that Jared and I ate our weight in vegetables. OK, not really. But we made a mighty impressive effort, if I do say so myself. It all started with that veggie-filled garden minestrone soup earlier this week. Then there was Valentine’s Day dinner, which consisted…
Project NYT: Garden minestrone
There are some recipes that will confuse you from the very beginning. They’ll ask you to cook something on low when medium seems more logical. They’ll call for slicing and not dicing, when you know in your gut that the vegetables will never lose their crunch in a 20-minute cook time. They’ll give you strict…
Project NYT: Parmesan crackers, no boxes allowed
In the short while since I started this blog, the words made from scratch have taken on such new meaning to me. It’s no longer just about following a recipe or venturing beyond the boxed cake mix. Rather, it’s about taking even the simplest of foods and reducing them to their bare bones ingredients: the…
Secrets don’t make salads
Have you heard the story about the lady who, while shopping at Neiman Marcus in Dallas with her daughter, stopped into the café for a few chocolate chip cookies? According to the story, she loved the cookies so much, she asked for the recipe, to which the waitress replied, “Only two-fifty.” The woman agreed and…
Project NYT: Tomato Soup I
For the past six months, Jared and I have been in search of a delicious homemade tomato soup. It sounds simple enough, right? Beyond the tomatoes, milk, salt and pepper, it didn’t seem like there could be much to the basic recipe. Of course, I’d spent at least a decade making tomato soup from a…
Leftover makeover
Similar to our differing working habits, Jared and I approach meal preparation from very different angles. I tend to be über plan-y; I look up recipes, make a menu and head to the store to buy the right ingredients. Jared, on the other hand, is more go-with-the-flow; he searches the pantry and refrigerator for ingredients…
Vegetarian Thanksgiving. Tofurky, anyone?
Have you ever gone vegetarian for Thanksgiving? Jared and I know a guy whose daughter started college a few years ago and not long after decided to go vegan. Suddenly the impending holiday season was a whole new kind of challenge, with her parents trying to figure out how to cook an entire Thanksgiving meal…