I don't know if this is a true "hash" or not. From years of watching Chopped, people always seems to be criticized for calling something a hash when it isn't. The best I can find from a dictionary search is simply something cut up into small bits. I like this from the OED: "A mixture of mangled and incongruous fragments." Mmmm, yes, serve me some of that!
Read MoreA while ago, I used a gift card from my Grandma to get Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables. Running a vegetable garden business in the backyard, I figured it would be nice to have a few more ideas on how to cook up all the veggies. I've really enjoyed the recipes I've tried so far. This one might be my favorite yet.
Read MoreThis ratatouille is not pretty. It’s nothing like the one in the Pixar movie. It is basically an obscenely large collection of vegetables that get chopped, generously doused in olive oil, and then roasted until they’re soft and caramelized and melded together into a deeply flavorful dish. The simplest process coaxes so much flavor out of such basic ingredients. And then I get to watch my kids gobble down a couple days worth of vegetable servings in one sitting - and with delight! It’s pretty magical.
Read MoreI love a good veggie burger. I love a good hamburger too, but veggie burgers are so much fun because you can pack so much flavor into them. Plus, the directions you can go seem endless! Even where to start with the base can be a hard choice -- black bean, lentil, chickpea...you name it! Then what sort of cuisine? Tex-mex, Indian, Moroccan, Mediterranean...again, you name it! I haven't even started on what toppings you can add. Finally, homemade buns make them that much more tasty.
Read MoreSpring is prime season for radishes. I know, because we run a market garden business in our backyard and there are radishes a plenty.
Radishes are one of the most beautiful vegetables. French radishes in particular are literally awesome with their intense, seemingly impossible magenta pink tips.
Read MoreDid you know you can make yogurt at home? And that it's really easy? You basically need a pot and milk and you're set. I started making my own yogurt when we were on a very tight grocery budget - when, yes, the $2 per week that it saved was significant. And even though we're not strapped for those few bucks anymore, I've kept it up. OK, to be completely honest, I still try to save here and there if I can - it adds up, after all! But really, I just find it satisfying to produce some of the things I enjoy in my daily life. I remember the first couple of times I made it, it was almost like magic. I still find it kind of marvelous, kind of like every time I take a loaf of bread out of the oven I'm amazed all over at the process.
Read MoreI love this dinner. If I were planning to host a fancy dinner, I'd choose this in a heartbeat. It's unfailingly delicious. It can be vegetarian or meat filled. It isn't technical, yet it looks incredibly elegant. Plus, you can easily make almost all of the components ahead of time and simply assemble and bake an hour before hosting.
Read MoreI was flipping through the weekend newspaper a few months back when I passed over an interview with Jeni Britton Bauer. I probably would've continued flipping pages, but there was an inset recipe for hot fudge sauce that made me pause. Putting two and two together, I realized this was Jeni of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams.
Read MoreThis salad is a delight. It's so fresh and flavorful and the perfect accompaniment to barbecue, spicy Mexican, or any lighter spring/summer meal. Fresh sweet corn contrasts with salty feta and the zing of the lime bounces around in your mouth with the herby cool of cilantro. The fresh zucchini gets softened by the vinaigrette but keeps a pleasantly firm texture which it otherwise loses when cooked.
Read MoreThis dish is a perfect instance of where few and simple ingredients come together and become amazingly, astonishingly flavorful. It's fantastic on its own with a side of rice, but also makes for a good burrito meat as it can be stretched while still providing a flavor punch.
Read MoreThere was a bowl filled with 10 cups of homemade chicken broth in my fridge that was fast approaching the 1-week mark. I'm not 100% positive about how long various things stay "fresh" in the fridge, and I suspect it is oftentimes longer than the standard safety recommendations*, but in general I operate under the 1-week policy. Under a week? Eat it. Over a week? Toss it. It's that hazy 6-7 day area where I know my logic is a bit spurious. It's okay to eat at 11pm on Day 6, but by 9am on Day 7 it has got to go.
Read MoreI don’t think I would’ve thought to try a soufflé if I hadn’t been searching through this one particular magazine for a recipe I could fit into that week’s menu with the ingredients I had on hand. I think in my mind i had relegated soufflé to stuffy dinner parties or French restaurants, not weekday meals. Turns out, soufflé is simple enough for a weekday meal AND tasty enough to be gobbled down by kids and adults alike. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, given the main ingredients of egg and cheese.
Read MoreA while back, I got an issue of Real Simple in the mail that included a 4-week meal plan. I had been in a bit of a meal slump at the time, so the idea of having someone else plan out my menu for the month was something I embraced with full force.
Some of the meals turned out to be duds, or just plain old unspectacular. Other meals have worked their way into my staple recipes, surprising me by their ease of assembly and fantastic flavors. This White Bean & Spinach Soup is one of those recipes.
Read MoreThis recipe, like the Fettuccine Alfredo, was one of the first Italian meals I had from Philip's family and fell in love with. I still remember the first night I had it. I was dating Philip and visiting his family over break. I was seated at the table closest to the family room. I had on my blush pink cropped sweater. (Am I the only one on whom food makes such an impression?) I most certainly had seconds, if not thirds and fourths. I am fairly certain it was the first recipe I requested from Mom Barrows. I don't know what it is about it. It's not mind-blowing. It's actually fairly humble and simple. But, it's delicious. It's complete comfort food for me.
Read MoreWhen we lived in Massachusetts, there was this great local butcher shop. They prided themselves on being known only by word of mouth. Living on a tight newly-wed budget, we would buy one of their "budget stretcher plans" every month or two. Basically, the plans offered a box package of a variety of meats and cuts for a set, discounted price. Not only did the plans save us money, but they also introduced me to new cuts of meat. "London broil? Okay, will look up how to use that." (It is delicious, by the way. Steak for almost nothing.) But most often, I'd think: "Gosh. More beef cubes." Which led to, "Is there anything else I can do with these besides making stew?"
Read MoreShortly after becoming pregnant with Edith, my mom visited our then apartment in Massachusetts. During that visit, she gifted me Jamie Oliver's cookbook Comfort Food. She had seen a recipe in the Wall Street Journal for his shepherd's pie where the potatoes are mixed with cheddar cheese and don't just top the dish -- they line the bottom of the pan as well! Oh, and as if that wasn't enough, he grates more cheddar cheese on top and finishes it all off with bread crumbs and a drizzle of oil. My mother knows me.
Read MoreWe've made this cranberry-orange relish every year for Thanksgiving for as far back as I can remember. It adds brightness to an otherwise heavy thanksgiving meal. Although a warmed or jellied cranberry sauce often melds better with the other elements on the plate (stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes), there is something so superb about this fresh and zingy relish paired with a slice of turkey breast. So usually I take a bit of both -- the fresh cranberry relish and the cooked cranberry sauce -- and alternate my bites of turkey between the two.
Read MoreHere's a basic-as-they-come traditional bread stuffing, straight from the old classic Joy of Cooking. (If you're beginning to suspect I'm 60, I'm not. Joy of Cooking might not be the best for trendy or sophisticated recipes, but, man, they get their basics right.) Keep it simple and just make it as written, or add in some sausage/dried fruit/nuts/mushrooms to jazz it up a little. It's a springboard!
Read MoreAfter our first year of market gardening, we all agree that the most underrated vegetable is kohlrabi. It is delicious and full of flavor, most similar to the taste of broccoli stems (my favorite part anyways). Plus, it takes up hardly any space in the garden (a huge plus for our 1/2 acre farm). It also helps strike up a conversation, as it looks somewhat unusual, if not a bit alien.
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