What to Cook

Even though I love a good slaw all year round, Summer is definitely slaw season. It’s hard to image a barbecue or a picnic or a warm weather potluck of any kind without a slaw or two on the table. Plus, I love a slaw for topping a taco, whether it be a fish taco or turkey, or a fish sandwich, or a burger or pulled pork piled on a roll. And I adore a basic slaw—cabbage-centric, maybe some carrots for color, a bit of onion for bite, and a creamy mayo-based dressing. Classics are classics for a reason. But …

The Intentional Leftover is key to my whole cooking world. I never make just enough chicken for a meal, or just enough steak, or just enough quinoa, or just enough rice. There are so many leftovers that are amazing springboards for the next meal, or just bulk up a soup or salad, or that give you a little inspiration to use up other odds and ends in the fridge.   Extra rice has so many potentials uses all week long, you’ll be glad to have leftovers hanging out in the fridge.   Types of Rice Most of these recipes can work …

Summer is salad season for sure—I eat salads all year round, but in the summer salads just seems to make themselves, and gorgeously we might added.  If you want into a farmers’ market a salad might leap into your environmentally friendly basket or tote, demanding to be taken home.    Here are some of my all time favorite summer salad recipes: 1. Simple Vegetarian Pasta Salad You can never go wrong with a vegetarian pasta salad.   2. Bright, Herby Three Bean Salad This colorful and super simple bean salad is very perky with with herbs, spelt and hearts of …

Why is it that seeing those grill marks on a piece of food—whether it be a burger, a piece of chicken, an ear of corn, even a slab of pineapple—makes our mouths water? It’s practically Pavlovian, the happy hungriness those little blackened lines or crosshatch marks elicit. I won’t wax on about the smoky bits of char, the crusty exteriors, the juicy interiors, the sticky sauces and glazes, the savory umami-ness, the fragrant rubs, the flavorful marinades, the tangy mops. You know all of that. Let’s get right to the recipes. Grilled Chicken Breasts with Lime, Roasted Garlic, and Fresh …

While I am a big fan of recipes that take a few minutes of hands on time, and then get tossed into the oven to bake or roast, or into a pot to braise, sometimes we all just need to get dinner on the table, and NOW. The fact that a pork shoulder roast requires almost no attention from me once it’s in the oven, or that a chili can bubble away largely unattended on the stove is all well and good—when you have the time. But when the clock is ticking and your people are hungry, minutes count. Here …

If forced to name my favorite part of the chicken, it would have to be the thigh.  I’ll happily eat a fried drumstick, a spicy sticky chicken wing, a tender breast with or with or without the skin.  But thighs?  Winner, winner…well, I won’t say it.  Juicy, tender, moist, flavorful, hard to overcook; it’s hands down the best part of the bird.  And you can cook them in so many different ways.  Sautéed chicken thighs, braised chicken thighs, roasted chicken thighs, baked chicken thighs, broiled chicken thighs, grilled chicken thighs, stir fried chicken thighs, chicken thigh kebabs, crock pot or slow …