In my hurry to get food ready for this weekend’s Easter picnic, I foolishly failed to take a picture of these beautiful shrimp, swimming in a golden pool of garlicky olive oil. So instead, I bring you this silly picture of my friend Joe about to enjoy one. Seriously, though, these shrimp are luxurious. Their…
Hunanese Smoky Bacon with Tofu and Broccolette
Lately I have been making myself very hungry by reading Fuchsia Dunlop’s beautiful Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook: Recipes from Hunan Province. It features lots of interesting ingredients, some of which I bought yesterday at Talin Market and am a little daunted by (fermented bean curd, anyone?) The ingredient I was surprised to find liberally used throughout…
Quick Eats: Fried Spaghetti
This is an idea I’ve come across a couple of times, but this particular time I saw it in Best American Recipes 2005-2006. And this is the time when, a few weeks after seeing the recipe, I got sick and my sweetie made me spaghetti for dinner. And there were leftovers. And what on earth…
Haluski (Polish Egg Noodles with Cabbage)
So, what do you do when the cupboard is bare? When, for instance, your fresh vegetable drawer is down to one lonely head of cabbage and an onion? I look for a pasta dish. I always have pounds and pounds of pasta in the house, and it is amazing the meals you can turn out…
Kerala-Style Egg Curry
I love Indian food, and it leaped straight to mind when I decided to focus on vegetarian cooking. One of my favorite quick meals is a simple Indian chicken curry with tomatoes and yogurt, so it’s probably unsurprising that this recipe jumped out at me from the pages of Celia Brooks Brown’s “Party Food for…
Ghanaian Peanut Stew
I love African peanut stew. Its rich, complex flavors belie its simplicity of preparation. For years I’ve made a version with whole chicken thighs, from Mark Bittman’s The Best Recipes in the World. However, as I continue with my vegetarian weeks, that obviously wouldn’t do. (Interestingly, as soon as I decided to go all-veg for…
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burritos
Over the past year, I have noticed myself cooking more and more meat. I don’t know why, I just seem to have moved into a “meat at the center of the plate” mindset. And I don’t like it. Not that I aspire to be a vegetarian; I’m too interested in trying anything and everything to…
Quick Eats: Salami Sandwich with Olive Tapenade
A simple sandwich, but so good I had to share. Actually, I had intended to make ham-and-cheese sandwiches, but the woman at the deli counter was so slow I gave up in frustration. Arne, casting about for a way to salvage the situation, picked up a package of sliced hard salami. “You love salami sandwiches!”…
Quick Eats: Dumpling Soup
I threw this together for lunch today, as I have a million times, and was several bites in before it occurred to me to share it with you! Dumpling soup has been my go-to quick lunch for a long time. I usually make it Asian-style, but it lends itself well to an Italian treatment as…
Saffron Carbonara
I have made many variations on pasta Carbonara – pasta with eggs, bacon, and cheese – but this one knocked my socks off. I really didn’t expect it to be magnificent, but it is. Savory and smoky, with a nutty salt tang from the cheese and a gorgeous golden hue, this spaghetti is the epitome…