Archive for the ‘ Kid-Friendly ’ Category
Lazy Slow Cooker Cacciatore
My mother didn’t like to cook, in spite of the fact that she did it six days a week. While I long ago abandoned such childhood specialties as elbow macaroni coated in melted Velveeta, there’s one quickie meal that I’ve returned to: lazy cacciatore. “Real” cacciatore has all kinds of ingredients, including mushrooms, wine and […] Read More
Chicken Tortilla Soup
This recipe scales beautifully, and can be made to feed a family on just one night, or packed to freeze for future nights. Like most of my soup recipes, the proportions change with each preparation; I chop until I’m tired of chopping. Ingredients Olive oil Onion, chopped Celery, chopped Carrots, chopped Freshly ground pepper Chicken, […] Read More
You’re Gonna Love My Nuts
You probably won’t appreciate the title of this post unless you’ve watched way too many late-night infomercials. For the longest time, I was spending something close to the national debt on flavored almonds from a vendor at the farmer’s market. I was a little bit obsessed, particularly with the butter toffee almonds that I no […] Read More
Roasted Tomato Soup
It seems like I always have one last batch of tomatoes around this time. They ripen somewhat strangely in the cooler days, and tend to be a bit on the soft side, making them perfect for soup. Ingredients 3-4 lbs ripe tomatoes 1 medium sweet onion, chopped 2 Tbsp bouquet garni Olive oil (I used the […] Read More
Creamy Black Beans
Creamy Black Beans I love black beans. Take me out to a Mexican or Cuban restaurant and you’ll notice that they’re the centerpiece of everything I order. And yet somehow the process of cooking black beans from scratch has eluded me for eons. Sure, I can do a quick canned version, but they never have […] Read More
Try Something New: Roast Bison
We would go to Betty’s for dinner every Sunday night. The meal was always the same: roast beef. Every. Single. Week. A few weeks ago, I was chatting with my friendly local butcher about the general absence of bison. He explained that it didn’t typically sell well, but that he’d give it another go and […] Read More
Polenta with Roasted Vegetables
Polenta is an excellent base for all kinds of foods, but particularly rich, savory flavors. I’ve paired it with short ribs and beef stews, but it wasn’t until I faced a glut of soon-to-be-expiring farmer’s market veggies in my crisper drawer that it occurred to me to roast them and serve over a base of […] Read More
Pineapple Curry
Back in April, I was in DC for a conference and got the chance to go out for an excellent Thai dinner with the ever-cool Dr. KC and the cutest little baby in the entire DC metro area. I scanned the menu and quickly spotted something that sounded uniquely wonderful: pineapple curry. Yum! As it turned […] Read More
Caprese Pasta Salad
I love tomatoes. To me, there’s no better part of summer than eating sun-warmed tomatoes right from the vine. Of course, some people actually want their tomatoes to be part of something bigger, like an actual recipe, and caprese salad is a classic example. But you can’t really do a classic caprese with the 4 […] Read More
Try Something New: Fried Plantains
I love Cuban food. Love it. I’m not a fan of the heat and humidity of Florida, but get absolutely giddy about the prospect of scoring some excellent Cuban food. One of the best parts of any Cuban meal? Fried plantains, or platanos maduros. Yet for all of my love of them, I’d never actually […] Read More
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