Archive for March 2012

MORE ASPARAGUS: Asparagus Spears with Burrata and Prosciutto; Asparagus with Tarragon Vinaigrette; Springy Frittata with Asparagus, Scallion, and Fontina; Potato, Corn, and Asparagus Stew

Asparagus: coming soon! The spring vegetables will arrive at the market any weekend now. And it’s about time asparagus, artichokes, and ramps displaced the winter greens and starchy potatoes occupying my vegetable drawer.

I do enjoy my weekly dose of kale. But if we’re being honest, I like pizza more. What’s the connection? Judging by Whole Foods’s nutritional ratings, known as ANDI scores, my budget and vegetable tolerance are well served by singling out the produce with the highest nutritional rating and buying only that. That way, I don’t waste money on cucumbers or iceberg lettuce, nutritional laughingstocks. I save my cash-and stomach space-for buying pizza and French fries. But I still get my kale-borne nutrients.

The major food groups for college students-cereal, pizza, and booze-are supposed to get a gourmet boost upon graduation. That’s when they morph into simple pastas, make-ahead stews, and hummus-what we’d call sort of entry-level quarter-life cooking. Yet according to New York Magazine, our demographic has now matriculated into a cultural foodie tier where we dine only at the best and the fanciest restaurants.

Passover cake.

Dry.

Heavy.

Has funny aftertaste.

Has about as much appeal as a root canal. (And trust me, I’ve had one two.)

I got together a focus group and asked them what they thought when I said “Passover cake,” and the above are their quotes.

I’m kidding, of course, but I don’t think my hypothetical group is that far off in its determination about Passover desserts. When you replace versatile white flour with anything—be it millet flour or matzoh meal—you can run into some textural issues with your baked goods.

Marmalade Muffins • Cultured Butter • Open-Faced Spinach Pie Bites • Herb and Lemon Popcorn • Peanut Butter Cookies • Iced Chai Tea Lattes • Champagne

Thanks to all of you who entered The Naptime Chef cookbook giveaway! We chose a randomly selected winner to receive Kelsey’s fabulous book.

Congrats to Jamie Ann!

Here’s what Jamie Ann said about making dinner in under 20 minutes:

My quick go to is pasta with some pesto and chicken. Always a hit!

(If you didn’t win, grab The Naptime Chef: Fitting Great Food into Family Life by Kelsey Banfield here.)…

FAVORITE CASSEROLES: Chicken Pot Pie; Tuna Noodle Casserole; Vegetarian Pot Pie; Creamy Chicken Chorizo Casserole

This dish began as a way to use up leftovers. When I was in high school, we liked to mix yesterday’s spaghetti with yesterday’s tomato sauce, add some chopped-up mozzarella and handfuls of Parmesan, and bake portions in the large ramekins we used for French Onion Soup. The result, as I’m sure you can imagine, tastes like great pasta with tomato sauce plus added richness from the cheese. And it has that extra savoriness you get in leftovers whose flavors …

We started our Great Minds Eat Alike series in order to mix up the usual BGSK offerings with interviews and submissions by cooks and eaters whose mentality towards cooking and eating meshes with ours. Today, on the second day of spring, we are incredibly excited to bring you a great guide about a dirty duty: getting your kitchen, from spice cabinet to pantry, clean. When you call it “spring cleaning,” it just sounds so fresh and bright, and, well, appealing. Especially because it comes from a fellow quarter-life blogger, Carrie Murphy.

Carrie is a poet who blogs about healthy, easy …

For quick weeknight dinners like today’s fried rice, my wok proves every bit of its $10 worth (I got it at a yard sale). It takes a hodgepodge of vegetables, protein, and starch, and turns them into a unified stir fry: shrimp and bok choy, pork and string bean, tofu and peppers, or rice and veggies (aka fried rice). You’ll need some oil to be sure your stir fries don’t stick, but overall they’re low in fat and as healthful as you want them to be. Since stir fries lend themselves to variation and improvisation, they’re a great …

Life has been busy recently. With a million projects on my plate (maybe more like eight), the ability to whip together quick, cheap dinners has never been at such a premium. I’ve been relying on favorite easy staples like Pasta with Whatever’s in the Vegetable Drawer, Anything with a Fried Egg, and Soups Invented by Busy Moms. Also: leftover rice tossed with vegetables and eggs, aka Fried Rice.

Week after busy week, I congratulated myself on my resourcefulness, bragged to friends about how rarely Alex and I got take-out or ate at restaurants only because we had …

Mussels with Chorizo & Cherry Tomatoes • Sweet Potato Fries • No-Knead Bread • Airy Chocolate Mousse

Supposedly my great-grandmother, who lived to be 104, started each day with a piece of toast spread with both cream cheese and butter, and I think I may have inherited her love for fattening dairy products. Hopefully, that will not compromise any longevity she may have passed down to me.

She wasn’t Irish, and neither am I. But some of the best butter with which to slather your toast is.

In Europe, the cows must eat some gourmet grass, because the milk they produce is creamy. Much of it really does contain a higher percentage of butterfat than you …