Recipes
Five Ways to Eat Fresh Fennel
I met a new vegetable recently, and I'm totally infatuated: fennel.I'd heard of fennel, but had never eaten it until I visited my husband's family for Thanksgiving a couple of years ago. The appetizers included a veggie tray with familiar snacks like peppers, cucumbers, broccoli and baby carrots. B...
January 20, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Five Ways to Eat Jicama
I've always like jicama (pronounced HEE-kuh-muh), a starchy, slightly sweet root popular in Mexico. It looks like an ugly brown turnip (and is sometimes called Mexican turnip) and, when raw, has the crunchy texture of a firm pear or a raw potato. Until a few weeks ago, raw was the only way I'd ever...
January 13, 2010 |
By Lisa Bramen
Sub a Veggie for Spaghetti
I love pasta as much as the next person. It's easy, it's cheap and it's convenient. But it's not exactly packed with nutrients. I think I have found a great alternative to the simple pasta dish. Don't get me wrong, I will eat pasta, but subbing in a healthier alternative once in a while can't hurt....
January 12, 2010 |
By Abby Callard
If You Had to Pack Your Kitchen in a Suitcase...
Two dear friends of mine just moved overseas rather suddenly, taking only four suitcases between them for a job posting that could last more than a year. They're a young couple who had been sharing a studio apartment here in D.C., so they didn't own much to begin with, but they still had to put a l...
January 11, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Sushi At Home
On New Year's Eve, my boyfriend and I decided to try our hands at sushi. We eat sushi out pretty frequently, but something about making it in my own kitchen seemed terrifying. It was easier than I had expected, albeit time consuming. Definitely something I recommend trying for a sushi eater. If not...
January 07, 2010 |
By Abby Callard
Five Ways to Eat Pomegranates
Post-holidays, most people take at least a passing interest in eating healthier. I know I do, anyway. That's what motivated me to pick up a whole, fresh pomegranate at the grocery store a few days ago—I'd heard that this round, red fruit is a "superfood," packed with antioxidants and vitamins. Neve...
January 04, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
What Are Those Green Specks in My Biscuits?
Several weeks ago I baked a batch of buttermilk biscuits with sunflower seeds in them, using a recipe from a cookbook I've had since college, Vegetarian Pleasures by Jeanne Lemlin. They were delicious fresh out of the oven, but when I broke one open the next day I noticed what appeared to be vivid ...
December 16, 2009 |
By Lisa Bramen
What is this Junket, Anyway?
As I wrote yesterday, I'm having fun flipping through a century-old cookbook that once belonged to my great-grandma. Most of the recipes are somewhat familiar, but there was one title in the desserts section that stopped me cold: "Junket Pudding."Since the only kind of junket I'm aware of is a "pre...
December 15, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Cooking With My Great-Grandmother
I never knew my maternal great-grandmother, Grace. She lived in Wichita, Kansas, and died long before I was born. But I was recently given the opportunity to cook with her, in a way.Earlier this year, one of my mother's wedding presents to me was a small, age-mottled hardcover book called "A Little...
December 14, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
25 Holiday Gift Ideas For Foodies, Cooks and Sustainable Eaters
Brain Food
1. A food-themed film, such as the serious documentaries “Food Inc.” or "The Future of Food," or the more light-hearted "Julie & Julia" or "Ratatouille," packaged with some gourmet popcorn.2. Subscription to a food magazine. Bon Appetit is a good entry point for cooks just beginning ...
December 04, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Five Ways to Eat Rutabaga
The first time I tasted rutabaga—or so I thought—was when I started spending Thanksgiving and Christmas with my fiancé's family. Bowls of mashed rutabaga, seasoned with salt and pepper and a little butter, are a staple of their holiday table, although some of the cousins turn their noses up at it. ...
December 03, 2009 |
By Lisa Bramen
Learning to Love Olive Oil
Olive oil has never been a particular passion for me, although I cook with it almost daily. Its main appeal is utility—creating texture and moisture; browning without sticking—more than taste. But after attending a recent Smithsonian Resident Associates event about Italian foods, I won't be taking ...
November 30, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Taking Sides: A Vegetarian Thanksgiving
The New York Times food section recently featured a fun face-off between writers Kim Severson and Julia Moskin over what you might call a silly question: What's more important on a Thanksgiving table, the turkey or the side dishes? Moskin wrote an article titled "Show-Off Sides to Rival the Pull of...
November 23, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Five Ways to Eat Beets
I ordered a salad with roasted beets when I was out with my parents recently. They looked at the hunks of purple of my plate and wrinkled their noses. The "I remember when…" statements weren’t far behind. They recalled stinky, pickled beets from a can, which is something they never subjected me to ...
November 11, 2009 |
By Abby Callard
Baking Apples in a Schnitzer
While visiting an Irish friend in the Kilkenny countryside a few years back, I admired her mother's charming wood cookstove. It was nearly the size of a twin bed, was always kept burning, and produced daily loaves of delicious brown bread and amazing apple pies. But, until I moved to New York from ...
November 06, 2009 |
By Lisa Bramen
Five Ways to Eat Brussels Sprouts
Yes, I said "eat" and "Brussels sprouts." Oh, stop making that face...Properly prepared, these tiny brassica plants can be a real treat—and they're nutritionally noble (low-cal and fat-free, yet just a handful will provide all the vitamin C you need for the day, plus several grams of protein and fi...
November 05, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Making Homemade Yogurt and Cheese
I learned something potentially dangerous this weekend: cheese, especially fresh (not aged) cheese, is surprisingly quick and easy to make.A group of people in my area who are concerned about the environment has been hosting a series of "lost arts" workshops on topics like making sauerkraut and bak...
November 04, 2009 |
By Lisa Bramen
Eat Your Carrot Greens
Last weekend, I picked up some beautiful carrots—the kind that Bugs Bunny would drool over; classic orange cones topped with plumes of greenery—at an organic farmstand. From childhood experience, I already knew that the sweet crunch of garden-grown carrots tastes far better than those mass-produced...
November 03, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Five Ways to Eat Winter Squash
There are hundreds of ways to eat winter squash, but these are five of my favorites. Tell me yours...1) Baked maple squash. This is best with smaller varieties like acorn or delicata. Cut in half, scoop out the seeds and pulp from both halves, and place cut-side up in a baking dish with just enough...
October 22, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Save on Your Sandwich
Math hurts sometimes. Yesterday, I came across a "sandwich calculator" that revealed a painful truth: I could be saving hundreds of dollars a year if I brought homemade sandwiches for lunch, instead of eating out at delis and cafes.A blogger at Cockeyed.com did the per-sandwich math for various ing...
October 06, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
