While I don’t dislike blueberries, they’re hardly my first choice given that they peak at the same time as watermelon, pluots, cherries, nectarines, blackberries, and many other far-more-exciting summer fruits. That is, unless we’re talking wild blueberries. Smaller, more-consistently flavorful, and mightily-tart, wild blueberries are like the burrata to conventional blueberries’ mozzarella; different and better. Sadly, like tart Montmorency cherries, they’re tricky to find fresh outside of their limited growing region, but don’t let that bum you out too much; these tiny orbs of tastiness are practically made to be frozen.
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Italian Chopped Salad With Salami, Prosciutto, and Fontina
One of Andrew’s all-time-favorite foods is an Italian sub, so when I was flipping through Williams-Sonoma’s newly-rereleased cookbook Salad of the Day: 365 Recipes for Every Day of the Year and saw a recipe for an Italian chopped salad loaded with prosciutto, salami, and fontina, I knew I had to try it out, and the sooner the better. On the first bite, I wasn’t quite sure what to think — there’s a lot going on here — but I soon found myself with an empty bowl and a satisfied smile on my face. (Andrew, predictably, was also a fan.)
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Spicy Candied Pecans
While on a recent trip to Boston, I paid a long-overdue visit to Flour Bakery, a spot I’ve wanted to check out for what feels like forever. Not surprisingly, Flour’s famed sticky buns were a winner; the tangy, almost-sourdough-like brioche base balanced out the ridiculously-gooey deep-dark-brown glaze that anchors the pecans to the buns. Seriously, don’t skip these. My other favorite was a bit less expected, an impulse purchase snatched up while waiting hungrily in line: a bag of spicy candied pecans, dubbed addictive by their packaging.
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Roasted Tomato Eggplant Soup
Take a peek into my freezer and alongside the popsicles, frozen fruit, parmesan rinds, shrimp, and sliced bread, you’ll typically find single servings of at least two varieties of homemade soup, ready to be thawed and simmered when hunger strikes. Admittedly, I’m a bit of a soup obsessive — my cookbook collection includes nearly a dozen single-subject titles devoted to it — but I don’t think you have to feel the way I do about bisques and potages to find this a winning dinnertime strategy. Soup freezes wonderfully, is easily defrosted and reheated, and, generally-speaking is a veggie-packed nutritional powerhouse.
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Cucumber Moscow Mule
The closest I’ve come to being a regular at a bar, Cheers-style, came when Andrew and I lived in San Francisco’s NOPA neighborhood. At the time, my best friend Ally bartended at a spot down the street, Madrone Art Bar. Naturally, we’d pop in from time to time to say hi and have a couple (or more than a couple) drinks. While Madrone has a fairly-extensive cocktail and beer list, early on I landed on a favorite and rarely wavered in my order thereafter. A combination of cucumber vodka, ginger beer, and lime, the “Lola” was easy to love.
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Banana-Pecan Paleo Pancakes
Magical, paleo, two-ingredient, grain-free: all of these buzz words have been used to describe these pancakes (or a close cousin thereof). And, here’s the shocker, this crazy recipe, which, at it’s most elemental, is just a cooked slurry of banana and eggs, actually works. Moreover, the pancakes taste good and shockingly pancake-like, especially when drizzled with a little bit of maple syrup.
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Spicy Chickpea-Tomato Ragout
Why, in the middle of July, am I writing about a dish made with canned tomatoes, just as plump, juicy heirlooms have begun to flood the markets? Don’t get me wrong, I adore a peak-season fresh tomato — this time of year I practically survive on simple tomato salads — but I also find immense value in a killer pantry-based recipe, like this speedy, spicy tomato and chickpea stew. Because, as much as I enjoy grocery shopping, at least grocery shopping of the leisurely sort, sometimes it can feel like a bit of a chore, the last thing I want to do after a busy day of work. (I may be in the business of proselytizing home cooking, but will admit that the work that goes into that — meal planning, grocery shopping, and the like — can occasionally be a bit of a drag.) So when I come up with or discover a new pantry-goods-based recipe, especially one that’s as wholesome, versatile, and tasty as this one is, I tend to get ridiculously excited, giddy even.
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Gluten-Free Plum-Ginger Crisp
Though I don’t have any issues with gluten, I still like to have a handful of gluten-free recipes up my sleeve. When baking for friends who abstain from wheat and other glutinous grains, my typical strategy is to stick with desserts that either omit grains altogether or that contain a small amount, with the hope that it’ll be easier to substitute other ingredients. As we’re in the midst of peak berry and stone fruit season, I recently got it in my head that a crisp would be an ideal candidate for this sort of makeover.
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Pesto Pasta With Grilled Eggplant and Tomatoes
When making pasta at home there are two rules I live by. One: go for the good stuff; by that I mean I don’t bother with whole wheat, quinoa-, or bean-based options, as I’ve yet to find a brand that yields the same perfectly al-dente texture as pasta made with refined flour. And two: either serve it as a side or go heavy on the vegetables (or, ideally, both). Made this way, there’s plenty of satiating fiber and flavor to go around, without any feeling of sacrifice.
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Grilled Skirt Steak With Soy-Garlic Marinade
When cooking a thick, well-marbled NY strip or porterhouse, I tend to stick to the adage that less is more, seasoning with salt and not much else; with leaner, thinly-cut steaks like strip, hangar, and flank, it’s a different game altogether. Flavorful, but not terribly rich or tender, these relatively budget-friendly cuts take magnificently to a bold marinade like this soy-garlic situation.
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