It used to get to me when someone would describe the recipes I share here as simple or easy, like somehow that was a critique on my culinary skills and creativity, or it was a subtle, passive-aggressive jab at my worth as a cook and recipe developer. I’d wonder if years of working in online media had served as blinders, limiting my focus to the Pinterest-friendly realm of one-pan, slow-cooker, and weeknight-friendly meals. Or, maybe I was *gasp*, in 2014 terms, “basic.” But then something funny happened: I realized that sharing doable, realistic recipes was my goal all along. That by keeping things (for the most part) beginner-cook-friendly, I was creating content that could reach, and hopefully inspire, a wider swath of readers to go to the grocery store (or better yet, farmers market), fill their bags with delicious things, and get in the kitchen.
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Gluten-Free
Turmeric Braised Chicken Thighs With Beets and Leeks
Phoebe Lapine’s The Wellness Project is not your average cookbook. In fact, it’s not really a cookbook at all. There are no glossy photographs and only 22 recipes within it’s 384 pages. And yet, it is one of my favorite collections of recipes from 2017; a title that I’ve found myself recommending to others often and wholeheartedly. Written by the blogger behind Feed Me Phoebe, this memoir follows Lapine through a year of experimenting with lifestyle changes, devoting a month each to topics like green beauty, gut health, fitness, stress, and hormonal regulation, all along reporting on what works for her and what doesn’t. Healthy recipes are (not-surprisingly) interwoven throughout its pages, and the ones included are of the appealing and easy-to-make sort, like this one-pan turmeric chicken and beet situation.
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Turkish Eggs With Garlic Yogurt and Tomatoes
Smokiness tends to take over, dominating everything it touches, and so it is a flavor I tend to avoid. But every once in a while, I taste something that helps me understand why people swoon for that licked-by-fire quality. This recipe is a prime example; here, smoked paprika and aleppo pepper flakes infuse melted butter with warmth, depth, and a brilliant sunset color. Drizzled on top of poached eggs, slow-roasted cherry tomatoes, and a swoosh of lemon-garlic yogurt, the softly-smoky butter ties everything together, rather than clobbering your tastebuds.
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Summer Squash With Parmesan, Pine Nuts, and Basil
Summer squash, pine nuts, Parmigianno-Reggiano, olive oil, basil, salt, and pepper. You might look at this pared-down list of ingredients, and be tempted, as I initially was, to gild the lily, perhaps with a spritz of lemon juice or a few drops of rosemary-infused oil, but trust me here — or rather, trust Deborah Madison — this recipe doesn’t need it.
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Ginger Pork Meatball Lettuce Wraps With Cilantro
Dumplings rank high up there amongst my favorite foods: gyoza, potstickers, har gow, mandu, bao, wontons, siu mai, I love them all. And yet it’s highly unlikely that you’ll see a dumpling recipe here any time soon. Sure, it can be a fun project filling and pleating those tasty packages — especially if it’s a group effort — but it’s fussier than the type of cooking I tend to gravitate towards, and in my mind, something better left to the experts, to those whose muscle memory carries them through this task with ease. These Asian-inflected meatball lettuce wraps are a great compromise; reminiscent of the filling of Chinese ginger pork dumplings, they’re super-flavorful, lighter, and much less time-consuming to make.
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Marinated Bell Peppers With Pine Nuts and Herbs
Strategic cooking is never a bad idea, but it’s particularly useful during these summer months, when the days are long and hot, park picnics and beaches are beckoning, and social calendars are full. In other words, now is the time to maximize your efforts in the kitchen by embracing make-ahead recipes, like these super-versatile marinated bell peppers. Flavor-packed and tender, they’re an excellent addition to sandwiches (try pairing them with pesto, prosciutto, mozzarella, and focaccia), antipasti platters, or as a stand-alone side for some grilled steak or chicken. They also make for a vegetable-packed, Whole30-friendly breakfast, when topped with a couple fried or poached eggs.
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Miso-Avocado Soba Noodles With Kale
As much as I love creamy pasta dishes like bechamel-rich lasagna, macaroni and cheese, and baked pastas, that combination of ultra-rich dairy and pasta is a ticking tummy time bomb, so I try to avoid it unless it’s really, truly worth it. Instead, I typically get my creamy noodle fix by tossing al dente strands with sauces made from non-dairy alternatives like cashew cream, almond butter, or, in this case avocado. It might sound a bit odd, but when blended up with miso, garlic, a touch of lime juice, and olive oil, avocado transforms into a rich vegan sauce. Paired with nutty soba noodles, ribbons of kale, and crunchy sesame seeds, it makes for a guilt-free, totally-craveable dinner option.
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Banana-Walnut Bruléed Oatmeal
Last October, Andrew and I embarked on a semi-spontaneous roadtrip from San Francisco to Brooklyn. With little planned besides deciding on a timeframe (a little less than two weeks), and a couple spots we wanted to see (namely Monument Valley and Sedona), we set off in a southerly direction. Our first stop was an overnight in Palm Springs at the kooky-chic Parker Palm Springs, where we wandered the lushly-green grounds, played a game of tennis, and ate a lovely breakfast.
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Prosciutto-Wrapped Almond-Stuffed Dates
At first, I felt a bit silly sharing this three-ingredient snack with y’all. Do you really need a recipe for an appetizer whose name (prosciutto-wrapped almond-stuffed dates) more or less explains how it’s made? Is it really that inventive? Possibly not, but then, I realized, it’d be a shame to keep something so simple and delicious to myself, and so here we are.
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Spiced Cauliflower With Honey-Tahini Sauce and Almonds
Part of the beauty of cauliflower lies in its mild, mellow flavor. Adaptable and unobstrusive, it’s a blank slate ready to be dressed up how you please. Grated and stir-fried, it approximates fried rice; steamed, mashed, and lashed with butter, it’s a superb stand-in for mashed potatoes; roasted whole and basted with olive oil, it’s centerpiece-worthy. Similarly, it takes to a wide range of seasonings. Here, I’ve gone a more traditional route, preparation wise. Florets are tossed with warm, aromatic spices (cinnamon and hot paprika), then roasted hot and fast. Decked out with toasted almonds, a blizzard of parsley, and an addictive tahini-based sauce, it is shockingly good, especially when paired with some juicy lamb chops, as pictured here.
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