Red Beans and Rice

Roughly once a week, we eat Latin at our house: tacos or quesadillas, enchiladas, pork with spicy rubs. Although the red rice and beans of New Orleans — the version that most readily comes to mind — is not strictly Latin, rice and beans is a staple eaten throughout Latin America. We often serve itContinue reading “Red Beans and Rice”

Vegetarian Chili

Since I posted my Warm You Up Chili recipe, I’ve had several requests for the Chili-Cookoff-winning vegetarian version I mentioned. I made a batch of Vegetarian Chili this weekend — it was drizzly and gray and chili was just what the day ordered. It worked its magic as usual — filling the house with the satisfying smells of cuminContinue reading “Vegetarian Chili”

Warm You Up Chili

I once won a neighborhood Chili Cook-Off with my vegetarian chili recipe, which mixes bulgar wheat with the typical kidney beans and tomatoes to give a chewy, filling feel. These days I’m cooking with meat and chili is a great one-pot meal that can feed a crowd, but I’ve struggled to find a recipe I was happy with. SoContinue reading “Warm You Up Chili”

Honey-Curry Chicken Breasts

Honey is a wonderful addition to sauces and glazes especially for pork and chicken. This sweet and spicy marinade will light up your taste buds — and make your house smell divine. Serve with a scoop of wild rice. Recipe adapted from Taste of Honey by Marie Simmons. Serves 4 Ingredients  3⁄4 cup honey (tryContinue reading “Honey-Curry Chicken Breasts”

Time for Tomatoes

I always forget how long it takes to grow a good tomato. The first ones begin blushing sometime at the end of June, if you’re lucky. But it’s usually well into July before the bounty arrives. And when I look back, it’s typically August or September when we can our dozens of jars of marinara. That’sContinue reading “Time for Tomatoes”

Garden Ratatouille

I did not grow up eating ratatouille, but it’s one of those dishes I’ve been making for as long as I’ve been raising my own veggies. It’s a great way to toss your garden into a cast iron pot and call it dinner. Once you’ve chopped all your ingredients, you’re pretty close to done. But, ahhh, thatContinue reading “Garden Ratatouille”

Gazpacho

As much as I love my chilled cucumber soup, you’d think I’d be a long-time fan of gazpacho. But, in truth, not so much. There are so many ways to stir up tomatoes that I’d never felt compelled to turn them into a cool dinnertime slush. But the heat this summer has made me reconsider.Continue reading “Gazpacho”

Tangy Tomato and Cucumber Salad

This is a simple salad but oh-so-good. The pucker of the vinegar, the heat of the jalapeño, the cool of the cucumber and the sweet of the just-a-touch of sugar hit pretty much every taste sensation out there. There’s even a little soy sauce to curb your umami craving. In summer, when the cukes andContinue reading “Tangy Tomato and Cucumber Salad”

A Midsummer Night’s Meal

Let’s pretend I have all the time in the world to create sumptuous feasts. And all the resources in the world to gather up the tastiest ingredients. In this fiction, I wave my wand and on the table every night fantastical, incredibly delicious multi-course meals appear. My reality, of course, is quite different. Cooking is hard, time-consumingContinue reading “A Midsummer Night’s Meal”

Make Mine Mexican

  My husband is half Italian-American and nowhere is this clearer than the kitchen. Whether he’s stirring up marinara from a recipe encoded in his DNA or pressing pizzelle at Christmas or building his tasty sausage lasagna layer by layer, Italian cuisine is his comfort zone. My heritage is more complicated: English, German, Eastern European butContinue reading “Make Mine Mexican”