Category — Fast and Easy Recipes

Every year, it seems like all of the restaurants get together and decide they’re going to put some new food on every single menu in town. Whether it’s purslane, chicories, Calabrian chiles, or ramps–I’m quite convinced that the restaurant mafia is constantly figuring out how to promote some non-mainstream produce item that suddenly shows up everywhere. A few years ago, you couldn’t eat out in San Francisco without being offered roasted Brussels sprouts (not new per se, but new to fancy food). Years before that, you couldn’t open a menu that didn’t have fingerling potatoes on it. Last year, this nouveau item was padron peppers (or sometimes, shishito peppers, which look pretty similar.)

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Earlier today I was eating the most delicious salsa (the homemade kind which is often referred to as pico de gallo, not the supermarket jar–you know, the kind that looks like this) and I found myself wondering how I could get more of it into my piehole. And was it a vegetable? And could it be a healthy lunch if it involved tortilla chips as a vehicle? And then it dawned on me: salsa is just chunky gazpacho without the cucumbers. And gazpacho is a totally reasonable thing to eat for lunch. And cucumbers are gross. But avocadoes are good, and they sometimes go in gazpacho, right?

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I made some kale chips this weekend, and I was reminded how much I like kale in chip format. I think it’s mostly because the whole time I’m eating them, I feel so superior for eating KALE instead of “real” chips. It makes me feel very grown up and mature.

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The other night, my sister graciously invited me over for dinner and asked me to bring a salad. She told me she was making potato and chorizo tacos from this fantastic Tacolicious recipe featured in Food & Wine, and I hemmed and hawed over what kind of salad to make, since I can never figure out what salad goes with Mexican food. I decided to take a little creative license and throw a bunch of things in a blender to create something akin to a Mexican Green Goddess dressing–a tangy, creamy blend of pepitas (raw green pumpkin seeds) from the local Mexican market, coriander, cilantro, and lime.

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Is there anything more satisfying than a perfectly seasoned steak cooked to your exact liking? For a meat-lover like me, there is not. Unfortunately it can be hard to get that steakhouse taste at home, unless you know a couple of culinary secrets. Here is my tried and true method for cooking steaks. Once you start making them this way, you will never go back to your old habits!

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Chicken Tikka Masala is one of my favorite dishes to order at an Indian restaurant, but I had never dared to try and make it at home. Recently our friend Ehab cooked up a batch for a dinner party and I fell in love with it. The best part is that the recipe is surprisingly simple and requires very little prep time.

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I shared a recipe from Nancy a few weeks ago, and this is another one of her hits. This is a dessert that is definitely more than the sum of its parts. Plus, it’s a great make-ahead dessert if you’re pressed for time.

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The last of the strawberries are in season, so I thought I would share this easy and delicious summer salad with you. It’s colorful, fresh, and always a crowd pleaser! The sweet strawberries, creamy avocados, salty feta, and earthy arugula are a great combination.

I like to make my balsamic vinaigrette with a creamier texture than I can get with just a whisk or a fork. To achieve that effect, I mix the dressing ingredients in a blender. The oil emulsifies and makes the dressing thicker and creamier. Delicious!

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Recently a friend was coming over for dinner, and asked if he could bring some fish over for me to cook. I loved this idea because a) fish is hella expensive, and b) I loathe going to the store. He very kindly went all the way across town to Yum Yum Fish Market to get the most delicious, high quality, enormous hunk of tuna for me to make this. (Future dinner guests: take note. If you come to my house, a large piece of high quality fish is an excellent hostess gift.)

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I like my blue cheese salad simple and I like it chopped- with iceberg lettuce, lots of tomatoes and avocadoes, and if I’m feeling gluttonous (which I almost always am) croutons and chunks of bacon.

Homemade dressing is the final piece in the perfect salad puzzle. The Smitten Kitchen recipe is my favorite. It’s easy to make and tastes divine, without any of the funky multisyllabic ingredients that store-bought dressing is full of.

Get the recipe here!