Tortellini With Lemon & Herbs

Tortellini with fresh herbs, originally uploaded by shannon_turlington.
Last week I posted a wintry pasta dish, so this week I am countering with a pasta that is all about summer. This sauce is light and tangy, perfect for a hot summer night, especially if you can use herbs right out of your own garden. It pairs [...]

Glazing Vegetables

Glazing vegetables is an extremely useful technique for punching up an otherwise boring vegetable side dish. I used to avoid recipes that used this technique, because I associated glazed vegetables — specifically, carrots — with a sugary, syrupy sweet dish. If I wanted to eat dessert, I’d have ice cream.
But I was wrong. The traditional [...]

Riffing the Recipe: Orzo Pilaf with Spinach

A tremendous feeling of freedom came with the simple realization that I did not have to follow a recipe to the letter. I suppose I had done enough cooking to feel confident enough in my knowledge of the fundamentals to expand outside the boundaries that seemed imposed by the recipe. I suddenly felt comfortable with [...]

A Simple Asian Menu for Autumn

First, you may notice that I have done some reorganizing. I’m trying out a new theme, which offers a little more screen real estate, a cleaner look and spreading out of the sidebar elements. I hope you like it. I’ve also separated out the meta-categories from tags. Look in the tag cloud for specific ingredients, [...]

Check Out My Mussels

I recently cooked mussels for the very first time. I know, why did it take me so long to make mussels at home? I order them a lot when I’m eating out and if they’re done well, there is nothing better. I suppose I was put off by all the dire information about mussels in [...]

Herb-Garlic Roasted Potatoes

This is probably my favorite way to cook potatoes. Like the little black dress, this is a simple classic that goes with everything. This is also a versatile recipe, which you can make on the grill during the summer as well as in the oven during the colder months.

Herb-Garlic Roasted Potatoes
Time to make: 30-45 minutes, [...]

Simple Is Satisfying — Chicken Roasted with Salsa

The more I cook, the more I come to believe that the simplest dishes are the most satisfying both to make and to eat. Of course, I have tried those recipes that seem to have a million steps, or that ask you to stuff something or roll something or layer something, or that require a [...]

Sauteed Salmon with Baby Potatoes, Asparagus & Lemon Bearnaise

February is without question the dreariest month of the year. Despite being so short, the unrelenting sequence of cold, gray days that make up February always depresses me. To lift my mood, I was craving something that promised the sensations of spring. This dish, with spring vegetables drizzled with a sauce that looks and tastes [...]

Roasted Red Pepper & Yogurt Dip

Another big-time party is coming up, so time for a couple of dip recipes to hit my blog. This dip is a very pretty coral color, super-easy to make, tangy and really good. It goes well with crudites and pita chips. No one will ever guess you used yogurt (yuck!) for the base. (Actually, I [...]

(S)Mashed Potatoes

I don’t think it’s much of a confession to reveal that I love mashed potatoes. Next to french fries, they’re probably my favorite side dish. I try to eat healthy and restrict my intake of both, but every now and then I need a potato infusion.
My favorite kind of mashed potatoes is a rough mash, [...]