Rotini with Swiss Chard & Sausage Ragu (Sara Foster’s Casual Cooking)

Rotini with Swiss Chard and Sausage, originally uploaded by shannon_turlington.
Please forgive me for posting this rich, hearty, warming pasta recipe in the middle of summer. Yes, this is truly a wintry dish, but it was so good that I couldn’t wait to share it with you.
This is the first recipe that I have tried from [...]

Classic Macaroni and Cheese

IMG_8846.JPG, originally uploaded by tantek. Full disclosure: This photo is not of my mac and cheese. But it’s a better photo than the one I took.
One thing I hate is other people telling me what or what not to eat. The American culture seems obsessed with what you should or shouldn’t eat to be the [...]

My Husband Cooks Too: Cheesy Pasta Bake

My husband does cook, although not nearly as often as I do. He is a very different cook than I am. He maintains a small repertoire of dishes that he makes over and over again, improving each time, and I have hardly ever seen him consult a recipe. Rather, he cooks solely by memory and [...]

Fried Rice to the Rescue

I don’t know about you, but I always have leftover rice whenever I make rice. It’s impossible to make just enough rice for two people; I can’t find a good method that serves less than four and still makes good rice.
But fortunately, for every leftover problem, there’s the perfect leftover dish. For rice, it’s fried [...]

My Favorite Spinach Salad

One of my problems with spinach salads is the raw spinach. No, seriously. I actually love spinach and feel very virtuous when I’m eating it because it’s so packed with iron and vitamins. But raw leafy spinach is daunting. With the exception of baby spinach, I find it too bulky, too much work for not [...]

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 [...]

Oven-Barbecued Chicken (The Best 30-Minute Recipe)

This is a simple technique for recreating barbecued chicken when grilling is not an option. I have tried this method with skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts and with skinless, boneless chicken breasts, and while it works well with either, the bone-in chicken breasts definitely have more flavor. (Thanks to Cook’s Illustrated for the idea.)

Preheat the oven [...]

Turkey Loaf with Roasted Tomato Sauce

My husband specially requested that I make a meatloaf, which I have never made before. I actually didn’t think I liked meatloaf all that much, having associated it with dried-out, ketchup-laden school cafeteria food. But I had some ground turkey to use up, and in the spirit of trying new things, I attempted it.
I combined [...]

Chicken & Biscuits (The Best 30 Minute Recipe)

This is like a poor man’s version of Chicken Pot Pie, for when you don’t have the time or inclination to make pie crust for dinner. (Personally, I prefer biscuits to pie on most days.) It’s homey, warming comfort food, great for a cold winter night, and quick enough to get on the table after [...]