Sesame Noodles: A Great ‘Use-it-up’ Dish

I have just added Sesame Noodles to my roster of dishes that I turn to when I need to use up leftover vegetables. This light but tasty Asian-influenced pasta dish is perfect for lunch or a supper side. It tastes good hot and freshly made or cold out of the refrigerator. And it readily takes [...]

Pasta with Broccoli & Mozzarella

Pasta with garlic and oil is one of the most basic pasta dishes, which I imagine most people can make without even consulting a recipe. Because it is so simple, it lends itself well to variations. This is one of my favorites.
Although I make pasta about once a week, I do not like the time [...]

Pasta with Spinach and Tomatoes

Just as there are five basic plots in literature*, I believe there are five basic pasta sauces. They are garlic and oil, butter, white sauce, vegetable sauce and tomato sauce. But for each of these sauces, there are endless variations. Once you know how to make these five recipes — and they are all very [...]

Spaghetti with Spinach and Garlic

Sometime it’s a real challenge getting dinner on the table at a reasonable hour (by which I mean, not just before bedtime). Between having to work and take care of a baby whose bedtime ritual falls right in the middle of the 7:00 dining hour, cooking dinner has been stretching me to my limit. Even [...]

A Pretty Good Tortellini Salad with Pesto

Tortellini Salad with Pesto, originally uploaded by shannon_turlington.
A couple of years ago (I think), Cook’s Illustrated published a recipe for a “better pasta salad with pesto.” I clipped the recipe, so I must have made it at one time. I pulled it out recently to see if it was worth making again, perhaps with a [...]

Pasta Shells with Cabbage and Sausage

This was one of those recipes that didn’t sound so good on paper — I was dubious about the use of cream — but turned out to be absolutely delicious. Yes, it is hearty and wintry and probably not a good dish for July. But it is also quick and easy to make with ingredients [...]

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 [...]

Rotini with Swiss Chard & Sausage Ragu

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 [...]

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 [...]