Light Dinner: Calzone and Sauteed Kale

If you have pizza dough on hand, it’s a snap to get an easy meal like this on the table on a weeknight. I recently found out how easy it is to make pizza dough and freeze it (here’s the recipe). I think frozen pizza dough works better for making calzones, because you don’t have [...]

How to Make Granola

Granola is not something I ever thought of making for myself, even though I eat it with yogurt almost every morning. It just seemed like something you buy, rather than something you make. But when you think about it, there are several advantages to making your own granola. First, it’s cheaper to buy the basic [...]

Bruschetta with Cheese and Peppers

I made these bruschetta for a light supper last night, and I thought they were scrumptious. The combination of spicy, tangy peppers and flavorful cheese just hit the spot. I might make these again for a party, a snack or lunch.
These bruschetta were inspired by a much more complex recipe that involved three kinds of [...]

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 [...]

How to Make Slaw

Ah, slaw. That staple of picnics and barbecues everywhere. Slaw is a versatile recipe that can go in many different directions depending on what you’re having it with. It can be creamy or tangy. It can be dressed up with other vegetables and herbs. And many avowed salad haters (and cabbage haters) will gladly eat [...]

Baked Beans for President’s Day

Image via Wikipedia

I don’t make baked beans too much. To tell the truth, it’s not one of my favorite dishes. But a lot of people love them, especially on patriotic holidays, like President’s Day, and I always think something is much better homemade than out of a can. Here is a fairly simple, vegetarian baked [...]

How to Make Applesauce

Applesauce is really easy to make. I didn’t realize how easy until I got a food mill. A food mill is a bowl-shaped gadget with a hand crank; you fit a disk with holes in it into the bottom of the food mill and use the crank to force cooked food through the holes. Depending [...]

More Foods to Avoid and How to Do It

Only a couple of weeks after I wrote about fish and shellfish I’m no longer eating, I find this compelling op-ed in the New York Times (via CookThink) about why we should add salmon to that list. It seems that only wild Alaskan salmon is not endangered this season, but since it’s selling at record [...]

Caprese Salad

Melon Caprese Salad, originally uploaded by shannon_turlington.
A classic insalata caprese hardly needs a recipe. Just layer tomato slices, fresh mozzarella slices and basil leaves, and drizzle with olive oil and vinegar. For me, this simple Italian salad is one of the best ways to enjoy the goodness of summer.
But what about when the tomatoes aren’t [...]

Hummus: Simple and Easy

Image via Wikipedia

Hummus and other Middle Eastern/Mediterranean foods have become very popular lately, and with good reason. They are not only delicious, but usually chock full of things that are good for you, while low in fat. But I have to say that grocery stores and Mediterranean delis have a good scam going selling prepared [...]