Reason For Not Eating Out #60: Solving the Puzzle of ‘What If You Don’t Have An Amazing Protein?’

We live in blessed times. I mean, seasonally. It’s late-spring, and we have things popping out of plants that are incredible and edible (and not edible, but fragrantly incredible, like wild lilacs, too). I recently had the plum privilege of being a judge for a cookoff held by GrowNYC, where I got to observe the making of, taste the outcome of, and help decide the winner of two very excellent dishes prepared by local restaurant chefs. Held in partnership with … Read More

Crispy-Roasted Asparagus and A Soft-Boiled Egg

Ever had a perfect Saturday where you did everything you had to do and still found time to do the fun things, too? Sometimes I compartmentalize my days into must-do’s and would-like-to’s: Responsibilities, commitments, eating, exercise, social events. One thing in that little list sits squarely in the middle—eating, because it can be taken both ways. If only doing laundry could moonlight as a recreational hobby.

Brown Rice & Radish Bibimbap

If that isn’t the most fun food name to pronounce, I don’t know what is. Bibimbap is lots of fun to make, too. It simply means, “mixed rice” in Korean and it’s an everyday, meal-in-one-bowl. Any vegetables you have on hand will do; you can marinate some sliced meat and sautee it to add, too. Then you just assemble everything on the rice, add a dollop of spicy gochujang and an egg to pop. You can mix in a little … Read More

White Bean Puree with Poached Egg

Sometimes the simplest things really are the best. I’d planned to cook, eat, and write about an elaborate dish on my day off. It would be exciting, colorful, and completely novel. It would also somehow incorporate soaked and mostly-cooked white beans, which I had leftover. After a morning of deliberation and preparation, it was done: sour citrus wedges, briny olives and mealy white beans, unexpectedly brought to congress with plenty drizzles of olive oil. But once it was photographed and … Read More

Salade Me-coise (and Trials & Retribution)

Trial: I get on my bike to run some errands, including a grocery store trip to get ingredients for a classic French salade nicoise. I have a craving for slick, smushed beads of brininess otherwise known as olives. It’s almost ninety degrees outside. I get out of the store, unlock my bike, and get on it only to find that the back tire is sagged like an empty sail.