Couscous and Chickpea Salad 1 1/4 cups water 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup uncooked couscous 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar 1 garlic clove, minced 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1/4 teaspoon sugar 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained 2 small red bell peppers, seeded and diced 4 scallions, minced 1 large carrot, diced 1/2 cup pitted [...]
“Mama, WHY are we the only ones who take care of the chickens?” say the girls one morning. (They aren’t but who’s counting.) “I tell you what, I’ll do the chickens both morning and evening if you cook dinner tonight,” I say with complete certainty that they’ll choose chickens. “DEAL!” they say. So then goes [...]
I don’t get it. What is wrong with saying to your kids, “This is what we are having for dinner.” If they say I don’t like it, you say this is what we are having. If they don’t eat it, they will eventually get hungry and have what’s for dinner. I know more parents than [...]
I love artichokes any way you cook them. But this tangy, creamy sauce is one of my favorites. When artichokes are on sale, I’ll get a bunch of them and serve this sauce on the boat for pasta night. It used to be that I’d only serve one sauce, but then my energetic side got [...]
My Bread by Jim Lahey, all about the no-knead bread process, is my new favorite read. Mostly, it’s my new favorite “look” because the book has a number of super helpful photo essays that illustrate what the bread should look like, step by step. When I initially wrote my column on no-knead bread using my [...]
It’s the first time in the history of Easter dinners that we’ve spent more of it outside than in. We have several friends, none of whom have family in the area, with whom we often celebrate holidays. Typically we all gather with our winter coats on to watch the kids find their eggs and then [...]
When I made this recipe this week, I wouldn’t tell anyone what was in it until they tried it. Then I shared. Knowing that the combination of ingredients don’t sound good unless you are a desperate vegetarian or have a bumper cabbage crop. Turns out, the combination hits you just right when you want a [...]
Parsley can sometimes get a bad rap as the overused and poorly thought of garnish on the side of a plate. It carries a clean, bright taste, that holds up to the heavier lentil in this dish. So full of nutrients, Italian flat parsley especially, is a wonderful way to insert color, nutrition and flavor [...]
It’s impossible to make a dish any better than the ingredients you start with, which is why herbs and fresh vegetables are so integral to our food. One of the things I love about getting different vegetables and fruits every week from our CSA, Hope’s Edge, is the creativity that these beautiful products inspire. People [...]
