My first taste of this classic Middle Eastern dish was at an entirely inauthentic location—a fast casual tea shop near my job. Nevertheless, it was an amazing experience. I’m no stranger to tomato sauces, but I’d never had one in quite this way—zesty and seasoned with earthy spices like paprika and cumin. Paired with a
Pasta with meat sauce is a favorite comfort dish. I’ve made it a million times when I wanted something familiar and filling or when I was short on cash. I used to just open a jar of commercial spaghetti sauce, add some basic spices, and heat it up in five minutes. Now I start from
I’ve beefed up (pun intended!) my marinara recipe into a sort of Americanized version of ragù alla Bolognese. Can’t technically call this Bolognese, as it is lacking the requisite soffritto base, but like that classic Italian dish, this hearty meat sauce is perfect to partner with short pasta noodles or as part of the filling
This is another one of those ‘simple but elegant’ meals I’ve grown so fond of, and it’s also a great option when the weather’s too warm to turn on the stove. The star of this dish is the steak. I prefer rib eye but any cut of steak will do as long as you slice
I came up with this one a couple years ago, when I wanted to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but was all out of jam. I had recently learned how to make simple syrup (boil a 1:1 ratio of water and sugar until sugar dissolves) and figured, cooking down some fruit into the
This green, herbaceous cooking base is one of the most essential ingredients in Puerto Rican cuisine. It is basically sofrito without the tomato sauce and so is an excellent substitute for any recipe calling for sofrito. They are so similar that some Puerto Ricans use the words as synonyms (see Sofrito Eggs). Recaíto contains culantro
I don’t have a recipe for a traditional liquid salsa because I prefer the fresh taste of this simple blend of chopped vegetables. (Though I suppose all one would have to do is pulse in a food processor a couple times to turn this into a chunky sauce…? Anyway…) This salsa is spicy – I’d
This basic marinara — calling for only five ingredients — is proof of how little is needed to deliver satisfying flavor. Some cooks sweeten their sauce to balance the tomatoes’ acidity, but I don’t find this hack necessary. Raw tomatoes may start out a little bitter, but that acerbity disappears all on its own if
In an effort to eat more healthfully, I’ve removed sugar from some of my recipes. This simple chunky applesauce recipe is an early success, as it rightfully makes apples the star of the dish by taking advantage of their natural sweetness. After making this dish, it always bothered me to just throw away the apple
