Over 1300 posts acrosss ten years on Dinner: A Love Story, and somehow, not until today have I ever written up the most classic, most satisfying thing you can do with tomatoes this time of year: Make a fresh tomato sauce and toss with pasta. Do you even need a recipe so simple? I don’t know, but not giving it… Read more »
I didn’t meet Aanya until I walked into the cafeteria for snack time after my third soccer session of the day. She was eight years old (but tall enough to look twelve), wore round glasses, and had her hair tied in a low, messy bun. She was sitting at a table with Mahi, my closest co-counselor, talking excitedly. Aanya looked… Read more »
[First posted 2016; Updated July 2022] Forgive me broader readership, I’m going super local today. Many of you probably know that I live in Westchester County, which borders New York City to the north and is flanked by the sailboat-dotted Long Island Sound to the East and the mighty Hudson River to the West. With the exception of college in… Read more »
One of the unforeseen benefits of having two kids in college is that their expanded social circles now encompass friends from the wider New York area, plus visitors to the New York area, plus friends just interning in the New York area for the summer. All of this translates to more guests at the dinner table, which means the weeknight… Read more »
I just returned for the summer from my first year of college. It’s weird and bittersweet to be back in my childhood bedroom, surrounded by relics of my upbringing—including a massive collection of French comic books (pictured above: me at age 5 devouring Les Schtroumpfs, aka The Smurfs). My first night home, unable to sleep, I found myself picking through… Read more »
Even if you think you don’t know Melina Hammer, you probably know Melina Hammer. She’s shot and styled for all the major food players in New York (Food52, NYT Cooking, Julia Turshen 🙂) and when one of her artfully chaotic recipe shots appear on my instagram feed, I don’t even have to look at the name on the handle — that rich, textured… Read more »
Want your family to head in a more plant-based direction, but not sure where to even begin? I hear you! In fact I was you…only a few years ago. Here are a few strategies that helped me scale way back on my family’s meat intake from Monday through Friday, excerpted from my book, The Weekday Vegetarians. 1. Cook What You… Read more »
I love the sour tang that tamarind brings to a dish, but buying and cooking with it has always been very intimidating to me. When a recipe calls for tamarind, do they mean the pods? The pulp? The concentrate? The puree? The ketchupy stuffI drizzle on dal? Well I finally conquered my fears back in March when I took on the… Read more »
We were craving something light and flavorful on Friday night and somehow landed on Niçoise Salad. Only problem: We had no potatoes; Phoebe didn’t want eggs; I didn’t want olives; Abby begged for crispy chickpeas instead of tuna; I said YOU CAN’T HAVE NIÇOISE WITHOUT TUNA; Andy said YOU CAN’T HAVE NIÇOISE WITHOUT OLIVES. We did it anyway! The whole… Read more »
As I was rounding up recipes for your Memorial Day cookout last week, I was shocked to learn that while I’ve prepped and referenced it approximately 100 times over the years, I did not have a dedicated post to the BBQ side dish I’ve made more than any other: Double Mustard Potato Salad. We first found a version of the… Read more »
The plan for our Memorial Day Cookout is…pretty much the same thing as any other summer cookout in the DALS house: A few grilled proteins surrounded by three or four or five as-fresh-as-possible salads. I like this strategy for a lot of reasons, but chiefly because, when people are coming over, it favors advance planning — I generally make all… Read more »
I’m always in search of a vegan main to serve at a barbecue — something that is actually smoky and grilled, not a separate meal that has been prepared at the boring old stove earlier on in the day. So I was drawn to the cover recipe in Rukmini Iyer’s The Green Barbecue coming out in a few weeks. Here, the Guardian food writer… Read more »
If you are like me, you might have seen those gorgeous ruby rhubarb stalks at the market, then immediately heard the sound of a stopwatch ticking before complete panic set in. Why? ‘Tis the season for all those spring darlings that disappear seemingly as soon as they show up. (Pretty sure I missed ramp season while I played Wordle last… Read more »
Last week, I dropped off a little cooler care package with my friend who is dealing with a sick spouse, and the mix felt like a good formula: Beef & Black Bean Chili (something kid-friendly and crowdpleasy) + Lentil Salad with Feta, Dill, and Jammy Tomatoes (something healthy) + Frozen Baked Ziti from the local Italian specialty store (something no-cook… Read more »
Like a lot of people, my younger daughter, Abby, discovered cooking during the pandemic. For her it wasn’t about project cooking — she didn’t bake a single loaf of sourdough — it was much more about self-care, about ensuring that she had at least one moment of joy in a day spent mostly staring at her friends and teachers over… Read more »
I’d argue that the only phrase that makes more appearances than ‘I could eat this every night’ across all DALS platforms is most likely top with an egg. Especially during these last few years of Weekday Vegetarianism, when often the addition of an egg is just the magic-wand-ish protein we are looking for to transform a dish into capital D-Dinner. So, at long… Read more »
This photo probably looks familiar to longtime readers. What can I say: We are creatures of habit down in South Carolina. If I look back at my dinner diaries, without fail, there’s a Pan-fried flounder with some form of slaw in the line-up. (But that certainly does not mean you have to be south of the Mason-Dixon Line to enjoy… Read more »
Remember winter? On this sunny, second day of spring down in South Carolina, as I trade in my boots for Birkenstocks, I already feel like it’s shrinking away in the rearview mirror. Also helping things along are these decidedly warm-weather tacos we ate for dinner last night, which made excellent use of the otherworldly shrimp down here. As always, the… Read more »
Welcome! I’m Jenny, author of Dinner: A Love Story and The Weekday Vegetarians More
