At around 6:00 the other night, six-year-old Abby made her way into the kitchen to ask what she usually asks at 6:00 when I’m in the kitchen. “Mom, what’s for dinner?” Even though Andy had started hacking up a butternut squash about six hours earlier, even though I was standing there over a stock pot, wielding an immersion blender, minutes… Read more »
Please answer a question for me: Is honeynut squash as common as butternut squash these days? I ask because I only ever used to score the smaller, sweeter squash at the farmer’s market during a very specific window of weeks, but now I see them spilling forth out of boxes and crates everywhere I turn — from Trader Joes to Fairway to… Read more »
In the elevator this morning, I ran into my neighbor, a mom of two young kids, who immediately said “I’m so glad the city canceled school, it’s miserable out there!” I nodded in agreement, even though I had zero idea that school had even been canceled. It’s been so long since I’ve had to think about snow days! I will conveniently gloss… Read more »
Honeynut squash is like a butternut squash’s best version of itself—sweeter and more intensely flavored. This recipe, Rigatoni with Honeynut Squash, Chard & Hazelnuts, which essentially adds vegetables to a peppery cacio e pepe–style sauce, is a simple, healthy, warm-your-bones way to enjoy it. If you can’t find honeynut, butternut or kabocha would be a fine swap-in, and the pre-cubed varieties you can… 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 »
Even though I’m no longer cooking for young kids on the clock every day, I can’t seem to shake the habit of scanning new cookbooks for potential weeknight recipes while wearing my Efficiency Goggles. How long will that take? How many pots? How forgiving is it? (Like, will I be arrested if I use 2% vs. whole milk?) How many… Read more »
At least one morning during the school week, some time between 11:00 and 11:30, my daughter, Abby, a 12th grader who has spent her final year of high school almost entirely in a remote classroom, comes downstairs in her flannel pajama pants, stretches, looks at whichever parent is first in her line of vision with fluttery eyelids, and says: “Cacio?”… Read more »
I know what you’re thinking: Please, Dear Lord let this not be another butternut squash soup recipe. I’m sorry to say that it is, but but but but…please stay awake! Because I think you’ll be happy about this particular version: A curried butternut squash soup boosted with coconut milk. The google search for “butternut squash soup with coconut milk” will… Read more »
Thought it was about time for a little what-we’re-excited-about dispatch from DALS headquarters, starting with what you’re looking at above. Ever since we’ve decided to cut back on the meat in our house, I’ve made sure to stock up on ingredients that feel like they might be good things to build a meal around. That means tofu, eggs, and lots and… Read more »
I got a Fitbit for Christmas. Well, technically Phoebe got a Fitbit for Christmas and technically it was Christmas 2016, a full year ago, and she loved it more than anything until she didn’t anymore. It sat in its bright blue box collecting dust since January 22, 2017, which was the “last sync” date that came up when I plugged… Read more »
. Every year around this time, Andy will turn to me and say something like “I think it’s time to shake things up a little at Thanksgiving.” Mmmm hmmm, I’ll respond, and if I wore glasses, I’d raise my eyeballs over the frames for a sec before turning back to doing what I was doing, which is, most likely reviewing… Read more »
So there’s news on the Dinner: A Love Story front: I am one step closer to world domination, having taken actual, physical, tax-deductible office space outside my house, roughly two miles from my front door, and two miles plus ten feet from my kitchen. I share a space with six other enterprising businessmen and women, all of whom you will… Read more »
Here in the Northeast this time of year, under perpetually slate-gray winter skies, “market inspiration” can be a bit hard to come by. Feels like it’s all bagged salads and overpriced out-of-season raspberries in our house, as we countdown 33 days, 4 hours, and 17 minutes til spring. But you’d never know there was any inspiration issue over at Kitchen… Read more »
This would be the best dinner if only: a) My kids ate it b) My husband ate it The photo you’re looking at up there is from last fall, snapped just before it was greeted at the table by: a) “So where’s the rest of dinner?” b) general guttural groaning I’ve held on to the photo and recipe all year,… Read more »
As our kids head into their last week of school, teacher thank-you notes in tow, it got us thinking: What about our teachers in the kitchen? What about all the little voices that instruct us as we whip our cream, brown our chops… and overcook our dry-aged ribeyes? I’m not only talking about the Marcellas and the Julias and the Bittmans,… Read more »
Sometimes I worry about my recipes the way I worry about my kids. As in, is this one getting enough attention? Does that one need a little extra love this week? I think it’s safe to say that Andy’s Pork Ragu is the Marcia Brady of dinners here on DALS (Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!) followed closely by Salmon Salad, Braised Short… Read more »
What I’m reading and eating this week: I finally watched Chef last night. A lot of solid food-nerd moments in there, but my favorite was when the Jon Favreau character showed me exactly how chefs (and food stylists) make pasta look so pretty. (Like what you’re looking at above.) You wind the noodles around one of those long two-tine forks while it’s… Read more »
All right, guys, the open-toed shoes are getting packed away, the leaves are going all gold on us, and soccer season is starting to actually feel like soccer season. In other words, fall is here, which means we can justify a dive back into the archive to find some of my heartier favorites. 1. Pomegranate-Braised Pork Loin with Cabbage (pictured)… Read more »
Welcome! I’m Jenny, author of Dinner: A Love Story and The Weekday Vegetarians More
