Plus, it comes in a variety of convenient forms: boneless skinless, bone-in, rotisserie, and ground chicken, to name a few. When it comes to chicken there are so many options, I don’t tire of cooking it, or more importantly, eating it for dinner. I need weeknight recipes ready in less than an hour that have big kid appeal. Bonus points for including vegetables and using pantry staples. Also, I’m not above looking for comfort at the bottom of a bowl of curry, so recipes that delight the senses and provide a slice of comfort are always high on my list....

I am a huge fan of freezer meals because on those nights when I didn’t plan accordingly, or on nights when my friends and I are waiting things out at home, I want something that’s easy to thaw and cook. Each of the meals from this week’s plan can be made well ahead of time and frozen for later. New to Meal Planning? Start here! Need More Meal Planning Ideas?...

Before you click away because you think you hate olives, let me just say that Castelvetrano olives are the gateway to becoming an olive lover. They are mild, green olives that taste how you’d imagine a perfect olive tastes like: fruity, briny, and buttery. They are salty in a pleasant way and with just the right amount of punch, but not so salty that you can only eat one or two....

It’s dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan, and it’s GREAT. Anytime you have that many “-free"s in a recipe, I’m doubtful. But I will happily drink this anytime. In fact, I drank the whole batch. (Uh huh, no self control.) “Apple Pie in a Glass” is what my friend Tess Masters calls it; the recipe is from her fabulous new cookbook The Blender Girl: 100 Gluten-free, Vegan Recipes. So, what’s in it that makes it taste so good?...

But then all you have to do is scoop out the seeds, score the inside, dot with butter and brown sugar or maple syrup, and bake. To eat you can cut them in wedges, or keep them in halves and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. How to Shop for Acorn Squash Acorn squash are winter squash. When shopping for them, choose squash that feel heavy and have blemish-free and mold-free skin....

For this coffee cake, Dad used Bisquick, a popular baking mix back then as it still is now. You don’t have to worry about baking soda or baking powder because the mix comes with its own leavening. All you have to do is combine a couple of cups of Bisquick with some milk (or water), a couple of tablespoons of sugar, and an egg to make the batter. Pour that into a greased baking dish....

How to Make Blueberry Pancakes Fluffy Do you know the secret to making these blueberry pancakes thick and fluffy? Just resist the urge to over mix the batter. Let there be lumps. While we don’t want lumps in our mashed potatoes or cake frosting, if you let your pancake batter be a little lumpy, your pancakes will be light, tender, fluffy, and thick. Now, if you prefer your pancakes to be thin and firm (some people do), just beat the heck out of that batter, until smooth as porcelain....

Slow cooked for at least a couple of hours, the sauce is deep, rich, flavorful, and worth the extra effort! What Is Bolognese Sauce? Bolognese sauce is a classic Italian sauce for pasta made with ground meat such as beef or pork. It’s slow cooked with a soffritto of onions, carrots, and celery, tomatoes, and milk to give it a creamy texture. Pronounced “bow-luh-nez,” the sauce comes from the Bologna region of Italy, hence the name....

It sort of looks like broccolini or Chinese broccoli, with longish stems, small green florets, and lots of leaves. It’s actually more related to turnips than to broccoli, and tastes a little like mustard greens, slightly bitter but more nutty. Slightly bitter, usually that is. Blanch Broccoli Rabe To Remove Bitterness The first time I cooked broccoli rabe it must have been really late in the season, because those greens were so bitter none of us (hardened bitter greens eaters that we are) could take more than one bite....

Fast forward two decades later, and the iconic drink has left the story pages to land in the hands of tourists at Universal Studios. At the park, guests can enjoy the drink in three different incarnations: hot, cold, and frozen—but if a trip to Universal isn’t in your near future, don’t fret! You can make the bubbly concoction at home with this incredibly easy butterbeer recipe. A Homemade Cold Butterbeer Recipe While butterbeer can be made in the hot and frozen versions described above, this recipe is for the cold version—in my opinion, probably the easiest of the bunch to make at home....

The combination of walnuts, thyme, ginger, vanilla, and squash may seem weird, but oddly it works. You can either boil the cubed butternut squash with some bay leaves, or roast them until you get a little browning – in which case omit the bay leaves. Roasting will caramelize the squash a bit, giving a little more flavor, and the squash cubes will hold their shape better. Boiling the squash will yield softer squash and a little flavor from the bay leaves....

Jumbo pasta shells are filled with a creamy mix of ricotta, mozzarella, and basil pesto, piled in a baking dish with cherry tomatoes and more cheese, then baked until bubbling and melty. It’s a family-friendly dinner that hits all the right notes. A Fun, Yet Familiar, Twist on Stuffed Shells Stuffed shells are at the top of my list when it comes to comfort foods. How can you go wrong with cheese-filled pasta?...

Every page is an embodiment of Serpico’s belief that “the best Korean food is Korean home cooking.” You’ll find recipes for Instant Kimchi, traditional banchan dishes as well as his own takes (Pickled Iceberg Lettuce), and classic Black Bean Noodles. His Broccoli Kimchi is already a must-have in my house, something I can make on a whim and keep around to add to fried rice. Korean home cooking is not what Serpico grew up with....

We would always fight over these dumplings. (Ever wonder why people from big families eat fast? The first kid who finishes gets seconds on the dumplings.) Tips for the Best Chicken and Dumplings Making dumplings that are tasty, light, yet hold together isn’t a given. The Bisquick dumpling version, although light and fluffy, tends to fall apart. At the other end of the spectrum, my dad remembers his mother’s dumplings which were, in his words “as hard as hockey pucks....

This recipe is not only easier than making a layer cake, but it’s even easier than making standard chocolate chip cookies. There’s no need to chill the dough, no scooping cookies, and no cake assembly. With a traditional cake, you might spend more time assembling and decorating than actual partying. Although you should plan on at least 2 hours to prepare this cake from start to finish, there are some make-ahead options below for the busy party planners....

Dirt Cups With Chocolate Pudding: Must-Try Treat! If you’ve yet to make worms in dirt chocolate pudding, it’s super easy. And here, we’re making them extra chocolaty, thanks to a from-scratch pudding made with real chocolate milk. How to Make Chocolate Pudding Dirt Cups To assemble, you simply crumble chopped chocolate sandwich cookies (the dirt!) on top of the pudding and place a few gummy worms into the crumbs. Delightfully gross!...

How to Make Baked Chicken Breast, Thighs, Wings, or Legs We usually buy whole chickens and either cut them up ourselves or have the butcher do it for us. It’s cheaper that way, and we get giblets for gravy. You can do that or just use a package of whatever chicken parts you like—make baked chicken breasts for white meat, and baked chicken thighs and legs for dark. This way of cooking chicken couldn’t be more straightforward....