No matter what, potatoes make for a great dinner base. While I could easily just do with a bit of salt and butter, these chickpea-loaded potatoes make a full meal that you can feel good about serving your family. Vegan Loaded Baked Potatoes I grew up eating potatoes loaded with nacho cheese and steamed broccoli, but over the years as a vegetarian, I found the potatoes to be a perfect base for myriad healthy vegetarian options, like roasted vegetables, tofu, and legumes....

These cookies come together super quickly, so it is great if you need a last-minute, homemade treat to bring to a holiday event, impromptu dinner party or to welcome a new neighbor. You can even whip them up for a chill weeknight alone because who doesn’t like to curl up on the couch after a long day with a movie and a chocolatey treat? Tips and Tricks for the Best Cookies Drop cookies are very forgiving, but there are a few things you can do to make each batch better than the last....

Elevate the Humble Elderberry For most, the word “berries” evokes the go-tos: blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and maybe blackberries. However, in North America alone there are hundreds of species of berries, most of which have never seen the light of the misty refrigerated grocery shelf. Why is this? Well, berries themselves are finicky things. They bruise easily, or have a very short shelf life. And some berries, native to only certain regions of the country, just don’t enjoy awareness and aren’t in wide demand....

We also are blessed with a bounty of figs from the fig tree, with which my mother often makes a particularly wonderful fig jam (an easy recipe that cooks up in about 15 minutes, I recommend it!). So when I saw this recipe for an apple and gruyere grilled cheese panini with fig jam in my friend Kathy Strahs’ fabulous new cookbook, The Ultimate Panini Press Cookbook, I couldn’t wait to give it a go....

It’s one of those couldn’t-be-easier, how-to-impress-without-doing-much baked salmon recipes. Takes 10 minute to prep, and 10 minutes to bake the salmon in the oven. Video: How to Make Honey Mustard Salmon This video is part of our Simply Kids Cook YouTube series. Head over there to see more videos in the series. Tips for Baked Salmon First, use good quality salmon. That cheapest fillet at the fish counter that looks like it’s seen better days, has seen better days....

So what’s the best way to keep apples from turning brown? We did our homework—and ate through even more apples than usual—to find out. In terms of the quality and duration of preservation, we found a clear winner. Hint: it involves salted water. But when you factor in the ease—like how realistic it is that you’ll actually use that method—the results somewhat depend on the situation, namely whether or not you’ll have a sink (and grownup) handy to rinse those slices....

Breads in India are mostly flatbreads. It’s the way they’re cooked or the type of flour used to make them that determines what they are called. Naan is a popular variety of Indian leavened bread made with wheat flour maida (just an Indian name for all-purpose flour) and cooked traditionally in a clay oven. Before getting too deep into the air pockets of this soft pillowy bread, I’d like to clarify something....

Happily, it’s easy to make gluten-free cauliflower pizza crusts at home! Why Make a Cauliflower Crust? What’s all the buzz about? With the surge of people looking for more gluten-free options and incorporating nutritious meals into their daily rotation, it’s not a surprise that cauliflower has become so popular. This foolproof crust recipe satisfies pizza cravings, offers the chew factor, and can be picked up with one hand without falling apart....

First you need to have a large sharp knife. After that, the most essential thing to keep in mind when it comes to cutting anything is to stabilize whatever it is you are attempting to cut. This is nowhere else as critical as when cutting a butternut squash, a notoriously difficult task because of the thickness and density of that squash. How to Cut and Peel a Butternut Squash The most important thing to consider when following these steps, or anyone else’s steps for cutting winter squash is to keep whatever pieces you are working on as stable as possible....

Using a pizza stone correctly isn’t rocket science, but there are a few tips and tricks to get the best performance out of your stone. How to Cook with a Pizza Stone Pizza stones come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are relatively cheap to buy – at least, compared to constructing a brick oven in your backyard! I like square or rectangle stones because they fit well in my oven and offer a bit of room on either side of my pizza....

After some experimentation and a lot of research into Irish stews, I’ve settled on a stew that has its roots in the traditional approach, but takes a few detours to add a bit more flavor. Traditionally, Irish stew is made with mature lamb (year old) or mutton, potatoes, onions, and water, and is simply cooked low and slow. Where we make embellishments with this recipe is that we work with lamb shoulder, the meat is browned first, in bacon fat, and carrots, bacon, and thyme are all added....

Try these hamburger patties, seasoned with a homemade Jamaican jerk spice mixture of Scotch bonnet peppers, allspice, thyme, cinnamon, nutmeg, green onions, and garlic! Scotch bonnets, or their habanero cousins, are insanely hot, so you don’t really need much, half a 1 1/2-inch long pepper, seeds removed. Some people substitute jalapeños, but the flavor really is different, so I would stick to Scotch bonnets or habaneros if you can get them....

This cake is actually a sweet, yeasted bread decorated with the purple, green, and gold colors of Mardi Gras. It’s traditional to kick off the season of Carnival with King Cake, which has a long, storied history that takes us all the way from France to NOLA. What Is a King Cake? The traditional New Orleans-style King Cake is an enriched yeasted bread, similar to brioche, that is often rolled in cinnamon and sugar, then baked, glazed, and dusted with colored sugar....

It’s so good! The apples, onions, and raisins give the lamb curry some sweetness, while a couple slices of lemon add some acidity and bitter to balance the flavors of the dish. I first encountered this lamb curry at my friend Elizabeth Abbott’s parent’s house and begged her mother Maria for the recipe, which, thankfully, she gave me. I’ve played around with it over the years, upped the spices, added raisins, cooked it on the stovetop, cooked it in an Instant Pot....

We all quizzed her like crazy: Was this a dish her grandmother had made, too? (Yes!) Was it a weeknight dish? (Yes!) Did her mom make it for holidays? (Yes!) We were so intrigued that something bitter, tart, and garlicky would be considered comfort food—the rest of us had been thinking about creamy, toasty, cheese-y things! She told us how to make this broccoli rabe dish, convincing us that a mildly bitter green cooked in a skillet with hot oil would be something that we, too, would love....

This vibrant bean salad is bursting with color and flavor! Tender chickpeas join forces with marinated artichokes, sweet tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, briny olives, and feta, plenty of fresh herbs, and a tangy oregano vinaigrette. It’s as wholesome as it is satisfying and sure to fit the bill for lunch or even dinner when you’re craving something totally feel-good. An Easy to Love Mediterranean-Inspired Salad This chickpea salad takes flavor cues from the Mediterranean....

Mercimek Çorbası is a traditional and popular lentil soup in Turkish cuisine that is a staple during the winter months and Ramadan. Other countries in the Middle East have a similar version which they call shorbat adas. A simple soup made with a few basic ingredients, it also happens to be vegan if you leave off or substitute the dairy garnishes. Ingredients in Mercimek Corbasi Most of the ingredients for this soup can be found at your local supermarket (like red lentils, onion, celery, carrot, and vegetable stock)....

We pulled down several Meyer lemons last week to avoid the freeze that hit here in California and I’ve been thinking up things to do with them. As a major lemonade fan, lemon sorbet was a logical choice. Lemon sorbet is pretty intense — sweet and acidic. I can see why it is often used as a palate cleanser between meal courses. It is best eaten in small amounts. An added benefit of having some around in the freezer is that if you happen to be in the mood for lemonade, you can take a few scoops and mix it in with some water, and voilà, instant lemonade....