Sweet Tea Brined Chicken
Sweet tea provides unexpected magic in this incredibly easy, marinated chicken that takes mere minutes to prep. Rest assured, the finished chicken is tender and juicy but doesn’t actually taste like iced tea! When Mitch Nugent made a point by connecting two things I love—live theater and ice cream–I perked up.…
BLT Pasta Salad with Avocado
In recent weeks, I’ve heard from many readers who offered kind praise for my Mexican Street Corn Salad recipe. Many noted the big flavor punch delivered by the small amount of lime juice that’s added to the mayo. The bright, fresh taste it delivers happens to be my favorite part of the salad, too. In the following…
Slow Roasted Cherry or Grape Tomatoes
With their concentrated savory-sweet flavor, these little bites will transform many a meal, and I’ve included a list of ways we enjoy them. A great way to make use of a bounty of cherry and grape tomatoes, the roasted tomatoes can even be frozen for later use. If you told me that someone secretly…
Zucchini Noodles in Rustic Tomato Sauce
This easy, saucy, one-pan meal is plant-based but will satisfy meat eaters too. Use prepared zucchini noodles or spiralize them yourself, and feel free to enjoy the simple sauce with regular pasta as well. Kitchen cabinets are like closets. One never seems to have enough of them. Since space is at a premium, I…
Greek Pasta Salad
Bursting with flavor and easy to transform into a complete meal, this versatile pasta salad is equally perfect for busy weeknights and casual entertaining. When I was pondering what to say about this light-but-satisfying, Mediterranean-style salad, four simple words came to mind: low effort, high reward. It’s a bowlful of flavor that everyone seems…
Asiago Pesto Spread
Two types of cheese and two types of nuts provide nuanced flavor in this time-tested pesto recipe that will add memorable flavor to so many meals. (Freezes well, too!) The flavor of pesto is unbeatable and its uses are many. The only downfall of so many pestos is that they are…
Cheater Macaroni and Cheese
This shortcut recipe is ideal when you’d prefer not to clean messy pots and pans. You don’t even have to precook the noodles! Settling on a Father’s Day recipe was particularly challenging this year. As is often the case, my inability to decide what to share in this space was more a case…
Strawberry Chicken Salad with Candied Walnuts and Goat Cheese
Easy jam jar dressing and candied walnuts add amazing flavor to this crisp, fresh plate. Leftover chicken makes it a satisfying, complete meal. Friends and family provide some of the best recipe feedback, which often steers me towards sharing a particular dish sooner than later–or in some cases, going back to the drawing board.…
Amish Baked Oatmeal
This wholesome family favorite can be prepared in advance and tastes a lot like a cinnamon oatmeal cookie. I typically take a minimalist approach, but the recipe is easy to customize through the addition of raisins, nuts, etc. Twenty years ago, when baked oatmeal was hardly a blip on anyone’s breakfast radar, a friend…
Easy Chicken Fajitas
These flavor-packed wraps come together in a snap and always garner rave reviews. As an option, serve the chicken fajita mixture over rice or salad greens. Week to week, I find myself falling back on easy Mexican-inspired recipes for a variety of reasons. Tex-Mex cuisine often begins with a foundation of convenient pantry staples…
Green Goat Grilled Sandwich
A recreation of a customer favorite at a local restaurant, this recipe is the best combination of crisp salad and crunchy sandwich. Sometimes good things just keep getting better. Last week, I reported that Tom + Chee will be featuring my recipe for Cannellini Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Dippers throughout the month of April. The exciting…
Mushroom Ground Beef (a clever trick that’s healthy and super delicious)
The use of mushrooms and a simple technique seamlessly adds nutrients and flavor to regular ground beef, making it an ideal way to incorporate more plant-based eating into our diets, even if we still enjoy meat. Ground beef that tastes “meatier” and is healthier, too? This kitchen hack tastes great and, at the same…
