Food

Want iced coffee that stays strong to the very last sip? Then say hello to coffee ice cubes.

I am the tortoise, not the hare, when it comes to coffee. I sip slowly, but I always finish my cup – even when that means grimacing on the last diluted, watery dregs at the bottom of my iced coffee.

No more! Now that coffee ice cubes are in permanent residence in my freezer, my days of sad iced coffee are over.

Continue reading “Make Better Iced Coffee with Coffee Ice Cubes” »

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Barbecue sauce is contentious in a way that few condiments are. Local pride is on the line. Sauce-wise, I’m mostly stateless and am just as happy with North Carolina-style vinegar sauce as I am with a Kansas City sauce made with tomatoes and molasses.

But when it comes to grilled chicken, nothing feels as perfect as the tang of a mustard-based South Carolina-style barbecue sauce.

Continue reading “Grilled Chicken with South Carolina-Style BBQ Sauce” »

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When the hot weather hits, nothing is more cooling than a cucumber salad!

I especially love the thin-skinned varieties of cucumbers—Persian, Armenian, English.

Their peels are thin and delicate, not bitter like regular cucumbers, so they don’t require peeling. They’re also not usually as seedy as their thick-skinned cousins.

Continue reading “Cucumber Salad with Mint and Feta” »

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One of the best ways to prepare salmon is to poach it, in just a little liquid. We often use this “shallow poaching” method with a little white wine and herbs.

You can also make a simple sauce and poach the salmon in it, which is what we are doing here with these fillets, cooking them in a sauce of onions, tomatoes, white wine, and capers. Preparing salmon this way perfect for a quick and and easy midweek meal, and elegant enough for company.

Continue reading “Salmon with Tomato, Onions, and Capers” »

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If you crave a good iced coffee in the summer, but loathe the way so many end up tasting watery or overly bitter, then there’s only one solution: cold brew coffee. This method guarantees a smooth and icy cup, every time.

Continue reading “How To Make Cold Brew Coffee” »

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These grilled Korean beef skewers are a little sweet, a little spicy from the gochujang (which is a Korean chili paste), and full of umami. The best part is that you can have them on the table in about a half hour.

I’ll never forget the first time I ate Korean food. We were visiting my mom’s friend in Los Angeles and she took us out for Korean barbecue. My first taste of kimchi, banchan, and bulgogi and I was hooked.

Continue reading “Korean Beef Skewers” »

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Eggs for supper are not only quick and easy to make, they are somehow reassuring that all is right with the world. Add pasta and you have a supreme comfort meal.

Oh, and then there is the bacon. If you’re part of the ‘everything goes better with bacon’ club, you won’t be able to resist this dish.

Continue reading “Spaghetti with Tomatoes, Bacon, and Eggs” »

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Have zucchini? If you haven’t tried spiralizing zucchini yet, you’re missing out!

Seriously. Zucchini “noodles” are great. They trick your mind into thinking you’re eating carb-heavy pasta, when in fact, you are eating healthy, vitamin rich zucchini.

You know that spinach flavored pasta? This is like zucchini flavored pasta, that’s actually just zucchini. Gluten-free, low-carb, super healthy zucchini.

There’s something about the noodle shape that makes it way more fun to eat than just chopped up squash.

Continue reading “Zucchini Noodle Chicken Pesto Bowl” »

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The combination of chocolate and peanut butter is an obvious winner for anyone who has ever tasted a peanut butter cup, and buckeyes are no exception.

Named for their resemblance to the nut of the buckeye tree, these chocolate-dipped peanut butter treats are easy to make at home with every little work.

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Please welcome my friend Lisa Lin from Healthy Nibbles and Bits as she shares a favorite lettuce wrap recipe! ~Elise

Summertime is all about light, fresh meals, and these teriyaki chicken lettuce wraps fit the bill exactly.

The chicken filling is flavored with a homemade teriyaki sauce. You could substitute your favorite store-bought teriyaki sauce in this recipe, but making your own is easy. I also find store-bought sauce to be too sweet for my taste, so I like that I can control the amount of sugar that goes into this sauce.

Continue reading “Teriyaki Chicken Lettuce Wraps” »

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These bars go by a few different names, like 7-Layer Bars or Hello Dollies, but I’ve always known them as Magic Bars.

They are a pure Midwestern treat for me, often brought to potlucks to round out a shared meal. All the names for the same dessert might seem confusing, but luckily, there’s nothing confusing about making them.

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In the mood for some red, white, and blue? How about red, white, and blue nachos, with blue corn tortilla chips!

I’ve always loved blue corn tortilla chips. I don’t know if it’s my mind playing tricks on me, but I think they taste better than regular tortilla chips. Maybe because they’re less industrial and have more flavor than the corn we get these days?

Whatever, the chips taste great and make a delightfully blue canvas for our white cheese sauce and chicken, and (mostly) red fresh pico de gallo salsa.

Continue reading “Red, White, and Blue Chicken Nachos” »

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Buttery crust, rich creamy filling, and juicy ripe berries—this is what you want in a berry tart, right?

Look no further. This is the tart. As my father says, “don’t change a thing.”

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Why should russets and yukon golds have all the fun? Here’s a quick and easy potato recipe, for a side or salad, depending on if you serve them warm or cold, using fingerling potatoes or new potatoes.

The approach is simple—quickly boil halved fingerling potatoes and douse them in vinaigrette.

But that’s not all. Two simple tricks will elevate this dish to make it company worthy.

Continue reading “Fingerling Potatoes with Herb Vinaigrette” »

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Looking for a crowd pleasing-appetizer? Make bacon-wrapped shrimp! Kinda ridiculously good.

I blame the bacon.

Seriously, this one is really easy and crazy good. Bacon and shrimp make a very happy couple. For this recipe we are coating the shrimp with some lime and chili powder, and then wrapping them in slices of bacon, and either oven baking or putting on the grill.

Here are a couple of tips that can help make these even better.

Continue reading “Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp” »

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Is it hot where you are? We’ve had an unseasonably cool several days, but the weather reports assure us that that’s about to change.

This sesame noodle salad is a perfect cold noodle salad for a hot day. Make the noodles and the dressing ahead of time and let the noodles soak in all the flavor from the dressing (sesame oil, honey, soy sauce).

Continue reading “Sesame Noodle Salad” »

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Have an abundance of blueberries? When they are in season you really have to enjoy them while you can, right? Here is a lovely blueberry cake that makes the most of fresh blueberries (though you can use frozen if you want).

In fact, it almost seems like there is more blueberry than cake in this cake; that’s a problem I can live with!

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Please welcome guest author Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen as she tempts us with “Floribbean” tropical shrimp. ~Elise

With tropical fruit like mangoes and kiwi, you’ve got to eat the fruit just at the right time of ripeness. Under-ripe kiwi is suck-your-face-in-puckery-sour and over-ripe mangoes are blah and mushy.

So what to do with imperfect fruit? Slightly cook them for a warm, tropical fruit salsa, “Floribbean” style. (Yeah, it’s a dumb name, but restaurants in Florida use it all the time. It basically means Florida + Caribbean style, if you haven’t guessed already. These days, it really just refers to a tropical dish.)

Continue reading “Sautéed Shrimp with Warm Tropical Fruit Salsa” »

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It’s always hard to plan for a fish meal around here, because it all depends on what the market has fresh. You can show up at the store with the best intentions of securing a thick halibut steak only to be disappointed with what clearly looks like it’s been sitting under the glass for a few days.

Fish is best fresh, there’s no way around it. The fresher the better! So, the best attitude to approach the fish section is, what looks best?

With whole fish, you can usually tell just by looking at the eyes—they should be clear, not foggy and sunken. With fillets, if the surface is dried out and tired looking, that’s not a good sign. The fillet should glisten, like it was just cut, and should smell fresh, not fishy.

Continue reading “Salmon with Lemon Cream Sauce” »

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Have you ever eaten cactus? Prickly pear cactus paddles, known as nopalitos, are not only edible, but they are darn right delicious! Sort of like a cross between green beans and okra, and good for you too, high in vitamin A, calcium, potassium, and with plenty of fiber.

Perfect for those of us wanting to follow paleo, vegan, gluten-free, or low carb diets. (Note that I said “wanting to follow” rather than “following”. I desire to eat more a more healthy diet than I do most days.)

Like okra, there’s a bit of a slime factor when you cook them, but that can be easily rinsed away.

The prickly pear cactus grows all over the southwestern United States and the mediterranean and the young, tender paddles are a staple in Mexican cooking.

Continue reading “Nopalitos Cactus Salad” »

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If one is going to take the trouble to make chocolate brownies, and incur the wrath of the Fat-god for eating them, one may as well make them right. Brownies from a box? No thank you.

Continue reading “Best Chocolate Brownies” »

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When it comes to grilling, chicken breasts can be problematic, especially boneless, skinless chicken breasts. The meat itself is lean, and without the bones to insulate it or skin to protect it, that naked chicken breast on the grill has a tendency to easily overcook and dry out.

So, what to do?

One method is to marinate chicken cutlets, or chicken breasts pounded to an even thickness, and quickly grill them on high heat. We use this method for our cilantro lime chicken and it works fine.

Another way, which doesn’t require you to change the shape of the chicken breasts,

Continue reading “How to Grill Juicy Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts” »

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Do you like grilling pork tenderloin? We love it! It cooks up so quickly and lends itself to any number of savory glazes.

The glaze we are using for this recipe couldn’t be easier to pull together. It uses orange marmalade, soy sauce, honey, rice wine vinegar, and a pinch of red pepper flakes.

We marinate the pork first in half of the glaze sauce, and then use the remaining sauce to coat the finished tenderloin.

Continue reading “Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Orange Marmalade Glaze” »

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Pssst… you know what? You don’t have to have chiles to make salsa.

No kidding! You can still have a tangy, spicy salsa with this one ingredient—

Continue reading “Pineapple Salsa with Jicama” »

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Here’s an easy way to up your guacamole game—toss some chopped fresh strawberries in it!

I first got the idea of adding fruit to guacamole years ago at a cooking class with Diana Kennedy, the doyen of Mexican cooking, who made for us a guacamole with chopped peaches and pomegranate seeds.

Continue reading “Strawberry Guacamole” »

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Have you ever tried grilling sweet potatoes? It’s quick and easy. You just peel the sweet potatoes, slice them into 1/4-inch slices, paint them with olive oil, sprinkle on some salt, and place on a hot grill.

To serve, you want to slather them with some sort of vinaigrette—olive oil to keep them from tasting too dry, and an acid like lime juice or lemon juice to balance the sweetness of the sweet potatoes.

Continue reading “Grilled Sweet Potatoes” »

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This article is brought to you in partnership with De Cecco and NBCUniversal. All sponsor proceeds from this article go to benefit the non-profit Food Literacy Center.

Do you have a favorite pasta shape? For me it’s sort of a toss-up between angel hair and bowties. I love angel hair for the how delicate the pasta is and how easy it is to eat, and bowties because, well, they’re so cute.

Is that even a valid reason for liking a pasta shape? They are cute! They make any pasta dish look just a little bit fancy, like the pasta got all dressed up for a show. And each one is a perfect forkful size.

For this bowtie pasta dish, I started with a classic—bowties with peas and prosciutto—but ditched the cream sauce that usually accompanies this dish. Instead, I lightened it up a bit by tossing everything with olive oil, black pepper, and Parmesan and added fresh baby arugula for some peppery greens.

Continue reading “Bowtie Pasta with Peas, Prosciutto, and Arugula” »

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My grandmother Mae was notorious for her sweet tooth. How she lived to 97 on a diet that included daily jelly donuts I have no idea.

Born in 1899, she didn’t smoke, she didn’t drink, she walked everywhere because she didn’t know how to drive.

She also made the best lemon meringue pie in the world. Well, at least in my 7 year old world. It was the only lemon meringue pie in my world, and because I loved it so, it was the best.

Continue reading “Lemon Meringue Pie” »

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Carrrrrrne asada! Do you remember that Superbowl ad with the two lions? For months after that aired I couldn’t say “carne” without rolling the rrrrrrs.

Clever of whatever ad agency came up with that campaign to feature two king carnivores talking about carne asada, which translates literally as “beef grilled”.

Carne asada is the thinly sliced, grilled beef served so often in tacos and burritos. You can also serve it straight up, with rice and beans on the side.

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What’s your go-to 15-minute make-it-from-what’s-in-the-fridge recipe? Mine is a quesadilla. Any kind of quesadilla. You’ll always find tortillas and cheese in my fridge. It’s my PB&J.

The great thing about quesadillas? They’re so easy to dress up! Whether it’s with chicken and apples, mushrooms, green chiles, or in this case, kimchi—spicy Korean pickled cabbage.

Continue reading “Kimchi Avocado Quesadilla” »

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Hi everyone! I am thrilled to announce that Simply Recipes is joining forces with Fexy Media, the company behind Serious Eats and Roadfood!

When Fexy Media first approached me last fall with the idea that they would be interested in buying Simply Recipes I was intrigued.

Over the last 13 years I’ve poured my heart into this site, writing stories about my family and friends, sharing favorite family recipes and developing new recipes that I hoped you, our readers would enjoy.

Although Simply Recipes may seem like a big company with lots of people, mostly it’s been just me, Jesse Gardner who takes care of the tech side of things, a few occasional contributors like Hank Shaw, and my friend chef Kathi Riley who cooks with me a couple times a month.

The best part about becoming part of Fexy Media is that now we’ll have more resources at our hands to help the website grow.

Continue reading “Big news! Simply Recipes joins Fexy Media (and what this means for you)” »

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Move over lasagna, make way for stuffed shells!

There’s something whimsically satisfying about stuffed pasta shells. Is it the shape that conjures up a sunny day at the beach with ocean surf turning over pebbles and shells as the waves retreat? Or is it the seasoned ricotta stuffing hiding inside?

I’m guessing pasta shells were invented by some mischievous pasta maker who created the shape as an act of rebellion against every parent whose ever said to a child, “stop playing with your food.”

Continue reading “Mint Ricotta Stuffed Shells” »

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Please welcome guest author Stephanie Stiavetti who writes the Fearless Fresh food blog. Stephanie shares her recipe for a Dutch baby, also known as a German pancake. So good! ~Elise

I’m a huge pancake fan. When I was little I would have happily forgone every other food in favor of pancakes, but unlike the other kids I knew, I never really liked syrup. I always preferred my pancakes plain, or with the addition of fresh blueberries or mashed up bananas added to the batter before it hit the griddle.

Occasionally my mom would indulge us by tossing in a handful of chocolate chips, which, at that young age, was just about the most exciting thing ever.

Continue reading “Dutch Baby” »

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A few months ago my wonderful mother made what I thought was Spanish rice (a favorite around here, basically a rice pilaf with tomato) but instead of browning rice to start the pilaf, she browned orzo pasta.

Brilliant! It was so incredibly good. Silky and savory like our sopa seca de fideo angel hair dish, but with little rice-shaped orzo pasta. The browning of the orzo adds a toasty nutty flavor to the pasta.

Continue reading “One Pot Chicken and Orzo” »

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Hello friends! I know many of you come here looking for something you can quickly and easily make, and tastes great. Something perhaps for a weeknight dinner when you have maybe only 30 minutes to cook, and even less to clean up afterwards?

Here’s a shrimp and asparagus skillet recipe that scores high on all points. It only takes half an hour start to finish, and only uses one pan. And the taste? Wow! I was really surprised by this one.

Continue reading “Skillet Shrimp and Asparagus” »

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