I don’t usually cook chicken during the week but I was in a rush one day last week and had a fresh whole chicken on hand. This came out so good I had to share! The sage and the black lentils lifted the chicken onto a whole different plane. If you’ve never had black lentils, […]
June 7, 2012
Guide to Cooking Whole Grains with Printable Chart
My Complete Guide to Cooking Dry Beans from Scratch remains one of the most popular posts, so I wrote up this companion piece for whole grains. Since most of use use white rice from time to time, I included it. Guide to Cooking Whole Grains Note: Cooking times are approximate and depend on the age […]
January 3, 2012
Lentil and Squash Casserole
Last week, I had to run out suddenly to bring my son somewhere right during dinner preparation hour. Fortunately my teens were home to take over. This recipe can be easily halved, but like most recipes with legumes, it improves on the second or third day so don’t be afraid of leftovers. I first learned […]
October 27, 2011
My Worst Cooking Disaster
A food blogger friend once advised me to take down a picture I’d posted. Her philosophy is that food bloggers should only post pictures of beautiful and tasty food. I listened to her and removed the photo. But today I decided that this is a rule made to be broken. After all, you folks don’t […]
April 21, 2011
Video: How to Cook Fresh Artichokes
Fresh artichokes are in season in the northern hemisphere. They look funny and take a certain amount of effort to prepare, but if you make a few at once it’s worth it. Here’s the video I made explaining how to prepare artichokes for cooking. Artichokes are a classic food for pressure cookers because they cook […]
March 23, 2011
Recipe: Brown Rice with Leeks, Carrots and Black Lentils
Black lentils are a wonderful delicacy introduced to me by Yosefa. One day she also gave me some leeks that needed to be eaten, so I made this recipe loosely based on one in Lorna Sass’s cookbook. Recipe: Brown Rice with Leeks, Carrots and Black Lentils Summary: Pressure cooker vegetarian meal-in-one. Ingredients 1 tablespoon oil […]
February 27, 2011
Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure by Lorna Sass
I tend to flip quickly through new cookbooks, skimming over all of the recipes I know I’ll never make: The recipes are too complicated, I don’t keep the necessary ingredients on hand, or the recipes are just another way of combining foods that we get enough of already. But when Yosefa got interested in pressure […]
February 23, 2011
Last-Minute Black-Eyed Peas Chili
This recipe appears in Lorna Sass’s Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure. I can’t say enough about this wonderful cookbook. My full review appears here. The dish was unusual—sweeter and spicier than I’m used to. Like most bean recipes, the leftovers tasted even better. Last-Minute Black-Eyed Pea Chili Ingredients: 1 tablespoon safflower or canola oil 1 to […]
October 5, 2010
Are Slow Cookers Really Energy Efficient?
Slow cookers, first marketed under the brand name crock-pot, are often recommended for busy cooks. You put in the food, turn it on low, and seven or eight hours later you have a delicious meal. Frugal cooks prefer slow cookers too. But are slow cookers truly energy efficient, as is often claimed? Apparently, we’ve been […]
