Growing up, we always had a few cans of tuna tucked in the back of our pantry. They were leaned on for easy brown-bag lunch sandwiches, yes, but also for simple, affordable dinners, most often seen in the form of classic noodle casserole. These days, I still find myself with a couple cans on hand at all times to lean on when I am in need of a fuss-free meal that won’t break the bank.
Ramen is a Japanese soup, by way of Chinese noodles, that has become an American obsession. Not only have ramen noodles become part of our cultural lexicon in their ubiquitous dried mass-produced packets that sustained a generation of latch-key kids and college students, but they also grew to a burgeoning restaurant sub-culture of scavenger-hunt ramen shop tours and enthusiastic slurping.
With this recipe, we’re exploring how to do that enthusiastic slurping at home. We’ll tackle the important components of ramen — broth, seasoning, noodles, and toppings — with respect to our obsession but with a bit of grace and ease.
My husband and I rely on takeout more often than I’d like to admit. If I haven’t had the time to meal plan (or grocery shop) for the week, chances are we’re having cereal or takeout for dinner. One of those things can be inexpensive (two boxes for $5? Yes, please!), while the other can add up — very quickly.
Luckily, we’ve figured out one little hack to help us keep our weekly food bills under budget.
If you are obsessed with cute dogs and beautiful food, as most of us are, you’re going to love this insanely cute new Instagram account, Dogs in Food. The account is exactly what it sounds like; it’s just a page full of photos of dogs in food. But it’s really cute, and the food all looks delicious.
We’ve all encountered a wimpy bowl of greens with a few slices of cucumber and a piece of tomato, trying to pass as a salad, at some point or another. Forget satisfying — that’s not even appetizing, and it gives salads everywhere a bad name.
A good salad is a wonderful and glorious thing. It has a place as an appetizer, side dish, go-to weekday lunch, and, when made right, it can even hold its own as dinner. The trick is knowing the essential steps for creating a salad that’s supremely satisfying and far from wimpy.
A few times a year — usually right after the holidays and right before school starts — my meal planning system needs a refresh. It starts with a few too many weeks where groceries go underutilized or we find our takeout budget blown before the month’s end. This happens to even the best meal planners during busy seasons or big life changes. When it does, I take a little self-inventory and revisit what I know and love about meal planning and what still needs some work.
Think of this quiz as a status check for yourself too — whether you’re an expert meal planner who’s just fallen off the wagon a bit or you’re starting this whole endeavor from scratch, take this quiz to see what you know and where you can grow before you start meal planning.
When you hear “pancakes for dinner,” you probably don’t think of bindaettuck, the traditional Korean mung bean pancakes. But while they may require ingredients you haven’t used before, they’re just as quick and easy to make.
At Revel in Seattle, chef Rachel Yang offers ever-changing twists on tradition, from sweet corn pancakes (crusted with corn flakes, natch) in the summer to everything bagel-spiced pancakes with whitefish in the winter. The perennial favorite there, though, and at Revelry in Portland, Oregon, is a funky, spicy, porky pancake — a kimchi-studded classic embedded with strips of braised pork belly.
Served steaming hot from the pan and sliced into fat wedges, it’s a great way to turn a dinner into a party. People reach and giggle and fight over the last piece of earthy pancake, which, in turn, typically leads to someone flagging down a server for round two.
If summer is a season full of discovery, color, and unexpected flavors, winter can feel like a parade of nearly identical gnarled roots and fibrous greens. To combat culinary monotony, I rely on two strategies: Buy all the citrus, and splurge on fresh herbs.
It was less than a week after Eater published its report on Mario Batali and his sexual misconduct that the chef wrote an “apology letter” to his fans and readers that ended with, none other than, a recipe for cinnamon rolls. Most of the reactions to this recipe addendum pointed to the obvious: that Batali and whoever was in charge of his newsletter didn’t take these allegations seriously enough. Ending what should have been a heartfelt apology with a self-promotional recipe is in fact cause for (even more) outrage.
It was especially rich then when, a month later after this incident, blogger Geraldine DeRuiter of Everywhereist decided to actually make the cinnamon roll recipe that Batali linked to and write about that experience. DeRuiter’s article blew up last week, and she says while most of the feedback has been positive, there were a few incidents — including her Twitter account being hacked — that were negative.
I talked to DeRuiter a little further about her piece, including the recipe she says promotes self-confidence, and that moment in her story when the cinnamon rolls, shall we say, popped.
