In February this year, Beyoncé partnered with her trainer, Marco Borges, to create an organic, vegan, gluten-free, soy-free meal delivery service called 22 Days Nutrition. Beyoncé and Jay-Z went vegan for 22 days in December of 2013 with the help of Borges and both became enthusiastic supporters of the challenge. Thus, she went into business with her trainer to help other people feel as magical as she does. Sounds great, right?

Well, if it’s good enough for Bey, it’s good enough for me. Would I become closer to her if I tried the meal plan? Would I truly feel flawless? I decided to give her vegan meal plan a shot for 48 hours. Here’s how it went.

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Who cooks and eats here: Ed Cotton, Executive Chef at Sotto 13 in New York, Top Chef Season 7 runner-up, and former sous chef for Cat Cora on Iron Chef America
Where: Long Island City, Queens, New York
Read the series: Part One, Part Two

While visiting Ed Cotton at his home kitchen in Queens a few weeks ago, we couldn’t help but notice his range. It’s a gas stove, but the oven controls are in the front, next to the burner knobs, instead of at the back, which is more standard.

What a great feature! So we looked into the make and model.

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In the nineties, I went to college in Canada, a long way from my home in South Carolina. One snowy weekend, my mother came for a visit. Because I was in class when she arrived — and you can’t skip class the day your mother arrives — I left her a key. When I walked in the door at the end of the day, knocking the snow from my boots and shaking it from my scarf and coat, I inhaled a smell I had forgotten; my mother had a pot of what we called “spaghetti sauce” on the stove. Our spaghetti sauce, I now understand, was a cross between bolognese and puttanesca, and it was delicious.

Making lasagna in the slow cooker lets me pretend my mom is home.

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Who cooks and eats here: Ed Cotton, Executive Chef at Sotto 13 in New York, Top Chef Season 7 runner-up, and former sous chef for Cat Cora on Iron Chef America
Where: Long Island City, Queens, New York
See His Kitchen: Chef Ed Cotton’s Comfortable Queens Kitchen

Yesterday we visited Chef Ed Cotton at home in his Queens, New York kitchen, where we learned about his love for his vintage cast iron skillet (it belonged to his grandmother) and the spices he always keeps on hand (La Boîte Blue Grass Blend, which he puts on pizza).

But when we opened Ed’s oven, we got a bit of a surprise: pots and pans everywhere! Yes, it turns out this pro chef stores his cookware in his oven, and he’s not apologizing for it one bit.

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With warmer weather inching its way into New York, I felt inspired to make a fresh spring cocktail. Well, I did some experimenting, and while my first inclination was to use strawberries, I found piles of rhubarb at the farmers market — and came up instead with this lovely pink concoction.

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From famous chefs opening new restaurants, to reviewing a restaurant, to talking about restaurant design – restaurants are not something The Kitchn talks about on a regular basis. We’re all about the home cook. Restaurants, however, can and do provide the home cook with opportunities to learn something new about food. It’s a different side of cooking smarter.

I’ve worked at a few high-end restaurants in New York, including one three Michelin star restaurant where I was maître d’hotel. Even though I was working front of house – instead of in the kitchen – I learned an awful lot about food from a service perspective. Let me explain how this restaurant taught me a new side of food.

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If you’re craving a juicy, tender, cheese-topped burger — one that you can really sink your teeth into — then you’ve come to the right place, my friend. No dry hockey pucks here. Just the kind of burger you’d normally pay big bucks for at a restaurant.

Today, we’re talking burgers: the best kind of ground beef to use, tips for shaping the patties, and how to cook them to burgerlicious perfection, with a step-by-step recipe for simply the best burgers you’ve ever had — at home or elsewhere. Ready?

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Ricotta Gnocchi with Peas and Herbed-Lemon Butter

When the first hints of fresh green things show up at the grocery store or farmers market, we’re reminded of how easy it is to make quick vegetarian meals. Pasta is the perfect base to show off a few seasonal ingredients – just add mint, peas, ramps, or artichokes, and maybe some salty cheese, and the whole thing comes together quickly for a satisfying weeknight meal.

From seasonal ricotta gnocchi with peas and herbed-lemon butter, to spaghetti pan-fried with mint and ramps, these 14 recipes will help you make a delicious vegetarian meal in no time.

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The surplus of colorful and hard-boiled eggs left after Easter weekend can feel like a blessing or a curse depending on your particular outlook on eggs and how long they’ve been lingering in your fridge! Here’s a list of everything we love to do with leftover hard-boiled eggs. They will fuel healthy breakfasts and lunches all week!

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It’s rhubarb season and no doubt everyone is making pie! But there are many other things you can do with rhubarb: relishes and chutneys and compotes, sauces both sweet and savory, ice cream and sorbets. The list is endless, but one of my favorite things to make when rhubarb is plentiful is this lovely, pink-hued rhubarb syrup.

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