Toward the end of Ramadan I can start to feel zapped of both energy and recipe ideas. I tackle this fatigue by revisiting my repertoire of favorite yet easy-to-put-together dishes. For suhoor, I really need quick and satisfying options that won’t make me feel too full. I try to avoid any processed sugars or oily foods because they’ll drag me down later in the day. For iftar, I’m looking for flavorful meals with little preparation time — especially during the weeknights. This meal plan brings all that thinking into one place. Maybe it’ll inspire you as you plan for the coming week of meals.

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Ramadan is a time for reflection, prayer, growth and charity. It is also a time for gathering with family, friends and neighbors for iftar, the end of fast meal at sunset. It can be challenging to prepare an elaborate dinner while feeling the fatigue of fasting, but with these tips you’ll have all you need to host an iftar without a hitch.

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(Image credit: Leela Cyd)

The slow cooker strikes again! With minimal work and just one ingredient (psst … it’s chicken) this recipe delivers the most delicious payoff imaginable — meat so tender and juicy it practically falls right off the bone. And it’s all thanks to the small, closed environment of the slow cooker.

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For over three years, I had an ice cream maker sitting in my basement unused. I know how to (and love) making ice cream bases, but I had one excuse for not using the ice cream maker I had: I didn’t know how to use it. My ice cream maker was actually the ice cream attachment for my KitchenAid stand mixer, but it was a hand-me-down from a test kitchen I worked in and the instructions had long been lost. So in the basement it stayed.

While doing a bunch of research on which new ice cream maker I should buy, I discovered that the KitchenAid ice cream maker is beloved among even professional ice cream makers. It’s only one of few ice cream machines on the market with adjustable speeds. So I set out to figure out how the thing actually works and master my favorite ice cream flavor — coffee — at once.

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With more and more people forgoing traditional china sets in favor of basic everyday dinnerware (only 26 percent of today’s couples register for formal dinnerware — and some grow to regret not registering for it!), it’s still important to know what’s what. After all, how can you make an informed decision if you’re not informed? And while each plate may resemble the next, there are important differences between traditional china and dinnerware.

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This week the European grocery chain Lidl is launching nine new grocery stores in the United States (you can see the full list here). If you’ve been freaking out about the new chain finally coming to the U.S., then you’ll be even more excited to see the company’s leaflet with pricing and specials for the store’s grand opening on June 15.

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If you’re anything like us, you’re probably guilty of snapping a few decor inspo pics any time you eat out at a restaurant. And who could blame you? City or suburbs, our favorite spots are often packed with gorgeous tiles, inspiring bar setups, and the coolest furniture out there, so there’s plenty to love.

As the weather warms up, we’re turning our discerning eye outdoors, rounding up some of the hottest al fresco patios that are packed with stylish ideas perfect for your own home this summer.

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(Image credit: Christine Han)

Kale, we aren’t done with you yet! In fact, if this salad is any proof, we’re still discovering ways to harness your incredible potential. In this flavorful take on the classic bistro salad — salade Lyonnaise — thin strands of kale and radicchio make up the base with bacon, eggs, and a surprising take on croutons topping it all off.

Even better, we’re showing you how to make this salad on a Sunday so you can enjoy it throughout the week.

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If you own a grill, chances are at some point this summer you’re going to make burgers. You’ll probably make hot dogs as well. As far as summer food goes, those two are canon. But if you plan on making regular grilling a part of how you make dinner — including regular ol’ dinner on a Tuesday night — burgers and hot dogs won’t take you very far. Grilled chicken, however, will. So will snappy grilled shrimp that cooks in minutes, lemony, flame-teased asparagus, blistered corn on the cob, and a mahogany-tinged pork tenderloin seasoned with a fast-and-fancy dry rub.

These five foods will feed you, your family, and your friends over and over again this summer, which is why we believe they’re the first batch of recipes you should learn how to grill. Make them often enough and you’ll start changing the recipes to better suit your needs. Maybe you’ll add some heat to the yogurt marinade we use for grilled shrimp, or perhaps you prefer the sweetness of oranges to lemons when grilling the asparagus. The point is, after you learn how to grill chicken you can master it.

Our cooking lessons for grilled chicken, grilled shrimp, grilled pork tenderloin, grilled asparagus, and grilled corn on the cob are designed and tested (and tested again) to work just as they are — and you can count on them to be delicious. But they’re also waiting for you to riff on them. So consider them to be, as Jacques Pepin says, “a point of departure.”

We’re excited to see where you arrive.

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