From Scratch

Yet another reason to eat your fruits and vegetables. A wide-ranging 12-year study by a team in Cambridge, England suggests a diet rich in Vitamin C might reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Fruits and veggies are the main source of Vitamin C in typical western diets.
More than 20,000 women and men, ages […]

This is certainly the time for fruit salad, although it means different things to different people. Some use a simple syrup of sugar and water, others use ginger, lime juice, sour cream, gelatin and even — ugh — that chemical cocktail called non-dairy whipped topping.
To me, fruit salad means lots of fresh […]

Humor me here, or trust me. This is a great way to serve grapes. Just as roasting intensifies the flavors of vegetables, it brings out the sweetness of grapes. So does the touch of salt, which always makes sweet things sweeter. Roasted red grapes taste much like grape juice, but without added sugar. With a dip […]

The first time I saw a smoothie maker for sale I had an “only in America” moment. It looked just like a blender with a different name. To this day I don’t know the difference between the two. I also don’t know any people who have a blender and a smoothie maker, but I’m willing […]

This is a perfect, refreshing accompaniment to grilled poultry or pork. Its tropical flavors are welcome in hot weather and complement chicken, turkey or pork that’s been prepared with its companion recipe, a Caribbean spice rub. Both recipes are fine on their own but together, they are more.
I found this at Fine Cooking, in one of the […]

There’s nothing like a heat wave to make me crave fresh fruits and when it happens this early — it’s still officially spring — I search my recipes for something fast, light and refreshing. It was 94 degrees yesterday (34C) and even hotter in New York and Washington. More of the same is expected today.
This somewhat-unusual […]

So the other day I was in the produce department at the supermarket and was about to buy a few bananas at 79¢ per pound when I noticed a couple brown paper bags marked 99¢. Inside were eight or nine bananas and only a few were beginning to develop spots. I took one, a middle-aged […]

The convenience of no-bake fruit pies can’t be denied, but neither can their frequent shortcomings. Often they’re little more than a baked pie shell with fruit in a runny pool of syrup or they’re strawberries coated with a neon-red, artificial-tasting, cloyingly-sweet commercial glaze.
My mother used to make a no-bake strawberry pie that didn’t pool, but […]

Since I do practice what I advocate — cuisine d’opportunité – I have another, but very different, raspberry recipe on the heels of raspberry fool. I found gorgeous berries at a great price a few days ago and bought several containers; the savings with this raspberry vinaigrette recipe alone pays for them all.
I don’t know what bothers […]

This is one fool I’ll suffer gladly and it doesn’t have to be a raspberry fool. Strawberry fool, blackberry fool, blueberry fool are all welcome. Even red currant fool, which is why I learned to make this in the first place.
This dessert is a cousin to the trifle and goes back hundreds of years. In […]

This moist bone-in pork roast, with a reduction made from apple juice, is a perfect recipe when you want a main course that’s OMG delicious but requires little work. When carved at the table, it’s impressive too.
It’s the dish I referred to in Opportunities to Stretch a Food Budget and it’s one of my favorites. The pork gets […]

What’s not debatable is how delicious this four-ingredient dip is. It was served Thursday night at a little gathering to watch the debate. I asked for the recipe faster than you can say “senator” and stopped on the way home for a bag of frozen cherries.
This dip is ideal for cherries because it has almond […]

When this landed in my inbox last week from Nestle, I knew I had to make it for Valentine’s Day, but my dilemma was how to make it in advance, to share here, and show the layers without cutting into it. The solution was to make it in a springform pan instead of a square […]

In my corner of the world, fresh fruit in the dead of winter often comes from Chile. Many supermarkets have Chilean promotions or “summer in January” sales, as if a bounty of fruit might trick me into forgetting I’m wearing so many layers that I’m as bulky as a teddy bear. I’m rightly skeptical about a […]

This is big-flavor delicious. In addition to the ingredients here, a little white wine and chicken broth round out the picture. The bonus is it’s simple enough that anyone, including novices, can put a lean, impressive main course on the table.
Beautiful blood oranges are in season and I had a couple in the fridge when this […]