CREAMY 10-SPICE BEAN & VEGGIE SOUP

Blogger, cookbook author, and vegan ambassador Angela Liddon changed my mind some years ago about plant-based eating and cooking; it’s no wonder her blog, Oh She Glows, has more than a million followers and her cookbooks are best-sellers. I return often to her 10-spice vegetable soup with cashew cream and tinker endlessly with the recipe, […]

Roasted Tomato Sauce With Vegetables Over Farro

When we’re craving Italian flavors but need to avoid the heaviness a big plate of pasta delivers, we can lighten up — and still be happy. In this bowl, roasted tomatoes star, with supporting help from onion, garlic, zucchini and mushroom. To give the sauce a little more protein and substance, I puree a cup or […]

SALMON EN PAPILLOTE

Living in Texas, we grill outside every month of the year — the weather is usually that mild. But on the occasions that we don’t throw salmon filets on the grill, I love baking these in pretty parchment paper packages. It’s ridiculously easy and quick, and the healthy factor is off the charts. You don’t have […]

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

Because there’s only so much virtuous eating we can tolerate, a splurge dessert needs to be at the ready for those cheat days — right? Writing a lot of Valentine’s stories makes me think of my favorite chocolate creations, and nothing is easier and more decadent than chocolate mousse. When I made this a couple of […]

VEGGIE FRITTATA

Sunday wasn’t my favorite day for many years. The end of the weekend gave me the blues from childhood onward, in general — until brunch became the joy we know it as today. Brunch mitigates the difficulty of saying good-bye to a day or two of rest, if you’re doing it right. And once I […]

BEEF BOURGUIGNON

Sometimes a deeply soothing dish is one we deem perfect for a special occasion. There’s nothing fancy about chicken and dumplings or pot roast, but if it’s your favorite thing to eat, you want it for your birthday, right? That’s kind of how beef bourguignon came to be the go-to dish when my husband and […]

Mushroom Risotto

For a little pre-Christmas gift, Yeti (my nickname for my large, formidable husband) bought himself a mushroom kit. In 10 days, this science experiment went from a plain brown block to a forest of the most beautiful pioppino mushrooms I’ve ever seen. Taking over one corner of our dining room table, this mushroom grove producing […]

Graceanna’s Almond-Butter Cake

Like everyone else, I’ve lost count of how many ways this Christmas is different. My beloved sisters and their families, who usually visit here from out of state, are staying home. Six months ago, Mom moved away from her big, beautiful house where we celebrated 25 beautiful Christmases. Tonight, Christmas Eve, instead of our customarily […]

PUMPKIN BUTTER

Researching a story on pumpkin everything, I was reminded about good, old-fashioned pumpkin butter. It’s delicious on hot biscuits and pecan waffles, and I realize I haven’t noticed it around much lately. I asked the Doves Nest in Waxahachie to share its recipe for the story, and for my own purposes here, I fiddled with […]

Stuffed Pumpkin

I fell in love with my husband a little bit at a time, starting with a kitchen interlude exactly 10 years ago this month. He’d just moved back to Texas, and we were having a drink. He asked if I’d heard an interview with cookbook author Dorie Greenspan that day on NPR — and I […]