Gołąbki in casserole form—unrolling cabbage rolls

This layered cabbage roll casserole delivers the comforting flavor of gołąbki (cabbage rolls) without all the effort of making the rolls. Recipe below.

IF, LIKE ME, YOU GREW UP WITH A MOM WHO WOULD MAKE GOŁĄBKI—the comforting, homey classic that not-Polish people call cabbage rolls—then you sometimes just get a hankering. And it’s an itch that is not easy to scratch. Gołąbki (pronounced go-UMPki), frankly, is a colossal nuisance. It is complicated. It is time consuming. It demands a particular appearance, and it is very easy to ruin. Continue reading “Gołąbki in casserole form—unrolling cabbage rolls” →

Easy-to-make “College Fudge,” a women’s colleges legacy

Four simple ingredients and minimal effort create rich, delicious fudge. Recipe and multiple variations below.

I WAS TODAY YEARS OLD WHEN I FOUND OUT HOW EASY IT IS TO MAKE FUDGE. Really, I had no idea. I thought it was an ornate process requiring marble slabs, special molds and spatulas, numerous ingredients and long hours. Turns out, none of that is the case. Continue reading “Easy-to-make “College Fudge,” a women’s colleges legacy” →

French Apple Cake

A few extra simple steps create a delightful fruit-filled cake you’ll be happy to share—or keep for yourself. Recipe below.

WE’VE BEEN IN THE MOOD TO BAKE LATELY. So when a wintry cold snap aligned with a new-to-us apple find, we were ready to warm up the kitchen and try a new-to-us apple cake recipe. Continue reading “French Apple Cake” →

Quick Tomato Rice Cheese Casserole

Adapt this weeknight-quick, satisfying casserole based on what’s in your fridge—or what you’re hankering for. recipe below.

AT MY WORKPLACE, WE ARE ALWAYS TALKING ABOUT ROI—RETURN ON INVESTMENT—AND THE ROI FOR THIS RECIPE IS IMMENSE. This is one of those classic recipes that is weeknight fast and super flexible. The key ingredients are tomatoes, rice and cheese. What else you add depends on what you have in your fridge and what you’re in the mood for. For this batch, we included kielbasa and green bell pepper.
Continue reading “Quick Tomato Rice Cheese Casserole” →

Inspired by Indian curries, Charred Leek Gulai Sayur

Often described as Indonesian curry, gulais are rich, spicy stews. This plant-based one features leeks as the key ingredient. Recipe below.

LIBRARIES ARE ONE OF THE GREAT INSTITUTIONS OF MODERN SOCIETY, and we love them. Early in the pandemic, when we were able to get our first vaccinations, the first public place we went was not a bar or a restaurant, but the Harold Washington Library—the gem that is Chicago’s central library. That’s where we recently came across a gem of a cookbook, A Splash of Soy: Everyday Food from Asia—Charred Leek Gulai Sayur is the second recipe we’ve cooked from it. Continue reading “Inspired by Indian curries, Charred Leek Gulai Sayur” →

Spicy Tofu Stir Fry

This quick, simple dish with sweet/tangy/spicy Asian flavors can be an exciting vegetarian side or a main course. Recipe below.

TOFU IS A WONDERFUL BLANK CANVAS, ready to take on all kinds of flavors and textures, depending on the tofu you choose and how you cook it. It’s also a chameleon, used in many cuisines in many countries. It’s often used as a vegetarian source of protein, but then again, many Asian dishes combine it with animal protein. Spicy Tofu Stir Fry is a vegetarian dish, but it can be served as a side or as a main course. See what we mean? Continue reading “Spicy Tofu Stir Fry” →

Nantucket Pie (or cake or cobbler or…)

A traditional dessert from Massachusetts, Nantucket Pie combines cranberries, nuts and lots of butter to create a rich, tart, sweet, festive treat. Recipe below.

NANTUCKET PIE IS A VENN DIAGRAM KIND OF DESSERT, occupying the overlap among tart, cobbler and cake. It’s sweet, tart and festive looking. It’s incredibly fast and simple to put together—really, it’s the perfect thing for a beginning baker—and when it comes out of the oven, it smells delightful. What it is not is pie, but that’s fine. Continue reading “Nantucket Pie (or cake or cobbler or…)” →

Butter Beans with Roasted Tomatoes

Butter beans cooked with roasted tomatoes, garlic and a red bell pepper, served over Greek yogurt make a delicious light meal or side. Recipe below.

THE OTHER DAY, I WAS NOODLING AROUND ONLINE, actually hunting for photos of English house interiors, when I stumbled on a recipe from a new book, Ottolenghi Comfort, by Yotam Ottolenghi and his frequent collaborator Helen Goh, along with Verena Lochmuller and Tara Wigley. I am always interested in anything Ottolenghi and his friends create—his first cookbook, Plenty, is a tried-and-true at our house—and this latest collaborative work looks like it will be marvelous too. One recipe that caught my eye was Butter Beans with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes. Continue reading “Butter Beans with Roasted Tomatoes” →

Healthy, autumnal, delicious: Cauliflower Potato Soup

Cauliflower (roasted or not), potatoes, miso paste and aromatics create a healthy, satisfying vegetarian soup. Recipe below.

OTHER PEOPLE IMPULSE-BUY SHOES, OR JEWELRY, OR CANDY. Me? Well, just before our Upper Peninsula trip, I bought: a cauliflower. Which I forgot about until a couple of days ago when Terry reminded me of its existence. There it was, that forgotten impulse purchase, lurking in the produce bin, amazingly still white and fresh. Continue reading “Healthy, autumnal, delicious: Cauliflower Potato Soup” →

Two deliciously different red cabbage salads

Two recipes this week: Red Cabbage and Carrot Coleslaw, and Korean-inspired Red Cabbage Potsticker Salad.

A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO WE WENT TO A BIG FUN FAMILY BARBECUE in Milwaukee, and our daughter Laurel brought a huge bowl of coleslaw—a recipe that as far as I can tell, she made up the night before. It was wonderful! Crisp, flavorful, fresh, crunchy, and very pretty—just the thing to accompany the many awesome, meaty mains. Continue reading “Two deliciously different red cabbage salads” →