This week marks the first time I will be celebrating my birthday as a gluten-free, dairy-free, and refined-sugar-free person. Friends have expressed their condolences, staring into space with looks of pity (or is that horror?) as they imagine a birthday without a "real" cake.
Me, on the other hand, I'm feeling energized and ready to pile my plate with a tumble of biscuits, strawberries, and cream. It's strawberry shortcake season!
When it comes to cocktails, by no means does "frozen" necessarily translate to "frilly". In fact, one hot spot in the Midwest has a menu of high-end, rock star cocktails all served frozen. Inspired by the heat and in a toast to the 4th of July, this week we decided to follow suit and take the gin and tonic, that most sublime summertime sip, to the frozen side of cocktails.
A sweet, rich onion topping enhances the umami, or savory flavor, of these burgers. Look for 93% lean ground beef, which is enough fat to keep the burgers moist and tender, and lean enough to keep them healthy.
The coconut rice and curried corn in this recipe could very well be eaten separately, and they would make fine additions to lunch or dinner, but the combination of the two is truly special. I call for my homemade Jamaican curry powder, giving the corn a complex spicy, sweet, and slightly sour flavor profile.
Even if you don’t plan to make a whole 4th of July feast on your own, this is one of those dishes that always impresses when you show up at someone else’s cookout.
It’s no secret that watermelon is the "it" ingredient this summer. It’s on craft cocktail menus, it’s served with mint and ricotta in super Instagram-able salads at mega hip restaurants everywhere, and it’s still the best barbecue go-to in all the land.
I love watermelon everything, but I haven’t figured out the perfect way to create a cocktail that doesn’t overpower the light, sweet taste. That’s why I was beyond excited to put together the Everclear® Watermelon Negroni, which let’s you fully enjoy the watermelon, without letting its flavor disappear into alcohol oblivion. It’s basically like eating a ripe watermelon, only there’s alcohol involved, and what could be better? That was a rhetorical question, because literally nothing can compare to this Watermelon Negroni.
Being from Memphis, I’ve been a bit nervous about crafting a recipe for barbecue sauce. People take barbecue seriously in my hometown, and from all available evidence, Memphis-style barbecue sauce is better than any other. In the past, I’ve created a barbecue-inspired marinade in which to bake tofu or tempeh, but this is my first attempt at making a proper sauce.
Hot off the grill, this Spicy Korean Chicken will not disappoint. Using chicken drumsticks and chicken thigh meat doused in a spicy, flavorful marinade, this grilled chicken needs to make an appearance on your dinner table soon!
Being from Memphis, I’ve been a bit nervous about crafting a recipe for barbecue sauce. People take barbecue seriously in my hometown, and from all available evidence, Memphis-style barbecue sauce is better than any other. In the past, I’ve created a barbecue-inspired marinade in which to bake tofu or tempeh, but this is my first attempt at making a proper sauce.
The Juicy Lucy — a thin burger with an oozing cheese filling — is beloved in Minneapolis, where two rival bars claim to have "invented" it. They are ideally suited to be made with lean ground turkey, because a Juicy Lucy is always served well-done. Just be sure to serve it with plenty of napkins!
It's the time of year when farmers market stands are bursting with gorgeous berries and their sweet smells fill the air. Don't resist. Go ahead grab a pint of each! If you can keep yourself from eating them all before you get home, make yourself a pitcher of this sangria — the first in a series this month of sangrias inspired by the farmers market.
You can’t go wrong serving these kebabs this 4th of July. You can prepare them in advance, and they’re practically a meal unto themselves when served along with couscous, potato salad, or a grain-based dish. And what a great way to showcase summer’s bounty of vegetables!
Whether you need a quick side to go along with a lunch salad or something warm and tasty to bring along to a BBQ, keeping a jar of this cornbread mix around will always come in handy. Made with only a few, common dry ingredients, this mix is easy to use and even easier to put together. Say "so long" to store-bought mixes, and start making your own cornbread mix this summer!
I think we can all agree there's no way we could get through summer without ice cream. Or in my case, I couldn't get through one week, let alone the three hottest months of the year. So, here's a sweet treat to cool you down: a chocolate-cherry ice cream that's tinted just the tiniest hint of pink.
Zucchini bread, zucchini chips, zucchini, zucchini, zucchini. Our goal this week has been to give you a few fresh ideas for this most ubiquitous of summer squash, recipes to wake you up instead of making you hit the snooze button one more time. This stir-fry from Michael Natkin of Herbivoracious is exactly what you need: it's fast, needs only five ingredients, and has a spicy kick.
Mark my words: This is the easy, crowd-pleasing appetizer I will be serving all summer long. Blistered shishito and padron peppers (they're basically interchangeable here) are so much more addictive than you might expect from such a simple dish. It's something about the interplay of crunchy salt, rich oil, and smoky peppers — you can't stop at just one.
Or maybe the addictiveness comes from the fact that you're playing Russian roulette with every bite — there are a few mega-spicy interlopers in every batch of otherwise mellow peppers, but there's no telling which ones.
I think most of us know (and love) Heidi Swanson's website, 101 Cookbooks. It has certainly been one of my favorite food reads for many years, and I am always inspired by the way Heidi brings vegetables to the fore, often in unexpected ways. So when we were hunting for some fresh ways to feature zucchini and squash this week, Heidi's books were one of the first places I looked.
This soup is one of the rare soups that really sounds good in the summertime — a spicy, tangy blend of Thai red curry paste, coconut milk, tofu, and squash. It'll make you sweat — in a good way.
This is, hands down, my favorite way to eat yellow summer squash. And I realize this might be due to a nostalgic predilection for Southern-style vegetables (i.e., cooked until they "surrender"), but trust me: As far as savory-sweet combinations go, this is one of the best.
I'm pretty sure that zucchini bread is the whole reason that zucchini exists. How else would we get to make a tender, rich, and ever-so-slightly sweet cake like this and still be able to call it healthy?
This past weekend I joined my family for a lazy afternoon in the park. The sun was blazing, we rode our bikes, and a water fight ensued, which we followed up with some serious napping. When we woke up to a subtle, perfect breeze, we dove into this tofu "egg" salad with gusto.
Oh, hello there! Were you just thinking you'd like a bite of cheesecake without the bother of water baths or a hot kitchen? One that would, perhaps, win you friends and earn you accolades at backyard picnics this summer? Why, me too! Great minds really do think alike.
