Main meals - BasilandFig

Spring, in Sum

The house finches have made their nest in the porch again, and every time we go out there we are met with a startled brown flutter of wings. If we dare to sit out there for longer than five minutes to try to enjoy the sunset or an afternoon beer, we are serenaded by angry chirruping [...]

Lentejas con Chorizo, or: A Hearty Stew for Frigid Nights

My friend Heather studied abroad in Seville for a year when we were in college. Her host mother, Julia (pronounced: ‘Hoo-lee-a’)(or maybe it was Julieta?), spoke only in Spanish to her and also told Heather that she was her favorite of all the host students she’d ever had, which was quite possibly true.

In contrast, my [...]

I Realize Now It’s Not a Pie

The weekend before last I was a bridesmaid in my friend Ashley’s wedding. Things went as they normally do (hair, makeup, dress, bouquets) until, as we were walking across the lawn to go into the church, the sole of my shoe fell off.

But the problem was it did not fall completely off; the heel portion [...]

In Typical Fashion

I don’t know what, exactly, to say about the following cauliflower recipe, except that it is very, very good.

My friend sent it to me in an email, with only the comment, “I sent this recipe to my mom and thought you might like it too. We made it last week and it’s awesome. I [...]

I Think I Nailed It

When I studied abroad in Austria, I was assigned to live with a Christian host family because I was vegetarian.

These two things have nothing, really, to do with one another, but the housing coordinator was trained to look for commonalities among people based on a brief paper survey. So she decided that the only other [...]

Superfood Soup

Andy and I made the mistake of going to Whole Foods a few weeks ago.

I say ‘mistake’ because, as someone who has a thing called a ‘budget’ for the weekly groceries, Whole Foods is not exactly an uplifting place to be. “Hey!” it says, “Look at all this beautiful, artisan-crafted food that you cannot afford [...]

Cajun Veggie Chili

In the spirit of, ‘We’ve been making a lot of soups!,’ let me share one with you.

This recipe comes from Parade magazine, via my great-aunt Suzy & Uncle Bert. Now, say what you will about Parade magazine (that it is stupid and boring and full of fluff and does anyone ever actually read it?) but I [...]

Basil-Gouda Mac and Cheese

I was rummaging around the freezer the other day when I found a tupperware from last year labeled “Pesto 10-28.” I used the pesto in a batch of bagels (that I just now realized I never posted a recipe for, since apparently I am a lazy idiot).

Anyway, it got me thinking about last year’s first [...]

Pizza Margherita

The summer after my junior year in college, I traveled around Europe with my friend Daneen. We went to Greece and Italy and a smattering of other central- and eastern-European countries, but most of our time was spent in Italy & Greece.

In Italy, we made our way down the boot. First Venice (pigeons! disgusting! tourist [...]

Some Things That Are Not Good To Eat and Some Things That Are, Or: My Possible Sleep Disorder and a Recipe for Summer Vegetable Orzo

The other night I was having this dream about food. We were at a restaurant, or maybe I was cooking at home. There was a meatloaf terrine-thing—basically a rectangular block of meat with a layer of potatoes all around it, which was then rolled in panko or maybe cornflake crumbs, and then there was a [...]

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