I’ve been to one Super Bowl party in my life. I’ve watched my fair share of college football, but that was because I was in the marching band, so I wasn’t tailgating or watching the game with a spread of snack foods and beer and such. Consequently, I don’t have much experience with football food, but even so, I KNOW these polenta fries would fit right in at a football party! They’re cheesy, salty, ...
cheese
Three-Cheese Turkey Lasagna with Broccoli
It recently came to my attention that I had never made homemade lasagna, which seemed like a major oversight on my part – I’ve made a Greek version of lasagna, called pastitsio, which involves tubular pasta (similar to ziti) rather than flat noodles and a layer of béchamel sauce, but never a traditional lasagna! New Year’s Eve this past year was as good a time as any for lasagna, I decided, since ...
Cranberry Brie “Ravioli” Pastries
Surprise – it’s another recipe with cranberries! I may have been a tad overzealous when I was buying cranberries at the grocery store before Thanksgiving, but their color was so vibrant and tantalizing that I couldn't resist. Plus, cranberries have lots of antioxidants, so they’re really healthy for you (possibly less so when surrounded by cheese and buttery crust, but let’s not dwell on that). ...
Cheddar Apple Cinnamon Buns
When I was really young, my family had a Klutz Kids Cooking book. The only thing I remember from this book was a recipe for “Happle Bagel Sandwiches”: a bagel topped with apple slices, cheddar cheese, and cinnamon. I’m not sure why we stopped making these over time, but I only remember eating them as a small child (probably 5 or younger). When thumbing through Deb Perelman’s The Smitten Kitchen ...
Barbecue Chicken Pizza
A couple of weeks ago, I posted a recipe for tater tot pizza. When I made that pizza, I doubled the recipe for the dough and froze half to use later, since it’s really not any more work to make a bigger batch of dough. Today, all I had to do for a scrumptious homemade pizza dinner was thaw the dough, prepare the toppings, and bake! If you’re using dough from the freezer, you’ll want to take it out ...
Feta and Dill Orzo Salad
I first made this feta and dill orzo salad a few weeks after I returned from studying abroad in Greece one summer in college. By the end of my stay, I thought I had eaten enough tomatoes and feta to last me a lifetime, but soon enough I found myself missing the flavors of Greece. This recipe brings back fond memories of leisurely meals at carefree and balmy tavernas, and the best part is that ...
Spicy Chipotle Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
Macaroni and cheese was always one of my favorite dishes as a child, whether made from scratch or from a box. Either way, my mom usually tried to spiff it up, adding tuna or broccoli or something. Truth be told, even though I liked tuna and broccoli, I preferred my mac and cheese unadulterated – I just wanted straight-up pasta and cheese. Total kid food, right? My tastes have become somewhat more ...
Halloumi Stuffed Peppers
Halloumi, where have you BEEN all of my life?! Besides, you know, Cyprus. Apparently. This was my second time using this glorious Cyprian cheese, and I have a feeling I'll be buying a lot more of it in the coming months. I’ve never been to Cyprus, but given its ties to the Greek world—trade networks between Cyprus and Greece existed even as far back as the fourteenth century BC—and the ...
Broccoli Couscous with Halloumi
I recently tried halloumi for the first time. I have to admit that the first time I heard the name, I wasn’t sure if it was a kind of cheese or fish. As I found out, halloumi is a cheese from Cyprus, and it has a texture somewhat similar to mozzarella (a bit squeakier, though) and a tang similar to feta. Together, the halloumi, tomatoes, and dill create a fresh Mediterranean flavor. I made this ...
Strawberry Sourdough Grilled Cheese
During my sophomore year of college, I developed a ritual of going downtown to a certain café whenever I had to write a paper. I would order their club panini and outline my paper on index cards while I ate. For a whole year, each paper that I outlined while eating a club panini received an A. The one or two times that I didn’t make it downtown to organize my thoughts, I earned a lesser ...