I'm a little sick of the traditional Thanksgiving meal. That's why this year I plan on serving slightly different versions of old favorites — like a turkey roulade instead of a whole roasted turkey, for instance. Rather than the usual green bean casserole, I'm reaching for a neo-Southern riff on the creamed spinach standby, and plan on impressing guests with creamed collard greens. Unlike Read more

I'm convinced that nature knows best, because just as I started brown-bagging my lunch again, my local supermarket was offering late Summer vegetables at rock-bottom prices. Zucchini at 59 cents a pound? I decided it was time to start hoarding. Ideally, zucchini has a nice crunch and a subtle, botanical flavor that's best brought out with a minimalist dressing like this one — olive oil, lemon, Read more

My lifelong relationship with rice has been solid yet stagnant: growing up in a Chinese household, plain white rice served hot out of the rice maker was integral to every lunch and dinner, although it never strayed from its spartan form. Yet recently, my intrigue with this herbed rice salad from David Tanis's latest cookbook has sparked something of a phenomenon. I no longer want to eat plain Read more

Everything tastes better when cooked on the grill — including fingerling potatoes! Thanks for the inspiration Dice215. A great side dish for anything from chicken, burgers, steak, you name it! Want to check out the recipe? You can find it on her blog. Have you got an amazing photo to share? Upload it to the YumSugar Community now! Read more

Fava beans are a much-maligned Spring vegetable, and for somewhat good reason. Not only do they have a haunting cultural meme attached to their reputation, but you've also got to work to enjoy them: these beans require shucking, boiling, and then shelling before they can be applied to any recipe. Or so I thought, until I discovered this brilliant grilling technique. Start with young fava bean Read more

Panzanella is an Italian bread salad that's traditionally made in the Summer with day old bread, tomatoes, and basil. However, I love this salad and I make it year-round. So does Michael Chiarello, apparently, because he's got recipes for Spring and Winter panzanellas that incorporate seasonal ingredients. Over the weekend I was invited to a picnic and decided it was the ideal time to experiment Read more

Sometimes it's nice to prepare a big bowl of beans; then, you can use the beans over and over again to make different dishes throughout the week. Tonight I suggest you throw together a pot of these fragrant and flavorful black beans. The recipe calls for canned beans, so you don't have to worry about overnight-soaking or cooking for a long period of time. Serve the beans in a crispy taco shell, Read more

When it comes to making Latin cuisine at home, I normally cook Americanized dishes like nachos. However, at a restaurant, I eat more traditional dishes that involve a side of rice and beans. While the beans vary, sometimes they're refried pintos other times they're saucy black, the rice is almost always Spanish rice. It's orange and has a distinct tomatoey taste. My friend Emily has been making Read more