Mouthing Off

Photo © Stephanie Meyer.

Every cook wants to know how to make this superb soup, and the reason is its simplicity. As in all Italian food, simplicity trumps all. A mixture of greens is great in the recipe, but if you just use escarole, so be it. I first had soup like this in Cervinia in northern Italy, on a spring ski trip. Small huts dotted the lower slopes of the ski resort so you could schuss up, eat a bowl of soup and ski off quickly. This is farmhouse cooking at its best. I think the bread makes the soup what it is. You tell me, but I can assure you that this will become a staple of your repertoire right away. SEE RECIPE »

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Quinoa-Leek Pilaf © Jessica Sample

F&W Executive Food Editor Tina Ujlaki applies her incredible cooking knowledge to explaining what to do with a variety of interesting ingredients.

By now everyone knows that fiber-rich whole grains are good for you, and even that they are delicious, too. Nevertheless, I know that a lot of people still shy away from preparing grains like farro, wheat berries and quinoa (that’s KEEN-wa) because they think they’ll take forever to cook.

Now there’s no excuse, because Village Harvest has done it for you, and they’ve done it very well. Their five varieties of precooked frozen grains and blends—red quinoa and brown rice; brown, red and wild rice; wheat berry and barley; farro and red rice; and golden quinoa—can be heated in a microwave in moments, and they’re all perfectly al dente. Delicious as they are on their own as side dishes, tossed with seasonings and herbs, you can just as easily turn them into pilafs or salads or stir them into soups or pancake batters.

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Courtesy of Lilli Carré

So, you think you’re a serious juicer? Have you taken a juice vacation? Because that’s the new standard for real juicers. F&W's Kate Krader names more of the top trends in juicing.>>

Okra gets charred and tender on the grill; tossing it with lime and store-bought curry paste gives it great flavor. / © Con Poulos

Food & Wine's senior recipe developer, Grace Parisi, is a Test Kitchen superstar. In this series, she shares some of her favorite recipes to make right now.

We've done a few really great okra recipes over the years. The ones I love the most have been grilled or pan roasted until lightly charred and tender. The recipe I developed for our September three-ingredient story uses grilled okra that gets glazed with a simple dressing of Thai red curry paste, lime juice and olive oil. It's so easy and quick, it almost doesn't feel right to call it a recipe, but sometimes the simplest things can have the most complex flavors. SEE RECIPE »

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This healthier version of old-school Southern grits uses less cheese, no butter and adds iron-rich spinach. / © Quentin Bacon

Food & Wine's senior recipe developer, Grace Parisi, is a Test Kitchen superstar. In this series, she shares some of her favorite recipes to make right now.

Shrimp and Grits is one of my favorite all-time dishes. If you're willing to forgo long-cooking grits in favor of quick (not instant) grits, the dish is not only rich, flavorful, creamy and delicious, it's also superfast. I developed this recipe as part of my column on New Southern Classics (Ham Steak with Red Eye Gravy, Biscuits and Sausage Gravy, Etouffee). This is one of those Southern comfort foods that can be ungodly rich, with tons of cream, butter and cheese. I lightened it up considerably by taking out the cream, paring back the butter and cheese (it's still pretty cheesy) and folding in baby spinach to add a nutitious punch. One of my favorite Spanish tapas dishes is gambas al ajillo (shrimp with garlic and oil). I sort of tweaked it a bit by adding smoked paprika, which stands in for smoky bacon, and spooned it over the grits. I'm not a huge calorie counter, though I do watch what I eat. This one never leaves me feeling anything but satisfied and guilt-free. SEE RECIPE »

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The chipotle chiles for this spicy fresh-corn salad are available in the Latin section of big supermarkets around the country. / © Kristen Strecker

Food & Wine's senior recipe developer, Grace Parisi, is a Test Kitchen superstar. In this series, she shares some of her favorite recipes to make right now.

We sometimes joke in the kitchen that a particular chef whom I adore, uses the same three ingredients (often in the same dish) over and over and over: honey, lime and chipotle. Yeah, it's a magical combination, and one I've used often enough, so I can't really get too snarky. In this  dish, though, I've allowed the grilled corn and vidalia onions to be the only source of sweetness. It's balanced by the tartness of the lime and the heat of the chipotles is smoothed out by the sour cream. I love it alongside a smoky charred rib eye or even grilled salmon. SEE RECIPE »

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Give healthy, protein-packed edamame a flavor
boost with different sauces and spices.
© James Baigrie

F&W Executive Food Editor Tina Ujlaki applies her incredible cooking knowledge to explaining what to do with a variety of interesting ingredients.

A little light went off the first time I tried Daniel Orr’s olive-oil-and-spice–tossed edamame recipe, and I haven’t eaten a plain pod since. The genius lies in the fact that to get to the beans, you have to sort of bite them out of the pods anyway, so why not add flavor to suit your mood. Some of my favorite iterations include olive oil and curry powder, soy sauce and toasted sesame oil, and cumin, roasted pumpkin seed oil and lime.

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Double the recipe for these grilled shrimp skewers for a fantastic shrimp salad the next day. / © Con Poulos

Food & Wine's senior recipe developer, Grace Parisi, is a Test Kitchen superstar. In this series, she shares some of her favorite recipes to make right now.

Everyone loves food on a stick—it's superfun! From a cook's perspective, it's also extremely easy: perfect portion control (one or two skewers per person), plus you turn each skewer as opposed to each individual shrimp. I just bought this gorgeous tub of yellow miso and some shrimp from my local Asian market/fishmonger, so this recipe was a natural choice. I doubled the recipe to be able to make shrimp salad the next day, but we ate most of that batch, too. SEE RECIPE »

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Make sure to use peaches that are firm enough to hold their shape once diced for this flavorful fruit relish. / © Tina Rupp

Food & Wine's senior recipe developer, Grace Parisi, is a Test Kitchen superstar. In this series, she shares some of her favorite recipes to make right now.

This relish is sort of a cross between a Thai green papaya salad and fresh mango chutney, but it uses peaches and is loosely Vietnamese in demeanor…if that makes any sense. SEE RECIPE »

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These quick pickles require no heat—just shake the ingredients for the brine together and pour them over raw wax beans. / © Petrina Tinslay

Food & Wine's senior recipe developer, Grace Parisi, is a Test Kitchen superstar. In this series, she shares some of her favorite recipes to make right now.

A quick trip to the farmers' market yielded a big bag of mixed green and yellow wax beans—also some broad Romano beans, which I promptly turned into these gorgeous quick pickles. All I served them with the next day was a fresh, crusty baguette, lots of unsalted butter, sliced radishes and a good sprinkling of coarse sea salt. Divine! SEE RECIPE »

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