Serve the soup with all the fixings laid out on the table and let folks pick and choose their garnishes. Now that’s festive and fun! The Enchilada Sauce The soup base is inspired by a traditional red enchilada sauce, with deep red ancho chilis as the hallmark. Ancho chilis are dried green poblanos. It has a smoky flavor and a little heat, but it’s not hair-on-fire spicy. For this recipe I use ground ancho chili powder as a shortcut....

Easy Steak Appetizer FTW This appetizer just might be my all time favorite. These savory little bites are perfect for entertaining because you can make them in advance and just pop them in the oven when you are ready. In only about 15 minutes you and your guests will be devouring these bite-sized appetizers on a stick. Looking for more? Check out all of our healthy appetizer recipes! How to make bacon wrapped steak bites Grab some toothpicks, a sheet pan and a sharp knife, and you’re ready to prep these bites!...

We had enchiladas at least once a month my entire childhood; it’s still the most requested recipe from any of my siblings when they come home to visit. We’ll often make extra just so my father can have leftover enchiladas for breakfast the next day (it’s his version of chilaquiles). How to Make Enchiladas My mother, a fifth generation Hispanic Arizonian, was taught this recipe by my grandmother. Here’s her step-by-step guide to how to make enchiladas using yellow corn tortillas, a cheesy filling, and a tomato and green chile sauce....

Enter Joshua McFadden and Martha Holmberg’s instant classic, “Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables.” While there are plenty of excellent recipes packed into this cookbook, the one I keep going back to again and again is the “Kale Sauce with Any Noodle.” The vibrant kale sauce is simply a blend of kale, pasta water, olive oil, garlic, and Parmesan cheese. While it may not sound like much, it’s a forgiving, quick, easy, and flavorful pasta with a beautiful green hue....

As good as they were (and they were really good!), I don’t want to turn on the oven for eight hours and hang around to stir them every once in a while. (Maybe next time I’ll try cooking the beans in a pressure cooker!) That’s what makes this stovetop recipe using canned beans so appealing. It tastes like they were made completely from scratch, but they are ready in forty minutes or less with very little hands-on time....

Esquites, also known as elote en vaso, is a very special way to prepare corn in Mexico. White Mexican corn kernels are gently fried in butter, then cooked with epazote leaves (an herb) and chiles. Once the pot of corn releases its distinctive sweet aroma, it is ready to serve with a variety of toppings. Traditionally served hot in plastic or Styrofoam cups with some of the cooking liquid, the esquites is topped with mayo, a dollop of crema, ground chiles, a good amount of lime juice, a sprinkle of queso cotija, and a generous dash of spicy salsa....

How to Get Crispy Jicama Fries Looking for some more fries? Check out these baked butternut squash fries, plantain fries or grilled sweet potato fries! If you have an air fryer, use it for this recipe. If you don’t, you can still bake them in the oven for similar results but the air fryer helps dry the jicama out and gives the fries an extra crispy texture. Also, you need to boil the jicama before baking or air frying it....

Galangal holds a special place in many Asian cuisines, including Cambodian, Indian, Chinese, Thai, Indonesian, and Vietnamese foods. Popular applications of the ingredient include tom yum and tom kha gai, soups consumed in Thailand and Laos, and Soto ayam, a traditional Indonesian chicken soup. Another common way to cook with the ingredient is to steep galangal in water for tea. Galangal vs. Ginger Despite belonging to the same family, there are significant differences in appearance, flavor, and texture between galangal and ginger....

Tips for Successful Gluten-Free Baking When a gluten-free bread or baked good doesn’t taste quite right, it’s usually because of the texture. Gluten is an elastic protein found in wheat (and barley and rye) that gives structure and a satisfying chewiness. Without it, gluten-free baked goods have the potential to be dense, crumbly, and disappointing even if the flavor is on point. But they don’t have to be! With the right recipe, you can end up with a final product that is just as good or, dare I say, even better than the gluten-filled version....

It’s sweet, tart, and all too easy to sip. Enjoy it for happy hour on the porch, or even as part of a lazy weekend brunch! What’s a Gold Rush Cocktail and What’s in It? A Gold Rush is a simple whiskey-based cocktail that was created at the now-closed New York City bar, Milk & Honey, in the mid-2000s by T.J. Siegel.The cocktail is essentially a riff on a classic Whiskey Sour, which is made with a whiskey, be it bourbon, rye, or even Scotch, along with lemon juice, simple syrup, egg white, and a dash of Angostura bitters....

Cozy Start To The Day Initially the thought of moving away from coffee everyday made me want to cry. Like curl up in a ball and rock and cry because how could life really ever be any good without coffee?? Ok, dramatic much? I know. But really, it was daunting to think of giving up coffee in the morning. I realized though, that what I actually love about my morning ritual is just having a warm, cozy cup of SOMETHING in my hand....

Corned beef is essentially beef cured in a salt brine, with some pickling spices for added flavor. It gets its name “corn” from an old English word for grain, or small pieces of hard things the size of grain, such as salt. How Is Corned Beef Made? Over the years, many of my friends have encouraged me to cure my own corned beef, insisting that it wasn’t hard to do, and well worth the effort....

If it’s fig season and you’re meeting my mother for the first time, right after “nice to meet you” you’ll hear, “do you like figs?” with a look of hopeful anticipation. Mom can never find enough neighbors, friends, ladies at the exercise class to give figs to so she dries and freezes some, and with others makes a wonderful fig microwave jam. Microwave jam, what’s that? Mom’s Jamming Secret: The Microwave That, my friends, is the way my mother makes jams....

For such a simple item, there are a lot of factors to consider when selecting a cutting board. A cutting board seems relatively benign, but improper use can make it one of the most bacteria-laden items in a kitchen. Here’s how to choose a cutting board that makes sense for your budget and lifestyle, and how to keep it safe and sanitary. Things to Consider When Choosing a Cutting Board First of all, relax....

But if you follow a vegan diet or you’re thinking of transitioning to one, meal planning can be even more of a lifesaver than it is for omnivores. Here are the major reasons why it can be so helpful to meal plan as a vegan. Why It’s So Helpful to Meal Plan As a Vegan Less ego depletion. As a plant-based eater, you may have spent the day abstaining from non-vegan doughnuts in the breakroom and settling for a side salad at a restaurant lunch....

Here’s how you can do the same and feed your belly, not your trash can. Oxygen and Moisture Are the Enemies of Lettuce Oxygen and excess moisture are the two biggest factors in lettuce rotting. Get your lettuce dry and seal it well to keep oxygen out, and you’ll be surprised at how long it will keep. For Starters, Buy Fresh Lettuce Make sure you’re buying fresh lettuce in the first place....

Let’s cut right to the chase: If you smell or look at a package of raw chicken and it gives you the willies in a way other raw chicken does not, think twice about using it. Bacteria causes spoilage, as I’m sure you know. We’re programmed to worry about salmonella, since salmonella can be present on chicken that looks totally fine. But if you cook chicken to 165°F, it’s safe to eat....

In the summer this issue is compounded since there’s no way I’m turning on my stove or oven just for a quick lunch. This is when I lean heavily on salad kits. You know, the pouches or already-washed lettuces, chopped veggies, toppings, and a weird little packet of dressing. They’re often lined up near the fresh produce, available in a variety of different flavors like Southwestern and Caesar. My preferred bagged salads often come from Trader Joe’s, and the grocery chain switches out flavors fairly regularly....