Writing about food since 2004.
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One-Pan Cod and Potatoes with Olive Gremolata
Every family has its own way with potatoes. Growing up, my mom would buy frozen potato latkes, heat them up in the toaster, and serve them with Mott’s apple sauce (you can hear all about it on my mom’s episode of Lunch Therapy). Most families, I’d venture, are mashed potato families. Some do it from…
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Double Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
Here’s some free life advice: if you ever see two vanilla beans on sale for $8, buy them. That’s literally what happened to me last week at Cookbook in Echo Park. They’re selling vanilla beans in little packets of two for eight bucks. Here’s the thing: if you’ve never worked with a vanilla bean before,…
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Cavatappi with Pistachio Arugula Pesto and Sun Gold Tomatoes
One of the cruelest things food writers have asked innocent home cooks to do is to make pesto in a mortar and pestle. Yes, I know, Italian grandmothers do this instead of pilates; yes, I know, it yields a texture that’s so silky you want to rub it all over your body and wear it…
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Spicy Black Lentils with Charred Eggplant and Urfa Chili
Cinderella has to pick lentils out of the fireplace in order to go to the ball (at least in Into The Woods) and for a long time I thought to myself, “At least she doesn’t have to eat them!” There are so many foods that people associate with “health food,” they’re anything but enticing. Lentils…
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The Fluffiest Coconut Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
My friend Ryan O’Connell is a superstar in every sense. Not only does he have his own show on Netflix, he was featured this weekend in a New York Times article about artists as activists. (Coincidentally, the article was written by Mark Harris, a Lunch Therapy alumni, just like Ryan.) Suffice it to say, I…
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My Love Affair with White Balsamic
This summer, I’ve been having an affair. No, not in the bedroom, in the kitchen. I’m passionately in love with a vinegar; not just any vinegar, but white balsamic vinegar. It all started when I was ordering groceries to pick up from McCalls Meat & Fish (yes, I know I mention them a lot). Their…
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One-Pan Salmon with Sugar Snap Peas and a Cherry Tomato Sauce
When we think about one-pan cooking, we usually think about a dish where all of the components cook together in one pan at the same time. But there’s another kind of one-pan cooking! (Sorry for the exclamation mark, I was excited.) It’s the kind where you cook multiple components in the same pan one after…
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The Ultimate Road Trip from Los Angeles to Bellingham, Washington
At first, I talked myself out of it. We were going stir-crazy in our very hot apartment here in L.A. and Craig said we should drive up the California coast, up the Oregon coast, and finally to visit his family in Bellingham, Washington, where they share a cabin in the summers with friends on Eliza…
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Harissa Honey Chicken with Blistered String Beans
Grilling in the summer is difficult when you don’t have a grill. We had a communal one in our fourplex’s backyard, but I haven’t seen it in a while. Maybe I just don’t want to see it. I don’t really love our backyard, though I love our apartment in general; the backyard’s just not a…
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Very Good Chocolate Chip Cookies
The internet can be an overwhelming place when it comes to finding a chocolate chip cookie recipe. You type “chocolate chip cookie” into a Google search and suddenly you’re bombarded with thousands of recipes featuring various techniques, many of which ask more of you than you’re willing to give right now. There are recipes that…
