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My All-Time Favorite Stuffed Pasta (Spoiler: It’s Not Ravioli)

By Mark Bittman Published January 4, 2019
Barley Risotto with Beets and Greens

Barley Risotto with Beets and Greens

Everyone needs a little attention now and then, but risotto isn’t as high maintenance as its reputation. When you make this, go for heartiness and satisfaction and choose the whole-grain barley, even though it takes longer to cook.

By Mark Bittman Published January 3, 2019

How to Eat Well In (The First Week Of) 2019

By Mark Bittman Published January 1, 2019
“Chorizo” Tacos

“Chorizo” Tacos

Soft corn tortillas make a perfect vehicle for this tofu “chorizo,” which is so good you’ll find a lot of other uses for it too. Make it as soft or as crisp as you like, but use a nonstick pan for the best results; cast-iron is a good second choice. Since it’s easy to double the batch well ahead of time, you might think about making this dish the next time you have a brunch.

By Mark Bittman Published December 31, 2018
Grain Nuts with Fruit

Grain Nuts with Fruit

Twice-cooked grains translate to a one-ingredient breakfast cereal, along the lines of Grape-Nuts, but made by you and with zero extraneous ingredients. Name the grain and it can be served cereal fashion, which means you can use whatever you have leftover in the fridge, in whatever quantity (reduce the salt proportionately). The results: an intensely flavored breakfast cereal that is pleasantly dense and crunchy enough to sit in milk for a while without getting soggy.

By Mark Bittman Published December 31, 2018
Mexican Chocolate Tofu Pudding

Mexican Chocolate Tofu Pudding

Tofu is not solely the stuff of stir-fries. For example, I can almost guarantee you will be impressed by this dessert, a pudding that takes about as much time to make as hot chocolate.

A few qualifiers, here. Without chocolate, the flavor is unimpressive; this tastes like sweetened tofu. Add chocolate and a few Mexican spices, however, and you have a real winner. And certainly no one I’ve fed it to had any inkling that it was dairy free. The texture of the pudding, which must be made with silken tofu, is almost unbelievably good. The brand of chocolate you buy is of utmost importance. Without mentioning names, let me just suggest that you use the highest quality chocolate — semisweet or bittersweet, please — you can lay your hands on. After all, it’s the flavor of the chocolate, not of the tofu, that will dominate.

By Mark Bittman Published December 31, 2018

Hey, Readers: THANK YOU!

By Mark Bittman Published December 28, 2018
Chicken Adobo

Chicken Adobo

This Philippine classic has been called the best chicken dish in the world by a number of my friends and readers. It is cooked in liquid first, then roasted, grilled, or broiled. Here, however, the initial poaching liquid is reduced to make a sauce to pass at the table for both the chicken and white rice, the natural accompaniment. The coconut milk isn’t mandatory, though it does enrich the sauce considerably.

By Mark Bittman Published December 21, 2018
Andrea’s Pasta with Pork Ribs

Andrea’s Pasta with Pork Ribs

Pasta with Ribs is as much of a special occasion dish (for me) as there is. What I learned from cooking real Roman cuisine several nights a week in the 80’s (with an actual Roman), was a newfound respect for the glories of pork fat, which in this dish dissolves in the tomato sauce and makes it glisten and eating the soft meat off the bones while chowing down on a bowl of sauced pasta…nothing better.

By Mark Bittman Published December 21, 2018
Baked Eggs with Onions and Cheese

Baked Eggs with Onions and Cheese

This makes for an impressive, rich brunch, and is one of the best egg dishes for a small crowd—you can cook a lot at one time.

By Mark Bittman Published December 21, 2018

Falafel

One of the things that makes falafel different from other bean fritters is that it’s made from uncooked beans. It’s best when the beans are soaked for a full day in plenty of water; the result is a wonderfully textured and moist interior with a crisp, browned exterior. The spices and aromatics add to the fabulous bean flavor, and it wouldn’t be unheard of to double or even triple the amount of garlic if you like.

By Mark Bittman Published December 18, 2018

The Gateway to Frying at Home

By Mark Bittman Published December 18, 2018
White Shakshuka

David Tamarkin’s White Shakshuka

A classic shakshuka involves a spiced tomato–red pepper sauce; here that sauce is replaced by garlicky white beans.

By Mark Bittman Published December 11, 2018
Smoky Beans and Greens on Toast

David Tamarkin’s Smoky Beans and Greens on Toast

Beans and greens are great on almost every carb: in tortillas as tacos, over rice, on flatbread. They’re also good without any carb at all, served in a bowl as a side. But whenever skillet-fried toast is an option, I take it.
This is dinner food for me, but it also makes a good brunch with a fried egg on each plate.

By Mark Bittman Published December 11, 2018
David Tamarkin’s Simple Tomato Sauce

David Tamarkin’s Simple Tomato Sauce

There are a hundred things you can do with a good tomato sauce: bake eggs in it, top pizza with it, braise chicken in it, turn it into soup, or, you know, put it over pasta.
For a more intense sauce, let it simmer for up to 45 minutes, but keep stirring it, otherwise the bottom will scorch.

By Mark Bittman Published December 11, 2018

Think You Could Cook 90 Meals in 1 Month?

By Mark Bittman Published December 11, 2018

Barbari

In Iran, these long, oval loaves with their trademark ridges, called barbari, are often served with a soft cheese similar to feta (hummus, baba ghanoush and the like are also fair game for dipping). What makes this bread so good is that it’s rubbed by hand (very satisfying, I must say) with a cooked paste of flour, oil, and water before baking, which produces a beautiful golden crust.

By Mark Bittman Published December 7, 2018

3 Flatbreads to Hook You on Bread Baking for Life

By Daniel Meyer Published December 7, 2018
Gravlax

Gravlax

Cured fish is impressive, and it’s surprisingly little work to do yourself. Use wild Pacific salmon if at all possible (King and sockeye—which is in general leaner and much redder—are best), even if you have to buy it frozen. Gravlax keeps for a week after curing; and, though it’s not an ideal solution, you can successfully freeze gravlax for a few weeks.

By Mark Bittman Published December 4, 2018

Because Sometimes You Just Want Cartoons

By Mark Bittman Published December 4, 2018