Tuesday, April 24, 2012

weeknight dinner: kale-ricotta pasta

Last week, I hiked up the front steps of my friend Adrienne's house and rang the doorbell. Somehow I was right on time (I always seem to be too on time), in spite of a late train and lugging a ton of stuff. My arms were loaded down with my purse, a tote bag full of cookbooks -- if you're a friend, you're getting cookbooks from me whether you want them or not -- and another bag with wine, a lush bunch of lilacs and various post-work items like a pair of heels and an empty Tupperware container. Living in New York makes you want to grow a third arm.

Although you'd think I was fully prepared for dinner at a friend's house or some sort of cookbook-reading, wine-drinking binge, I did not have my trusty camera on me. So I was not able to take a photo of the lovely dinner she made for us while also managing to keep an eye on the baby, walk two dogs around the block, set out some appetizers and pour us glasses of wine. I pitched in by petting one of the dogs and feeding her little daughter a dinner of applesauce, airplane-style, two things that I was delighted to do after a long day of work.

The photo above was taken at home, where I recreated the dish with my trusty assistant.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

what's cooking

Sorry, folks. I have not yet fully come out of dinner party hibernation. I blame my horrible spring allergies. The flowering trees are so pretty but being hit over the head with pollen does not inspire socializing. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been at my stove, sniffling, cooking, and wondering whether it is smart to mix wine and Allegra. Living dangerously!

In the meantime, here are a few recipes that have worked their way into our weeknight rotation:

My friend Casey Barber develops fantastic recipes for me at iVillage, including these terrific white bean and avocado enchiladas. A few tweaks: I replace the white beans with pintos, and swap out the parsley for cilantro. I also add a nice dose of lime juice to the sauce to perk it up. But even if you don’t make those substitutions, the recipe is a tasty and filling (vegetarian!) main dish.

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