Brinda Ayer – FoodWatcher

17 Easy, Inspiring Meals That Are Busting Us Out of Our Cooking Rut

By now, you’ve probably heard about (if not, begun to experience…) what folks are calling the pandemic wall. Nearly a year into this new state of living we’re collectively experiencing, there’s plenty to fret about—and frankly, without aiming to go f…

By now, you've probably heard about (if not, begun to experience...) what folks are calling the pandemic wall. Nearly a year into this new state of living we're collectively experiencing, there's plenty to fret about—and frankly, without aiming to go full-on Eeyore, it's exhausting. But because cereal for dinner gets old after the third night straight (trust me...I'm speaking from experience), I turned to the Food52 team to find out what's keeping them eating well and saving their energy these days.

Below, 17 dinners that require only a handful of ingredients and minimal active cooking, like speedy grits, bubbly bakes, or done-in-a-flash fish. Let us know what you're cooking these days—we gladly welcome suggestions.

A Thanksgiving Super-Menu From Food52’s Resident Experts

Earlier this year, we asked ourselves: What would happen if some of the country’s best cooks—an expert bread baker, cheese plater, pasta maker, Genius Recipe hunter, cocktail slinger, and pie know-it-all, to name just a few—got together to make our dre…

Earlier this year, we asked ourselves: What would happen if some of the country's best cooks—an expert bread baker, cheese plater, pasta maker, Genius Recipe hunter, cocktail slinger, and pie know-it-all, to name just a few—got together to make our dream Thanksgiving menu?

It'd be a menu with the biggest and juiciest bird out there, yes, but with crispy chicken for smaller gatherings and brown-butter tortelli for our vegetarian friends (hey, that's me!). We'd find a sweet-spicy-smoky take on our favorite cornbread dressing; a minimalist greens gratin that's luxuriously full of cream and sharp cheddar; a so-simple cheese basket to graze on as you cook, and naturally leavened flatbread to go with. And of course, we couldn't dream up the perfect menu without pie—not one kind, but two!—and a festive, fizzy cocktail too.

I’m Not Vegan, but I Can’t Stop Making These Exceptional Plant-Based Recipes

A couple years ago, I challenged myself to eat entirely plant-based meals for a month. That meant no yogurt, eggs, cheese, gelatin-laced foods—the works. Surely it wouldn’t be that big of an adjustment, I told myself. After all, I’m already a vegetaria…

A couple years ago, I challenged myself to eat entirely plant-based meals for a month. That meant no yogurt, eggs, cheese, gelatin-laced foods—the works. Surely it wouldn't be that big of an adjustment, I told myself. After all, I'm already a vegetarian, and pasta is generally plant-based, right? (Right!) I would be fine.

And fine I was, of course, but also a lot more thoughtful (and creative!) about my food choices. Where I'd usually throw in a soft-boiled egg or garnish with a few nubs of cheese, I pressed tofu, marinated tempeh, and roasted jackfruit—ahead of time. I carefully read labels, asked questions at restaurants, and went through a lot of nutritional yeast. And I actually didn't eat that much pasta!

15 Soothing Cooking Projects to Busy Your Hands & Nourish Your Soul

When the world seems like an especially confusing place, when everything feels out of our control, when we need something to help make our days a little brighter and better—we turn to cooking. Cooking channels our creative energy, keeps our hands busy …

Whether you prefer to meditatively roll and slice pasta sheets, stir a skillet of gently caramelizing onions, or lovingly shape and fold crusty loaves of sourdough, we’ve got some ideas. Here are 15 recipes to keep your hands busy and your stomachs full during even the most stressful times (like...right now).

The Pineapple Cutting Trick We Learned From Chrissy Teigen’s Mom

Chrissy Teigen—cookbook author, recipe site helm-er, kitchenware creator, actress, hilarious Twitter personality, woman about town—has given us some of our very favorite kitchen hacks over the years. See this "why didn't we think of that?" way to make bacon even better; this crispy rice salad that changed the way we think about salads; this large-format casserole that tastes just like our favorite everything bagel breakfast with all the fixings.

And the best part of it all: Stanning Chrissy and her ingenious tricks is sort of a two-for-one package, because we also get access to her incredible mom, Pepper—to whom Chrissy credits all of her cooking know-how. So when Chrissy posted a video of Pepper's go-to way to cut pineapple, you can bet we paid attention. Chrissy's Cravings account said of this technique: "Out of all the tricks Pepper has up her sleeve, this hack has to be one of our favorites."

12 Perfect Pie Recipes That Just Happen to Be Vegan

Plant-based desserts are just as important in our repertoire as their buttery, eggy counterparts. Take these Genius chocolate chip cookies, this fudgy banana brownie cake, this richer-than-rich mousse, these scotcheroos that are apt to stick to the roo…

Vegan pies deserve to be in that pantheon, too—after all, how could we resist a flaky-crispy tart filled to the brim with fruit, custard, chocolate, or all of the above? So, for our own edification and yours, we've rounded up our 12 best plant-based pies. All they'll need is a scoop of (non-dairy) ice cream.

Our 12 Favorite Summer Beers for When We Need a Frosty One

Picture this: It’s late June, you’re lying on a towel at the park, packed sandwiches and chips in a bag, chilly beverages in a cooler, crime thrillers and the latest New Yorker in a backpack. The sun’s beating high above you, beads of sweat start to fo…

Picture this: It's late June, you're lying on a towel at the park, packed sandwiches and chips in a bag, chilly beverages in a cooler, crime thrillers and the latest New Yorker in a backpack. The sun's beating high above you, beads of sweat start to form on your temples, and your shoulders begin to lightly toast, feeling warm to the touch. You fish around in the cooler, make your selection, then take a swig and sigh with relief. It's the coldest, most refreshing beer you feel you've ever tasted, flooding your palate with a hoppy, malty, bubbly sensation that you can't help but respond to with an involuntary "ahh."

If this sounds like your ideal scenario, you're in good company. Below, the Food52 team is sharing its 12 favorite summer beers that are perfect for just this, and more. Try sipping them poolside, accompanied by the heady scent of smoke at backyard BBQs, and after the end of a workday to usher in a long summer evening. Most of these beers are available nationwide (some, even internationally!), but visit BeerMenus to double-check their distribution and availability near you.

Soup Is the Perfect Summer Food (Seriously!). Here Are 23 Reasons Why.

The first few weeks of summer are glorious: full afternoons to spend outside at the park or in the pool, cold watermelon slices and tomato sandwiches and frosty beverages never far away; firefly-flecked twilight hours made for huddling around the campfire, anticipating all the season's possibilities (and s'mores); grand visions for the bike trips and road trips and adventures that will ensue; fond anticipation for all the ice-cream cones to be had before they melt, all the sunburns to gently nurse with aloe and cream.

But then July and August inevitably roll around, and the pleasant stickiness turns, well, unpleasant. In those dog days, hot, thick air seems to stand still no matter which direction the wind blows. Cooking—let alone mustering up an appetite!—is an energy-sapping, sweat-inducing chore. The siren song of crisp, cool autumn beckons. For all those days, there's soup.

25 Recipes to Use Up That Buttermilk You Bought for Baking

Growing up in a South Indian home, we had a big container of buttermilk in our fridge at all times. We’d mix it into fluffy white rice with spices and aachar, simmer it in a thick, coconut-and turmeric-inflected stew, or, more often than not, pour it i…

Growing up in a South Indian home, we had a big container of buttermilk in our fridge at all times. We'd mix it into fluffy white rice with spices and aachar, simmer it in a thick, coconut-and turmeric-inflected stew, or, more often than not, pour it into a glass and drink it straight, maybe with a pinch of salt and pungent asafetida.

See, in my family, buttermilk was traditionally always a digestive aid and a flavor booster. It never once went into a baked good; in fact, I didn't know you could use it for baking until I took a trip to Huntsville, Alabama for Space Camp in the eighth grade, and tasted my first buttermilk biscuit. I recall the biscuit being noticeably tangy, fluffy, and tender as heck, and I immediately had to know why. The answer, as it turns out, was under my nose (well, in our fridge back at home).