Recipes

For a 30-minute-meal that's warm and vibrant, try this hearty Moroccan chickpea stew. It's packed with squash, veggies and warm spices, and fast enough that you can whip it up on a weeknight.

Sometimes I'm feeling a little "crunchy" when I reach for a sweet treat--this does the trick!

I'm always trying to come up with new recipes and this one is an adaptation of a tyrolean dessert which can be done with other grains such as rice and with any type of fruit (roasted apples and raspberries are also a good combination). This specific one uses amaranth, an ancient grain with fresh seasonal cherries. Hope you like it.

From Nigel Slater's Ripe (Ten Speed Press, 2012). Slater uses sugar; I prefer honey (and a tablespoon less). Use whichever appeals. He also suggests you chill the fool for an hour before serving; in case you don't have the time or patience, I've eaten it almost immediately after making and found it still irresistible

The dough is one simple shortbread that you use for both the crust and the topping (which will make you wonder why you'd ever make them separately). You can make the entire thing in about an hour, including clean-up, and yet somehow it comes out looking like a Byzantine mosaic.

This recipe was the result of an intense cookie desire one late night in college. Lacking both white and brown sugar, and with only the dregs of a box of turbinado sugar, I made do with what I had and was pleasantly surprised by how tasty and addictive these were! Since that first batch, I've refined the recipe a bit. These cookies are wholesome, but still a treat. They're great with a cup of tea or coffee in the afternoon.

A citrus-kissed cake that has a gloriously soft crumb, topped with a mint-flecked glaze.

This combination of shortbread and jam is both a perfect ending to a dinner party and a lovely treat for teatime. I’ve made them tiny, in financier molds, medium sized in classic small tart molds, and in a 9-inch tart pan. The shortbread crust is pantry-friendly, it’s ready in an instant, and it marries perfectly with whatever leftover jam is lurking in your refrigerator. The crust can be made by hand or with a mixer; I use a mixer. This is a very sandy dough. Don't despair. Press it into the molds and bake.

Call them old-fashioned, but these stuffed cabbage rolls are just as cozy and comforting as they've always been. Once you've got the hang of the rolling technique, you can stuff them with just about anything.

Here's an economical dish with authentic Tex-Mex flavor. Even the little ones will go for this Spanish rice.