When “salt,” “honey” and “butter” combine with just about any food, you know it’s going to be delicious. These cashews are so easy to eat, they should come with a warning label.
Tigania, from tigani, the word for “frying pan,” usually refers to a dish of quickly seared small pork cubes finished with wine that is one of Greece’s favorite carnivorous mezedes. But vegetarians and vegans are having their day in Athens, too, and despite the incredible wealth of traditional plant-based dishes that are part of Greek cuisine, there’s also a move toward redesigning the classics to appeal to a growing audience of vegetarians. This dish in so many ways represents the new Athens: Greek but international, too, culled from tradition but changed, a mix of well-known Greek ingredients like honey, with newcomers like soy sauce, which would have been an unthinkable, even unknowable, addition a generation ago.
This simple, colorful salad, from Morning Glory Farm’s executive chef, Augustus Paquet-Whall, highlights two of the stars of summer: corn and tomatoes (the third is strawberries). His philosophy in the kitchen is to be intentional with ingredients—and with corn this good, there’s no need to overcomplicate things. Raw sweet corn is not only safe to eat but packed with nutrients and pure corn flavor. Serve alongside grilled meat or seafood, or enjoy a big bowl all on its own.
Juicy chicken skewers—marinated in aromatic spices and coconut milk, then grilled for a smoky char—are a street-food favorite you can enjoy in your own backyard. Served with velvety peanut sauce, each bite blends sweet and salty flavors with a hint of heat. For vegetarians, double the mushrooms and skewer them separately.
This colorful salad is a feast for the eyes. Full of veggie goodness, the sweetness and spice are beautifully balanced with the fresh dressing that has a slight kick to round things out.
A buckle was one of my signature cakes when I worked as pastry chef for the Gjelina Group. Every bite is tangy, tart, and deliciously rich. I love this cake with mixed berries, but using one single variety can also be nice. If you’re serving it after dinner, add some fresh berries and a little whipped cream on the side.
This aromatic bread is made with a combination of bread flour and masa harina, which gives it a wonderful corn-y flavor. The thin, crispy crust yields to a moist, tender crumb, and, as the name suggests, it’s especially good toasted. While we find it easiest to make this dough in a stand mixer, it can also be made by hand; just be mindful of the amount of flour added during kneading so that the nice tender crumb you’re going for doesn’t become too dense.
Blue cornmeal gives this cornbread its haunting corn flavor and lavender hue, but yellow or white cornmeal will work equally well. You can find blue corn meal in co-ops and online. Store it in the refrigerator or freeze.
If you haven’t yet had delicata squash, it’s time! You can actually eat the thin, tender, nutrient-packed skin, which means it’s perfect as the base for a quick side dish that even my kids adore. The squash gets a coating of crunchy panko and flavorful Parmesan cheese, bakes until golden, then gets a drizzle of hot honey. I love this paired with Hot Honey Glazed Salmon That Goes with Everything or as a beautiful holiday appetizer or side. My husband and kids love to dip the squash in ranch dressing—figures!
When a recipe requires four sticks of butter and five cups of almonds, can there possibly be a downside? No. Charlotte Midthun of Granite Falls encountered this recipe in First for Women magazine and had a hunch it would be a hit. “I took these to a party, and everyone loved them,” she said. “I’ve been making them ever since. They’re such a nice contrast to all the chocolate cookies and sugar cookies at Christmas.” They sure are.