Building a pot of soup around two guaranteed crowd-pleasers—tortellini and pesto—makes this an excellent way for home cooks to get kids (and adults) to eat their veggies. It starts with a brothy brew in which you cook vegetables and tortellini just until tender. Ladle it into bowls and top with a dollop of fresh pesto, which brightens the flavor as soon as it hits the hot liquid. You can make your own pesto, using this classic basil recipe, this minty version, or our flavorful kale pesto. Like so many soups, this one lends itself to lots of substitutions and variations!
Building a pot of soup around two guaranteed crowd-pleasers—tortellini and pesto—makes this an excellent way for home cooks to get kids (and adults) to eat their veggies.
It starts with a brothy brew in which you cook vegetables and tortellini just until tender. Ladle it into bowls and top with a dollop of fresh pesto, which brightens the flavor as soon as it hits the hot liquid.
It's the start of a new month, and May always feels like the true official start of spring for some reason. This is the month when we typically start returning to farmers markets and get excited about baking with berries, rhubarb and ramps. Of course this year is a bit different as we're still social distancing and farmers markets aren't open where we live, but that doesn't mean we can't still celebrate spring! So this week, we're focusing on stress-free dinners that are quick to pull together, so we have more time to spend outside (whether that means in your own backyard, porch or stoop). From a classic Chicken Piccata or Baked Cod (with a surprise topping!) to a Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry or Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tacos, we've got a feeling it's going to be a great week. Oh, and did we mention the Chocolate Covered Pretzels thrown in for good measure? Have a great week, everyone. Feed yourselves (and your people) well.
It’s the start of a new month, and May always feels like the true official start of spring for some reason.
This is the month when we typically start returning to farmers markets and get excited about baking with berries, rhubarb and ramps.
Of course this year is a bit different as we’re still social distancing and farmers markets aren’t open where we live, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still celebrate spring! So this week, we’re focusing on stress-free dinners that are quick to pull together, so we have more time to spend outside (whether that means in your own backyard, porch or stoop).
From a classic Chicken Piccata or Baked Cod (with a surprise topping!) to a Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry or Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tacos, we’ve got a feeling it’s going to be a great week. Oh, and did we mention the Chocolate Covered Pretzels thrown in for good measure?
Have a great week, everyone. Feed yourselves (and your people) well.
How can flour, salt, fat, and water – just four ingredients – bring so much joy? Because homemade tortillas hot off the griddle are fresh and made with love. It's that simple. A tortilla can be the crux of so many meals. Scrambled eggs: in a tortilla, preferably with bacon. Roast chicken: in a tortilla with a few jalapenos. Steak slices: absolutely in a tortilla. And with Cinco de Mayo coming up this week, it's a good time to try your hand at making tortillas at home! Don't worry, they don't have to be perfectly round. You're a home cook, not a tortilla factory!
How can flour, salt, fat, and water – just four ingredients – bring so much joy? Because homemade tortillas hot off the griddle are fresh and made with love. It's that simple.
A tortilla can be the crux of so many meals. Scrambled eggs: in a tortilla, preferably with bacon. Roast chicken: in a tortilla with a few jalapenos. Steak slices: absolutely in a tortilla.
And with Cinco de Mayo coming up this week, it’s a good time to try your hand at making tortillas at home! Don’t worry, they don’t have to be perfectly round. You're a home cook, not a tortilla factory!
As the reality of Covid-19 is now the new normal, we at Simply Recipes are looking for brief respites from the anxiety and uncertainty that threatens to overwhelm. We need life-affirming reminders of the power of hope, humor, and humanity in the midst of this crisis, and we're guessing you do, too! Welcome to May and Week 7 of the Feel Good Friday newsletter, wherein I share some of the more cheering or compelling things I've read or watched this week. Have you discovered something great recently? Something you read that made you smile? A video you loved? Tell me about it! Email it to me at cambria [at] simplyrecipes.com with the title "Feel Good Friday." What I Loved This Week:
Love Stay Home, Take Care, which provides activities and recommendations for taking care of yourself and others. You can offer suggestions, too!
68 bits of unsolicited advice. Loved this one: "Over the long term, the future is decided by optimists. To be an optimist you don't have to ignore all the many problems we create; you just have to imagine improving our capacity to solve problems."
And finally: the easiest fruits and vegetables to grow, according to a terrible gardener. "As the novel coronavirus pandemic sends lots of people out to their yard to see what they can grow, a lot of first-timers are making the same mistake: They're listening to experts. Experts can make things grow that you can't, because they are experts. What you need is a terrible gardener to tell you what anybody can grow." As a newbie gardener myself, I've planted herbs in pots and a square foot garden with lettuces, kale, rainbow chard, broccoli, and cabbage. What about you?
Wishing you a healthy, hopeful weekend. -CambriaProduct and Lifestyle Director
As the reality of Covid-19 is now the new normal, we at Simply Recipes are looking for brief respites from the anxiety and uncertainty that threatens to overwhelm. We need life-affirming reminders of the power of hope, humor, and humanity in the midst of this crisis, and we’re guessing you do, too!
Welcome to May and Week 7 of the Feel Good Friday newsletter, wherein I share some of the more cheering or compelling things I’ve read or watched this week.
Have you discovered something great recently? Something you read that made you smile? A video you loved? Tell me about it! Email it to me at cambria [at] simplyrecipes.com with the title “Feel Good Friday.”
Love Stay Home, Take Care, which provides activities and recommendations for taking care of yourself and others. You can offer suggestions, too!
68 bits of unsolicited advice. Loved this one: “Over the long term, the future is decided by optimists. To be an optimist you don't have to ignore all the many problems we create; you just have to imagine improving our capacity to solve problems.”
And finally: the easiest fruits and vegetables to grow, according to a terrible gardener. “As the novel coronavirus pandemic sends lots of people out to their yard to see what they can grow, a lot of first-timers are making the same mistake: They're listening to experts. Experts can make things grow that you can't, because they are experts. What you need is a terrible gardener to tell you what anybody can grow.” As a newbie gardener myself, I’ve planted herbs in pots and a square foot garden with lettuces, kale, rainbow chard, broccoli, and cabbage. What about you?
Horchata is a popular Latin American rice-based drink. It's creamy, earthy, refreshing, and spiced, but even given all that, horchata's ingredients are really quite simple! The main ingredient is technically water, the second being rice (of course), and cinnamon and vanilla are both used as supporting flavors to pull the two together in a drink that tastes more complex than it really is. You probably have all of the ingredients in your pantry already, so treat yourself and make horchata at home this weekend!
Horchata is a popular Latin American rice-based drink. It's creamy, earthy, refreshing, and spiced, but even given all that, horchata's ingredients are really quite simple!
The main ingredient is technically water, the second being rice (of course), and cinnamon and vanilla are both used as supporting flavors to pull the two together in a drink that tastes more complex than it really is.
You probably have all of the ingredients in your pantry already, so treat yourself and make horchata at home this weekend!
