I have a confession. Until 3 months ago, I had bought perhaps 15 lemons in my entire life. (I hear the cries already: “WHAT?! You’re lying. I see recipes for lemon chicken, cucumber lemonade, and lemon squares! You probably buy lemons all the time, you liar.”) But I’m not lying. I mostly used bottled lemon juice (gasp!). It was convenient. It did the trick when I needed it, and I was happy in my ignorance.

3 months ago today, I purchased a citrus juicer on impulse. My life would never be the same.

In truth, I bought my juicer primarily to make the perfect margarita with fresh squeezed lime juice, but I started using it for cooking. I could squeeze a lemon so easily that I didn’t think about it anymore. Suddenly everything tasted better. Inspired, I began using the lemon’s zest as well. I will never, ever go back.

This lemon tart is a perfect celebration of the beautiful vibrancy of lemons. The lemon curd filling is certainly rich, but the juicy tang of just-squeezed lemons bursts through with mouthwatering assertiveness. A tender, butter-loaded crust is an ideal foil. If you’re looking to shake things up a bit, garnish the tart with a sprig of basil, instead of the more traditional mint.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart and Ina Garten

What you need:

• 1 pie crust, pressed into a removable bottom 9″ tart pan or pie plate
• 4 lemons, zested and juiced (lemons should be at room temperature to maximize juiciness)
• 1.5 c sugar
• 1/2 c (1 stick) butter, softened
• 4 extra large (5 large) eggs, at room temperature
• Sprigs of basil or mint, for garnish
• pinch salt

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Cover pie crust with aluminum foil, pressing down the foil so it touches the crust. Bake 20 minutes. Uncover, prick the crust with a fork, and bake additional 15-20 minutes, until lightly brown. Remove from oven and cool.
2. In a bowl, whisk together lemon zest and sugar.
3. Whisk in butter until fully combined. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until fully combined, then add the lemon juice and salt.
4. Pour lemon mixture into a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. When the mixture thickens (about 10 minutes), pour into the pie shell. Cool at room temperature. Garnish with basil or mint, and serve.

If a savage and a gourmand met for lunch, they would eat this chicken salad. Pulling meat is a raw, carnal process. There are few times when you feel more connected with your food than when you’re tearing it apart. Coincidentally, it’s also a wonderful way to work out aggression. Despite the process, the final product is delicate, light, and clean. The flavors are clean and straightforward, with just enough nuance to make things interesting.

This chicken salad uses a lemon-olive oil vinaigrette instead of the usual mayonnaise. This works beautifully, as the meat absorbs all of the dressing, leaving you with a wonderfully fragrant dish without the heft of traditional chicken salad. A few fresh herbs only enhance the freshness of the dish.

Change things up however you want. I happen to love the contrast of bright lemon with sweet, peppery basil and a few chives, but feel free to use your own combination of herbs. Or substitute a different type of citrus. Better yet, if you have leftover roasted chicken, use that; it will cut your prep time and add wonderful flavor.

Recipe adapted from Mark Bittman

What you need:

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh herbs

What to do:

1. Bring a pot with a few inches of water to a boil. Salt water if desired, turn down heat to a simmer, and place in chicken breasts. Cook until done.
2. Remove chicken from water and shred, using 2 forks to pull the meat apart.
3. Stir together lemon zest and juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour over chicken.
4. Add herbs, stir to combine. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Salads are beautifully seasonal. During the summer months, salads are fanciful celebrations of über-fresh produce. We adorn perfectly ripe heirloom tomatoes with a touch of this herb or that, and just a drizzle of fruity olive oil. In the fall, we turn our attention to roasted root vegetables, reveling in the complex, earthy characteristics that make them so inviting as the weather cools.

And when winter rolls around, salads can even be warm.

This salad is an exercise in calculated contrast between textures and tastes. Slightly cooked pears give up just a hint of their crunch while pecans add substance. Together, they sit on a bed of barely wilted spinach coated in a mouthwatering, sweet-tangy dressing of caramelized shallots, brown sugar, and balsamic vinegar. A hint of blue cheese adds an unnecessary, but much appreciated level of extravagance with its almost creamy texture and elusive flavor.

Recipe adapted from Marsha Nourse and Karen Rothman
Serves 4

What you need:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 shallots, peeled and cut into thin slices
• 1/2 c balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 pear, cut in half, cored, and sliced thin (apple would also work)
• 1 (10 oz) bag baby spinach or chopped spinach
• 1/4 c pecans, whole or chopped (walnuts would also work)
• crumbled blue cheese or goat cheese to garnish (optional)

What to do:

1. In a large skillet, heat oil on medium heat. Add shallots and cook until they start to brown, about 2-3 minutes.
2. Add vinegar and sugar, and stir until sugar dissolves. Add pear slices and cook 1-2 minutes, flipping to cook both sides, until just warmed and starting to soften. Remove pear slices and set aside.
3. Add spinach and toss to coat with the remaining shallot-vinegar-sugar mixture, cooking very briefly until the spinach begins to just wilt down. Put the spinach on serving plate or bowl.
4. Top spinach with pears, pecans, and blue cheese.

Imagine a world where the words “brussels sprout” were not met with looks of unabashed horror and disgust. Clearly, these adorable vegetables have a reputation that precedes them. But contrary to those nasty rumors, brussels sprouts are not always bitter and sulfurous. When made correctly, they’re seriously tasty.

This recipe is definitely a winner. As proof, I offer my testimony: I have witnessed first-hand as unsuspecting children willingly eat these brussels sprouts, then ask for seconds. After finding out what the little green things are, they are confused, knowing that they are supposed to hate them, but feeling compelled to take another bite. It’s a beautiful thing.

Roasting foods helps to caramelize some of their natural sugars, making them taste nuanced and complex even though they are simple to prepare. The trick with brussels sprouts is to not overcook them, which can release nasty odors. Instead, cook these only for a short time, about 20 minutes, to turn them into perfect tender morsels that are sweet and subtle, and mouthwateringly delicious.

Recipe adapted from Real Simple
Serves 8

What you need:

• 2 lbs brussels sprouts
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-1 1/2 c pecans, chopped or whole
• salt and pepper

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 400?F.
2. Cut the bottoms off the brussels sprouts and take of any yellowing outer leaves. Cut them in half or quarters, depending on size.
3. Put brussels sprouts on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil, and add garlic and pecans. Sprinkle somewhat liberally with salt and pepper. Toss everything together to coat.
4. Place pan in oven and cook 20 minutes, stirring once at the 15 minute mark. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Tapas, the small dishes characteristic of Spanish cuisine, are not exactly fancy. Most are simple preparations with very few ingredients–fried seafood, or roasted potatoes with a distinctive sauce. Among these, baked goat cheese in tomato sauce has become nearly ubiquitous in tapas bars throughout America, and rightfully so. Each bite of this delicious snack, traditionally spread on crusty bread, is tangy and creamy and salty all at once, with a blend of herbs singing in the background.

But sometimes, you don’t feel like going out for tapas, which make a delicious, but inevitably expensive meal. And at those times, it’s nice to know that the flavors translate beautifully to a simple homemade dinner. In this “Italianized” version, soft yet crisp eggplant creates a subtle contrast with chewy al-dente pasta and creamy sauce, as well as adding a note of sweetness to the dish. Don’t feel tempted to make extra sauce; the flavors are strong, and keeping the dish lightly sauced ensures that everything is well-balanced.

Serves 4

What you need:

• 1 lb penne pasta
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 medium eggplant, cut into french fry sized pieces, then halved in length
• 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes (either onion and garlic flavored, or basil, oregano, and garlic flavored)
• 2 oz goat cheese, crumbled

What to do:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet over high heat, saute eggplant pieces in olive oil for about 2 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes to skillet, and cook about 9 minutes, the same time it should take the pasta to finish boiling.
4. Reduce heat to low, and stir in goat cheese until melted. Drain the pasta and stir into the sauce.

All cakes should be homemade. If the frosting is messy (or there’s no frosting at all), I don’t care. If a big chunk falls off when you’re plating it, oops! But cakes are special. They mark important events, and when I get a homemade cake, in all its non-professional, crumb-riddled glory, I know that someone cares. Apparently, I’m in good company.

So when I heard that a friend and coworker was leaving my office to go back to school, I had to send her off with a homemade cake. I started with a flourless chocolate cake from the Gourmet Cookbook that’s incredibly easy to throw together. Then I spread on a layer of peanut butter frosting, and topped it all with a coat of dark chocolate ganache and some almond bark.

I’m not a cake decorator. Hell, I don’t even have a cake platter. But despite many superficial flaws, this cake is the most decadent, luscious chocolate cake I’ve ever eaten. It put a smile on everyone’s face. And nobody cared that it looked funny. Because I’m not a professional baker, and this cake was homemade.

Adapted from the Gourmet Cookbook
Serves 12-16

What you need:

Cake

• 8 oz dark chocolate or chocolate chips (60% cocoa content)
• 2 sticks (1 c) unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 c sugar
• 6 eggs
• 1 c cocoa powder

Frosting

• 1 c creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 c powdered sugar
• 1/4 c milk

Ganache

• 8 oz dark chocolate or chocolate chips (60% cocoa content)
• 1/2 c heavy cream

What to do:

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 10 inch springform pan or round cake pan. Line the bottom of the pan with a circle of wax paper, and grease the wax paper. Dust the pan with cocoa powder.
2. Melt chocolate and butter together in a microwave or double boiler.
3. Remove from heat, whisk in sugar, then eggs one at a time. Stir in cocoa powder until combined.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs. Remove from oven and cool completely.
5. To remove from pan, cut around the sides, then flip onto a plate. The cake should fall out. Remove wax paper from the bottom, and then flip onto the serving plate.

Frosting

1. Whisk all ingredients together until combined. Spread on top of cake

Ganache

1. Melt the chocolate and cream together in a double boiler over simmering water, stirring gently. Let cool slightly before spreading on top of the peanut butter and letting ganache fall down the sides.
2. Optionally, top cake with almond bark.

Almond bark is an ideal snack. It’s not exactly healthy, but it beats out a bag of chips, and just a few bites goes a very long way towards satisfying a chocolate craving. I like it straight from the refrigerator because it’s brittle at first bite, and then melts into a rich, chocolaty mouthful spiked with crunchy almonds. It’s also so simple to make that it barely requires a recipe, but here goes:

Serves 8 as a snack.
Total cost: $5.00 ($0.63 per person). Cost is approximate

What you need:

• 12 oz dark chocolate or chocolate chips (I like Ghirardelli 60%)
• 2 c slivered or sliced almonds
• kosher salt (optional)

What to do:

1. Melt chocolate in a microwave or a double boiler. Stir in almonds.
2. Line a baking sheet with wax paper, then spread out the chocolate-almond mixture on the paper until it’s reached its desired thickness. Sprinkle lightly with salt if desired.
3. Freeze the chocolate mixture until hard, then peel off the wax paper and break the chocolate into pieces by cutting with a knife. The almond bark will store in the refrigerator until you eat it all.

And if you have extra coconut milk, it lasts for a couple months in the freezer, so you don’t need to throw it out! When you’re ready to use it, just thaw and stir to combine everything if it separates.

I started off calling this post “Skewerless Chicken Satay,” but it felt oddly deceptive. Because for me, Chicken Satay translates roughly as “Peanut Sauce on a Stick,” and there’s no peanut sauce (and no stick) in sight. Not to say that you can’t serve these chicken tenders with peanut sauce. Because that would be mighty delicious, but I didn’t do it here.

Instead, I looked for a way to make a classic Thai appetizer into a convenient weeknight dinner. I love the light flavor of chicken satay. It’s subtle but distinctly Thai. And that yellow color. And those delicious brown grill marks. They make me weak.

So it’s really no surprise that I loved this dinner, and even more because it was so simple to throw together. Without the tedious skewering of chicken satay, I spent less than 10 minutes on prep work. And in the time it took the chicken to marinade, I was able to make the rest of the meal.

Serves 4
Total cost: $8.30 ($2.08 per person). Cost breakdown is approximate.

What you need:

• 1/3 c coconut milk or light coconut milk [$0.50]
• 1 tbsp ginger, peeled and minced [$0.50]
• 1 tsp curry powder [$0.10]
• 1 tsp lime juice [$0.10]
• 1 tsp brown sugar [$0.10]
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch wide strips [$7]

What to do:

1. In a medium bowl, mix the first six ingredients together. Add in the chicken and toss to coat with marinade. Marinate about 30 minutes.
2. Heat a grill pan on medium-high heat with a little oil. Grill chicken tenders on both sides until cooked through.
3. Serve with sweet chili dipping sauce (store bought or homemade)

If you’ve seen the latest episode of Glee, you’ll understand why I spent the entire day after it aired belting out renditions of Somebody to Love by Queen. By evening, even I was willing to admit that I needed something else interesting and complex to distract me from the broken record in my head. As usual, I turned to the kitchen for help, and that’s when I thought about West African peanut soup.

I’d heard about this soup a while ago, but never bothered to look up a recipe. Making a peanut soup sounded like something that would take hours and lots of concentration, and I thought it would be the perfect distraction. For better or worse, it actually turned out to be quite simple, and I ended up chopping and stirring to the beat of the
music. But let me tell you, that music made one hell of a tasty soup.

This soup is beautiful, its earthy orange tones flecked with red and green bell pepper. And even though making it didn’t distract me from my music, eating it certainly did. It has a remarkably complex flavor that’s a mix of familiar and exotic. The ingredient combination might sound a bit weird, and in fact, it is. But it works. It really really works. And if you make it and disagree, I’ll be happy to take any of your leftovers.

Adapted from Epicurious
Serves 6-8 as a meal.
Total cost: $13 ($2.17 per person). Price breakdown is approximate.

What you need:

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil [$0.10]
• 2 medium onions, chopped [$0.70]
• 2 bell peppers (1 red, 1 green), chopped [$2]
• 1 medium clove garlic, chopped [$0.10]
• 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, drained and juice reserved [$1]
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and chopped into small pieces [$1]
• 11 c chicken stock (low sodium is fine) Note: You could probably substitute vegetable broth for a vegetarian meal [$6]
• 1 tsp hot pepper flakes (less if you like it less spicy) [$0.10]
• Freshly ground pepper (to taste)
• 1.5 c brown rice (uncooked) [$1]
• 3/4 c creamy peanut butter [$1]

What to do:

1. In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and pepper and saute for 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook another 5 minutes.
2. Stir in drained tomatoes, and cook until they break down (about 5 minutes).
3. Increase the heat to medium-high. Add in the sweet potato, chicken stock, reserved tomato juice, hot pepper flakes, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, covered.
4. Reduce heat to low. Add in the brown rice and simmer for 50 minutes, until rice is cooked.
5. Stir in peanut butter and stir to dissolve. Simmer another 5-10 minutes and serve.