January 2020

Tarka is an Indian technique that blooms herbs and spices in hot fat, infusing it with bold flavors and aromas while cooking off any raw, harsh notes. And it’s an excellent way to season popcorn. The cumin and curry blend in this recipe is bold and savory; if you prefer a mixture of sugar and spice, see the Spicy-Sweet Tarka Popcorn alternative that follows.

These as-good-as-the-real-thing meatballs contain no beef or pork — and no fake meat either.

It was the lab-grown meat substitutes invading our lives that led me to beetballs. I knew corporate near-meat would double well for meatball meat (it works for burgers and chili), but I still don’t know what those products are like for our bodies.

Make Healthy Meals in a Slow Cooker

These one-pot wonders make it easy to eat more good-for-you fare.

In Provence, the garlic-infused mayonnaise called aioli is typically served with a platter of raw and boiled vegetables and sometimes fish. With its intense creamy texture and deep garlic flavor, it turns a humble meal into a spectacular one. In this recipe, an assortment of colorful roasted vegetables stand in for the raw and boiled ones. It makes a very elegant side dish to an entrée of roasted fish or meat, or can be the main event of a vegetable-focused meal. The aioli can be made up to three days ahead and stored in the refrigerator.

What is a “chaffle”? The arguably unattractive name comes from the combination of cheese plus waffle, and signifies a waffle made from an egg-cheese batter, rather than a flour-based one.

Or at least that’s what it meant in the beginning. Now you’ll find cheese-free chaffles as well, including one that chaffle fans swear tastes “just like Wonder Bread!” That may not sound like an admirable goal to some of us, but for many people whose diets limit or prohibit bread, the Wonder Bread chaffle suddenly makes sandwiches part of their lives again.

While we preferred udon noodles, lo mein and even spaghetti are fine substitutes. A simple chili oil, made by infusing vegetable oil with red pepper flakes, can be adjusted to taste. To soften the bite of the scallion whites, we add them to the hot oil.

Don’t walk away while heating the oil. The sesame seeds can burn in an instant, and the red pepper flakes will blacken and become bitter. The seeds should be just turning golden, and the pepper should be pleasantly fragrant.

This bread, known as zhima dabing—which means big sesame pancake—is similar to Chinese scallion pancakes, but is much larger and thicker and has a lighter, fluffier crumb. If you’re unable to find sweet rice flour with the baking ingredients, check the Asian food aisle for a white box labeled “mochiko” (the Japanese term for the flour). Don’t use regular rice flour in , its place, as it won’t produce the same texture. And don’t use pre-toasted sesame seeds, while the seeds brown deeply as the bread cooks; toasted seeds may end up scorched and bitter.