Tag Archives: NPR

Salad Recipes To Chase Away the Winter Blahs

By Laura B. Weiss

Just because fresh greens and veggies aren’t’ readily available in the winter months is no reason to stop eating salad. Try some of these easy winter salad recipes from my latest NPR post, including this one for an updated version of that classic, the Waldorf Salad.

Not Your Aunt Zelda’s Waldorf Salad

I updated this classic recipe for “Apple, Celery and Nut Salad (Waldorf)” from The Settlement Cookbook, compiled by Mrs. Simon Kander (25th Edition, 1943). You may certainly opt for making the traditional dish, but I prefer the lighter, half-yogurt dressing and the additional adornments of beans and cumin.

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Laura B. Weiss for NPR

Makes 4 servings

1 cup celery or two large stalks, cut lengthwise into pieces.

2 apples, cored and sliced (peeled or unpeeled)

1/2 cup canned garbanzo beans, drained

1 cup walnut meats, broken into pieces

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

3/4 teaspoons cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

Pinch cayenne

Fresh ground pepper

Arugula

Mix together the celery, apple, garbanzo beans and walnuts. In a separate bowl, combine the mayonnaise and yogurt, then add the lemon juice, cumin, salt, cayenne and black pepper and mix well. Gently fold the dressing into the celery mixture. Spoon onto a bed of arugula. Serve chilled.

How to Shop For and Cook Farro + Recipes

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by Laura B. Weiss

Ditch the quinoa and get to know farro. It’s an ancient grain with a delicious nutty flavor. Here’s my post for NPR’s Kitchen Window on how to shop for and cook farro. Plus, some fabulous recipes.

Photo: Laura B. Weiss

Cooking with Corn on NPR’s Kitchen Window

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by Laura B. Weiss

I’ve just started writing food and recipe posts for NPR’s Kitchen Window blog. You’ll find lots of great recipes there, plus some terrific food writing. For my first post, I decided to write about corn. No, not that perennial all-American favorite, corn on the cob, but cooking with corn off the cob. In fact, as you’ll see when you read the post, I’m not exactly a corn on the cob hater, but I do think there are much better ways to consume what’s arguably America’s favorite grain. Click here to read: Making the Case for Corn Off the Cob.

Photo: Laura B. Weiss

App Review: CookShelf Rates Cookbooks

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By Laura B. Weiss

You’re trying to find a gift for a food-obsessed friend. Or you’re an experienced baker and you’d like to know which cookbook will take you to the next level.

T. Susan Chang, a regular cookbook reviewer for NPR.org and The Boston Globe, has come out with a cookbook ratings app, dubbed Cookshelf.

The app is easy to use and sorts cookbooks (on a scale of 1-5) by skill level, by the level of recipe innovation, by its gift-giving potential, and by whether it’s a “keeper,” with recipes that you’ll return to as favorites again and again.

For example, Chang gives All About Braising by Molly Stevens a 5 in the “keeper’ category, calling it a “forever” cookbook. Meanwhile, The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook—you can try your hand at Lady Mary’s Crab Canapés—rates only a 1. “Here and gone (trendy and ephemeral”), sniffs Chang.

You can use CookShelf to sort cookbooks numerous ways, from Mother’s Day to Gluten-free. Each entry contains sample recipes, a note on how long the recipe will take, and a description of how readily ingredients can be located at your local supermarket.

Each cookbook rating is preceded by a summary of it’s pros and cons. Chang is a lively and knowledgeable writer and her intros are informative and engaging. If you want more, you can click on Chang’s full reviews in The Boston Globe.

A couple of quibbles with this otherwise outstanding app for both casual cooks and collectors. The design is a bit clunky and it would be useful when you sort through a category to have both the name of author as well as the title listed.