My wife and I cook like to cook together in the kitchen. A lot. We meal plan and secure all our groceries on the weekend, effectively pulling together a menu that will feed us, both lunch and dinner, at least four days out of the week. The inspiration for what we put on our dinner plates comes from a variety of books, magazines, and online sources. Each week there is one stand out, and this week the best thing we cooked Bon Appetit's Indian-Spiced Chicken with Chickpeas and Spinach.

Simple, healthy, whole food is anything but humdrum in David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl's Vegetarian Everyday. The creators of Green Kitchen Stories blog are known for their vibrant approach and this cookbook is filled with creative flavor combinations, gorgeous styling, and colorful photography. 

There are no secrets about food in our home. Our children, if they're paying attention, know where it comes from and what it was doing before it ended up on the plate. Though we don't forbid anything, we aren't shy about letting them know the difference between that fast food chicken sandwich and the chicken we got from Mr. Eubanks at the farmers' market. Much like adults, kids will eat what they want, in spite of what they know. But we like them to know what they're getting into. Take soft shell crabs, for instance. 

If someone were to take the doors off all your kitchen cabinets and snap a photo, what would that image say about you? That's what Dutch photographer Erik Klein Wolterink explores in Kitchen Portraits, a photography project and the subject of his new book by the same name. 

Most likely you already have Good Food, The Splendid Table, and America's Test Kitchen Radio lined up in your podcast subscriptions. And maybe you even take it to the next level with Spilled Milk, Joy the Baker/Homefries, and The Sporkful. But if you're looking for even more food-related podcasts, these two new offerings are worth checking out:

If you want to maximize your grocery shopping budget, the Environmental Working Group's annual Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists are essential tools for figuring out when it is worth spending more for organic produce, based on the pesticide residue levels found on 48 common fruits and vegetables. This year, cherry tomatoes and summer squash join the Dirty Dozen.

I dare you to open this cookbook from Seattle's Plum Bistro to any page and not think the recipe you find there is completely irresistible. Tiramisu pancakes? Check. Cauliflower bisque with fresh fennel? Yes, please. Black plum and ginger sorbet? Oh, you know it. Chef Makini Howell's recipes are vibrant, wholesome, and absolutely popping with all the fresh flavors of the season. ...Oh, and did I mention they're all vegan?

Have you ever wondered what drove acclaimed writers, philosophers and musicians like Ernest Hemingway, Jean-Paul Sartre and Glenn Gould? After reading Slate's excellent series on the daily rituals of great artists, I suspect it might be coffee — although a comprehensive list would also need to include alcohol, amphetamines and very little food. 

When I was facing a significant birthday a few years ago (one that ended in a "0") I began my celebration at SFMOMA, specifically at the Blue Bottle Cafe with a slice of Thiebaud Cake: a chocolate cake covered in strawberry buttercream and filled with Lillet- and vanilla-poached strawberries.  Clearly it was going to be a good decade!  So when the cafe's co-owner Caitlin Freeman published Modern Art Desserts, a cookbook based on the art-influenced creations she sells at the SFMOMA cafe, I was very excited to learn more about these amazing desserts.

Do you remember recipe cards, those preprinted cards that were often sold in sets or by subscription? They would have a photo of the recipe on the front and the recipe was printed on the back. For some reason, I've always associated them with meals made from condensed cream soups and canned green beans. But the people at Middlewest have kicked that notion straight out of my head with their beautiful new food magazine, which consists of 10 double-sided recipe cards and nary a canned green bean in sight.