There are nights where I come home from work ready to tackle a big long cooking project. And then there are the other (frequent!) nights where I come home exhausted with the delivery menus in hand. And then I remember the poached egg. What was once a sad heap of roasted vegetables becomes dinner, magically! More

Thai stir-fried greens have been in my weeknight cooking repertoire since I began cooking. It's the first Thai dish I ever prepared that tasted straight-outta-Thai-Town authentic, and it's so simple, I make it — usually with rice and a Thai omelet — whenever I want a quick, flavorful dinner with lots of healthy leafy greens. More

This is one of the first dishes I ever learned to make on my own. It was also the first that I stopped needing a recipe to cook, and the first that actually received compliments from my dinner companions. And it's still one of my standby recipes! This simple tomato sauce hits all the requirements for a weeknight dinner: easy, versatile, and ready in about thirty minutes. Oh, and lick-the-pot good. More

Q: Our house is on the market so I am trying to keep it clean for showings all the time. With four kids and a dog that is near impossible. When I get a call that someone is coming to see the house, I barely have enough time to clean up after the kids let alone clean up any mess I've made in the kitchen. Eating out every day is not an option for the budget or our health so I would love any suggestions you have for healthy meals that require very little mess.

Sent by Neecia More

Buried deep in your freezer or perhaps in a jar in your pantry, I'm betting you have some artichoke hearts stashed away. If not, you should! These artichoke hearts are the start of many delicious, easy meals that we can toss together just about any night of the week. Here are five favorites to try this week. More

Caramelizing onions is a process that usually takes at least 20 minutes — even up to an hour if you are cooking several pounds at once. So I was intrigued by the method Melissa Clark uses to caramelize onions, which is quite different from the usual approach and takes just 10 minutes. I had to give it a try. More

Q: My husband and I are about to have a whirlwind of a month. We work full-time, plus we're buying a new place, packing up our current place, moving in, renovating, applying to grad school, and traveling for the holidays all over the next 4 to 5 weeks. We don't expect to have much time to cook, but we'd still like to eat healthy, tasty dinners.

Do you have any suggestions for convenience foods or quick meals that don't require much prior planning?

Sent by Tori More

Years come and go but some things remain the same. One such thing is a busy weekday morning where you'd give anything to have just ten more minutes to grab a respectable breakfast. Luckily, 2011 was a banner year for inspired portable, delicious breakfast recipes. More

We just whipped up a batch of chai concentrate intended for holiday gifts. Only problem: the mix is so yummy that we want to devour it ourselves! Fortunately, it is fantastically easy to make. More

It seems like this is a good year for mushrooms, at least in Northern California. In Berkeley, you can find heaps of delicious looking wild mushrooms at fairly reasonable prices, especially chanterelles, which come in many colors (white, yellow, black.) But what caught my eye recently is the oddly named Fried Chicken Mushroom. Is it true? Does it really taste like fried chicken? At $8.99 a pound, I picked up a small handful for around $2, and took them back to my kitchen to find out.
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