Megan Gordon

Megan is a freelance writer, recipe developer and cookbook writer. Her first book, Whole-Grain Mornings, (Ten Speed Press) is available in bookstores nationwide.
Cool & Creamy Herbed Yogurt Dip Is My Go-To Make-Ahead Snack
It comes together in just 5 minutes.
Oct 4, 2023
Grown-Up Tuna Noodle Casserole
I had a few realizations over the holidays this year with family. There were the usual suspects, of course: travel mayhem, gifting stress, and family drama. But this year there was a new player on the block: bad casseroles. I’m not sure if it was just chance or if my mom and sisters were digging through old late 1980’s cookbooks, but we had some very heavy, flavorless casseroles during the Christmas holiday.
Jun 11, 2023
Polenta Versus Grits: What's the Difference?
Learn the differences between polenta and grits, and how to cook them into creamy porridge or crispy cakes.
Dec 17, 2022
Learn Something New! 15 Cooking Tips and Tricks
Forget sous vide and how to chiffonade: sometimes you just want to learn about making juicy chicken, cooking the perfect egg, or peeling garlic quickly and effectively. 2011 at The Kitchn has been a year of covering a great many kitchen basics for the novice and more experienced cook alike. Today we are bringing you 15 of our favorite tips, hints, and discussions from 2011.Do you know the failproof way to cook chicken breasts?
May 12, 2022
Baked Eggnog Custards
We all have holiday traditions we remember from growing up. When I think about my own, I think about my mom spending hours on Baked Alaska for my father’s company Christmas party each year. I think about stockings and lottery tickets on Christmas Eve and new pajamas. And I think about baked custards. In our house, baked custard wasn’t reserved just for the holidays.
Dec 23, 2021
15 Quick & Easy Thanksgiving Breakfast Ideas
Start the holiday off right.
Nov 21, 2021
Leftover Coconut Cream? Here Are 6 Ways to Use It Up!
When in doubt, make coconut whipped cream.
May 24, 2021
7 Recipes to Use Up a Bunch of Sorrel
This leafy green basically tastes like zingy lemons.
Mar 22, 2021
Here’s Why Pro-Bakers Keep 3 Types of Vanilla on Hand At All Times (And You Should Too!)
There’s something that truly can’t compare to the warm, sweet scent of vanilla. Beloved in everything from ice cream to cakes, a vanilla is as much a scent as it is a powerful flavor. Even in chocolate recipes, vanilla acts as a secret ingredient that makes everything taste just a little bit better. You’ll most often see vanilla extract called for in recipes, but there’s a whole world of vanilla products to explore.
Mar 17, 2021
What’s the Difference Between Whiskey and Bourbon?
I recently took a two-part cocktail class where we learned all about bitters, shrubs, and syrups. At the beginning of the class, we were asked to introduce ourselves and mention our liquor of choice. My answer: anything brown. Once the class got going, my vodka-loving tablemate mentioned she’s never understood the difference between whiskey and bourbon. Turns out: it’s really quite simple.
Jun 10, 2020
Recipe: Vegan Creamy Curried Cauliflower Soup
A simple puréed soup is something I turn to often. Lately, I’ve been relying on a lightly spiced cauliflower soup to tide be over between the richness of the holidays. The nice thing about this recipe is that it takes very little time to pull together. You simply cook down the onions and garlic with cauliflower, broth, and warm spices and ready your favorite toppings (I like crispy parsley, toasty cashews, and spicy red pepper flakes — all with a dash of olive oil).
Feb 5, 2020
Recipe: Spiced Butternut Squash and Sorghum Salad with Raisins & Pepitas
We are well into the time of year when holiday cooking and baking is on everyone’s radar. Last year around this time I became so caught up in planning our holiday menus that I started to lose inspiration for simple, everyday fall cooking, and I’ve vowed not to let that happen this season. The good thing about this warmly-spiced, nutritious grain salad is that it fills both roles: everyday side (or main) dish as well as truly beautiful contender for the holiday table.
Feb 3, 2020
Recipe: Mediterranean Freekeh Salad with Collard Greens and Chickpeas
We are grasping for a little color around here in Seattle lately; spring can’t come soon enough. I know most of you are feeling the same way, and this salad of fennel, collards, sesame seeds and freekah was really born from a need for a fresh, bright, easy lunch that would allude to the fact that outdoor picnics are maybe — just maybe — not that far away.
Feb 3, 2020
Go-To Salad Recipe: Peanut, Carrot and Cabbage Slaw
Right around this time of year, the early summer salad boredom sets in. Potato salad? Eh. Another green salad? Maybe later. So without fail in mid to late June, I start experimenting with different salad and dressing combinations to keep it interesting. Right now, this mixture of crisp napa cabbage, carrots and radishes mixed with a velvety peanut dressing is my absolute #1 go-to salad. This summer side dish is not quite coleslaw, and definitely not green salad.
Jan 29, 2020
Recipe: Collard Green Slaw
This time of year in the Pacific Northwest, we can use all the color we can get. I know many of you live in regions that are quite dark too. It still astounds me to look up before 5:00 p.m. and feel it already growing dark. So I find myself really seeking color and brightness in other places — mainly food, as well as in bright rooms or nooks around our house. This wintery coleslaw has become a real mood booster, with its purples and oranges and reds.
Jan 29, 2020
Vegetarian Recipe: Black Bean, Sweet Potato, and Quinoa Chili
I’ve recently moved from California to Seattle, Washington. And I’ve made many observations in these past few weeks, one of which is that the grey, wet rumor is true. According to everyone I speak to, it looks like soup and chili weather will stick around for quite some time. We were having friends over for dinner last weekend and sat down with some of our favorite cookbooks to decide what sounded fun to cook.
Jan 29, 2020
Dessert Recipe: Coconut Chocolate Pudding with Coconut Flakes
I’ve made a dangerous discovery this week. A discovery that involves heating up a can of coconut milk with a handful of really good chocolate and a little vanilla (and a few other ingredients) and creating the silkiest, dreamiest pudding you may have ever tasted. Although usually quite easy, puddings can sometimes be tricky. There’s nothing worse than a lumpy or grainy pudding, or a pudding that simply doesn’t taste like much. You won’t find any of those things here.
Jan 22, 2020
Recipe: Whole Grain Gingerbread Muffins
I don’t often write about muffins or even make them at home because, to be honest, I just don’t like most muffins! The typical coffee shop fare tends to have big, domed tops and are often too sweet for my taste. I’m drawn to those dense hippie muffins that are packed with a good bit of whole grain flour and interesting flavors and textures — which is exactly the kind of muffin I’m sharing today.
Jan 21, 2020
Recipe: Cottage Cheese Muffins with Roasted Red Peppers and Feta
Many morning meals and recipes can be divisive in the same way that brownies (fudgy or cakey?) or chocolate chip cookies (soft, chewy, or crisp?) often are. There are people who tend towards the savory side of things and others who would choose a fruit scone, muffin, or stack of pancakes before they’d ever order eggs at brunch. That’s not to say you can’t dabble in both (I certainly do!
Jan 21, 2020
Recipe: Strawberry Cheesecake Breakfast Bars
There’s a time and a place for a granola bar or energy bar, and then there’s an altogether different time for a decadent, crumbly, fruit-filled bar with a silky layer of cream cheese. These bars are for that occasion — and for all the brunches and spring parties that may be on your calendar in the coming months. Or for no occasion at all, other than breaking up the inevitable breakfast rut that strikes us all at some point.
Jan 21, 2020
Recipe: Almond-Fig Breakfast Quick Bread
Everyone has their comfort zone in the kitchen. Maybe you make a mean meatloaf or the very best chocolate chip cookies. Maybe your spaghetti sauce has garnered a reputation around your neighborhood. For me, quick breads, muffins, and scones are my jam because they come together quickly, and I can experiment with ways to make them a bit healthier by incorporating some whole grains and much less sugar than is often called for.
Jan 21, 2020
Recipe: Savory Breakfast Toaster Tarts
I have a very, very soft spot in my heart for homemade Pop-Tarts (or toaster tarts, as I’ve called them here). Much like pie, the options for filling are endless, and once you master the dough — which is a pretty straightforward pie dough — you’ll start scheming and dreaming up things you’d like to stuff inside. For me, lately, the fillings have all been savory.
Jan 21, 2020
Recipe: Ham, Brie, Marmalade and Arugula Pressed Sandwich
Although we’ve been in our current house here in Seattle over a year now, I’m still unpacking a few stray boxes from the basement. Last weekend, I unpacked an old, beloved friend: my panini press. And I got right to work preparing this heavenly new sandwich that marries tart marmalade, spicy arugula, creamy brie and little-bit-salty ham. I am not a big appliance gal.
Jan 21, 2020
Recipe: Freeze-and-Bake Lemon Poppy Seed Scones
Now, I’m sure many of you have had frozen scones or muffins before. Perhaps you made extra and weren’t able to eat them all, so you froze the leftovers for a rainy day. Well if you’re planning in advance for company, an event, or a big meal, you can actually freeze the unbaked scones and pop them into the oven when you’re ready for a warm breakfast treat.
Jan 21, 2020
Ice Cream Sundaes: What’s Your Approach?
There are ice cream sundaes and then there are ice cream sundaes. You know the ones: the interesting, inspired sundaes that boast fancy toppings, delicious sauces and homemade whipped cream. These aren’t usually the ones we make at home, but I so appreciate a well-crafted sundae and thought we should take a moment to discuss how to put together a memorable one — how to really craft one.
Sep 12, 2019
5 Dishes That Are Better with Cocktail Bitters
If you make cocktails at home, you know that a good bottle of bitters is one of the essentials to have on hand. Bitters are a concentrated mixture of alcohol, herbs, aromatics and spices — maybe you’ve heard of Peychaud’s or Angostura? The herbal notes that bitters bring to the table help to round out the flavors of many cocktails, and I even use a little in my seltzer water in the afternoon as a pick-me-up.
Jun 8, 2019
Fresh Summer Recipe: Dandelion Pumpkin Seed Pesto
People can be protective about their pesto recipes and approaches. A little extra garlic or the special way they grind down the pesto? It’s the magic touch. This is largely because pesto is so adaptable: you can create a signature pesto of your own using different nuts, greens, cheeses and spices. And that is exactly what we have here. I recently had the opportunity to sit in on a Cooking with Herbs class taught by cookbook author and amazing gardener, Willi Galloway.
Jun 5, 2019
Spring Appetizer Recipe: Goat Cheese Rapini Toasts
A successful appetizer is one that keeps people nervously eying their neighbors to make sure they won’t finish the entire plate. With the winning combination of bright lemon, mild goat cheese, crispy toasts, and slightly bitter greens, this is one such appetizer.We made these toasts for our housewarming party last month.
Jun 5, 2019
Product Review: Dalmatia Fig Spread
Would you enjoy a delicious fig spread on your morning toast while helping to support farmers in Dalmatia? Interested in trying a new appetizer that straddles the line between sweet and savory? Yes, please.Dalmatia fig spreads are made off the Adriatic coast of Croatia with just a handful of ingredients (mainly figs, sugar and pectin). I tried the original fig spread, but you’ll find other interesting varieties including a sour cherry, orange and quince.
May 30, 2019
Fall Fruit in the Morning: 10 Breakfast Recipes
Breakfasts can get a little rushed as the holidays grow nearer and nearer. Heck, everything can get a little rushed. But with a little planning, fall breakfasts can be something other than cold cereal or coffee shop scones.With apples, pears, figs, plums, quince, persimmons, and raspberries (depending on where you live) in season, folding them into a simple muffin or scone is something that always inspires us.
May 2, 2019
Recipe: Slow-Cooker Hearty Chicken Minestrone
The New Year brings different traditions for different folks. Some make black-eyed peas, others make firm resolutions. I make chicken stock. There’s something wonderfully industrious about making homemade stock, and this year on New Year’s Day, that’s where I found myself. I find that the soups I make throughout the year are rather predictable. In the fall, puréed soups have their day in the sun.
May 2, 2019
10 Speedy & Delicious Puff Pastry Desserts
We’re all familiar with the question often asked before heading out to a party: what can we bring? Usually the answer is “just yourselves” and you grab a bottle of wine on the way out the door. But for times when you’re asked to bring a quick dessert, puff pastry is your new best friend. We talked about puff pastry a few weeks ago on The Kitchn and how wonderful it can be as a quick solution to appetizers. You essentially thaw it, slice it, fill it and bake it.
May 2, 2019
Recipe: Southwestern Tofu Scramble
I was a vegetarian for a good fifteen years — all through college and most of my twenties. It was never a huge struggle for me because my family didn’t eat a great deal of red meat growing up and I wasn’t crazy about fish at the time, so it was a natural transition in many ways. I went to college in Boulder, CO, and as anyone who either lives or has visited Boulder knows, it’s a very tofu-friendly city.
May 2, 2019
Cocktail Recipe: The Midwinter Warmer
I’m not sure whether it’s the beginning of tax season or the gray Pacific Northwest days we’ve been having lately, but many people I know have been a bit down. In line at the grocery store, I hear families dreaming up sunny vacations and faraway weekend plans. But for the rest of the week, for the slog that February can feel like, I have a small solution: The Winter Warmer Cocktail.
May 2, 2019
Recipe: Chai-Spiced Banana Cream Pie
I haven’t made a pie in awhile and I was thinking at this point that I’d hold out until early spring berries made their way into the markets. But recently, I overheard talk of a pie that caught me off guard: Chai-Spiced Banana Cream Pie. I didn’t have a recipe, but I could only imagine how amazing the spice-flecked vanilla custard, soft bananas and pillowy whipped cream would taste, so I set to work.
May 2, 2019
Appetizer Recipe: Herbed Goat Cheese Polenta Bites
I’m guilty of always reaching for the same appetizers when having friends or family over: good olives, flatbreads, interesting cheeses, and rosemary nuts. If you’ve been to our house for drinks or dinner, this likely sounds pretty familiar. The reason for the repetition is ease, but what if there were a creamy, lightly fried bite of polenta that was just as simple? An appetizer that would trump olives and nuts any day of the week?
May 2, 2019