Sarah E Crowder

Sarah is a vegetable farmer turned photographer and recipe developer. As a food brand photographer at Sarah E Crowder she specializes in audience-building images for social media.
Clams Casino Sounds Fancy, but It's Shockingly Easy to Make
The combination of bacon and clams is knock-your-socks-off delicious.
Jul 11, 2020
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7 Tips for Hosting a Summer Party
Summer is my favorite time of the year to entertain. Warm weather, longer days, and the slightly relaxed schedule of these months provide the atmosphere and time to prioritize having friends over in a way I can never seem to over the holidays. It’s important to me, though, to host in a way that maintains those summer vibes, which means balancing making the event special with keeping things easy and laid back.
Jul 25, 2017
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Beyond the Bowl: 5 Protein-Packed Snacks Starring Cottage Cheese
Growing up, I knew cottage cheese was a healthy snack and that it tasted great piled high in the seeded center of a juicy cantaloupe. It wasn’t until I was an adult that my mom started combining cottage cheese with diced apple and cinnamon that my eyes opened to pairing the protein-rich cheese with other simple, healthy partners.
Jun 5, 2017
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Recipe: Crispy Prosciutto-Wrapped Drumsticks
I have long been a fan of roasted chickens, both for their flavor and convenience. What I’ve only recently discovered, though, is how with a little planning, ready-to-eat chicken can serve as a base for several weeknight meals that are each a unique dinner. So, I’ve upgraded from my default serving of plain chicken with a simple green salad to buying two prepared birds and using each part in an easy yet interesting way, really taking advantage of the work already done for me.
May 8, 2017
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Recipe: Gingery Zucchini Noodle Salad with Crispy Black Pepper Tofu
This colorful recipe checks all my boxes for an ideal weeknight dinner: fast, flavorful, healthy, and far from boring. The zucchini noodles (or “zoodles”) are combined with vibrant red cabbage, carrot, radish, mango, and herbs. This refreshing base is then tossed with a tahini dressing boasting a zingy dose of fresh ginger and topped with crispy, peppery tofu for a pleasing mix of hues, textures, and flavors — all in under 30 minutes.
May 4, 2017
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Recipe: Tangy Balsamic Peach Gouda Grilled Cheese
There’s nothing wrong with a classic grilled cheese — the formula’s been around forever for good reason. On the other hand, it’s a formula that lends itself to new flavors so well. Take, for example, this Tangy Balsamic Peach Gouda Grilled Cheese. Alexandra made one for her longtime friend Katherine, who recently moved to her neighborhood after years spent living abroad.
Apr 22, 2017
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Recipe: Chickpea Cheddar Grilled Cheese
To celebrate National Grilled Cheese Day — it’s April 12! — we’ve been thinking about what makes it such a great food for gatherings. For Kelyn, a food stylist from Texas now living in NYC, it’s the meal that brings up the warm fuzzies of childhood but can easily be dressed up for grownup palates. Kelyn brought three friends over, her family away from home — Kristina, Stacy, and Gerardo — and made them a Chickpea Cheddar Grilled Cheese.
Apr 17, 2017
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Recipe: Margherita Pizza Grilled Cheese
What is it about grilled cheese that brings people together? For Sabrina’s daughters, one in fifth grade and the other in preschool, it’s the rare thing that can be agreed upon by two girls at different stages of childhood. And seeing the two hang out makes Sabrina happy. She and her daughters made a Margherita Pizza Grilled Cheese, replacing the traditional mozzarella with fontina and gouda — a little punchy and a little nutty, respectively, but still relatively mild.
Apr 13, 2017
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Recipe: One-Bowl Orange Olive Oil Cupcakes with Honey Buttercream
Hands down, olive oil is my favorite baking oil. That may be unexpected, but using extra virgin olive oil is a simple way to increase the depth of flavor in baked goods and works particularly well in these One-Bowl Orange Olive Oil Cupcakes. Combining fresh orange juice with extra virgin olive oil easily elevates them to something special — a more elegant version of sweet-and-salty to leave you craving one bite after another.
Mar 29, 2017
5 Meals Made Easy with Grocery Shortcuts
After years of meal planning for my family, I’ve finally realized what makes the plan work each and every week: embracing the grocery store dinner. See, for a long time I didn’t include this as part of my meal planning strategy, and time after time weekday life thwarted my best-laid plans. A meal I thought would be good for leftovers would get devoured in one sitting or a late workday would derail the meal schedule and I was left without a backup plan.
Mar 25, 2017
Recipe: French Bread Pesto Chicken Pizza
A homemade take on the microwave French bread pizza from my childhood, still weeknight-friendly, thanks to some help from the grocery store.
Mar 24, 2017
Recipe: BBQ Meatball Sub with Greens
Plus you'll get those veggies in.
Mar 23, 2017
Recipe: Smoky Roasted Vegetable Hummus Bowl
This is one of those recipes that originated as an off-the-cuff concept while speedily scanning the grocery store aisles a mere hour before dinner. I see hummus, we’ve got veggies at home, I’ll grab some pita. The hummus bowls — basically a pile of juicy roasted veggies over creamy hummus — were so well-received that they now regularly appear on our meal planning list. This smoky, tangy edition is the version I love most.
Mar 22, 2017
Recipe: Honey Mustard Chicken Tender Salad
When I’m making a salad, I typically focus on the lettuce base and carefully selected add-ins, then dress them with a basic vinaigrette. While the dressing is always good, it’s not the star by any stretch. This honey mustard dressing, though? It’s the reason to make salad in the first place. Don’t get me wrong — I love the flavors and textures that make up this chicken tender salad, but it’s the honey mustard dressing that makes it worthy of sharing.
Mar 21, 2017
Recipe: Naan Wraps with Homemade Cucumber Raita
On weekends I do my shopping at a co-op with a huge selection of food and groceries, but if I need to fill in the gaps during the week I pop into our neighborhood grocery store. While the options aren’t as plentiful, our local store has quite a few draws, like the packaged naan that tastes almost as good as homemade. These naan wraps are a mid-week family favorite. They’re filled to the brim with cumin-spiced lamb, shredded iceberg lettuce, and a quick homemade cucumber raita.
Mar 20, 2017
Recipe: Garlicky Steak and Veggie Bowls
A few months back, I was frantically searching for ways to simplify my life. Even my kitchen routines received a dramatic culling; nothing was too precious or too small to be immune. It was then I asked myself: Why do I need to chop garlic for every meal? I decided this tedious task provided too insignificant an impact to continue daily, and mostly avoided it — and garlic — for several months.
Jan 27, 2017
Recipe: Shredded Cabbage and Sweet Potato Slaw
Slaw gets a lot of love in the warmer months — when it regularly appears as part of a cookout spread or tucked into a pulled pork sandwich — but in our household it’s on the menu just as often in the winter. Cabbage is a cool-weather crop, after all. The base of this winter slaw is a mix of red cabbage and julienned sweet potato, bejeweled with orange segments and pomegranate. It’s proof positive you can eat the rainbow even in January.
Jan 26, 2017
Recipe: Sesame-Ginger Roasted Broccoli
Roasted broccoli is a dinner staple in our household. It’s one of the easiest ways to get some greens on our plates — especially on those nights when our dinner timeline is particularly tight. I can grab a bag or two of frozen broccoli and we can eat as we normally do, but with a fraction of the prep. Since we eat it so regularly, I’ve tried plenty of variations on roasted broccoli. To date, this sesame-ginger roasted broccoli is my family’s favorite.
Jan 24, 2017
Recipe: Almond-Crusted Chicken Fingers with Yogurt-Herb Dip
A childhood favorite is all grown up with an almond meal breading and yogurt-herb dip.
Jan 23, 2017
Recipe: Cilantro-Lime Chicken Quesadillas
I used to use quesadillas as a vessel for leftover chicken — usually the leftover bits of a whole roasted bird from earlier in the week. This recipe, though, was the impetus for cooking chicken for the sole purpose of making quesadillas, and now I’m dedicated to the concept. The cilantro-lime chicken thighs are excellent in their own right, but they’re even better teamed up with buttery, flaky tortillas and melty Monterey Jack cheese.
Jan 20, 2017
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Recipe: Creamy Stuffed French Toast
When I was in third grade, I entered a bake off hosted by our local library. The day of the competition, my mom helped me gather the ingredients from our fridge and pantry to make the gingersnap cookie recipe I had chosen, at which point we discovered we were out of vanilla extract. My ever resourceful mother pulled a bottle of orange extract from the back of the cupboard and suggested we have a little fun with the recipe.
Sep 29, 2016
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Celebrating Summer’s Sweetness: A Berries & Chocolate Cream Cheese Bagel
Summer weather makes me so happy, but it also make me a little less ambitious in the kitchen. I was going to say I become the teensiest bit lazy when it comes to culinary pursuits this time of year, but what actually results is an ideal efficiency for creating meals that celebrate the season without overcomplicating it. For example, when I’m craving a sweet treat, I’ll skip baking a cake in favor of a simpler (and speedier!) dessert bagel.
Aug 10, 2016
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3-Ingredient Lunch: A Satisfying Seasonal Bagel
There’s a reason we don’t eat sliced tomatoes like we do sliced apples or snack on grape tomatoes like grapes, and it’s this: Tomatoes shine brightest when supported by a key ingredient or two. Whether your preferred summer tomato is super sweet or flaunts an acidic undercurrent, pairing it may be just as important as picking this farmer’s market favorite itself.
Jul 27, 2016
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Banana Split for Breakfast & More Ways to Rock Cottage Cheese Around the Clock
Until recently, I reserved cottage cheese for breakfast and maybe the occasional snack, but lately I’ve been experimenting with incorporating it into meals for any time of day, using Hood Cottage Cheese‘s classic, sweet, and savory flavors. This has opened up my meal planning in the best possible way, since protein- and calcium-rich cottage cheese instantly makes any dish more nutritious and flavorful.
Jun 30, 2016
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A Simply Better Summer Snack: Peach, Blueberry, & Cream Cheese Toast
Something about summer makes me want to simplify. Maybe it’s the long, warm days tugging me out of the kitchen and into the sun, or maybe it’s the abundance of perky produce begging to be no more than subtly embellished. Maybe it’s both. Either way, this seasonal snack of toast, fresh fruit, and Arla Original Cream Cheese is exactly the kind of thing I’m craving.
Jun 29, 2016
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A Weekend Ribs Feast…On a Weeknight
When my son was a baby, we used to get together for weeknight dinners with neighbors. We called it “kid dinner,” because we’d eat an early meal and ensure the menu was something our little ones would enjoy too. As our babies turned into kids, though, life got busy and those social dinners fell off the radar.
Jun 26, 2016
7 Things I Never Do to Roast Chicken
Sometimes I think being such a food-lover makes my cooking more complicated than it needs to be. I’ll always think those cookies would have a little more depth if I browned the butter, or those tacos would be even better if I pickled the onions. Sometimes I think about making lasagna, but then I’d have to make fresh pasta, homemade sauce, a bechamel … ack, nevermind. But if there’s one dish I’ve kept simple, it’s roast chicken.
Jun 6, 2016
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Recipe: Gouda and Apple Cinnamon Swirl Grilled Cheese
This sweet-and-salty Gouda grilled cheese is probably the most versatile sandwich I’ve ever made. It can serve as a light lunch, snack, or even dessert (a cheese plate and dessert in one!), and it’s kid-friendly but adults love it too. Everyone I’ve served it to enthusiastically devoured the combination of melted cheese, crisp apples, and caramel sauce on toasty cinnamon swirl bread. In fact, I’m getting hungry just writing about it.
Apr 12, 2016
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Recipe: Muenster and Avocado Grilled Cheese
While I’m not one to turn my back on the nostalgia of a simple grilled cheese sandwich (Okay, maybe with a little mayonnaise…), I have to admit a straightforward classic won’t cut it for me as a meal. This Muenster grilled cheese, generously filled out with avocado and baby arugula, is satisfying enough to both my eyes and my belly to qualify as lunch or a light dinner.
Apr 5, 2016
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Recipe: Lemon Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting
These Easter cupcakes are everything I want in a treat this time of year, bringing together a trifecta of lemon, marshmallow, and whimsy. The citrus cake is bright and perfectly tart, the ideal foil to a fluffy, sweet marshmallow buttercream. Citrus and candy both make these cupcakes feel right for Easter, but the coconut “grass” and jelly beans take the theme to the top.
Mar 8, 2016
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3 Ways To Add More Cheese To Your Game Day
Whether you’re hosting the ultimate big-game party, have your eyes glued to the screen, or are shushing everyone during the commercials, there’s something we can all agree on: game day snacks are of utmost importance. We teamed up with the award-winning cheese experts at Cabot Creamery to bring you the ultimate question: Which cheesy game day snack is right for you?
Feb 1, 2016
Recipe: Quinoa Bowl with Kung Pao Edamame
If you’ve ever wondered or been asked how vegetarians or vegans get enough protein, have I got a recipe for you. With quinoa, edamame, and peanuts, it’s supremely satisfying, but more importantly this is the most flavorful grain bowl I’ve ever made. The edamame mixture is a vegetarian version of kung pao chicken that’s just as sticky-salty-spicy as its inspiration.
Jan 15, 2016
Recipe: Farro Bowl with Crispy Salmon and Toasted Sesame Spinach
Every time I cook farro, I kick myself for waiting so long to revisit it. Nutty and chewy, it’s a subtle but sophisticated grain, making it perfect to serve as a backdrop to strong flavors without getting lost. That’s exactly what it does in this grain bowl, proudly bearing the weight of crispy seared salmon and saucy sesame spinach. While the flavors are complex, the prep is surprisingly simple.
Jan 14, 2016
Recipe: Tangy Millet Bowl with Breaded Garlic Shrimp
Sometimes I crave corn in the winter. It comes without warning and, well, without corn. This year, though, I turned to my freezer both to satisfy my off-season hankering and to make a summery grain bowl I can eat any time of the year. Starting with a bed of mildly nutty millet, the corn is alongside broiled shrimp with a crispy, garlicky breading and topped with a tangy parsley-yogurt sauce and toasted almonds.
Jan 13, 2016
Recipe: Vegan Amaranth Bowl with Garam Masala Butternut Squash
This meal was just the motivation I needed to branch out from the ingredients I usually reach for when I’m making dinner. Amaranth is a grain I’ve used on occasion in a cereal capacity, but for this bowl I took a savory route, pairing the mildly earthy grain with garam masala butternut squash, garlicky collards, and crisp apple slices. It’s a porridge suitable for dinner.
Jan 12, 2016
Recipe: Parmesan Barley Bowl with Roasted Broccoli and a Soft-Boiled Egg
This barley bowl did not initially elicit excitement — my husband later described it as “unassuming”— but like so many grain bowls before it, this meal is more than the sum of its grains and vegetables. The details make all the difference.
Jan 11, 2016