The Beet Reporter

Continuing with my trend of making obscure kinds of homemade pasta (although ravioli and tortellini are somewhat more recognizable), I tried making gnocchi last week while my mother was in town. She came for graduation weekend but stayed for mothers’ day and the following days of mother-daughter cooking experiments, outdoor adventures, and craft projects that [...]

I have been meaning for several months to try making risotto for the first time. It seems like you can do almost anything with risotto, whether it’s adding pureed mushrooms or spinach, pistachios, shrimp or just herbs. One of the most popular set-ups for fish in the restaurant I work at is to serve it [...]

I haven’t been able to post for the last week for several reasons– first being that I graduated from college last weekend but more directly because I broke my computer screen and couldn’t look at photos. Now that I’ve finished college and have the opportunity to open a new chapter in my life, I’m seizing [...]

Lots of people miss out on the wonders of kale and all the crazy things you can do with it. Kale is a tough leafy green with a distinct bitter flavor; it’s boldness is surprising. It’s also strong, and won’t go limp like spinach when its steamed. Eating kale is one of those rare instances [...]

It has been an exceptionally long time since I’ve been up out of bed and able to cook. Don’t get me wrong, if I could cook in bed I would, but as I learned this week while down with a nasty flu, I cannot write papers in bed without falling asleep nor can I cook [...]

I read this great book called The Sharper your Knife, the Less you Cry by Kathleen Flinn about a thirty-something high powered executive who gets laid off. She decides to take nine months to study at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris while transitioning in her life to a job she really loves. I [...]

This week I decided to be adventurous and try a new type of bread. With all the Hummus I have in the house these days, pita seemed like the appropriate experiment to facilitate snacking and hummus-filled sandwiches. I have to say, just a few weeks ago I was terrified of baking bread, and I’m really [...]

There are days where the chocolate craving kicks in so hard that nothing can stop it. M&Ms just don’t cut it. Hershey’s chocolate is a joke. I don’t just need chocolate chips, I need a whole cookie of chocolate chips. Two of these babies and the craving is kicked. They’re chewy and moist like a [...]

How do you make sushi vegan, one might ask? Why, omit the fish of course! I really hesitate to call this sushi at all, because there’s no rice, and no fish, and no wasabi… but it sure looks like sushi, and anything wrapped in seaweed is close enough for me. The fish might be absent, [...]

If nobody’s noticed, I make a lot of hummus. It’s a staple for sandwiches, it’s a good snack with carrots or crackers, and it’s an appropriate appetizer for parties. Fortunately, there are just as many kinds of hummus as there are reasons to eat it. There’s Tomato and Chipotle Pepper Hummus and garlic hummus and [...]