Cooking

About halfway down Shop Street in downtown Galway, Ireland, there’s often a crowd outside Chipeen, where they serve hundreds of pounds each day of what they call “proper Irish chips” – chunky peeled potato batons cut thicker than a typical American fry. Crispy and golden outside, with a fluffy interior texture, Chipeen elevates these chips beyond a side dish to make them a meal – and nothing could be bad about that.

Although the Lunar New Year started on Feb. 17, any day of the year is a good day to celebrate Asian food, especially when noodles and spring rolls are involved.

There are a variety of nutritious, dairy-free ways to add body and creaminess to soups. Beans and potatoes are two ingredients primed for the job. If they’re already in the soup, simply smashing some of them against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon can do the trick. Mashed, or pureed, white beans or potatoes can also be added stealthily to soups that don’t typically include them – such as tomato or broccoli cheddar – for creamy thickness. Plus they’ll contribute fiber, essential nutrients and, in the case of beans, a protein boost.

A cup of chamomile tea. A glass of warm milk. The classic turkey sandwich. Certain foods and drinks have a reputation for making us sleepy.

It’s that time of year again to paint the town green and raise a pint or two o’ Guinness to the good Saint Patrick and the Emerald Isle. There’s a little Irish in all of us when St. Patrick’s Day arrives, and there are plenty of opportunities throughout the Inland Northwest to participate in the celebration.

If cooking dinner every night feels repetitive and downright exhausting to you, you’re not alone. If you’re ready to simplify your weekly meal planning, skip last-minute grocery runs and still enjoy delicious, home-cooked meals, meal kit delivery services and online grocery delivery are your go-to solutions.

I am not over the cottage cheese trend yet, because I never needed to get on board with it. For me, cottage cheese isn’t a fad. It’s a mainstay in my refrigerator and has been for as long as I can remember. As a child, I sat at the kitchen table with my grandfather noshing on bowls of it mixed with sour cream and sliced banana. My grandmother stirred it with hot egg noodles, butter and caramelized onions for dinner. I’ve been making cottage cheese pancakes for years, as well as using it in dressings and dips to add creamy texture in a healthier way.

Salmon recipes often say to remove the skin. The salmon I buy usually has skin only on one side. Is it really necessary to remove it when a recipe says to? And if so, what’s the reason for removing it? Does it really matter?

I have a theory. I call it the soup theory of everything. You won’t find it published in any scientific journal, at least not yet.

Cooking at home is one of the best things you can do for your health. No matter what you make, home-cooked meals tend to be better for you – lower in sodium and saturated fat and more sensibly portioned – than restaurant food or takeout. If you lean into more healthful recipes, that’s even better. But it’s not only the food itself that’s beneficial, as Nicki Sizemore explains in her cookbook “Mind, Body, Spirit, Food.” The process of cooking itself can be nourishing, too.

One of the powers of food I appreciate most is its ability to transport – how eating cinnamon toast or chicken noodle soup brings me right back to my childhood, or enjoying a lobster roll puts me on a dock in New England on a sunny summer day.

While I love to linger in the kitchen and derive a meditative calm from the precision of dicing, slicing and mincing, I can’t always manage the time or effort. After a long day, my resolve to pick up my chef’s knife fizzles before I even step into the kitchen.

Riddle me this: What do you get when you mix the Jolly Green Giant with a Hershey’s chocolate cow on Valentine’s Day? Why, a giant chocolate kiss, of course. We offer a recipe for such kisses, just in time for that special day. And fret not, giants and chocolate cows aren’t needed to make them.

I could feel the love filling the kitchen when I served these panna cotta cups to my husband and daughter. Each looked at me with appreciation and delight, nodding and uttering murmurs of joy as they relished each spoonful. A warm satisfaction washed over me as I relished their enjoyment.

This week, the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks will compete in Super Bowl 60 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Today’s menu features four recipes that can bring some delicious eating to any wintertime dinner or lunch. Here are two main dishes, including Chicken à la King, and a couple of complementary side dishes. This version of Chicken à la King is regal eating on a peasant’s budget, and it’s comparatively easy to prepare.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins made waves this week with claims that the Trump administration’s revamped food pyramid leaves plenty of room for Americans to maintain a healthy diet for as little as $3 a meal.

You know sometimes when you meet someone through a friend, and it suddenly occurs to you that you like the friend of your friend way better than your original pal? That’s kind of how it felt when an experiment in which I planned to sample an odd TikTok food trend wound up introducing me to my new culinary crush.

Today’s recipes are all about dried beans and how to bring them to life. So, grab your pots and pans, and some Beano, if you like, and let’s get cooking. There’s some seriously good eating on the horizon.