august faves

plus Salt Fat Acid Heat author Samin Nosrat's most beloved pantry staple!

Hi, all, and happy September! We hope you had a nice long weekend filled with delicious food (maybe Dan’s marinated steak tips and herby rice?!) and fun.

We have a very exciting visitor this week: world-renowned writer, teacher, and cook Samin Nosrat! If you haven’t read Samin’s James Beard Award-winning, #1 New York Times-bestselling book Salt Fat Acid Heat, that’s your homework for the month. It will help you cook more knowledgeably and intuitively, and give you even more tools to be able to riff, swap, and sub with abandon (which you know we’re huge proponents of around here!). We can confirm that the audiobook version of Salt Fat Acid Heat is excellent — Samin narrates it herself — and the four-episode Netflix docuseries is, too.

We’re thrilled to announce that as of May, Samin is also on Substack with a grain of salt, AND that she has a new book — Good Things: Recipes and Rituals to Share with People You Love — hitting shelves on September 16! This Saturday, we’ll send you a sneak peek recipe from the book that we think will become a new weeknight (… or weekend morning! this is a hint!) staple. For now, let’s get to know Samin!

Molly from What To Cook: Hi, Samin! Wow, we are thrilled to have you here at WTC. Salt Fat Acid Heat taught me SO MUCH about cooking — like it has for countless others — and I can’t wait to learn even more by reading and cooking from Good Things. We’d love to hear about the start of your impactful food career: What was your first official job in the food world?

SAMIN: Bussing tables at Chez Panisse Café back in 2000! This job, which I sought out because it seemed fun to work in such a special restaurant, ended up introducing me to an expansive, beautiful food landscape and changed my life.

Molly: How smart of you to get your foot in the door at such an iconic establishment. Fast forward to 2025, how would you define your current job?

SAMIN: I'm a writer, teacher, and cook. I write a Substack, cookbooks, and sometimes contribute to NYT Cooking. I occasionally do television and video, including Waffles & Mochi and Salt Fat Acid Heat. I also co-host the Home Cooking podcast with my dear friend, Hrishikesh Hirway. In a world filled with so many talented recipe developers, chefs, writers, and other food professionals, I feel like what I do is a little different — everything, no matter the medium, is about teaching people how to think about cooking.

Molly: Love that — and it’s so helpful for home cooks like myself trying to ad lib more in the kitchen based on what I have on hand. What's a career accomplishment you're proud of but not many people know about?

SAMIN: I have a knack for building community around and fundraising for important causes. Some of it is innate to all food people, I think. We're all generous by nature. But I'm also a pretty good organizer. Over the last 20 years, I've raised close to half a million dollars by organizing bake sales and a jam auction in the wake of the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, Hurricane Katrina (2005), the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2011 earthquake in Japan, urban garden programs across the country (2012) and in support of black farmers, young refugees, and immigrants in my own community (2020).

Molly: What an incredible talent! Also, on the topic of accomplishments, I think it should be noted that Home Cooking was named one of the top 100 podcasts *of all time* by Time magazine.

What's bringing you a lot of joy lately?

SAMIN: We recently redesigned and replanted the vegetable garden I share with the dozen or so neighbors I live in community with. We assembled, built, and filled a bunch of Vego Garden planters, built trellises, and planted a ton of flowers, herbs, and vegetables. And the garden is already both visually stunning and it's producing like bonkers! I go out there every day to train the beans, cucumbers, and squash as well as to prune and harvest. It's a true delight.

Molly: I’ve had my eye on those planters for a while now, too! What’s a pantry staple that you can't live without?

SAMIN: Seasoned Rice Vinegar!!! It's truly become my vinegar of choice over the last several years, for its mildness, all-purpose flavor, and hint of salt and sugar.

Molly: How about your most-used specialty kitchen tool?

SAMIN: I've been having a real love affair with my Vitamix immersion blender over the last few years. It's high powered enough to get things really smooth without having to transfer out of the pot/jar/bowl into a blender. And it's a dream for creating an emulsion — so much so that several of the dressings in my new book are made using an immersion blender.

Molly: I don’t use my immersion blender enough and am glad to have this reminder (though I think I need to upgrade to that Vitamix!).

Lastly, who is your favorite person to cook with and why?

SAMIN: I love cooking with any of my friends' kids. I'm lucky to be the Auntie to many wonderful kiddos and I love including them in the process, building entire meals around their desires, and getting them excited about cooking and eating. Watching them observe a dish come together and claiming ownership over their own labor and creativity is just so unbelievably satisfying.

Thank you so much for your time, Samin Nosrat! For more from Samin, subscribe to a grain of salt, read Salt Fat Acid Heat (or watch it on Netflix!), pre-order Good Things, follow her on Instagram, and/or visit her site. And for a look inside Good Things, click here!

The What To Cook archive now holds 250+ recipes, which means there’s always something worth revisiting. Each week, we share what we cooked this week over the last few years to spark inspiration — here’s what’s on the menu!

1. sheet-pan chili crisp salmon and snap peas, 2024

This is the kind of delicious, EASY weeknight dinner that makes you wonder why you’d ever bother with takeout. The sesame-scallion rice is so worth the effort, but, as always, you can keep it simple with a bag of microwavable rice instead.

2. early dismissal pot roast, 2023

Here’s a stunner from our friend Dan Pelosi’s last cookbook, Let’s Eat! The timing couldn’t be better — we’re all cooking his steak tips and rice this week, and his brand new book Let’s Party is out as of yesterday. In this cozy, set-it-and-forget-it pot roast, we braise beef with pancetta, tomatoes, fennel, and herbs until it’s fall-apart tender. It’s a hefty meal — the kind of Sunday supper that guarantees plenty of leftovers.

3. chicken chile verde burgers, 2022

THESE BURGERS! So good. Thanks to jarred salsa verde, cheddar, and spices, lean ground chicken morphs into flavor-bomb juicy burger patties. You’ll pile them onto toasted English muffins with salsa verde mayo and avocado, and serve with lime-butter corn on the side.

4. 30-minute scallops with succotash, 2021

If you’ve ever been scared to make scallops at home, this recipe will change that. In just 30 minutes, you’ll sear buttery scallops to golden perfection and serve them over a fresh, end-of-summer succotash with corn, beans, and peppers.

In the comments section of last week’s So Into That, you all shared your favorite things, meals, and moments from August. We’ve rounded up a handful of them to share with the group, along with some from our team, too. Click here to read the full list!

Shows, movies, and books:

• Here are Caro’s show and movie recs from mat leave!

  • The Gilded Age: Downton Abbey vibes, but 1880s NYC. Old money meets new money, plus prepare to fall deeply in love with George Russell. From Molly: LOVE this show, and I got this tip from Samin’s newsletter: There’s a PBS documentary all about the Gilded Age — including the people and events that inspired show — that I plan to watch this weekend.

  • The Buccaneers: Same time period, but with Bridgerton vibes (modern music and videography, 19th century ideals). Absolutely obsessed with this series.

  • The Summer I Turned Pretty: Duh. I can't stop watching this slow moving train wreck. What is their music budget?! It's basically one long Taylor Swift music video.

  • Chief of War: George and I are currently watching this series, which is set in the Hawaiian islands in the late 1700s/early 1800s. Romance meets war — our kind of couples show.

  • My Oxford Year: I was so excited for the movie adaptation of My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan. It's definitely sweet and worth a watch, but as so often happens, the movie didn't live up to the book for me.

• Just listened to Laurie Woolever's terrific memoir, Care & Feeding, and found it so moving! —Ruth

• I just finished The Vanishing Half — a riveting read! Not my normal women’s lit or smut but still had elements of interpersonal relationships with challenging family dynamics. —Kate

• I loved the audiobook version of Ina Garten's book, Be Ready When the Luck Happens. It was such a fascinating listen to hear about her journey! —Kerri

• Loved reading Broken Country!! Currently reading and loving These Summer Storms 📖. —Sarah Frances

You all always have the best book recs! We’ve started a thread in the chat to compile a running list. Book lovers, share yours!

Food and drink:

• The back-to-school meal plan! So so happy this was as huge of a hit in your households as it was in mine. Even if you don't use the whole plan, make the egg bake to have on hand for easy breakfasts for the week! It's been very popular. —Caro

• Have you guys tried Canns? If you're into 🍃 but want a social sipping drink instead of a gummy, etc., we can't recommend these more highly. The flavors are all delicious and they're really, really mellow. The roadies are great — bring them out to dinner or to a party, order a club soda, and pour the pouch in!

• My favorite thing in August, aside from all the emotional support for my first starting kindergarten, is his PlanetBox stainless steel lunchboxes! He loves them as much as I do. —Maggie

  • My son's PlanetBox is on its 10th year, I've replaced the outer fabric carrying case once just because and that’s it. Still love it! —Jennifer

• TJ's Carolina Gold BBQ sauce! This website taught me to grill (TY Caro!) and I used the sauce on some grilled drumsticks... my husband called it the best chicken he's ever had! —Taylor

• Favorite part of August was enjoying all of the local farm stands! (Peaches, corn, tomatoes — yum!) —Kaitlin

Clothes and things:

• My new Madewell wide leg jeans! I had unexpected abdominal surgery this past spring and alllll of my jeans were suddenly incompatible with my new scars and then I finally found an adorable and comfortable new pair last week. I’m absolutely delighted! —Kelsey

• These beach towels were the star of our summer. They’re huge, thick, absorbent, cute, and very affordable. —Molly from What To Cook

• Obsessed with anything from Gap Factory right now! —Morgan (From Molly: Agreed! I just snagged this sweater on sale!)

• I’ve been starting to think about fall things… like swapping sandals for shoes and socks. I spotted these farmers’ market socks (tomato, lemon, and cherry!) and I immediately grabbed the tomato ones — so cute. And THEN I found these precious toddler socks and couldn’t resist! —Jillian from What to Cook

• Postpartum fashion is tricky. I have been trying not to buy anything and just lean into the fact that most of my clothes were already oversized, and for now they're just a little *less* oversized. This hoodie is thick and kind of structured and just very cool. I get asked where it's from nonstop when I wear it out. —Caro

• I shower at least twice a day when I'm postpartum — I low-key stink at all times, and it's a nice moment away from baby. I'm still loving the Roz shampoo and conditioner I've shared before, and I use this mask pretty much every time I do an everything shower. It makes my hair so glossy without weighing it down. —Caro

Moments:

• The collective girlhood on the internet during the New Heights podcast / TLOAS album announcement / weekly releases of TSITP S3! The world has so much heaviness, it’s been fun to unite and be giddy around these FUN topics 🤗. —Cameron

• The Minnesota State Fair came up at least three times, so it sounds like it should be on all of our bucket lists next summer!

• Watching my son (5) teach my daughter (2) to use her Strider bike 😍. —Laina

• Embarrassed by the parasocial element, but honestly loved Taylor Swift announcing her engagement! —Kelsey

• Community vibes: walks to school with neighbors, volunteering in the garden, pizza nights, block party planning ☺️. —Lauren

Exciting news! Remember the other week when we talked about Alex Mill’s cool monogrammed canvas totes? Their team wants to send a customized tote to one What To Cooker! To enter to win¹, leave a comment on this post and follow Alex Mill on Instagram. Let’s chat fall food (what produce are you most looking forward to cooking with?!) OR fall fashion (what are you excited to wear or shopping for this fall/winter?). One winner will be randomly chosen at 9 a.m. ET next Wednesday, September 10.

PS, congrats to Gina (@pantrygems), the winner of last week’s giveaway/Dan’s new cookbook.

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A note about links! We use affiliate links when sharing product recs, which means we may earn a small commission off of purchases you make through those links. This does not cost you anything extra and is a way to support the production of and team behind What To Cook.

1. Giveaway open to paid subscribers of this newsletter who are at least 18 and live within the U.S.