Thanks to everyone who joined for my chat with deb perelman of the smitten kitchen digest last Friday during Grubstack! We posed a series of specific “what would you cook when…” questions to each other, and gave meal ideas for a handful of different scenarios. Below is a look at our answers with links to recipes referenced, but watch the video for the full answers and lots of cooking tips!
What to cook when you have friends in town and you’re hosting dinner on a busy Thursday:
CARO: Carnitas tacos bar with slow-roasted pork butt, one-pot cheesy rice and beans, pickled red onions, plus other fun toppings
DEB: Steamed mussels or linguine with clams with a few baguettes, fresh salad, and some bottles of wine [PS, here’s a WTC recipe for weeknight vongole, AKA a very quick and easy linguine with clams]
What to cook when your spouse’s colleague and his wife are coming over for dinner (the kids are out of the house so it’s a fancy adults-only thing, and you have lots of time plan):
DEB: Perfect meatballs and spaghetti and a big salad with fancy Caesar dressing — or a bolognese that I’ve cooked all day, plus brownies
CARO: Pasta alla vodka and a Caesar salad, with the whole menu included in that post, plus a skillet cookie (page 255 in What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking the book)
Your 9-year-old says she’s not hungry, but you know that if you don’t feed her something, she’ll be starving before bed. What do you feed her?
CARO: I have a multi-pronged answer:
My never-miss kids dinner is steamed frozen dumplings (either Trader Joe’s chicken dumplings or the Bibigo brand) and steamed pre-chopped broccoli florets cooked together in a skillet with a splash of water for about five minutes — while that’s happening, I make peanut sauce for dipping.
Or, if they had an early dinner that they didn’t eat much of and now it’s 8 p.m. and they’re starving again, I do a huge snack plate with cheese, salami, cucumbers, fruit, etc.
DEB: We also do the snack plate a lot with vegetables, hard-boiled egg, cheese, etc.!
You find yourself alone in your house able to binge watch a new season of your favorite show, what are you eating?
DEB: Probably something Indian — which my husband and I love but the kids don’t — like chana masala, creamy masala chickpeas (from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook), or aloo gobi with rice or naan. But if my husband isn’t there, I’m inviting a friend over and we’re ordering out.
CARO: I’m ordering three sushi rolls by myself and eating all of them over the course of 10 episodes of Bridgerton.
You’re packing food for a day of travel — what are you gonna pack?
CARO: I make myself a massive salad and eat it throughout the day. It might have roasted vegetables, tuna salad (I only eat it if I’m really far away from people, promise!), lots of greens, and maybe Alex Snodgrass’s Greek dressing. If I don’t have time to make that, I get salami and cheese packs.
DEB: This past week I made an all-day sandwich — a sourdough roll with sliced egg, lettuce, and prosciutto — plus two peeled sumos.
It’s June, you get home from work and start doing things around the house. Suddenly you check your phone and realize it’s 8:00 and you didn’t even notice because it’s still light out. The people have to eat — what do you do?
CARO: A fattoush-y Greek salad and grilled chicken (so like the show off-y Greek salad with crumbled pita added, plus perfect grilled chicken)
DEB: A big bowl of tzatziki surrounded by elements you can dip into it
You’re in a summer vacation rental house with a multigenerational group, what are you cooking?
DEB: Spaghetti aglio e olio
CARO: Ooh, yes — that, a big salad, some grilled meat, and maybe add some corn on that grill
An easy-ish meal that can be customized with vegetarian and vegan options?
DEB & CARO: A deconstructed meal! Build your own tacos, Cobb salad, etc.
A few other links mentioned:
The Bon Appétit hand salad that made the internet go crazy
This post has the to-go boxes I pack my travel meals in
Do you have a niche “what to cook when _____” question? Ask it in the comments section and everybody chime in with your answers!!!
