Food Friends: Home Cooking Made Easy

Could beets become a family favorite if you just found the right way to make them?
In this bite-sized episode, we share a listener's question with expert advice, simple strategies, and lots of delicious ideas to inspire your cooking!
By the end of this episode, you’ll discover our favorite ways to use beets, like in colorful soups, as crispy chips, and in meal-prep-friendly salads.
You’ll also learn some unexpected ways to incorporate beets into both savory AND sweet dishes. Plus, we share our best tips for the easiest ways to cook a big batch or even freeze beets for later.
Tune in for a quick dose of home cooking inspiration!
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For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our free Substack here.
And join us on our live monthly calls by upgrading your subscription to paid!
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Links:
Pineapple beet smoothie from Three Little Chickpeas
Roasted beet hummus from Food 52
Persian yogurt beet dip from Unicorns in the Kitchen
Jeweled roasted vegetables (mix of beets, carrots, and Brussels sprouts) from The Food You Crave
Oven-baked beet chips from A Spicy Perspective
Scuttlebutt sandwiches from NYT Cooking
Sabich sandwiches from Food Network
Beautiful Soup by Celia Barbour for NYT Cooking
Sonya’s family borscht recipe
Ukrainian beet salad (Vinegret) from The New Baguette
Roasted beet salad over labneh from Evergreen Kitchen
Roasted beets in a sherry vinegar marinade from Superman Cooks
Flourless beet brownies by Jerelle Guy for NYT Cooking
Chocolate beet cake by Nigel Slater for Food 52
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Got a cooking question? Leave us a message on our hotline at: 323-452-9084
For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our Substack here.
Are you a local to Portland or planning a visit? You can now book a private farmers’ market tour with Sonya through Airbnb Experiences! Or order Sonya's cookbook Braids for more Food Friends recipes!

What if your fridge were stocked with delicious fall salads, ready whenever you needed an easy lunch or a dish to bring to the next potluck
Fall gets busy fast, and that’s why this week we’re sharing eight make-ahead salads that hold up beautifully in the fridge, so you can have easy, nutritious meals and sides ready all week long.
By the end of this episode, you’ll find out:
The best fall produce for prepping salads in advance
Simple techniques for keeping vegetables crisp, layering textures, and maximizing flavor
Flexible recipes for hearty lunches, potlucks, and holidays

Press play now for make-ahead salads that make busy fall days a little easier!

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For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our free Substack here.
And join us on our live monthly calls by upgrading your subscription to paid!
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Links:
Sonya’s fennel, apple, celery, pomegranate salad, and we like to use this mandoline for slicing veggies thin
Honey and harissa farro salad by Deb Perelman from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, via Serious Eats
Quinoa with caramelized corn and scallions by Lauryn Tyrell for Martha Stewart
Four bean salad with green romesco by Alison Roman from her cookbook: Dining In
Warm green bean and lentil salad by Ottolenghi
Lentil salad with roasted radicchio and cauliflower by Alexandra Stafford for Food 52
Pearled couscous and tomato salad from Baked By Melissa
Deborah Madison’s Ravioli and Tomato Salad with Masses of Basil from her cookbook: Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (and the shelf-stable tortellini Kari gifted to Sonya, which would go great in this salad)
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Got a cooking question? Leave us a message on our hotline at: 323-452-9084
For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our Substack here.
Are you a local to Portland or planning a visit? You can now book a private farmers’ market tour with Sonya through Airbnb Experiences! Or order Sonya's cookbook Braids for more Food Friends recipes!

What if using phyllo dough didn’t have to be difficult, and you could make a golden, buttery pie with a mountain of vegetables?
In this bite-sized episode, we share delicious moments about the best things we ate this week to inspire each other – and you!
By the end of this episode, you’ll discover a seasonal cookbook full of flavorful intuitive recipes, and you’ll also find out why David Tanis’ fig and almond cake is a must-bake that's perfect for fall hosting.
You’ll also learn how to make a meatless main packed with chickpeas, cauliflower, and sweet potatoes that reheats like a dream and has a surprise technique that makes it easy to make.
Tune in for a quick dose of home cooking inspiration!

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For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our free Substack here.
And join us on our live monthly calls by upgrading your subscription to paid!
***
Links:
How to Start a Cookbook Club from our Substack

Cookbook club pick: David Tanis’ A Platter of Figs, which is out of print, but can be found used or at your local library too
Some highlights from cookbook club were:
Corn, squash, and green beans with jalapeno butter
Fresh shell beans with sage and garlic
Berbere pizza
Fig and almond cake by David Tanis for NYT Cooking

Spiced veggie phyllo pie by Melissa Clark for NYT Cooking
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Got a cooking question? Leave us a message on our hotline at: 323-452-9084
For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our Substack here.
Are you a local to Portland or planning a visit? You can now book a private farmers’ market tour with Sonya through Airbnb Experiences! Or order Sonya's cookbook Braids for more Food Friends recipes!

How do you make dinner happen every night without feeling like you’re starting from scratch?
If you’re staring into the fridge at 5 p.m. with no idea what to make, this week Maggie Hoffman, host of The Dinner Plan, shares smart strategies for making weeknight cooking easier, along with a lineup of deeply satisfying fall dinners that come together quickly.
Think: chewy noodles tossed in a 5-minute sauce, a crowd-pleasing sheet-pan meal, and a foolproof take on pasta e ceci.
By the end of this episode, you’ll discover:
Flexible meal-planning tricks that help ingredients stretch further
Flavorful, low-effort meals that can pull you out of even the deepest cooking rut
Two meatless dinners that might end up in regular rotation in your kitchen

Press play now for practical strategies and quick fall dinners that will make answering the question, “What’s for dinner?” a little easier.
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For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our free Substack here.
And join us on our live monthly calls by upgrading your subscription to paid!
***
Links:
Follow “The Dinner Plan” now wherever you listen to podcasts
Subscribe to Maggie’s Substack: The Dinner Plan for more recipe inspiration.
You can also find Maggie and more about The Dinner Plan on Instagram!

Maggie’s favorite pasta: Zaynab Issa's Gochujang-Sesame noodles (With Sun Ramen Noodles)
Meatless dinner: Georgina Hayden's clean-out-the-fridge pasta salad, from her cookbook: Medesque (with tons of weeknight-friendly recipes)
Sheet pan meal: Melissa Clark's Harissa chicken with Leeks, from her book: “Dinner Changing the Game” which has many more sheet pan recipes.
Maggie also highly recommends switching from half sheet to using stainless steel quarter sheet pans for this style of cooking (they fit in a toaster oven, and are dishwasher safe!)
Maggie (and our!) favorite brand of harissa paste is from NY Shuk
Comforting fall dinner: Jamie Oliver's Pasta e Ceci, from his book: Jamie’s Italy. Maggie loves to make small batches of stock with leftover rotisserie chicken bones in an Instantpot.
Standout from “The Dinner Plan:” Maureen Abood's Arayes from her cookbook: Lebanese Baking
What to cook when you don’t feel like cooking: A great loaded up sandwich like this Feta brined-chicken sandwiches made with grilled chicken.
Maggie recommends grilling proteins for multiple meals at the same time, and for recipe inspiration she recs Noah Galuten’s Grill Time!
Some of Maggie’s favorite cookbooks right now:
River Cafe Green by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers
Vegetables the Italian Way by Giulia Scarpaleggia
Carla Lalli’s new book: Food is a Feeling
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Got a cooking question? Leave us a message on our hotline at: 323-452-9084
For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our Substack here.
Are you a local to Portland or planning a visit? You can now book a private farmers’ market tour with Sonya through Airbnb Experiences! Or order Sonya's cookbook Braids for more Food Friends recipes!

What do you do when you have more vegetables than you know what to do with?
In this bite-sized episode, we share the best things we ate this week to inspire each other—and you!
By the end of this episode, you’ll discover a quick refrigerator pickle that can be made with almost any veggie, and you’ll also find out about a restaurant-inspired broccoli crostini that makes a satisfying meatless dinner for busy nights.
Plus! Author Leah Koenig shares her “Best Bite” too: An easy carrot-date cake that requires no special equipment, with an unexpected ingredient in the frosting.
Tune in for a quick dose of home cooking inspiration!
***
For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our free Substack here.
And join us on our live monthly calls by upgrading your subscription to paid!
***
Links:
Leah Koenig’s new book is: The Dessert Table: 100 Joyful Jewish Sweets, which includes her recipe for Date-carrot cake with orange blossom frosting.
You can find more recipes from Leah on her Substack: The Jewish Table, and on Instagram @leah.koenig
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Other links from today's show:
Easy refrigerator pickles from Simply Recipes made with a crinkle-cut knife
And here’s another fridge pickle recipe from Coley Cooks, if you want a less sweet pickle, with more spices.

Lot 2’s pecorino-fried bread with broccoli adapted by Melissa Clark for NYT Cooking; Kari adapted it by cooking broccoli with butter and garlic, and serving it on toasted sliced bread topped with melty cheese (like young Parmesan, sharp cheddar, Monterey Jack, or Gruyere).

Italian broccoli salad by Ali Slagle for NYT Cooking

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Got a cooking question? Leave us a message on our hotline at: 323-452-9084
For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our Substack here.
Are you a local to Portland or planning a visit? You can now book a private farmers’ market tour with Sonya through Airbnb Experiences! Or order Sonya's cookbook Braids for more Food Friends recipes!