Salsa Verde, for a Taste of Summer

By Jennifer Knapp
A new video for Video Friday

In the summer, the last thing you want to do is spend time in front of a hot stove. So it’s helpful to have a couple of go-to recipes that don’t require any cooking.

Everyone knows that the Italians are famous for inventing pesto; however, Italian salsa verde is another raw herb sauce that you may not be familiar with. Like pesto, it’s easy to prepare, just as flavorful, and doesn’t require any cooking.

Not to be confused with the Mexican sauce of the same name which features tomatillos and cilantro, Italian salsa verde is a lemony purée of assorted fresh herbs such as basil, mint and parsley. For depth of flavor, it also contains capers and anchovy (don’t worry, it doesn’t taste fishy!) and lots of garlic. All of these ingredients are pulsed together in a food processor or blender, and combined with extra-virgin olive oil.

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The Answer to Something Sweet

By Ben Mims
For Cooking Newbie, a blog for beginner cooks

After every meal I eat, I always need something sweet. It's been the bane of my body all my life, but the boon to my soul.

However, when it gets hot outside, I only want something icy-cold and refreshing. But thanks to my lactose intolerance, ice cream is out of the question. And sorbets…well, let’s just say I've never tasted one worth having again.

My solution is chilled pudding that I keep in the fridge in tiny cups and dole out to myself when I need a quick, sweet, cold fix. The secret to mine is coconut milk and very little sugar, which keeps it somewhat healthy, or at least less horrible than traditional pudding, and allows me to add fruit or whatever else I want as toppings to sweeten it up more naturally.

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What’s Cooking for the Fourth?

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

We’re not having a big cookout for the Fourth of July this year because there’s too much going on in our life right now. It will just be our family – Steve and me, Dave, Lynn and baby Tara, who, at five weeks old, makes up in entertainment what we lack in party size.

Still, I wouldn’t dream of letting the day go by without grilling some ribs and corn, cutting wedges of ice-cold watermelon and making a few sides. I’ve been going through our more than 500 previous Special Fork blog posts, looking for menu ideas, and I pulled these to consider for Thursday – you might like to try them, too.

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How to Cook Brown Rice

By Ben Mims
For Cooking Newbie, a blog for beginner cooks

There's one technique that I still see novice cooks and professionals struggle over: it's how to cook brown rice. The proportion of water to rice, how long to cook, whether to steam or cook over direct heat…these questions trip cooks up.

The extra layer of bran, which differentiates brown rice from the bran-less white rice, is what stymies cooks because it requires a little longer cooking time. My technique, which hasn't failed me in years and always produces perfectly fluffy grains, is easy to remember: one part rice to two parts water. Most use a 1:1 3/4 ratio, but that's hard to remember and leaves you no wiggle room when it comes to getting the heating right.

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Blanching vegetables

By Sandy Hu
A new video for Video Friday

As the weather warms up and farmers’ markets and supermarket produce counters are filled to overflowing, it’s time to celebrate the bounty with crudité platters and delicious dips.

Some vegetables, such as radishes and sugar snap peas, taste great just served raw. But hardier vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower florets, green beans, asparagus and even carrots taste better when they’re blanched. A quick dip in boiling water takes the raw edge off and makes these vegetables taste sweeter.

Blanched vegetables can also be used for cooking. I like to blanch green beans , then sauté them in olive oil. By blanching first, the beans cook more evenly, since they have had a head start through the blanching process, and cooking goes faster.

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