Category Archives: Food

Three Pepper Breakfast Burrito

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I understand that school is starting again.  Like, this week.  Like, maybe tomorrow.  Soon.  I am so not ready.  Here’s how I like to start my mornings: slowly.  With a cup of coffee.  Here’s how I start my mornings on school days: “Put on your shoes!  Where are your shoes?  Where’s your other shoe?  Has anyone seen the other shoe?”  Times three.Yes, I understand that you have a better system for school mornings.  Which is why I’m giving you this recipe.  Continue reading →

Spicy Cilantro Slaw with Cabbage and Carrots

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Tonight we went to a friend’s birthday party.  A keg of good beer, a smoky grill, a swing in the pear tree, little girls running everywhere.  After dark, there were birthday candles and fireworks.  This is the salad to bring to a party like that. Continue reading →

Roasted Tomato and Eggplant Tart

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Still wondering what to bring to that Labor Day picnic?  Not only is this tart flavorful and attractive, it also hides a pound of eggplant.  And who doesn’t have a pound of eggplant to hide at this time of year?I mean, I’ll just go ahead and admit it: sometimes the most popular way to serve eggplant is hidden.  Eggplant?  What eggplant?  My oldest daughter gave this dish an enthusiastic review and said it tasted like pizza.  Continue reading →

Grilled Peaches with Hazelnuts and Blue Cheese

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Why does everyone have to keep talking about how summer’s almost over?

La la la la la!  This is me sticking my fingers in my ears and not listening.La la la la la!  These peaches are me sticking my fingers in my ears and not listening.  La la la–oh, mmmm. Continue reading →

Zucchini Bread with Rye, Basil, and Mint

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Welcome to Emmy Cooks!  You can see some of my favorite recent recipes by clicking the “My Favorite Recipes” category on the sidebar (here are June, July, and August).  If you like what you see here, you can sign up on the sidebar to receive a daily recipe by email, or follow Emmy Cooks on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

It took me all summer to get around to making zucchini bread.  I don’t have a go-to recipe, and I wasn’t feeling inspired.  I didn’t want spices.  I didn’t want nuts.  I didn’t want chocolate.

I wanted this, although I didn’t know it yet.  Butter, infused with basil and mint, so flavorful and delicious that I almost canned the baking idea in favor of just tossing that butter with shredded zucchini.  (I’ll be doing that too, you can be sure.)  The subtle tang of rye.  A little sugar, but not so much that you couldn’t still slather a slice in raspberry jam.  And we have.  Oh, we have. Continue reading →

Layered Enchiladas with Potatoes, Onions, and Peppers, Hopefully with a Fried Egg on Top

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Is it wrong to tell you, right off the bat, that these enchiladas–any enchiladas, really–are just an excuse to eat that sauce we made yesterday?  We loaded them up with good toppings, too–avocado, sour cream, a fried egg…what?  You don’t top your enchiladas with a fried egg?  It’s high time, I tell you.This dish has all the flavor of good Mexican food without the fussiness of individually-rolled enchiladas.  Continue reading →

Red Chile Sauce, or, Easy Homemade Enchilada Sauce

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Roundabout late afternoon, while I’m (doing a million other things and) waiting for inspiration to strike in the kitchen, it’s usually safe to start with a sauce.  A pesto, a garlicky yogurt sauce, a lemony harissa number? It’s easy to take it from there: a pesto might lead to pasta, a yogurt sauce will inspire something to dunk in it, and that lemony harissa is a treat with eggs.Today, unable to stare down the mountain of gorgeous produce in my fridge, I retreated instead to a pantry shelf for a jar of dried guajillo chiles from our Tonnemaker’s CSA.  A spicy paste of red chiles is the answer to a number of questions at our house, such as: “What should I pour over rice and black beans and vegetables?” and “What would be good on this taco salad?” and “How should I sauce my enchiladas?”  And if there’s any of this sauce left over after dinner, the question immediately becomes, “How soon is morning so I can make huevos rancheros?”  Continue reading →

Chipotle Baked Tofu

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There’s no accounting for taste.  Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I can see which posts are most popular among you, dear readers.  And I have this to say: zucchini fritters?  Really?  Aren’t you sick of zucchini yet?  (I mean, they’re great, but….)  And I also have this to say: you are missing out by passing over that Sloppy-Gloppy Crisp-and-Crunchy Tofu Reuben Sandwich.

Can I at least convince you to try the tofu part?

Continue reading →

Fig Jam

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My summer kitchen is bursting at the seams.  Of course I found more lurking zucchini after dispatching yesterday’s, we had barely gotten through last week’s vegetables when this week’s CSA box arrived, the tomatoes are finally going in the garden, and the pears and plums are ready to pick.  On top of all that, we have a lovely friend who always calls us when her figs are ripe, and J came home one recent evening with a brimming box of perfect green figs.  fig jam from emmycooks.com

So today was a jam day.  Continue reading →

Zucchini Fritters

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The challenge with zucchini at this time of year, I find, is how to wrangle overgrown clubs of squash into something that you actually want to eat.  With all due respect to the lovely Mollie Katzen (to whom much respect is due), this is not the season for stuffed “Zuccanoes.”My answer to the annual giant zucchini quandary usually involves my food processor.  Grating zucchini is therapeutic, first off; literally cutting the squash down to size shows it who’s boss and lets it see that you are not intimidated.  Continue reading →