Make a simple tomato sauce, or add
meat or mushrooms. Photo by Trutenka |
IST.

Pasta with homemade tomato sauce is one of the tastiest, most convenient and affordable meals you can make. The prep work is quick and simple.

Just boil some water for the pasta, chop up some onion and garlic, open a can of crushed tomatoes and you’re ready to get cooking. Your dinner can be on the table in as little as half an hour.

Appealing any time of the year, pasta is a comfort food staple over the winter, when we’re too cold to do much grocery shopping. It’s also less expensive than take-out food. You can use whole wheat pasta, which provides valuable fiber and nutrients as well as a distinctive nutty flavor.

If you want to add meat, keep a package of sausages in the freezer; thaw and cook in the microwave and garnish your plate of pasta.

All you need to complete your meal is a green salad.

That’s because today is National White Chocolate Cheesecake Day.

We invited a bunch of celebrants, and they’ve just left.

Here’s the recipe, served with a raspberry coulis (COO-lee, French for fruit purée).

The key to deliciousness is using real white chocolate made with cocoa butter, not “white baking chips” made with vegetable oil. We used a few bars of our favorite white chocolate. Heavenly!

[1] Mini cheesecakes with red grapefruit topping. Get the recipe (photo © Texasweet Citrus Marketing [permanently closed]).

[2] Sautéed salmon with mandarin segments in an orange juice vinaigrette (photo © Ocean Prime Restaurant | New York City).

This tip comes from one of our favorite food educators, Alissa Dicker-Schreiber, The Kitchenista.

While waiting for spring fruits to appear, citrus fruits are a culinary bright spot. Oranges, grapefruits, clementines, mandarins, pomelos, tangerines, and their kin—while available year-round—are our “winter fruits.” You can incorporate them into just about any meal.

One of the easiest ways to do this is by cutting citrus segments: skinless wedges of citrus fruit. Since the segments are free of the harder-to-eat, less-tasty citrus parts like peel, membranes and pith (that bitter white layer beneath the skin), you can easily add them to any dishes you like.

Some favorite ways to use citrus segments:

 
Take a look at these creative recipes—from cocktails to dessert—using red grapefruit.

Organic citrus” Is it better than conventional citrus?:

Absinthe has an anise-like flavor and a controversial past. Hey, isn’t absinthe the stuff that made Parisian writers and artists go mad in the 19th century? Wasn’t it banned in America?

Yes and no.

Read all about absinthe, and why it’s had a resurgence in America since 2007.

In honor of the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day holiday, here’s a special absinthe cocktail from Lucid Absinthe:

The Spicy Irishman

A glass of absinthe with the slotted spoon
used to add sugar water. Photo by Eric
Litton | Wikimedia.

Get your own absinthe glass and spoon.

But watch out: absinthe is typically 124-proof—much stronger than any other spirits you’ve had lately.

Spiced pecans are fun to make and
fun to eat. Photo courtesy Spice Islands.

Mardi Gras is on Tuesday, but you don’t have to head to New Orleans or Rio de Janeiro to celebrate. Invite people over for celebratory cocktails, served up with spiced pecans and some New Orleans jazz. (And why not some colorful costumes?)

Spiced nuts are very versatile. Use them:

 
Get a recipe for spiced nuts.

Here’s a recipe for making candied nuts of any type.

WHAT IS MARDI GRAS?

Mardi Gras, pronounced MAR-dee GRAH, is part of the Catholic Carnival celebration beginning on Epiphany and ending the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras, called Shrove Tuesday in English, is French for “Fat Tuesday.”

The “fat” refers to the last night that one can eat richer, fatty foods (meat, dairy, fats and sugar) before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which starts the following day, Ash Wednesday. “Shrove” is the past participle of the verb “to shrive,” meaning “to obtain absolution for one’s sins through confession and doing penance.”

No parties or celebrations are held during Lent, the six week period prior to Easter that represents the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness. The Mardi Gras parades, festivals and masquerades in colorful costumes mark the transition from traditional daily life to Lent.