What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking

pork chops rule!!!! This past weekend, some friends and I were celebrating a friend’s birthday when, as we always do, we started talking about <3 food <3. Specifically, nostalgic foods that remind us of our childhoods. My friend Jenna told us about the pork chops smothered in Campbell’s Golden Mushroom Soup that her mother used to make with such reverence and adoration that I immediately started working on this recipe. The first step in my process was to buy the Golden Mushroom Soup.

and shallots and radicchio and goat cheese and hazelnuts! The starting point for today’s recipe was one of my favorite bites in Italy: radicchio in padella, AKA vinegary braised radicchio, with hazelnuts. I knew I wanted to recreate it ASAP, and the second I got home I started working on a full sheet-pan meal around it. Radicchio is a bitter green, so I paired it with sweet elements — pears, dates, and honey. We’re also using balsamic vinegar, which offers both acidity and sweetness.

1 make-ahead lunch + 4 delicious dinners! Happy first Friday of October! We’re back with a brand new really simple meal plan to take meal planning off your plate one week this month. We’re bringing in a boatload of fall produce — apples, butternut squash, kale, fennel, pumpkin purée — via five very fall-y recipes. This honestly might be the most delicious fall line up we’ve ever done.

plus miso mushroom trofie pasta from Ottolenghi’s new cookbook! Hello!! I am back into the swing of work and motherhood after the most incredible trip to Italy with George last week. I was chatting with a friend at the park yesterday after school pick up and she said, “oh my gosh, your trip looked insane, are you exhausted?!” and I could honestly respond that no, I feel so recharged.

one slow-roasted pork butt, three delicious dinners The “five ways” spreads in Make It Fast have been a huge hit with you guys! In them, I share one base recipe — like “smoky black beans” in the 15-minutes chapter and “lemony herby chicken thighs” in the 30-minutes chapter — plus five recipes that use that base protein to create unique dinners. In short: we spend some time over the weekend making a lot of one base protein, then repurpose it throughout the week.

It’s the first official Saturday of fall — let’s go all in with a big pot of creamy, hearty soup! I had Italy on the brain when I developed this soup last week, so there are lots of Italian-inspired elements in it: Italian sausage, white beans, lacinato kale, orzo, lemon, tomato paste, Italian seasoning. And fennel! If you’re new to fennel, do not take a bite of it raw and cast your vote on whether you like it or not.

Ciao, Guten Tag, and Bondì from the Dolomites region of Italy, where they speak Italian, German, and a very niche Latin-derived language called Ladin. George and I try to get away without the kids every couple of years and are feeling extremely fortunate to be on a six-day lodge-to-lodge Backroads hike — AKA hiking from lodge to lodge through the Dolomites. It is, to say the least, spectacular.

I promised fall!!! And fall vibes we are most certainly getting with this recipe. I’ve got a huge apple tree bursting with gorgeous apples right outside of my kitchen window, so an apple recipe had to be the first recipe of the season. It’s a fall harvest apple chicken farro salad! I’ve got a new good-all-week salad for you this week! If you’re new around here, good-all-week salads can hold up dressed for multiple days in the fridge.

Hello from the Tehachapi Valley in Southern California! I’m here learning all about how a certain vegetable goes from seed to farm to grocery stores all over America. It’s been absolutely fascinating, and I’m excited to share more of what I’ve learned soon.

Like I mentioned on Saturday, mid-September is a tricky time to develop recipes that fit readers’ vibes all across the country (and beyond — hi, WTCers in the Southern Hemisphere and around the world!). Overall, the southern half of the U.S. is steaming hot and summery, while the northern half feels like crisp, cool fall already. Summer produce is still plentiful, but if you’re already wearing sweaters, you may be ready to move on to warm soups and winter squashes.