Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Saveur and Vegetarian Times

spooned out of a half with cumin vinaigrette

This is fascinating; thank you Max.

I would add a vote for fresh fruit and fresh cut-up vegetables with some kind of dip. Small plain yogurts, package of muesli or =, and a box of spoons. When I have been on bedside hospital duty in several hospitals, the only available food was dispiriting carbs--as opposed to the delicious kinds-- and one usually needs to rush to the cafeteria & back for fear of missing the unpredictable doctor's visits. Also, if you know what they like to drink, a bottle of something really nice to keep in that little fridge (excellent beer, or a nice wine).

Raspberries. Toasted almonds. Freshly cut limes. Baking bread as above. Freshly ground coffee. Toasting spices. Carmelizing onions. Will stop there, but could go on and on.....

Pantry-stocking. Sounds obvious, but it has taken a long time to unconsciously refine the staples so we can make something happen with all the produce. Used to look in the bin, get an idea, and then realize there's no coconut milk--something of that nature. I guess this would go into the general category of "think." Mise-en-maison.

preserved lemons

Another pressure cooker risotto maker: I learned to do this in Italy. Have made it the stirring in the pan with gradual heated liquid additions too; both are good. Don't have a problem with stirring, but learned the pressure cooker method when my son was a toddler and.....!

A representative of the penny-pinchers here: we have a kid, we scrimp a lot & cook at home most of the time. We use groupons, we try (I guess, according to above comments, we must be fighting our natural boorish instincts) to always be considerate--i.e., not using them the first or last week of the offer, tip generously, etc. We've tried restaurants we wouldn't have gone to otherwise (& liked most), and have not found the clearly explained restrictions to be a trial. Sometimes the offers are limited to certain days of the week, or to dinner not lunch etc. Tax laws usually preclude alcohol being included (here in Massachusetts that's the case). If I were a restaurant owner, I would put a low limit on the number, and would probably roll my eyes whenever another new coupon business called. It seems to be ballooning now, and will no doubt shake out soon. Bon bon marche appetit.

I check out this magazine (and others) at the library, and find that I nearly always come across a new piece of information or technique. I think if I subscribed to any magazine I would become hypercritical of it, but checking out library periodicals fosters more relaxed, realistic expectations and also prompts me to look at them fairly quickly and pass them on instead of piling up around the house.

A pressure cooker can be your new dinner assistant. Lorna Sass' Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure is wonderful & I'm sure you could find other good sources at the library. I make lots of stews & satisfying soups very quickly with ours when I'm playing refrigerator roulette Read Heidi Swanson's website "101 Cookbooks". Very creative yet practical. Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cooking is also invaluable. Will stop there. Keep looking into this--it can be very interesting to learn to cook in a new way.

Heartily second luckyjade's "pressure cooker is your friend"! That, plus Lorna Sass's Vegetarian Cooking under Pressure, and we were set for a long time--my son is 15 now & I still use it 2-3 times a week. And forget about rushing around when the baby is sleeping: nap or just lie down & read. You will enjoy everything more. I put the baby in a snuggli when I was cooking, and he loved to sniff the herbs & garlic etc. that I was chopping. (he'd close his eyes & sigh over fresh mint & still does...)

Where to begin? We are a family of vegetarians who mostly cook vegan, and I guess our favorite category of winter food is stew. It will vary from day to day depending on whats on hand, but its always animal product-free. Moskowitz's work is very interesting & creative and has, I'm sure, helped a lot of people figure out how to change their cooking & diet.