Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I was always a fan of Marcel's creativity, though he did have a foam in every dish. =P

Just water and a paper towel for me.

My mum and dad both have green thumbs but have never been able to get one of these these trees to bear fruit.. Growing up, it was always a treat when they brought home a box of fresh longans from the local asian supermarket.. The ones with the small seeds were the best!

Although it doesn't serve one in one sitting, I love making a duo of vegatables. After work, I'll go to the supermarket and buy some corn, squash, tomatoes, onions, and whatever. When I'm done chopping, I use one batch of veggies to make soup, and with a smaller batch I do a quick stir-fry with butter and olive oil. With the stir-fry, I try incorporate different herbs than the soup. For the most part, this meal lets me enjoy veggies in different ways of flavor, texture, volume, etc. without having to go through too much trouble. But I'll also have veggie soup with my meals for the rest of the week! :)

Marcel should have won season two. I really don't know how Ilan won.

I have heard that soap can leave a residue. I always use this veggie wash spray - it does the trick (you should see the color of the water after I wash strawberries with this stuff!). http://www.veggie-wash.com/ I put my produce in a bowl, spray on a bit of the wash, run some water in the bowl and agitate for a minute or so, then rinse several times until the water is clear.

i never wash anything. im just kind of gross like that. i think im slightly hydrophobic.

I don't know why soap, unless it's antibacterial, would help. But I do rinse everything well with water - less to get rid of foodborne illness risk (which, as spinach taught us, rinsing won't take care of), than to wash off pesticide residue (for non-organic food) or other people's hands residue. The five seconds it takes to wash a melon, an avocado, or a lemon seems worthwhile - all three of these are generally cut through the rind before preparing, so obviously any dirt/residue is being drawn on the knife through the edible part. I have never washed a banana, though.

I confess that I sometimes judge a restaurant by the quality of pho that they serve. I think my family is spoiled in that my mom's a wonderful cook and when we eat out, we get dishes that she doesn't usually prepare at home, such as pho.

However, my dad will only eat pho at a restaurant that serves only that. There's one chain in Philly (Pho '75) that we visit every time my parents need to stock up on some food essentials.