The Small Town Chef

A bright, make-ahead pasta salad with crisp vegetables, two kinds of olives, fresh herbs, and charred lemon vinaigrette. I first made this orzo salad for a family get-together filled with pasta lovers—Italians, of course. I made what I thought was more than enough. Apparently, I was wrong. By the time I went looking for a little to save for lunch the next day, the bowl was empty. And I made a double batch! That was probably the best endorsement I could have gotten. What makes this orzo salad a little different isn't necessarily the ingredients. Cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, olives, onion, and fresh herbs are all pretty familiar territory. The difference is how I put everything together. Instead of tossing cold pasta with dressing and hoping it eventually picks up some flavor, I dress the orzo while it's still warm. The pasta absorbs that charred lemon vinaigrette as it cools, giving it flavor from the inside rather than simply coating...

Sometimes the best recipes begin in your neighbor's garden. Every summer it happens. Someone plants two zucchini plants, convinced they'll harvest a few vegetables for the grill. After a couple of months, they're walking the neighborhood, looking for anyone willing to take one, or more, home. That was me. My neighbor showed up with zucchini as big as my forearm and thicker than my fist. Two, actually. After making zucchini bread , grilling a few slices, and adding it to pasta, I still had enough left to feed a small village. So instead of making another side dish, I turned it into dinner. Not just any dinner—a crisp, cheesy flatbread layered with sweet onions, roasted garlic , creamy ricotta, fresh herbs, and enough mozzarella and Parmesan to hold everything together. The zucchini becomes silky and almost buttery after it's cooked down, while the roasted garlic melts into every bite. It's simple food, made from ingredients many of us already have growing in the gard...

  It’s not about making burgers complicated. It’s about getting the simple things right. A great burger doesn’t need twelve toppings, three sauces, and a bun so tall you need a building permit.   A great burger starts with the meat.   Then it comes down to how you handle it, how you season it, how you cook it, and whether the bun can actually do its job. Everything else — cheese, onions, pickles, bacon, sauce — is support staff.   Important support staff, yes. But still support staff.   This is my take on building a better burger from the ground up.   And yes, I’m a 5.5-ounce patty guy. Big enough to feel like a real burger, not so big that it turns into meatloaf on a bun.   Start with the Right Meat For most burgers, I like ground chuck . Chuck has good beefy flavor, enough fat to stay juicy, and the right texture for a burger that tastes like a burger. You can get fancy with short rib, brisket, sirloin, or custom blends, but for most home cooks, good...