Kitchen Improv

Category: Recipes

  • Mom’s Velvet Corn Soup (a.k.a. Chinese Corn Chowder)

    Mom’s Velvet Corn Soup (a.k.a. Chinese Corn Chowder)

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    This Chinese-style soup is easy to make with pantry ingredients and a chicken breast or thigh (or without a protein, which is common for the version of this classic Chinese soup that you find in Chinese restaurants).

  • Farmers’ Market Bounty Gazpacho (with Roasted Corn)

    Farmers’ Market Bounty Gazpacho (with Roasted Corn)

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    This super-easy gazpacho is super tasty and adaptable to a variety of seasonal produce. Blend it smooth or leave it crunchy, and serve with an optional side of sweet roasted corn for an unexpected treat.

  • Aunt Elaine’s Divine Sour Cream Coffee Cake

    Aunt Elaine’s Divine Sour Cream Coffee Cake

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    This cake is great for breakfast, brunch or a festive dessert. It even gets better after a day or two so it is fine to make a day ahead of time – it you can resist eating it yourself!

  • Spicy Poke Bowl

    Spicy Poke Bowl

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    Sushi-grade fish in an Asian marinade plus fresh veggies makes for a tasty, healthy, quick meal (use leftover rice for a no-cook, low-cleanup weeknight option).

  • Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Shake

    Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Shake

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      This recipe was recommended by an elite high school athlete and it was well received. We've adapted it to reduce the fat content and it's still a tasty way to get some fluids and nutrients into our athlete. Quantities have been halved to make a single 22-oz serving.

  • Grilled Chard with Honey-Ginger Stone Fruit

    Grilled Chard with Honey-Ginger Stone Fruit

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    It never occurred to me to grill chard before, but a visit to the farmer’s market plus a weekly local advertising rag arriving the same day resulted in a surprisingly easy, healthy, fresh summer side dish.

  • Chimichurri Sauce

    Chimichurri Sauce

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      This vibrant, fresh, tasty concoction goes great with grilled chicken, steak, pasta, sandwiches, as a marinade, sauce, or pesto substitute.

  • Berry Strata

    Berry Strata

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    Don’t throw out those squashed burger bus, stale bread, or bread heels! Stratas are always great use up bread, but combined with always-ready-to-go frozen berries, this lightly sweetened strata is bursting with colorful berries and easy to make ahead. Plus stratas are basically bread puddings in disguise, so dress it up with some whipped cream…

  • Cucina! Cucina! Italian Chopped Salad

    Cucina! Cucina! Italian Chopped Salad

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    I spent a summer in Seattle in the early 1990s. Living on a student budget, I didn’t dine out much, but I do recall visiting Cucina! Cucina! before they went under, and having their Italian Chopped Salad. When Volume VII of the Bite of Seattle Cook Book came out that summer, including Cucina! Cucina!’s salad…

  • Thai-Style Coconut Peanut Sauce

    Thai-Style Coconut Peanut Sauce

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    Thai-style peanut sauce that’s better than our local restaurants, and so easy that you should never be tempted to get the store-bought kind in a jar. Adapted from Dhanit Choladda’s recipe in the New York Cookbook.