Blog Posts by Sarah McColl, Shine staff

Shine's going gluten-free this week for National Celiac Awareness month. We'll be serving up smart ideas, solutions, stories, and of course, super-delicious recipes to help you eat sans gluten––without feeling like you're missing a thing.

We are a little obsessed with Kristine Kidd's approach to food. Her recipes are unfussy, fast, and fresh, so  when she says they can be whipped up every night of the week, we believe her. Kidd's newest cookbook, Weeknight Gluten-Free, is the like a touchdown-filled playbook for the gluten-avoidant household. There are no weird fake foods here or War and Peace-length ingredients lists. This is real food, made simple. We're sold, but see for yourself.

Grilled Steak and Fingerlings with Herb Salad

This is a 21st century upgrade to the classic steak and potatoes dinner.

Cumin seeds and coriander seeds, 2 1/4 teaspoons each
Flank steak, 1 1/2 lb (750 g)
Extra-virgin olive oil, 1/2 cup (4 fl oz/125 ml) plus more as needed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black Read More »from Gluten-Free Week: 5 Weeknight Gluten-Free Recipes

My after-school snack was a sacred ritual. I sat on the carpet in my parents' bedroom at a low table, the television turned to "I Dream of Jeannie," and ate a peanut butter and honey sandwich cut into neat squares. I wasn't fussy about crusts. I just loved the sticky pairing of creamy peanut butter with syrupy golden sweetness drizzled from a honey bear in diagonals across the soft white bread. Nothing else--save for maybe apples and peanut butter in a pinch--could have made for as sweet an afternoon, with Nickelodeon reruns stretching into the distance.

This month, the Shine Supper Club is celebrating our nostalgic childhood favorites. Were you crazy for popsicles on hot afternoons? Mad for mac and cheese? Join us by revisiting a classic in your kitchen, and sharing a recipe, photo and a story about just how good it was back then. Here's how it works:

1. Write a blog post telling us about your favorite childhood recipe by Monday 11:59PM PST, May 27th. Be sure to include a photo

Read More »from Childhood Favorites from the Shine Supper Club

There are certain labor-intensive recipe phrases that can make the most diligent cook roll her eyes. "Do I really have to do that?" we wonder. Leave your Do I Really Have To Do That? questions in the comments and they shall be answered, saving us all a lot of needless trouble.

Do I really have to press tofu for stir-fry?

"If you're aiming for springy and crisp tofu, pressing it is an essential step," Mallory Stuchin, senior digital editor at Everyday Food, told us. You know when people say tofu's like a sponge when cooked, soaking up whatever delicious flavors you're cooking with? The same sponge principle is at work when tofu is just sitting in its package.  "Tofu retains a large amount of the water it's stored in, so pressing it will release the excess liquid and allow it to firm up while cooking." Like a wrung-out sponge, the pressed tofu can soak up even more of those delicious ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and scallion flavors in the pan.

What kind of tofu should I use?
"For stir-frys

Read More »from Pressing Tofu for Stir-Fry: Do I Really Have to Do That?

My after-school snack was a sacred ritual. I sat on the soft carpet in my parents' bedroom at a low table, the television turned to "I Dream of Jeannie," and ate a peanut butter and honey sandwich cut into neat squares. I wasn't fussy about crusts. I just loved the sticky pairing of creamy peanut butter with syrupy golden sweetness drizzled from a honey bear in diagonals across the bread. Nothing else––save for maybe apples and peanut butter in a pinch––could have made for as sweet an afternoon, with Nickelodeon reruns stretching into the distance.

This month, the Shine Supper Club is celebrating our nostalgic childhood favorites. Were you crazy for popsicles on hot afternoons? Mad for mac and cheese? Join us by revisiting a classic in your kitchen, and sharing a recipe, photo and a story about just how good it was back then. Here's how it works:

1. Write a blog post telling us about your favorite childhood recipe by Monday 11:59PM PST, May 27th. Be sure to include a photo and a recipe.

Read More »from Favorite Childhood Recipes: Shine Supper Club

Of course we love the excuse to trot out a grand hat, admire the handsome horses, and get swept up in all the Southern charm of Derby Day fanfare, but we have to be honest: we're really here for the drinks. While plenty of mint julep recipes require muddling mint and sugar for each individual drink--a labor of love, to be sure--the official mint julep of the Kentucky Derby offers a handy shortcut in the form of fresh mint-infused simple syrup. Even if you're not a bourbon fan (!?) or if mint make you feel like you just left the dentist, we've got four twists on the classic julep, one of which is sure to suit your fancy (hat). -Sarah McColl, Shine staff

Read More »from The Official Mint Julep of the Kentucky Derby, and 4 Brilliant Variations on the Classic

There are certain labor-intensive recipe phrases that can make the most diligent cook roll her eyes. "Do I really have to do that?" we wonder. Leave your Do I Really Have To Do That? questions in the comments and they shall be answered, saving us all a lot of needless trouble.

Somehow the notion has gotten out that leaving an avocado pit in a bowl of guacamole, however unsightly, will keep your Cinco de Mayo party favor from turning brown. We turned to our pal Kristen Miglore, senior editor at Food52 (which, in case you've already got Mother's Day on the brain, just launched a shop called Provisions, where you can find super stylish kitchen tools.)

"I've never understood the logic in presenting the pit," Kristen said. "How could the guacamole on one side of the bowl know that there's a pit in the other side?"

A fair existential question! The so-called logic is this: avocados turn brown when exposed to the air. Why?, asks the scientist in you. It's because of an enzyme called polyphenol

Read More »from Keeping the Pit in the Guacamole: Do I Really Have to Do That?

You know that scene in Mystic Pizza where Julia Roberts nonchalantly smokes some unsuspecting preps in a game of pool? That's kind of what happened with this month's Supper Club winner, when it turned out a snapshot of some good looking farro and asparagus (recipe below) was made by (surprise!) a cook who was a finalist on Master Chef. Peek inside Alejandra's mind and refrigerator as she answers our usual questions:

What ingredient are you currently obsessed with?
Arugula! It’s my favorite early spring herb and a staple in my diet. A nutrition powerhouse, it has lots of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. It has a bold, peppery taste and I love it raw as much as cooked. I use arugula to make salads and stir-fries, to prepare pesto sauces, and to top flatbreads. These days I seem to favor it in salads like my Arugula and Radicchio Citrus Salad with Peas and Goat Cheese.

Favorite food memory?
My favorite food memories revolve around family and come from my childhood days in Venezuela.

Read More »from Meet Chef Alejandra Schrader, April's Shine Supper Club Winner!

We've felt all kinds of inspired to eat bright, healthy meals ever since the photos for this month's Shine Supper Club started rolling in on Flickr, Instagram, and Twitter. We asked how you cook the season's first bright young veggies and you showed up soups, salads, and pasta dishes that made us truly believe spring had sprung.

As always, we had to narrow the playing field to only a handful of finalists. Cast your vote for the dish you'd most love to eat by 12PM PST 4/24.

See all of April's entries here.

Read More »from Vote for the April Shine Supper Club Winner