appetizer ideas

Hatch chile is more than a pepper — it’s New Mexico’s terroir on your plate. This short-season treasure offers smoky sweetness, gentle heat, and a rich history dating back to the 1500s. Discover why it pairs beautifully with seafood, how its unique growing conditions shape its flavor, and what science says about its health benefits. Once you taste it, you’ll see why I can’t stop talking about it.

Some things look like dessert—but aren’t. These figs, simmered slowly with salt, sugar, and lemon, land somewhere else entirely: between the jam jar and the cheese plate, between sweetness and savor, between tradition and a little mischief. This is a recipe that plays with opposites. It’s patient, but bold. Familiar, but surprising. And if you're one of us—the sweet-and-salty obsessed—consider this your next obsession.

Unroll 2,500 years of flavor—from Georgian walnut rolls to Soviet‑Korean carrot wraps—in this globetrotting guide to eggplant involtini.

I love feeding people. Cooking up a storm and sharing with everyone. But… there are a few dishes I secretly dream of devouring all by myself. No sharing. Blanched stems of flowering leeks? Top of that list.

If you love exploring new flavors or experimenting in your kitchen, Rugbrød (Danish rye bread) might be your next favorite discovery.

This season, I’m all about bite-sized apps that pack in protein but don’t stress me out. My rule: keep it easy—one quick trip to the...