The culinary school I went to focused on very classical French techniques (something like a lentil pasta sauce would be unheard of in the classical textbooks). Before dawn, the Baking students would get started on all-butter croissants.

At the same time, the students running the school’s restaurant would be roasting veal bones for stock. An hour later, the Breakfast & Pantry class would come in and begin making veggie quiche and bacon in the oven.

The Pastry students came in later and would go to the storeroom refrigerator to retrieve an ungodly amount of butter for their tasks that day. The rhythm of the school was the same, day after day, year after year.

And in the middle of all of the beef bones, sockeye salmon and eggshells, was a chef instructor who ate a vegan, raw food diet. Well, he ate that diet at home.

His job made it impossible to eat that way while he was instructing, as he had to taste all of his student’s work. But yeah, in his free time, he was a vegan.

Because of him, the students learned at least one vegan dish in those school kitchens that were usually full of roasted chicken and poached eggs.

He taught some classes how to make savory oatmeal for dinner. On my rotation, the assignment was a vegetable lasagna recipe and vegan lentil curry.

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Our basement flooded a few weeks ago. It was annoying and gross in all the ways those things are, but luckily we had already known our basement was a flood risk, so we don’t keep much down there. And what we do is all up high, off the ground.

The one exception, for some reason, was my Instant Pot. When we ran to the basement after we realized how heavy the rain was, I saw the Instant Pot sitting on the ground, and water creeping toward it.

At the last minute, I ran through the flood, scooped it up and rescued it.

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Why I love One Sheet Pan Chicken Apple Curry

People often ask me what I eat for dinner when I don’t have a recipe to develop for a client, or a photo shoot to do that day. More often than not, the answer (especially in the fall and winter) is “whatever I can make in one skillet or on one sheet pan.”

I do SO many dishes for my job throughout the work week that when it comes to dinner time for my husband and I, one pan (plus an apple cider old fashioned) sounds like enough (even though my husband actually enjoys doing dishes, like a weirdo).

While a one sheet pan dinner for us is often just a few chicken thighs, some brussels sprouts and a sweet potato, lately I’ve been experimenting with slightly more exotic (although still simple and still ONE pan) dinners. My Skillet Mac and Cheese is a favorite.

I love this recipe because of the balance of flavors. The savory chicken and curry powder, combined with the sweetness of the Fuji apples and the raisins hits the spot for me. I love this curry topped with a dollop of tangy yogurt and a sprinkle of cashews.

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I guess between some Asian chicken salad I made on Monday, and today’s Thai Curry Potato Soup, this week kind of has an Asian theme around here. This ends up happening to me a lot, even though I don’t plan things like that.

I’ll often have two cocktail recipes in a week, or like, two weeks straight of chicken recipes. Have you noticed? I guess I just make, photograph and post recipes that I’m in the mood for at any given time, and I guess this week it’s all about those Asian flavors!

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Did you know that near the top of the homepage of this blog, you can see which five of my recipes are currently trending? This little widget automatically updates to display the recipes that have gotten the most clicks in the past seven days.

As I’m writing this, four of those five spots are occupied by crockpot soups and slow cooker beef stroganoff (and the fifth is a stovetop shrimp wonton soup). Turns out, everybody loves slow cookin’ and everybody loves soup, and why not? It’s an awesome, low-mess, less-time way to get a meal on the table!

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Is there a certain food that you did NOT grow up eating, but now can’t imagine your life without it? I have several. Hummus is one. Pretty sure the grocery store in the small town I grew up in didn’t even carry hummus when I was a kid. And mangos are another one. I’m not sure when I had my first bite of mango, but I was an adult, or very nearly one.

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My husband LOVES making pizza – he grills it in the summer, bakes it in the winter, and comes up with a new flavor combo each time. In this monthly “guest post,” I’m going to sit back, relax, and maybe take the occasional photo while Jeff makes me a pizza and tells you about it. Here he is:

I remember the day Lori asked for this most recent pizza post. She said something along lines of . . . “I want a really tasty pizza. But you know, not the usual.  Like, less Jeff stuff.”

I took this to mean no smoked meats, no double pork, more fresh veggies, and probably a lack of copious amounts of cheese. Thai food struck me as a theme right off the bat.

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