Kendra Vaculin

This lemon bar recipe is the result of some serious testing. Making them requires only eight ingredients (including salt) and about an hour of your time (not including chilling). I wanted to create a lemon dessert recipe you could return to, so it’s extremely simple to make. Potlucks, picnics, dinner parties, bake sales, Monday nights—most things are better with a lemon bar in hand, and with this easy recipe, you won’t have to be without one again. My ideal lemon squares are anchored with a butt…

Not nachos, but not not nachos either—this quick meal is a heap of bold flavors and textures, begging to be eaten directly from the sheet pan. Tender sweet potato wedges, spiced ground beef, and melty cheddar team up to create a homey base. The ringer is a bunch of funky, bright kimchi, used two ways: some cooked down with the beef, more sprinkled on top for a pickle-y bite. It’s exactly what you want for a fun family dinner or game-day addition.

The only thing better than a good recipe? When something’s so easy that you don’t even need one. Welcome to It’s That Simple, a column where we talk you through the dishes and drinks you can make with your eyes closed. Out in the world I am an adventurous drinker, but at home I only ever want one thing: a bitter spritz. Summer or winter, before dinner or as a nightcap, while watching sports or cooking for friends—you’ll catch me tipping a glug of amaro (any kind!) over ice and topping it with se…

These adorable bite-size Grinch-colored cookies make the case for gifting yourself a cookie press this year. The tool, if you’ve never seen one, is reminiscent of a Play-Doh extruder, with a tube for stuffing with dough and a few different shaped discs for sliding in at the end. Stamping out intricate, identical treats couldn’t be easier. I love using the wreath shape for the holiday season, and dye my dough a verdant hue using ceremonial grade matcha (other styles of matcha will work as well, b…

Pasta salad is winter food too! In this version, Swiss chard stems are thinly sliced and sizzled until crispy, while the leaves are wilted down in a hot pan. Lots of salty feta and olive oil-toasted pistachios keep things interesting, while a bit of sliced sage gives the whole dish a distinctly cold-weather feel.

This easy sheet-pan dinner gives roasted potatoes and salmon the salad treatment by layering each ingredient on top of the last, optimizing cooking time for every element. Baby potatoes (or Yukon Golds that you’ve diced into smallish pieces) form a robust base, followed by marinated artichokes, which turn crispy in the oven. The seasoned fish fillets go on last and only need about 15 minutes to transform into buttery-soft baked salmon. After the pan comes out of the oven, you’ll toss the veg wit…

If you’ve ever come to my house for dinner around the holidays, you know that my hosting crutch is lasagna. I make it over and over, for big events and cozy Saturdays alike, whenever I’m called upon to cook for a crowd. I hate the process of picking a main dish—I’m too impatient to dig for something new that feels just right. I want drama! Something that lands on the table with gravitas! And I don’t want to spend another minute thinking about it! So I make lasagna. Again. The problem with lasagn…

Tortilla Española is a classic Spanish tapa made of scrambled eggs and tender potatoes, cooked into a sliceable round omelet. Served warm, room temperature, or straight from the fridge, it’s widely considered to be a national dish of Spain. This version—inspired by a twist popularized by celebrated Spanish chef Ferran Adrià—swaps in crispy potato chips for raw potatoes. That means super-thin layers of potato without having to use a mandoline. Saving your fingers from potential slicing disaster i…

Beets and goat cheese are a classic combination, but this salad is anything but retro. Shaved fennel (use a mandoline if you have one and reserve the springy green fronds for garnish) and hearty farro make it feel like a full meal. The creamy dressing swoosh on the bottom—here’s where the goat cheese comes in—adds richness and a little tang. Precooked beets, which you can find in the produce department, make this recipe a flash to put together. If you have the time, feel free to steam or roast b…

The only thing better than a good recipe? When something’s so easy that you don’t even need one. Welcome to It’s That Simple, a column where we talk you through the dishes and drinks you can make with your eyes closed. The beauty of braised greens is that they cook forever. They don’t mind that your attention is elsewhere—on a skillet of frying chicken, maybe, or a pot full of mac and cheese. They don’t care that you’re only occasionally remembering to stir. Between the smoky pork at the base (u…