Side

Coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots), one of our favorite simple suppers convenience foods, is available in the produce section of most supermarkets.

The glistening vegetables in bright shades of green and orange in this garlicky dish are a reminder that summer’s just ahead. Frozen shelled edamame (fresh soybeans) are available in natural food stores and many supermarkets. We like to keep a bag on hand to add to soups, stews, and sautés.

Fresh summer herbs release an intense, splendid aroma when you stir them into hot oil. (See photo).

Shelled edamame (fresh soybeans) are available in the frozen food section of many natural foods stores and supermarkets. Whole wheat pasta is especially good in this dish. If you think you’ll be lucky enough to have leftovers for lunch tomorrow, instead of tossing the walnuts into the pasta, sprinkle them on top of each serving.

Mustard greens and broccoli raab (also called brocoletti di rape, rape, and rapini) are somewhat bitter, a good counterpoint to creamy, subtly flavored ricotta cheese.

There are only five circumstances under which a person wants chocolate for breakfast: (1) You dumped your boyfriend or husband in a champagne-soaked tantrum the night before. (2) Based on the contents of your fridge, it’s either chocolate sauce or a spoonful of mustard. (3) You are under the age of eight. (4) You are pregnant. (5) You have just whipped up a batch of these babies. These scones are light and elegant compared to traditional scones, whose texture often sets my stomach on spin cycle.

This is as close to a traditional scone as BabyCakes NYC comes. I 86’ed the butter, obviously, and played up the sweet, all without abandoning the light-yet-satisfying texture. I find that raspberries, more delicate than currants or other popular berries used in scones, have a tanginess that’s a perfect accompaniment to morning tea.

By fifth grade, I’d taken to pocketing my lunch money and starving through the day so I could afford to spend the afternoons in the air-conditioned luxury of the local KFC and postpone the sweltering walk home. I’d buy a biscuit, fashion a “free” lemonade (1 cup ice water, 2 packets lemon juice, 27 or so sugar packets), swing my Capezios up onto the banquette of a comfy booth, and bask in my own genius. I don’t know that the eventual walk was any better, but I do know I started a trend among other ponytailed rebels. With the biscuit bar set pretty high and KFC no longer an option or a preference, I assigned myself the challenge of bettering it with my allergy-friendly pantry. It’s not uncommon these days for people to taste the biscuits at BabyCakes NYC and say, “These are better than KFC!”—and when they do, I execute a victory pirouette and shotgun a frosty glass of agave lemonade (page 133).

Is there anything better than having older sisters? When Kathy and Suzi left for college in Northern California, we younger sisters were shipped off for monthlong summer visits. With Kathy, days were spent ripping around in her Honda sedan, blasting Prince, popping doughnut holes by the bucketful, and making emergency stops at Contempo Casual. After we blew our babysitting money on stretch pants, we’d head over to Suzi’s and rehab our sugar hangovers by getting back to nature. We’d raft down to the grocery store (seriously) and take leisurely bike rides. Suzi’s pantry was stuffed with strange cereals (where were the neon-purple pieces?), whole-wheat pancake mix, and blueberry muffins. Bridget immediately went on a hunger strike, while I snuck snacks in the laundry room, discovering this new world of health-minded food. I quickly fell for the blueberry muffin, and it’s been a close friend ever since. What follows is my version—it’s light and sweet and I think you’ll find it perfect for nearly every occasion.

When customers started requesting pumpkin-spice recipes, I turned to my brother Danny, the McKenna clan’s resident Halloween expert and culinary school graduate. Danny’s rule: The flavor of a pumpkin purée must be nutty and rich without being overly spicy or dense. Ever the pragmatist, and much to Danny’s purist chagrin, I find that canned pumpkin purée is surprisingly flavorful and far more convincing than other canned vegetables. Sorry, Danny, but it’s true.

To many, ginger is synonymous with either the flabby pink shavings plopped beside a sushi roll or the too-sweet soda you were given on your sickbed. For years, I snubbed the root on those grounds, but after opening the bakery, I quickly found I was in the minority. Here’s the thing you need to remember about baking with ginger: It needs a sidekick, or even two. For me, a subtle peach, baked to sweet surrender, is the ideal complement to ginger’s perfumy heat. For this recipe, corn bread is the naturally sweet and grainy foundation.

To me, apple muffins that offer up a mouthful of mealy mashed apple chunks are a personal affront. Fortunately, such abominations are easily avoided, a simple matter of proper fruit selection. Forget for a minute your preferences when choosing an apple to eat out of hand (I’m talking to you, Red Delicious loyalists). For this recipe, you can’t go wrong with tart, substantial Granny Smiths, especially when they’ve been roasted to caramelized perfection. If you prefer something sweeter, go halfsies with Granny Smith and either Pink Lady or Fuji, both of which deliver a fragrant bonus and add a depth of flavor even the ordinarily oblivious will notice.

There were always barrels of pickles at the flea markets my parents took me to when I was growing up. My dad loved half-sours; my mom loved sweet pickles; I loved both. Mom would cut both kinds in half and stick them together, so I’ d get two flavors in every bite. This is my homage to those days, made with one of my favorite ingredients.

This recipe was born out of leftovers—a half cantaloupe, a handful of strawberries, some grapes—not enough in themselves to feed a family, but combine them and you have a great dessert. Feel free to substitute with your favorite fruit or whatever you happen to have as leftovers. The sweetened wine and the fresh mint meld the fruit flavors together into a wonderfully refreshing, quick, and easy recipe. Perfect for summertime.

Cannoli (“pipes”) are said to be one of the unshakable rocks of Sicilian desserts, and these days they can be found in almost every Italian pastry shop in America. They are crispy fried pastry tubes that are filled with sweetened ricotta cheese or sometimes pastry cream. The tubes are time-consuming to make, but the filling is easy, and dolloped over fresh berries, well, it just brings me home.

Panzanella comes from the Latin word panis, meaning “bread.” This is another dish that illustrates Italians’ resourcefulness when it comes to leftovers: The key to this dish is the actually stale—not fresh—bread, which absorbs the flavors in the salad without falling apart and becoming mushy. In the sixteenth century, panzanella was made with just bread, oil, and vinegar. Tomatoes were introduced to Italy in the sixteenth century, but even then they only began to be eaten in the south, where they grew, two hundred years later. Now, of course, Italians all over the Boot love the tomato, and this salad is a staple everywhere.

Italians aren’t afraid of using spicy and slightly bitter greens in their salads, and you shouldn’t be either. Belgian endive are small, pale (white) heads of lettuce with yellow tips; they can be eaten raw (as in this salad) or grilled or roasted—the possibilities are endless. Frisée has slender, curly leaves that are a yellow-green color. The blood oranges add a hint of tart sweetness and a beautiful refreshing color to this salad—they’re orange with bright red or red-streaked white flesh. The dressing, nuts, orange segments, and lettuces can all be prepared ahead of time, no last-minute fuss.

Farro is a type of wheat that was an important component of the Roman Empire’s diet, but it fell somewhat out of favor when more refined wheat products became plentiful in Italy. You’ll still find it on a lot of Italian tables, though, and especially in soups and salads such as this one. Farro is available in Italian markets and gourmet grocery stores, but brown rice or barley could also be used in this recipe.