When I was a kid, taco salad was one of my favorite dinners. My mom would sprinkle some grated cheddar cheese on tortilla chips and pop them in the oven to make nachos, and we would eat the nachos as an appetizer while she made the taco salad. When we were done downing the nachos, the salad was ready to eat.

I love taco salad so much that sometimes I make the mistake of ordering it when I go out to eat. There’s nothing wrong with that—it’s usually pretty delicious—but then I remember that I can make almost exactly the same thing at home for a fraction of the cost. If you like restaurant taco salad, too, give this recipe a try.

For two people (or some leftovers for when you’re starving post-study session), you’ll need about 3 cups of tortilla chips, half a head of lettuce, one chopped tomato, around 1/3 pound ground beef, ¼ cup chopped black olives, about 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese, and about ¼ cup of French dressing.

First, brown the ground beef in a pan.

While the beef is cooking, wash your head of lettuce and shred half of it into a big bowl. Chop the tomato and olives, and add them to the bowl. Pour in the chips and cheddar cheese.

When the beef is done cooking, drain off the grease. Add the beef to the bowl. Then pour in the French dressing—you may want more or less of it to taste, so start with less to make sure the flavor won’t overwhelm—and toss.

Bing, bang, boom, and dinner’s ready. Now scarf that down and get thee to the library. You have a paper to write.

Yeah, what a rip-off.

Is it that hard to make a decent veggie burger? No, and I’m here to prove it.

Seriously, restaurants have no excuse to pull that kind of crap on people. Veggie burgers are super easy to make, and make well. Next time you want a nice juicy veggie burger that actually tastes good, save your 8 bucks and hit the kitchen instead.

(This recipe is modified from Cooking for Two, a book I can’t recommend enough.)

Here’s what you need to make 4 burgers:

- Olive oil
- 2-3 green onions
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons rolled oats
- 1 zucchini
- 1 large carrot or 2 small carrots
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 1½ tablespoons fresh parsley
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ cup flour

Veggie it Up!
Cut the green onions (use all of them, including the white parts), zucchini, and carrot(s) into large chunks and throw them into a food processor. Pulse a few times and add the oats, tahini, parsley, soy sauce, mustard, and pepper. Pulse again until the mixture is smooth. You may need to poke at it to make sure no vegetable chunks are left.

Now put the mixture in a bowl and cover it tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate it for at least 1 hour and as long as 24 hours. The refrigeration is important—don’t skip it! It lets the mixture become sticky so that your burgers will hold together.

When you’re ready to make the burgers, heat up a skillet and pour some olive oil into it. Empty the ¼ cup flour onto a plate and use some of it to coat your hands. Grab handfuls of the burger mixture with floured hands and form them into patties. Coat each side of each patty with flour, then toss them on the skillet. Cook for about 3 minutes per side or until they’re golden brown. YUM!

(Hot tip: If you can serve the burgers with these buns, they will be even more heavenly.)

There’s absolutely everything in here, from general small-batch advice to a lowdown on ingredients to winning recipes of all kinds. And every recipe in here is truly excellent. I can’t stand fat cookbooks full of thousands of recipes that obviously were never tested, meaning you have to dig through the whole book to handpick the recipes that may have the potential to be edible.

Not so with Cooking for Two. The authors, Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, have really tweaked every recipe, and it’s obvious. The ingredient amounts are right on, and you can expect fantastic taste with everything you make from here.

I can’t say anything specific about the seafood section since I don’t eat seafood, but the casserole and poultry sections really shine. Also, many of the recipes can be adapted for slow cookers to make them even easier!

The desserts aren’t bad, either—they’re not quite of the caliber you’d find in a book that’s specifically about baking or sweet things, but who wants to bake three dozen cookies when this book will show you how to make just six wonderful, warm chocolate-chip espresso cookies? Mmmm. Yes, please.

I suppose the only word of caution I would offer is about the ingredients. If you’re not into substituting (which works for many of the recipes in this book), you may have to go to a couple of grocery stores or specialty shops before you’re able to find what you need (dried shiitake mushrooms, for example). In my opinion, the authors really go too far when they ask you to track down quail eggs, but I just ignore them whenever they do that. As a sub, you can easily whisk up an egg and just take a couple of teaspoons out of it.

You can get this book used for pretty cheap, and it’s soooo worth the money. YUM!

[Image courtesy of harpercollins.com.]

Most normal fajitas or any similar Mexican-like foods will set your number of daily calories over the edge with gobs of refried beans, sour cream, or crazy cheese sauces. Not this fajita—it has all the taste but serious health benefits as well. If you are craving something Mexican that isn’t quite authentic but that tastes fresh and delicious, this is what you want!

It can easily be a 15-minute dinner if you’re rushing, and it’s pretty versatile (any kind of bell pepper will work, the corn is optional, etc.). Here are the ingredients for one fajita:

• canola oil, olive oil, or vegetable oil (or any other oil, really)

• 1 thin-sliced chicken breast, cut into strips

• ¼ tsp taco seasoning

• ½ red bell pepper, sliced into very thin strips

• ½ medium onion, sliced into thin rings

• 2 tablespoons corn, fresh or frozen (optional)

• ½ to ¾ cup fresh spinach, rinsed and stemmed

• 2 tablespoons reduced-fat cheddar cheese

• 1 whole-wheat tortilla wrap

To begin, put the oil in a shallow pan. Let it heat up, and add the thin rings of onion and strips of bell pepper. Sauté them over low-medium or medium heat for 8-10 minutes, until they are browned, much reduced, and beginning to caramelize.

At that time, add the chicken strips and the taco seasoning. Continue to sauté until the strips are cooked through but not browned. Stir often because taco seasoning can sometimes stick to the bottom of the pan.

Next, add the corn. If you’re using frozen corn, the little bit of ice on the kernels should wet the pan enough so that you’ll be able to scrape up any spare taco seasoning on the bottom. Turn the heat to low.

Prepare your tortilla while you’re waiting for the fajita filling to finish cooking. Grate the cheese if necessary, and set it aside. Put the tortilla on a plate and line it with the fresh spinach (pat the spinach with towels if you need to so that it’s not soaking wet after rinsing). Turn off the heat on the stove, and scoop the filling over the spinach.

Finally, sprinkle the cheese over the filling. If you want the cheese to melt, just pop the fajita in the microwave for 15 seconds or so.

If you layer a ton of filling on the fajita, it’s great to eat with a fork and knife. Otherwise, you can wrap it up for a portable dinner that’s waaaaaay healthier than stopping for take-out Mexican!

The thick, Mediterranean-style sauce in this chicken recipe is full of flavor, and the couscous is great for soaking it up. It would taste a little weird with rice, and the consistency wouldn’t be right with pasta. But with couscous? Delectable.

It serves one, and here’s what you need:

• Olive oil

• 1 chicken breast

• salt and pepper to taste

• 1 serving of couscous, either flavored or plain (about 1/3 cup dry)

• 1/3 of an onion, chopped in thin rings or strips

• 1 garlic clove, sliced into very thin circles

• 4-5 baby bella mushrooms, sliced (white mushrooms work, too)

• 1 tablespoon sun-dried tomatoes, sliced into strips (oil-packed or not is okay)

• 5-6 kalamata olives, pitted and halved

• ¼ tsp each of rosemary, thyme, and basil

• 2 tablespoons chicken broth

• 2-3 tablespoons dry white wine

Begin by sprinkling the chicken breast with salt and pepper and sautéing it in olive oil until it’s brown, a little crispy on the outside, and fully cooked. Set it aside.

While you’re waiting for the chicken breast to finish cooking, you can start the sauce. Put a little olive oil in a second pan, and once it’s hot, add the onion and garlic. Sauté until the garlic is light brown and the onion is translucent and beginning to get brown. Add the mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, and kalamata olives. Sauté for another 2-3 minutes, until the mushrooms release their juices and are brown. Add the rosemary, thyme, and basil. Sauté for about a minute. Add the chicken broth and wine, and cover the pan.

Now make the couscous. Most varieties cook in less than ten minutes, so it should be ready very soon. Keep an eye on the clock.

When the couscous is done, check your sauce. It should be thickened and the liquid should have boiled down to almost nothing. If not, simmer it for a few more minutes, or just let the couscous soak up the liquids.

On a plate, layer your delicious dinner in this order: bed of couscous at the bottom, crisp chicken breast in the middle, and thick Mediterranean sauce on top. Fantastic!

It was my brother’s birthday earlier this week. Even though he’s thousands of miles away from where I am right now, I wasn’t about to pass up a chance to make and eat cupcakes.

He requested marble, so I improvised. These may not be as beautiful as the marble cupcakes you see in stores (OK, so they’re kind of globby, to be honest), but they taste better, and the melted chocolate is the finishing touch of magic that no store can give you.

To make 6 small cupcakes, here’s what you need: ½ cup flour, ¼ cup plus one tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon melted butter, ¼ cup very hot water, 1/8 tsp baking soda, 1/8 tsp salt, ½ tsp vanilla, 1 egg yolk, 2 tablespoons sour cream, about 1 ½ ounces of chocolate, and a tiny bit of milk or cream.

First, preheat the oven to 350. Combine the dry ingredients—the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.

Next, combine the wet ingredients—the vanilla, egg yolk, butter, water, and sour cream.

Mix the two together. Get rid of lumps if at all possible. An electric mixer will make everything nice and fluffy, but it’s not necessary.

Finally, melt the chocolate. You can use the microwave—chop the chocolate into bits first if it’s solid, then pour in the tiny bit (1-2 teaspoons) of milk or cream into a microwave-safe bowl. Nuke it for about 45 seconds, then in periods of 15-20 seconds, stirring after each time, until it’s nice and smooth.

Fill your muffin tin or muffin cups with the batter, then use a knife to glop in the chocolate. You can stir it around inside each cup if you want, but it likely won’t dissolve much. It doesn’t matter. Your tastebuds will thank you later.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, then enjoy those pockets of melted chocolate. Mmmmmmm.

Lately, it’s been so freaking hot where I live (hello, summer) that I don’t even want to turn on the stove for 30 seconds, let alone the oven. Remembering an awesome avocado and egg sandwich that I once had at a New York City deli, I devised this AMAZING veggie wrap.

You need: one wrap tortilla, half a fresh avocado, half a small tomato, one hard-boiled egg, one carrot, a couple tablespoons of cheese (type is up to you), a tiny bit of Miracle Whip, a tiny bit of pesto sauce, a tiny bit of honey mustard, and sprinkles of salt and pepper.

Hard-boil the egg (it takes 10-15 minutes) far enough in advance so that you can cool it down with some ice cubes and cold water in the refrigerator before you make the wrap. When it’s cold, peel it and slice it thinly. Slice the half-avocado thinly as well, and the half-tomato.

Grate the carrot. Grate the cheese, too, if it’s not already grated. I use cheddar and mozzarella, but I think almost any kind would be good.

Once you’ve done all that, set the empty wrap tortilla on a plate. Spread the mayonnaise across the diameter, then spread the pesto sauce evenly next to it.

Layer on the avocado slices, the egg slices, and the tomato slices.

Pour the grated carrot over what you have so far, then the grated cheese.

Finally, squeeze just a little bit of honey mustard over the whole thing, and sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Roll it up (as best you can; it might overflow), and dig in. YUM yum yum yum YUM. Now that is motivation enough to become a vegetarian.

Want a portable meal that’s delicious and nutritious? Forsake the chili bread bowl in favor of the stuffed pepper.

You can fill this guy with whatever suits your fancy—pork, chicken, beef, scrambled eggs—and you can also pack it with flavor and texture. Where else can you find protein, carbs, veggies, and taste all in one convenient, edible package the size of a man’s fist? Nowhere!

To make one stuffed pepper like the one in the picture, you’ll need the bell pepper (any color works, but I prefer to use green), half of one small onion, one garlic clove, a little bit of olive oil, a few ounces of ground beef, about three tablespoons of uncooked rice, 4-6 tablespoons of chicken broth, two tablespoons of tomato sauce or tomato paste, three tablespoons of parmesan or romano cheese, and seasonings to taste (basil, salt, pepper, etc.).

If you like your pepper really soft, you can boil it in water for a few minutes before you get started. Even if you don’t do that, though, you can expect it to be tender enough to cut with a fork when it comes out of the oven. Preheat your oven, by the way, to 400. Slice off the very top of the pepper, and scoop out the seeds.

Slice up your onions and garlic, dump a little bit of olive oil in a pan, and heat the oil. When it’s hot, drop in the onions and garlic. Sauté them for about five minutes, or until they are just beginning to brown. Crumble the ground beef in the pan, and cook until it’s browned but not crispy.

Pour in the uncooked rice, and add the chicken broth. Slap a cover on the pan, reduce the heat to very low, and let the mixture simmer for about 10 minutes. The broth should be pretty much gone by then, and the rice should be a little tender but not cooked through.

Add the tomato sauce/paste and two tablespoons of the cheese to the pan, and mix it in thoroughly along with the seasonings. Turn off the heat, and scoop everything you have in the pan into the bell pepper. Sprinkle the top with the remaining tablespoon of cheese. Pop the pepper into a baking dish, and cover it with a sheet of aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes, then savor your delicious portable dinner after it’s cooled.

But now I’ve found the perfect solution: sweet spinach salad!

This takes less than five minutes to make, and it’s DELICIOUS. I feel like I am eating a dessert salad whenever I make it, no joke. All you need is some spinach, a few strawberries, a dab of honey, and a squirt of lemon juice.

Easy process: slice the strawberries and cut off the tops. Rinse the spinach and chop or tear it into smaller pieces. Toss the spinach and the strawberries in a bowl, and poke them for a few seconds to combine them.

Now for the fun part: squirt the lemon juice (I use about half a teaspoon) over the salad, then drizzle the honey over it. Mix everything up with your fork, and that’s IT! Dig in and enjoy… it’s the perfect side for a warm, summery day.

The term for Greek spinach pie, spanakopita is made with phyllo pastry and is probably one of the most delicious things on the planet. Naturally, it also contains a lot of spinach, which gives you a chance to bulk up those muscles like Popeye.

To make my spanakopita, I cut this recipe in half with a few modifications: I omitted the parsley, kept all eight sheets of phyllo, and used less olive oil.

This recipe would be a complete cinch if it weren’t for the phyllo. Phyllo is a pain to work with, and you have to make sure to thaw it properly (at least a full day in the fridge or 3-4 hours in a normal room). When it’s finally thawed, you have to work

with it at lightning speed and keep it covered with something moist at all times… not to mention paint every sheet you’re using

with a little melted butter or olive oil.

Here’s the good news: if you don’t want to mess with phyllo dough (or if you don’t have any), the recipe works fine for quiche, too. Your final quiche product might turn out tasting a little less eggy/cheesy than a usual quiche, but it’ll be delicious anyway (and beautiful)!

Spinach lovers, unite!