Category: #allrecipes

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The Stupid Simple Trick for Better French Toast

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

There are so many great uses for stale bread. Panzanella, the rustic Italian bread salad, is a versatile way to use it up. Another great use for stale bread is to make it the base of a savory or a sweet breakfast casserole. The stale bread works well in these recipes because the moisture in the wet ingredients rehydrates the stale bread. 

One of the quickest, most satisfying, make-you-feel-like-a-kid-again ways to use stale bread is to make French toast. Bread dipped in an egg-milk mixture and fried on a griddle in butter is a delicious breakfast or brunch and an excellent vehicle for maple syrup, cinnamon and sugar, blueberry compote, or whipped cream. 

If you want French toast, but all your bread is fresh, there’s a hack on TikTok that claims to turn fresh bread into a better vehicle for dipping into the egg-milk mixture (also called custard), and you almost certainly have what you need in your kitchen for this simple trick.

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PSA: This Is the Reason Spring Mix Goes Bad So Quickly

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

If there’s one hard rule for grocery shopping that I believe in with all my heart and uphold without exception, it is this: NEVER buy “spring mix” salad greens. I don’t care what grocery store I’m at or how much it costs, experience has taught me that spring mix is an outstandingly poor investment. Whether you buy the bag or the plastic clamshell, it’s not uncommon for a portion of the container’s contents to already be wilted—or worse, slimy—upon opening the package. And even if your greens are in decent shape, how long do they realistically retain quality? Maybe 48 hours? 

My household goes through a significant amount of salad greens each week—in part, because we are big on salads, but we also like to have greens on hand to toss into pasta dishes or grain bowls, to top sandwiches, etc. So if I open a container of greens, a mere day after purchase, to find a load of slimy leaves oozing that smelly salad sludge all over the leaves that are still clinging to life, it’s a real bummer. 

Granted, no variety of salad green is entirely immune from this fate. Occasionally buying a “bad bag” of greens happens, regardless of what variety you opt for. But with spring mix, a frustratingly short lifespan feels like a near guarantee. Do I have data to support my [arguably harsh] assertion that spring mix is the worst? No, I do not. Anecdotal experience is the only justification I have to offer. 

If you love spring mix, I say—more power to you. Keep buying it. However, for those who can relate to my utter disdain for this ubiquitous blend of fragile lettuces, I hope this article can provide you with both validation and some useful information. 

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32 Recipes That Start with Shredded Chicken

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Shredded chicken is such a smart, time-saving trick for quick dinners during the week. We love having shredded chicken around, already prepped for the week. These top-rated shredded chicken recipes are terrific, whether you’re using up leftover chicken, roasting a chicken specifically for shredding, or simply dropping by the grocery store for a pre-made rotisserie chicken to shred.

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I Asked Chefs to Pick The Best Pasta Sauce and They All Chose This Brand

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

When time allows, we’re all for a good Sunday sauce. Not only can we customize the flavors when we DIY, but also who needs an air freshener when you have a big pot of pasta sauce simmering on the stove?

Still, we don’t always have time to make sauce from scratch, and we hear from many AllRecipes readers that you, too, consider jarred pasta sauce as one of your pantry staples. And there’s no shame in that, especially when many supermarkets have an entire half an aisle full of solid options. Even the man who wrote the book on pasta, Dan Pashman, has said “Why make your own tomato sauce when there are so many high-quality jarred varieties available today?”

We wholeheartedly agree, so we asked Pashman and two other chefs and cookbook authors to help us narrow down all of the options. While we technically spoke to three brilliant food folks for this piece, five food pros have actually declared this as their marinara MVP. That’s because these chefs selected the same pasta sauce that’s Kristin Cavallari’s go-to and Ina Garten’s favorite!

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11 Salad-Making Tips for People Who Hate Salad

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Even as a self-proclaimed salad-lover, I understand and sympathize with those who don’t care for (or even legitimately dislike) salad. I understand completely. 

Salad is a controversial topic, and I think it’s largely because, when we talk about “salad,” we’re often talking about entirely different things. There are no bright-line rules governing what constitutes a salad. I mean, if you’re from my proverbial neck of the woods, boiled potatoes coated in mayonnaise equals salad. Folks, you can combine citrus-flavored Jell-O, brown mustard, mayo, cabbage, white vinegar, and ham… and call it salad. No one will stop you, not even us. 

Merriam-Webster says that salad is “a usually incongruous mixture,” listing “hodgepodge” as a close synonym. The dictionary can’t even define salad well, how are we supposed to? 

In my experience, a lot of people know salad as limp greens (or in some circles, watery iceberg lettuce) bogged down with whatever brand of bottled Italian dressing is on sale that week, with some too-chunky cucumber rounds and whole grape tomatoes thrown in for good measure. At least, that’s what I grew up understanding salad to be. And who could blame someone for being less than thrilled about that? Not me. 

The reality is, salad is often an afterthought—a token sidekick to certain entrees or an easy, throw-together way to get a “vegetable” on the table. However, if you can ditch the semi-traumatic image of what you (through no fault of your own) think salad is, and embrace the idea of what salad can be—i.e. An incredibly vibrant, dynamic, crave-worthy side or main dish—I promise, your life will be better for it. 

If you’re open to the possibility, here are TK# pointers that will help you along the way.

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