Honey Walnut Shrimp is a classic dish from Hong Kong that many Americans know about thanks to Panda Express and many others. The dish is popular at many Chinese restaurants as well. Our version of this slightly sweet dish more closely represents the fast food version. Ones you may find in Hong Kong have very lightly battered shrimp whereas Panda Express has a thicker and heavier coating for that extra crispy bite. We went somewhere in between, using cornstarch and egg to give it a nice and crispy coating. The sugared walnuts are our favorite part and make the dish so unique!

If you end up with some leftover rice, you need to make chicken fried rice tomorrow!

Ingredients

1 c. water
1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. walnuts
1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs, beaten
1 c. cornstarch
Vegetable oil for frying
1/4 c. mayonnaise
2 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. heavy cream
Cooked white rice, for serving
Thinly sliced green onions, for garnish

Instructions

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine water and sugar and bring to a boil. Add walnuts and let boil for 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove walnuts and let cool on a small baking sheet.
2. Pat shrimp dry with paper towels and season lightly with salt and pepper. Place eggs in a shallow bowl and cornstarch in another shallow bowl. Dip shrimp in eggs, then in cornstarch coating well.
3. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 1” of oil. Add shrimp in batches and fry until golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel lined plate.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, honey, and heavy cream. Toss shrimp in sauce. Serve over rice with candied walnuts and garnish with green onions.

The Resort at Paws Up’s executive chef, Sunny Jin, has a serious food-world pedigree (Napa Valley’s French Laundry, Spain’s El Bulli). His latest endeavor: perfecting dishes like this fabulous Hasselback Potato Gratin. Your whole family will love it—and it's the perfect side dish for Thanksgiving and Christmas too.

2 tbsp. olive oil, plus more for baking dish
3 medium onions, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 1/2 c. heavy cream
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
1 tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
8 oz. Gruyère, grated (about 2 cups), divided
4 oz. Parmesan, grated (about 1 cup), divided
3 1/2 lb. Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick

Directions

Let me walk you through the pleasure of eating this crispy, juicy fried chicken: You’ve got this glistening drumstick with a coating so full of crunchy ripples that it is hard to determine where to hold on. You decide fingertips are best for maneuvering this chicken from the plate to your mouth. As you bring it closer you can smell the spices — garlic, onion, pepper, and even the smoky paprika. That first bite is a real stunner. As you dig in, the crust cracks audibly and reveals juicy chicken that is as flavorful as that irresistible crust. You’ll taste the herbs that made that chicken so fragrant and enjoy a mouthful that is equal parts crispy and juicy. Pieces of the crispy coating fall away.

I’m going to need a bigger stack of napkins, you think to yourself, and then you grab another piece.

The very best part of eating this chicken is that you made it yourself. You didn’t swing by the local KFC, you didn’t fork over 20 bucks at some trendy chicken joint. Nope — you, my friend, made this honest-to-goodness, crispy, juicy, finger-licking delicious chicken at home. Whether you’re a first-time fryer or your skillet is well-seasoned, this is the step-by-step guide for making the very best fried chicken at home.

6 Essential Steps for Crispy, Juicy Fried Chicken

What makes this dish of humble origins so well-loved can actually make it intimidating to home cooks — the coating and frying.

This recipe and technique is a culmination of the little tips I’ve learned over the past 10 years from Alton Brown (IRL, no less) and my friend Erika, partnered with knowledge gleaned from Kitchn’s own editors.

Frying chicken is definitely a weekend cooking project, which is to say you’ll need a couple of hours to accomplish it, but once you’ve got the technique down you can fry more than one batch at a time for family picnics or just to have cold leftovers to eat from the fridge on a whim. Here are the six essential things you need to know about frying this crisp, juicy chicken at home.

1. Buy chicken pieces.

Let’s be real here — everybody wants a drumstick. Avoid arguments over the two you’ll get from buying a whole chicken and breaking it down yourself by just buying the pieces you like best. Personally, I skip the breasts because of their longer cook time, and go straight for a 50/50 split of drumsticks and thighs.

2. Dry brine the chicken for juiciness.

Dry brine (meaning salt) the chicken itself first. You can do this overnight in the fridge or for just 30 minutes before coating and frying the chicken at room temperature. This salting step is critical for moist, flavorful chicken, as it gives the chicken direct contact with the salt. This helps to tenderize it, but also infuses it with flavor.

3. Make a strong spice mixture.

Last year, KFC’s secret spiced blend was reportedly leaked to the public via the Chicago Tribune. KFC uses a lot of spices and a large amount of them. I tried the recipe as written and found it too salty and too strong, so the seasoning mix you’ll find below reflects a lighter touch. Mix the seasoning blend together while the chicken is sitting salted, then put half of the seasoning on the chicken and the other half in the flour coating. Remember that the fat from frying is going to mellow some of the spice flavor and that some of the spices will be left behind in the coating process, so don’t be afraid at the large volume of spice here.

4. Use egg whites, alcohol, and cornstarch for a crispy coating.

The egg white addition is a trick I learned from my favorite tempura recipe. Alton Brown taught me to add bourbon to my buttermilk and egg mixture, although I’m more likely to use vodka, and my friend Erika taught me to use cornstarch in my flour for frying. These seemingly unrelated ingredients come together to make a super-crispy coating on the chicken full of ripples, nooks, and flakes — all the good things we love on fried chicken. Here is what each one does in the batter.

• Egg white adds structure in the form of protein. It also helps the flour coating stick to the chicken like culinary glue. Use whole eggs and you’ll have a softer crust because of the yolks’ fat content.
• Alcohol evaporates quickly in the frying oil. This sets the coating and creates flaky layers. You often see this ingredient used in pie crust recipes too.
• Cornstarch in the flour makes the crust crispier. Cornstarch weakens the all-purpose flour’s protein just enough to make the coating tender.

5. Fry in a Dutch oven.

I know that a cast iron skillet is the icon for Southern fried foods, but its shallow depth makes a mess (and is a fire hazard if you aren’t careful) when frying. Use a Dutch oven instead for frying. The high sides keep splatter to a minimum, while its heft helps to regulate the oil’s temperature as chicken pieces go in and out.

6. Use 2 thermometers!

Use a deep-fry or candy thermometer for the oil and a probe thermometer to monitor the chicken’s internal temperature. You’ll notice that the oil drops in temperature as chicken pieces are added to the pot. You’ll need to monitor the temperature by adjusting the heat as you fry.

The probe thermometer will guarantee that you have juicy chicken that is properly cooked. You can’t just rely on the chicken’s golden-brown coating to determine doneness, as the spice mixture will brown pretty quickly before the chicken is cooked. The chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165°F in the thickest part of each piece; make sure the thermometer’s not touching bone when taking the temperature for the most accurate reading.

Making Frying Safer and Less Messy

I get it — frying is kind of intimidating. There are all the perils that come along with hot oil: displacement can that result in overflow, the splattering, and then the What the heck do I do with this used oil now? question. And then there’s the mess, right? So let’s address each of those concerns head on.

Prevent overflow by using the Dutch oven. Don’t try to fry in a shallow pan, which can overflow easily. Instead, fry in your Dutch oven.

Set up a proper fry station. At the center of your fry station should be your Dutch oven, half full of oil (save the oil bottle!) and fitted with a deep-fry thermometer. One side should have your pan of prepped and ready-to-fry chicken, while the other side should have a cooling rack set on a baking sheet for draining and cooling the finished chicken. You may also want a plate, small baking sheet, or sheet of foil for resting oily tongs or equipment on while frying.

Pro tip: You can also cover your stovetop around the pot with aluminum foil before frying for an even easier cleanup.

Minimize splattering with the right tools. The Dutch oven’s high sides will reduce the amount of oil that splatters out of the pan, but you can also reduce splashing by using long tongs to lower your chicken into the hot oil. Use another pair of tongs to remove the chicken from the oil, holding the finished chicken over the hot oil for 10 to 15 seconds so excess oil can drip back into the Dutch oven and not all over your stovetop.

Don’t even mess with the hot oil post-frying. Another benefit of the Dutch oven for frying is that after you’ve enjoyed your chicken you can cover the oil with the pot’s lid and let it cool on the back of the stove. I usually do not even deal with the fry oil until the next day. Set a reminder on your phone to move the oil and clean the pot the next day.

What to Do with Used Fry Oil

After your frying oil is cooled to room temperature, set the empty oil bottle (or a large, clean glass jar) in your sink, attach a funnel, and then fit a small strainer inside the funnel. Pour the oil through the strainer back into the bottle. Once strained, the oil can be saved at cool room temperature or in the refrigerator for one more use. Alternatively, you can seal the bottle and throw the whole thing away, or find a local recycling center that takes cooking oil.

Cooling and Serving Fried Chicken

Move your finished fried chicken to a cooling rack set over a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Setting the chicken directly on paper towels (or brown paper) might wick away some excess grease, but it can also create a steamy spot where that crust we worked so hard for gets soggy.

Cool the chicken for at least 10 minutes before serving. Proper cooling sets the crust and ensures that the chicken will have done all its carryover cooking. I like to cool any leftover chicken completely and then store in a paper towel-lined airtight container in the fridge. The paper towel absorbs condensation and keeps that chicken crisp for midnight snacking.

How To Make Crispy, Juicy Fried Chicken (That's Better than KFC)

Yield: Serves 4 to 6

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 8 pieces bone-in chicken pieces (about 4 pounds total), preferably 4 drumsticks and 4 thighs
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt, divided
• 3 tablespoons smoked paprika
• 2 tablespoons ground white pepper
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon celery salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground mustard
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 tablespoons vodka or other neutral spirit
• 2 quarts peanut or vegetable oil, for deep frying

Equipment

• Measuring cups and spoons
• Large and medium bowls
• 2 wire cooling racks
• 2 rimmed baking sheets
• Tongs, preferably long
• Whisk
• Candy or deep-fry thermometer
• Probe thermometer
• Paper Towels
• Large Dutch oven

Instructions

1. Salt the chicken. Place the chicken pieces on a baking sheet and sprinkle all over with 1 tablespoon of the salt. Set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes or refrigerate overnight.

2. Make the seasoning blend. Combine the paprika, white pepper, garlic powder, ginger, celery salt, black pepper, mustard, thyme, basil, and oregano in a large bowl.

3. Season the chicken. Coat the chicken all over with half of the seasoning mixture (about 1/2 cup).

4. Set up a dredging station. Add the flour, cornstarch, and remaining 1 tablespoon salt to the remaining spice mixture in the bowl and whisk to combine; set aside. Place the buttermilk, egg whites, and alcohol in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Fit a wire rack over a second rimmed baking sheet.

5. Dredge the chicken. Working with 1 piece of chicken at a time, dip in the buttermilk mixture to completely coat, then place in the flour mixture (don't worry about letting any excess buttermilk drain off the chicken first). Shake the flour bowl as needed to completely coat the chicken, then use your fingers to press the flour coating onto the chicken.

6. Set the coating. Place the coated chicken on the rack and repeat dredging the remaining chicken. Set aside at room temperature for at least 10 minutes and up to 30 minutes while you set up for frying and heat the oil.

7. Set up for frying. Place the oil in a large Dutch oven, attach a candy or deep-fry thermometer, and heat over medium-high heat until the oil is 350°F, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, wash and dry the empty baking sheet the chicken was seasoned on. Line this baking sheet with paper towels and fit with a second wire cooling rack; this will be your cooling station.

8. Fry the chicken. Place 3 pieces of the chicken in the oil and fry, using tongs to rotate the pieces every 3 to 4 minutes and adjusting the heat as needed to maintain 325°F, until golden-brown with an internal temperature of 165°F (check by inserting a probe thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken without touching bone), 12 to 15 minutes.

9. Cool the chicken. Transfer the chicken to the rack on the second baking sheet. Make sure the oil comes back up to 350°F before frying the remaining chicken in 2 more batches. Let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe Notes

Make ahead: The seasoning blend can be made and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. The chicken can be salted and refrigerated for up to 1 day.

Storage: Leftover chicken can be refrigerated in an airtight container on paper towels for up to 4 days.

Meghan Splawn is the Food Editor for Kitchn's Skills content. She co-hosts a weekly podcast about food and family called Didn't I Just Feed You.

As a laureate professor in nutrition and dietetics people often ask – what do you eat?

Plant-based foods are good sources of healthy nutrients. These include different types of dietary fibre, vitamins, minerals, and a range of “phytonutrients”, which plants produce to help them grow or protect them from pathogens and pests.

A review of research published in May 2021 looked at 12 studies with more than 500,000 people who were followed for up to 25 years. It found those who ate the most plant foods were less likely to die from any cause over follow-up time periods that varied across the studies from five to 25 years, compared to those who ate the least.

Here are four versatile and tasty plant foods I have on my weekly grocery list, and the research showing why they’re good for you.

1. Tomatoes

Tomatoes are a berry fruit (not a vegetable). They’re rich in vitamin C and “lycopene”, which is a carotenoid. Carotenoids are pigments produced by plants and give vegetables their bright colours.

A review of six trials asked people to consume tomato products equivalent to 1-1.5 large tomatoes or 1-1.5 cups of tomato juice daily for about six weeks.

The researchers found people who did this had reduced blood levels of triglycerides (a type of fat in your blood that increases heart disease risk), as well as lower total and “bad” cholesterol levels, compared to those who didn’t have any tomatoes.

These people also had increased levels of “good cholesterol”.

Another review of 11 studies tested the effect of tomatoes and lycopene on blood pressure.

Researchers found consuming any tomato products led to a large decrease in systolic blood pressure (the first number that measures the pressure at which the heart pumps blood).

However, there was no effect on the diastolic pressure (the second number which is the pressure in the heart when it relaxes).

In the group who had high blood pressure to begin with, both systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased after eating tomato products compared to placebos.

A review of studies included a total of 260,000 men and found those with the highest intakes of cooked tomatoes, tomato sauces and tomato-based foods (equivalent to around one cup per week) had a 15-20% lower risk of developing prostate cancer compared to those with the lowest tomato intakes. Keep in mind correlation doesn’t necessarily mean causation, though.

Recipe tips

Keep canned tomatoes in the cupboard and add to pasta sauce, casseroles and soup. Make your own sauce by roasting tomatoes and red capsicum with a splash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, then puree with a spoon of chilli paste or herbs of your choice. Keep in the fridge.

Try our fast tomato recipes at No Money No Time, a site full of dietary advice and recipes founded by my team at the University of Newcastle.

2. Pumpkin

Pumpkin is rich in beta-carotene, which is also a carotenoid (plant pigment). It gets converted into vitamin A in the body and is used in the production of antibodies that fight infection. It’s also needed to maintain the integrity of cells in eyes, skin, lungs and the gut.

A review of studies that followed people over time looked at associations between what people ate, blood concentrations of beta-carotene and health outcomes.

People who had the highest intakes of foods rich in beta-carotene (such as pumpkin, carrots, sweet potato and leafy greens) had an 8-19% lower relative risk of having coronary heart disease, stroke, or dying from any cause in studies over 10 years or more compared to those with the lowest intakes.

Recipe tips

Pumpkin soup is a favourite. Try our design-your-own soup recipe.

Heat oven to 180℃, chop the pumpkin into wedges, drizzle with olive oil, roast till golden. Speed it up by microwaving cut pumpkin for a couple of minutes before roasting.

3. Mushrooms

Mushrooms are rich in nutrients with strong antioxidant properties.

The body’s usual processes create oxidative stress, which generates “free radicals”. These are small particles that damage cells walls and cause the cells to die.

If these aren’t neutralised by antioxidants, they can trigger inflammation, contribute to ageing and development of some cancers.

A review of 17 studies on mushrooms and health found people who ate the most mushrooms had a 34% lower risk of developing any type of cancer compared to those with lowest intakes. For breast cancer, the risk was 35% lower. Though, again, correlation doesn’t necessarily mean causation.

Across the studies, a high mushroom intake was equivalent to eating a button mushroom a day (roughly 18 grams).

Recipe tips

Check out our mushroom and baby spinach stir-fry recipe. It makes a tasty side dish to serve with scrambled or poached eggs on toast.

4. Oats

A review of ten studies tested the effects on blood sugar and insulin levels from eating intact oat kernels, thick rolled oats or quick rolled oats compared to refined grains.

These found eating intact oat kernels and thick rolled oats led to significant reductions in blood glucose and insulin responses, but not after eating quick rolled oats.

This is likely due to the longer time it takes for your body to digest and absorb the less-processed oats. So it’s better to eat whole grain oats, called groats, or rolled oats rather then quick rolled oats.

Oats are a good sources of beta-glucan, a soluble fibre shown to help lower blood cholesterol levels.

Across 58 studies where people were fed a special diet containing about 3.5 grams of oat beta-glucan a day, “bad” cholesterol levels were significantly lower compared with control groups.

The impact of oats on blood pressure has been tested in five intervention trials which showed a small, but important, drop in blood pressure.

Recipe tips

You can eat rolled oats for breakfast year round.

Eat them as muesli in summer or porridge in winter, add to meat patties, mix with breadcrumbs for coatings or add to fruit crumble toppings.

Clare Collins is a laureate professor in Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Newcastle.

Growing up, challah French toast was the only French toast I knew. We would slather softened butter over thick slices of fresh challah on Friday night for Shabbat, and my dad would use the rest of the loaf to make mile-high stacks of French toast the next morning, dusted with powdered sugar and doused with syrup. (Eventually, we just started buying two loaves of challah, for fear we wouldn’t have enough left over).

It wasn’t until a diner served me French toast made with a piece of limp wheat sandwich bread that I realized how spoiled I had been. French toast should be fluffy and custardy with a crispy exterior, spiked with cinnamon and vanilla and sweet maple syrup — not any old end piece of soft bread fried in butter.

Trust me, once you’ve had challah French toast, you’ll realize there’s no other way to eat it. Here’s my recipe for the best-ever version.

3 Steps for the Absolute Best Challah French Toast

1. Cut thick slices of bread, then dry them out in the oven. Start with the prettiest, shiniest, plumpest loaf of challah you can find. Nowadays, you can find one-pound loaves of challah at most grocery stores, but your local bakery likely sells them too, especially towards the end of the week in preparation for Shabbat. Buy it whole and slice it yourself into one-inch slices. The thicker the slice, the more custard it can soak in, creating a more satisfying contrast between the crispy outside and the creamy, custardy center.

Then, you’ll dry out the bread in a 300°F oven, which ensures your French toast is soft and fluffy and pillowy, but not soggy.

2. Use full-fat dairy for the very best custard. Save your skim milk for your waffle batter and opt for either whole milk, heavy cream, or a combination of the two for the richest custard for your French toast. I also like to flavor the custard with a substantial amount of vanilla extract, a good dash of cinnamon, and a bit of maple syrup, which adds flavor without making it overly sweet. Plus, you’re likely to drizzle some more on top, so you might as well sweeten the bread with the same stuff.

3. Fry the French toast in butter, not oil. You’ll notice a lot of French toast recipes call for a mixture of butter and oil to fry the bread, which is thought to prevent the butter from burning. But as long as you keep a close eye on it, I find using all butter produces a more flavorful French toast, and it’s one less ingredient you need for this recipe.

Challah French Toast

Yield: Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

• 1 (1-pound) loaf challah bread, cut into 1-inch-thick slices (10 to 12 slices)
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk, heavy cream, or a combination of the two
• 6 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup, plus more for serving
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 to 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Instructions

1. Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 300°F.

2. Fit a wire rack inside a rimmed baking sheet. Place the bread in a single layer on the rack. Bake, flipping halfway through, until dry to the touch on both sides, about 15 minutes total. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes. Meanwhile, make the custard.

3. Place the milk or cream, eggs, maple syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon in a quart-sized liquid measuring cup or medium bowl. Whisk until fully combined (no streaks of egg remaining). Pour into a 9x13-inch baking dish.

4. Add as many slices of challah as can fit in a single layer. Soak, flipping once, until drenched but not falling apart, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Return to wire rack (letting excess drip off into baking sheet) and repeat with remaining challah slices.

5. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. When the foaming subsides and the butter is sizzling but not brown, add 4 soaked challah slices. Cook until the bottoms are golden-brown and crispy, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and cook until the second side is browned, about 3 minutes more. Add remaining 1 tablespoon butter to the pan in between batches, swirling as it melts to ensure it doesn’t burn. Serve warm with more maple syrup.

Grace Elkus is the Deputy Food Director at The Kitchn.

Pepperoni is the most iconic Detroit pizza topping. According to bread guru Peter Reinhart, the key to this pan pizza is “to use pepperoni with a diameter of 1 to 1½ inches, so that it cups up and crisps when baked, its oil trapped in the curled cup.” The richness is balanced out by the bright acidity of pickled peppers. While Detroit-style pizzas are traditionally square, you can also make these pies in two 9-inch cast-iron skillets using the same cook time. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can make the dough in a large bowl, using a large spoon or wet hands.

Adapted with permission from Perfect Pan Pizza by Peter Reinhart, copyright © 2019. Photographs by Johnny Autry. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Penguin Random House, Inc.

Equipment

For the dough:

• 4⅓ cups unbleached bread flour (567 g)
• 1¾ tsp. kosher salt (11 g)
• 1¼ tsp. instant dry yeast (4 g)
• 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil (28 g), plus more for stretching and folding

For the pizza:

• 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 lb. mozzarella, fontina, or provolone cheese, cut into ¼-inch cubes (3½ cups), divided
• 1 cup Easy Pizza Sauce or store-bought marinara sauce, room temperature
• 4 oz. pepperoni, thinly sliced
• ½ cup pepperoncini or pickled Peppadew peppers, sliced crosswise

Instructions

1. At least 18 and up to 78 hours before you plan to bake the pizza, make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, stir together the flour, salt, and yeast. Add 2 cups cool water (about 60°F) and mix on low speed until a coarse, shaggy dough forms, 30 seconds. Add the oil, increase the speed to medium, and mix until the dough is wet, coarse, and sticky, 30–60 seconds more. (It may seem too wet to form a cohesive dough at this point.) Set aside to rest for 5 minutes.
2. Turn the mixer on medium-high and mix until the dough is smooth and sticky (it should be soft and supple to the touch and offer little resistance when pressed with a wet finger), 30–60 seconds.
3. Drizzle a clean work surface, a plastic bowl scraper, and your hands liberally with oil. Using the scraper, turn the dough out onto the oiled surface. Flatten the dough with your hands, then lift one end of the dough, stretching gently, and fold it to the center. Lift the opposite end, stretching gently, and flip it over the folded end like a letter. Fold the two wide ends in the same manner, forming a loose rectangle, then flip the dough over so that the smooth side is up. Set aside to rest for 5 minutes. Repeat this stretch-and-fold process three more times, drizzling more oil on your work surface and hands as needed. By the fourth stretch-and-fold, the dough should be much smoother and firm enough to hold together when lifted. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled large bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 12 hours and up to 3 days.
4. Five hours before you plan to bake the pizza, start panning the dough: Drizzle 1½ tablespoons each into two 9-inch square metal cake pans. Divide the dough in half and place one half in each pan. Rub the surface of the dough with oil; using your fingertips, dimple and expand the dough in all directions (it will not reach all the way to the edges at this point). Cover the pans loosely with plastic wrap and set aside to rest at room temperature for 20 minutes. Uncover the pans; starting at the center of the dough, with your fingers angled toward the edges and corners, dimple the dough outward again. Cover and set aside to rest for another 20 minutes. Continue dimpling and resting the dough at 20-minute intervals; by the third or fourth round, the dough should cover the entire surface of the pan. Sprinkle ¾ cup of the cheese cubes over each pan, gently pressing them into the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rest until the dough bubbles up around the cheese and rises 2 inches, about 4 hours.
5. About 20 minutes before you plan to bake the pizza, set a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 500°F.
6. Immediately before baking, uncover the pans and spread a thin coat of the sauce over the dough. Top with half the pepperoni, followed by the remaining 2 cups cheese cubes (make sure to get plenty around the edges, where the dough meets the pan). Sprinkle the peppers over the cheese, then add the remaining pepperoni. Bake for 8 minutes, then rotate the pans 180 degrees and continue baking until the cheese caramelizes to a deep golden brown, and the pepperoni bubbles and browns, 7–9 minutes more. Remove from the oven.
7. Using an offset metal spatula or bench scraper, loosen each pizza from the edges of the pan, then carefully slide it out onto a cutting board. Let rest for at least 1 minute, then cut into 3- or 4-inch squares; serve hot.

When it comes to hydration, water doesn’t ring my chimes. I want everything I consume to be complex and nuanced, a cerebral experience in each sip. I crave vinegary shrubs, bracing kombucha, fruity bubbles, and warm infusions; blandness is banished from my diet. If I don’t have something tasty to drink, I won’t drink at all. Call it a flavor strike (ultimately, a strike against myself).

When I was pregnant, I forced myself to drink my weight in water (surging hormones make you desperately thirsty). I am convinced that the “pregnant glow” is really just the look of a person who, however begrudgingly, ordered bubbly water instead of wine for nine months straight. Like it or not, hydration has a tangible effect on everything from a dewy complexion to improved digestion. Despite all of this, I find I can be shamefully lazy about drinking water.

So looking for some motivation to hydrate consistently throughout the workday, I started to experiment with big batches of delicious drinks, using things I had in my pantry already (granted, my spice cabinet is exceptionally well stocked, but these ingredients should be easy to find). My criteria is that they be noncaffeinated, long on flavor, low on sugar, and delicious both warm and iced. If there’s something tasty to be had, I will not forget to refill my cup—and hopefully these drinks will help you get your fill, too.

Note: The sweetness in these beverages can be dialed up to taste. I like to use unconventional sweeteners, like whole boiled dates for a caramel profile, or boiled and strained goji berries for a fruity note. For the ginger brew and the hibiscus, instead of adding maple syrup or sugar, consider adding immune-boosting elderberry syrup. You can find it wherever supplements or health food items are sold.

Fresh Ginger, Lemon, and Dried Goji Berry

Fresh ginger root can be stored in your freezer if you intend to boil it later, and it can be scrubbed clean—no need to peel for this application. Antioxidant-rich goji berries are most commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine and can be found online or at any health food store. This brew is intense and spicy, so feel free to dilute if drinking warm, or serve over ice.

8 cups filtered water
½ cup dried goji berries
4 oz ginger root, scrubbed clean and sliced thin
1 lemon, squeezed for juice

Bring water, berries, and ginger to a boil over a high flame. Lower to medium and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and add lemon juice. Strain and serve warm or chilled over ice. Add honey or elderberry syrup if you want to sweeten.

Saffron, Cardamon, and Dates

A little pinch of saffron goes a long way. This is a decadent drink, with the rich flavor of simmered dates carried throughout.

3 Medjool dates (4 if using a smaller variety)
2 whole cardamom pods, crushed in a mortar and pestle
1 meager pinch saffron

Add the dates and cardamom pods to a pot with 8 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 30 to 40 minutes, until the dates fall apart. Remove from heat, add a pinch of saffron, crushing it between your fingertips. Let the brew steep for a few minutes, strain, and serve hot or cold.

Hibiscus, Cinnamon, and Clove

Hibiscus, a staple in Mexican agua frescas, makes a tart and punchy tea with notes of pomegranate and lemon. Just a handful of flowers goes a long way.

½ cinnamon stick
3 whole cloves
¼ cup dried hibiscus

Add the cinnamon stick and cloves to a pot with 8 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 20 minutes. Add the hibiscus. Remove from heat and let the flowers steep for 10 minutes. Strain and serve warm or over ice. Add honey or elderberry syrup if you want to sweeten.

In Spinning Plates, cook and self-professed vegetable enthusiast Julia Sherman (you might know her as Salad for President) shares how you, too, can make your way in and around the kitchen with confidence.

Can you imagine eating the same lentil soup at your desk for lunch virtually every workday for almost two decades?

I couldn’t, at least not until I talked to Reid Branson, a Seattle nurse manager who has been doing just that. The soup is from Crescent Dragonwagon’s 1992 book Dairy Hollow House Soup & Bread, and Branson fell so in love with it that it changed his lunch routine for the rest of his professional life.

Branson’s schedule is fairly unpredictable, as you might imagine: He supervises the nursing staff at the HIV clinic of a public hospital, Harborview Medical Center, where he and others have been plenty busy lately keeping on top of developments in the coronavirus outbreak. The one thing he can depend on, day in and day out, is this bright, rich and fragrant Greek lentil and spinach soup. It’s hearty and thick, with lentils as the base, bulked up by potatoes and butternut squash, and a flavor enlivened by a heavy dose of aromatic spices — plus a pop of fresh lemon juice.

“I’m a vegetarian, and getting a reliable source of protein every day at lunch is important to me,” Branson, 63, told me in a phone interview. “Plus, it’s fun to make. It’s got a rhythm to it. And at this point, I can do it without looking at the recipe.”

This all started when his favorite brand of canned soup, his previous workday lunch habit, changed the recipe to something he didn’t enjoy. “We had made other things we liked out of Crescent’s book,” he said, “so I went hunting and found the Greek lentil soup and made a batch, and the rest is history.”

That was 17 years ago. Every other Saturday since, Branson has made enough of the soup to fill four glass jars, enough to last him for eight lunches. (He works nine days over every two-week stretch, and on the ninth he goes back to opening a can.) Sometimes, if he makes a little extra soup — if, say, the butternut squash or potatoes he buys are bigger than usual — he’ll have some left over and his wife gets a taste, too.

In case you think he would get bored by something he has eaten thousands of times, far from it. Even though he always uses the same ingredients, “the soup never really tastes the same,” he said. “It’s always a little bit of a surprise: The onion came out strongly this time, or that’s a really good butternut squash. If I hadn’t made it as often as I had, I’d never have noticed that.”

When Branson emailed Dragonwagon about his soup fandom, she was delighted: What cookbook author wouldn’t be upon hearing that someone had made one of your recipes hundreds of times? “I am glad to have been eating lunch with you all these years, without even knowing it,” she wrote him back.

All good things must come to an end, including Branson’s ritual lunches. He’s retiring soon. “I have a countdown clock on my desk that says 111 days,” he said. “So I suspect I’ll retire the soup. But 111 days from today, I plan to make a big vat of it and bring it to my retirement party. That way, everybody else can have some.”

Greek Lentil and Spinach Soup With Lemon

In addition to all its other virtues, this brightly flavorful, easy soup from an almost three-decade-old cookbook is vegan, gluten-free and low-fat. Don’t skip the clean zing of lemon, which makes it sing.

Storage notes: The soup can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to 3 months.

Active time:
20 mins
Total time:
55 mins
Servings:
8 servings (makes 12 cups)

Ingredients

Step 1

In a large soup pot over medium-high heat, combine the lentils, stock or water, jalapeño, coriander, cumin, oregano and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer, partially covered, about 30 minutes, until the lentils are tender.

Step 2

Add the potatoes, spinach and butternut squash, re-cover and cook another 15 to 20 minutes, until the potatoes and squash are tender.

Step 3

Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the onion, and cook, stirring, until it starts to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the celery and garlic and cook, stirring often, until they soften, 3 minutes. Add the mixture to the soup, deglazing the skillet with a little soup liquid and adding the deglaze contents back to the soup pot. Add the salt and pepper, taste, and add more if needed. Pick out and discard the bay leaves.

Step 4

Thinly slice one of the lemons and cut the other into wedges. Just before serving, stir the lemon juice into the soup. Serve the soup hot, with a lemon slice floating atop each bowl. Pass lemon wedges at the table.

Adapted from “Dairy Hollow House Soup & Bread” by Crescent Dragonwagon (Workman Publishing, 1992)

Tested by Joe Yonan; email questions to voraciously@washpost.com.

NOTE: Nutritional analysis is based on water instead of vegetable broth.