Food Hacks: Page 11

Salad spinners are one of the more divisive kitchen tools out there. On one hand, they're incredibly easy, efficient, and useful. On the other hand, they're a single-use tool that takes up a lot of space.

As an avid coffee drinker, I used to be a big fan of single-serve coffee machines. One day, the machine decided to stop working—which does happen from time to time—so I decided to go old school and use my automatic drip. Then, I realized that all I had were pods of single-serve coffee grinds, and I was all out of regular coffee filters!

If you're lucky enough to have a dishwasher, you probably use that sucker to clean everything (minus yourgood cooking knives), and maybe even to cook your food, too. However, dishwashers are not without their faults. Dishes can still come out spotty and even with chunks of food on them, which usually leads to some hand-washing afterward.

It sounds like a dream come true: just press a button on your phone, and 30 seconds later, a machine produces a custom-made, ready-to-eat meal. Finally, science comes through for the truly lazy!

Fall is a time of change. The leaves change color, the weather changes from warm to cool, and we change our clocks to fall back an hour. This last change means that many of us will get home from work in pitch-black darkness; for me, the early onset of night makes me less interested in cooking dinner and more interested in getting in my sweats, throwing leftovers in the microwave, and binge-watching The Affair.

When you're young, utensils tend to be optional—and eating with your hands is optimal. One of the best examples of finger food for kids that has pervaded today's nostalgia-driven culture is tater tots.

Winter—or any cold, gray day, for that matter—is the best time for a warm cup of something hot.

Food waste is a topic near and dear to my heart, but the truth is, no matter how dutiful we are about finding ways to double-down on food scraps, a lot of stuff goes into the trash needlessly.

It should come as no surprise that, according to Details Magazine, nearly half of all people who make New Year's resolutions pledge to lose weight, eat healthier, and/or get fit. There are innumerable companies out there that are ready and willing to take advantage of this momentum: from those hocking "magic bullet" pills that will increase your energy or reduce your belly fat to the myriad shake- and juice-based diets that put you at a near-starvation calorie input—and will probably have you...

Lemons are often displayed as a bright and beautiful pop of color in many home kitchen displays. They lend a lovely scent to the air and an aesthetic sense of freshness to any setting. Therefore, it would be easy to assume that lemons are best left at room temperature.

Before I get ostracized by all of you whisky lovers who live and die by whisky served neat, let me say my piece.

I love brownies. Through the turmoil of my teenage years and the raucous over-eating of my college years to now, brownies have been a constant companion to my highs and (calorie-laden) lows. I've made brownies from scratch, I've used the box mix... hell, I was a baker at a bakery that specialized in brownies. So yeah... I'd say I'm pretty familiar with them.

Lemons, limes, and even oranges compliment a wide variety of both food and drink: gin and tonic, poached salmon, shrimp cocktails, fajitas, and so on. And you can easily step up your hosting game by making citrus garnishes: a presentation that is both elegant and interesting.

I love eating fish at restaurants—the flesh is flaky and tender; the scent, fresh and sweet. Cooking fish at home is a completely different story, though. Even when I do cook successful fish dishes, it often leaves this (for lack of a better description) fishy smell that permeates everything it touches. Monday's salmon becomes Wednesday's odor. It's enough to deter me from cooking fish, period.

Keeping apples or avocados from browning after being cut is impossible; within minutes of being exposed to air, these fruits (yes, avocado is a fruit) begin to brown. No matter what you try—adding lemon juice, keeping the pits in place, immediately sealing the produce in an airtight bag—brown discoloration always occurs.

Bringing lunch to work or school is a win-win situation. You save money, you eat better, and you create less waste. But while the virtues of brown-bagging it are undeniable, it also gets kind of boring after a while. How many times can you shove a container of salad or noodles into an insulated sack before you say screw it and buy a $12 burrito for lunch instead?

Dumplings have been around for centuries in various forms; spätzle, as well as chicken and dumplings, are dough-y dumplings with no filling, whereas Russian pierogis and Chinese jiaozi are dumplings that contain meat, vegetables, or both.

A perfectly ripe avocado half is a lovely snack, and a creamy bowl of homemade guacamole can make a meal. But the following ten ideas take green-eating up a notch by stuffing avocado halves with your favorite salads and ingredients, turning them into a snack or side dish fit for a king.

At first glance, caviar doesn't seem overly appealing to the masses; not very many people would be willing to spend upwards of $1,000 on a tiny spoonful of salty sturgeon eggs from the Caspian Sea. Caviar truly is the ultimate symbol of luxury and fine dining.

The morning started out like most of them do: I was hungry, and it was time to chow down on some breakfast. However, this particular morning had me craving something besides the usual milk and cereal.