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3 Fave Recipes and Tips from the “A Couple Cooks” Bloggers

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October 14, 2024
Courtesy of A Couple Cooks

If you’re lucky enough to have a partner who enjoys cooking (or a roommate, or a kid), then you know how fun it can be to prepare meals together. One couple who has mastered it is Sonja and Alex Overhiser, the pair behind one of our favorite blogs, A Couple Cooks. Now they’re releasing one of the most anticipated cookbooks of the fall: A Couple Cooks: 100 Recipes to Cook Together

We asked them to share a few recipes from the new book, and some of their best tips on how to make cooking quicker, easier, and more fun.

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Our Q&A with Sonja and Alex

Clean Plates: What’s your go-to meal on nights when you just don’t feel like cooking?

Sonja and Alex: Lately our go-to meals have been a salad bowl with protein. If we’re really tight on time we’ll get a bagged salad, then top with beans, tofu, chicken, tuna, or shrimp. There are so many variations and they’re all delicious.  

Clean Plates: What advice do you give to people who find cooking every night overwhelming?

Sonja and Alex: We definitely don’t cook every night! Make a recipe where you can eat or repurpose leftovers the next night, or do “throw together” meals like the idea above. Some nights even scrambled eggs with salad and fruit works. We do quick, easy things like this and it’s easier and tastier than takeout. 

Clean Plates: Do you have any favorite time-saving tips around meal planning, shopping, or cooking?

Sonja and Alex: We love grocery delivery. If you can, do batch meals, like cook a bunch on Sundays that work for the rest of the week — that’s great, too. We try planning 2 to 3 recipes, and then “winging it” the rest of the week. 

For us, cooking is all about enjoying life with the people you love. Sometimes it’s weeknight cooking to get food on the table fast, other times it’s a fun baking project together like artisan bread or applesauce cake. It’s not an exact science and it makes a mess, but it’s a beautiful way to connect with friends and family and make memories.  

Sneak peek: The recipes

Here are three of the fuss-free yet delicious recipes in A Couple Cooks: 100 Recipes to Cook Together

Tortellini Vegetable Soup

Tortellini vegetable soup

Serves 4

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 small yellow onion, small diced
  • 1 medium carrot, peeled and small diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 teaspoon dried fennel seed
  • One 28-ounce [800 g] can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
  • One 15-ounce [430 g] can crushed tomatoes
  • 3 cups [720 ml] vegetable broth
  • ½ cup [15 g] grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnishing
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon dried sage
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
  • 9 ounces [265 g] refrigerated cheese tortellini or tortelloni
  • 4 cups [80 g] baby spinach or
  • 1 bunch Tuscan kale, chopped into bite-size pieces
  • Freshly ground black pepper 
  1. In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and carrot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent and the carrot is tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and fennel seed, lightly crushing the seeds with your fingers as you add them, and cook until fragrant, 30 to 60 seconds.
  2. Immediately add the diced tomatoes with their juices, crushed tomatoes, vegetable broth, Parmesan cheese, oregano, garlic powder, sage, kosher salt, and soy sauce. Bring to a simmer, then cook for 10 minutes.
  3. Add the tortellini or tortelloni and baby spinach and cook until the spinach is wilted, 2 to 3 minutes (or according to package directions). Season with black pepper. Ladle into bowls and garnish with Parmesan cheese.

Tips:

  • Leftovers store well but the tortellini will soak up a bit of the broth. If your broth came in a 1 quart (4 cup [960 ml]) container, save the extra for leftovers and add a splash when reheating.
  • Use refrigerated tortellini or tortelloni, which is fresh pasta that cooks quickly. Avoid substituting dried or frozen. Tortelloni are large tortellini with a filled center; tortellini are smaller and have a hole in the center.

Cooking Together:

  • Tackle the chopping together, then one of you can sauté and stir while the other cleans up and makes a side dish.

Storage:

  • Leftovers will keep, refrigerated, for up to 2 days.

Sweet Heat Salmon

Sweet heat salmon

Serves 2

  • Two 6-ounce [170 g] salmon filets, skin on, about 1½ inches [4 cm] thick
  • 2 tablespoons salted butter
  • ½ tablespoon Louisiana- or picante-style hot sauce (such as Valentina, Cholula, Tabasco, or Frank’s) (see Tips)
  • ½ tablespoon sriracha
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • ½ teaspoon soy sauce or tamari
  • Minced chives, or green onion tops, for garnishing
  1. Allow the salmon to come to room temperature, about 20 minutes (see Tips). 
  2. In a small saucepan, melt the butter, then stir in the hot sauce, sriracha, honey, and soy sauce. Taste and add additional hot sauce if desired. Pour half of the sauce into a small bowl. 
  3. Preheat the broiler to high. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly oil it. Put the salmon on the foil skin side down and sprinkle it with several pinches of kosher salt. Brush the top and sides of the salmon with half of the glaze. 
  4. Broil the salmon until just tender and pink at the center, 7 to 10 minutes (thinner salmon will need only 4 to 5 minutes). The internal temperature should reach at least 125°F to 130°F [50°C to 55°C] when measured with a food thermometer at the thickest point. 
  5. Remove from the oven and brush with the reserved half of the glaze. Garnish with chives and serve.

Tips:

  • This recipe has a mild-to-medium heat level; increase the hot sauce to your liking to make a spicier dish. Keep in mind that the final dish will taste less spicy than a taste of the sauce directly from a spoon.
  • It’s important to bring the salmon to room temperature for even cooking in the broiler. If the fish is too cold, it can blacken on the outside without fully cooking through on the inside.
  • Repurpose this dish as a salmon salad: Flake the cooked salmon and use it to top chopped romaine with tomatoes, croutons, and creamy Parmesan dressing.

Cooking Together:

  • Make a side dish together while the salmon comes to room temperature, then one of you can whip up the sauce while the other prepares and broils the salmon.

For Gluten-Free:

  • Use gluten-free soy sauce or tamari.

For Dairy-Free:

  • Use vegan or dairy-free butter.

Storage:

  • Leftovers will keep, refrigerated, for up to 3 days.

Blistered Green Beans Almondine

Blistered green beans almandine

Serves 4 

  • 1 pound [455 g] green beans, trimmed 
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil 
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt 
  • ¼ cup [25 g] sliced almonds 
  • 1 tablespoon salted butter 
  • 2 medium garlic cloves, minced 
  • Freshly grated whole nutmeg, or 1 pinch ground nutmeg (see Tips)
  1. Heat the broiler to high heat. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Add the green beans, olive oil, and kosher salt and toss with your hands until evenly coated. Spread the beans into a single layer.
  2. Broil, removing the pan from the oven and stirring every few minutes, until all the beans are tender and charred, 7 to 12 minutes. Check often, since each broiler is different (see Tips).
  3. In a large dry skillet over medium heat, toast the almonds until they start to brown, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and turn off the heat. In the same skillet with no heat, melt the butter, then add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute (the residual heat from the pan cooks the garlic).
  4. Return the toasted almonds to the skillet with the garlic butter, add the broiled green beans, and toss to combine. Finish with a few grates of nutmeg from a whole nutmeg. Taste and add more salt if desired. Serve immediately.

Tips:

  • All broilers work differently; some may cook much faster than others. The first time you make this recipe, check early and often.
  • Use a microplane grater to add a hint of fresh grated nutmeg to add a unique, heightened element. Otherwise, ground nutmeg works as a substitute.
  • Haricots verts or French green beans also work here. Since they are thinner, cut the cooking time by half and cook until browned.

For Vegan:

  • Substitute olive oil for the butter.

Storage:

  • Leftovers will keep, refrigerated, for up to 2 days; reheat in a skillet before serving.

Excerpted from A Couple Cooks: 100 Recipes to Cook Together by Sonja Overhiser and Alex Overhiser, © 2024. Published by Chronicle Books. Photographs © Shelly Westerhausen Worcel.

 

 



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