Peek Inside Clean Plates: What Our Team Is Cooking in February

We don’t just love write about and talk about food—we’re in the kitchen cooking, too. Here’s what’s in our skillets and ovens and on our plates this month.

Hali Bey Ramdene, editor

I have discovered a deep love of cauliflower rice and make a pan of it every few days for lunch or dinner — there’s a convenience to it that just can’t be beat. I started off as a cauliflower rice skeptic, but now that I’ve figured out how to cook it (buy it frozen, let it defrost a bit, and never stop stirring), I’m happy to preach the gospel. If you think of cauliflower rice as a blank canvas for any number of flavor profiles, boredom never sets in. I’ve curried it, swirled in a quick homemade pesto, and have riffed on a version of fried rice that features whatever’s leftover in the fridge at the end of the week. Lately, I’ve been making a spicy, tomato-tinged version. Sometimes the only other thing I need to do is chop up some rotisserie chicken to call it dinner.

Get the recipe: Mexican-Restaurant Stvle Cauliflower Rice

Jared Koch, founder and CEO

Having two young kids is forcing my wife and me to come up with quick, nutritious and kid-friendly meals. Our girls love pasta, so we’ve been experimenting with all sorts of bean, lentil and brown rice pastas and adding in lots of veggies they will eat, like tomatoes, broccoli and carrots. To keep it interesting, we mix up the sauces between butter, no-sugar tomato sauce, and pesto. Our girls love it, and we can change it up enough between the pasta shapes and sauces so we can make it twice a week and everyone is happy.

Get the recipe: Chickpea Rotini with Broccoli Pesto and Tomatoes

Jason Wagg, audience development director

I’m obsessed with this awesome kimchi rice recipe. I’ve been making it with leftover kimchi from takeout pho and it’s awesome by itself, with an egg, or as a burrito filling. I add a lot of ginger and garlic and go easy on the soy sauce for a brighter overall flavor and some extra immune support.

Get the recipe: Kimchi Fried Rice

Beth Lipton, contributing editor

It’s no secret to anyone who knows me IRL that I’m obsessed with chocolate. I’m also insane for halvah, a fudgy candy made from tahini—I know it sounds weird, but trust me on this one. So when I saw a recipe called Life-Changing Chocolate-Chip Tahini Cookies, I had to drop everything and make it. OMG. They’re fudgy, they have that sophisticated twist from the sesame in the tahini, they’re sweet but not cloying. These cookies have gone into heavy rotation in my treat-making routine. “Life changing” sounds like hyperbole, but the combination of two of my favorite desserts into one cookie—and a cookie that’s grain-free and has no refined sugar? Yep, life changing.

Get the recipe: Life-Changing Chocolate-Chip Tahini Cookies

Hungry for More?

• Peek Inside Clean Plates: What Our Team Was Cooking in January
• The One-Pan Meal That Saved Dinner
• 10 Easy, Healthy Dinners for People in A Hurry