Joe Yonan

When I lived in Peterborough, N.H., in the early 1990s, I had two obsessions: One was the lettuce mix from organic farming pioneer Rosaly Bass, who charmed me so much I signed up for a subscription that let me and a handful of others pick what we wanted off her land all season long. (I tended to swing by at midnight after a long day as editor of the weekly Monadnock Ledger and shovel up carrots by moonlight.) The other was this addictively pungent salad dressing, made by chef Hiroshi Hayashi at his elegant, health-minded Japanese restaurant, Latacarta. While Rosaly's farm is still going strong (it’s the state’s oldest certified organic farm),  Hayashi long ago closed the restaurant and started the Monadnock School of Natural Cooking and Philosophy, where he continued making this vegan dressing for many years. He died in 2012. I use the concoction to dress simple salads of butter lettuce with cherry tomatoes and carrots, taking care to slice them into perfect julienne the way I remember Hayashi did, and I have since learned that you can substitute in any herb you like, any vinegar, any oil, and have played around with many a combination. This also makes an excellent dip for crudites.

Mexico City chef Eduardo “Lalo” Garcia’s secret is to cook these beans very simply, for a very long time, until they’re super-soft, then to add his seasoning—a sofrito of onion, garlic, tomatoes, and dried chiles—and boil them for another half hour, simultaneously infusing them with flavor and concentrating their cooking liquid. These are some of the simplest and yet most complex beans I’ve ever tasted, let alone cooked. A straightforward pico de gallo adds a little freshness and crunch. Serve with tortillas.

The counterculture movement of the 1960s and 1970s protested the corporate food industry with food-centric forms of civil disobedience that resulted in the popularization of many foods we still eat today: granola, tofu, soymilk, and maybe even the toast you had this morning. Contributor Joe Yonan talked with Jonathan Kauffman, author of Hippie Food, specifically about America’s reintroduction to brown bread.

Kate Winslow, author of Onions Etcetera, shares her love of all things allium with The Splendid Table contributor Joe Yonan.

Ice cream aficionada Dana Cree is the author of Hello, My Name is Ice Cream. She shares the keys to making wonderful ice cream using other sweet treats as ingredients.

Food Network host and curious food writer discovers America with a fork in his book Fed, White, and Blue.

These wraps take advantage of young, green jackfruit's pulled-meat texture while including much-needed protein in the form of black beans.

New York Times cocktail writer Robert Simonson's book, A Proper Drink, looks at the origins of the ongoing cocktail renaissance and the bartenders who rescued classic drinks from obscurity. He tells The Splendid Table's Joe Yonan about the lost ingredients (and supermodels) that inspired them, and why the cosmopolitan is so controversial.

Culinary historian Michael Twitty is on a journey to discover himself, through the food of his ancestors. Joe Yonan talks to him about history, identity, and what exactly goes into a kosher soul roll.

Smokers are closely associated with meat. But there is a world of meatless uses for them as well, from potatoes and eggs to water and even ice cream. Project Smoke author Steven Raichlen tells Joe Yonan all about them.