Colorful lentils can be a canvas for smart cooking, creativity

In the crowded world of legumes, we may ignore lentils in the rush to buy red kidney beans for chili, navy beans for ham-flavored soup, black beans, pinto beans, split peas and more.

Master the mixing of a perfect margarita

To master mixing a perfect margarita, there might be no better coach than chef Rick Bayless.

Do's and don'ts of balsamic vinegar

A few weeks ago, legendary Italian cookbook author Marcella Hazan, irked by a food writer's suggestion to splash balsamic vinegar on fresh-picked tomatoes, took to Facebook: "There is no taste more exciting than that of a good tomato, and sometimes you want nothing more with it than a pinch …

Give pie a try

Nostalgia and our national sweet tooth are nudging some bakers into the kitchen to give pies a try. Old-fashioned pies especially.

Add heirloom, colorful and tiny tomatoes to cooking repertoire

Plump fist-size tomatoes may be the stars of BLTs and Caprese salads, sauces and soups. But their wee cousins can be a cook's best friend as well.

Perfect sweets baked with love, not precision of professionals

This is a story about baking perfect sweets.

Super bowls: 3 chilis ready to party

You've got a television, some football-loving friends and a plan to watch the Super Bowl together. Now all you need is great party food. This year, bet on a menu that sticks close to the classics by making chili the star attraction at a tasting party. We chose three chilis with distinct flav…

Learn to 'play' with your food to boost flavor of routine dishes

You can follow a recipe to the letter, but you don't really begin to cook until you learn to play with your food. To be precise, learn to play with a few key ingredients and cooking techniques to boost the flavor of a dish, moving it from boring to beautiful.

Relax and enjoy Thanksgiving with these easy, timesaving tips

Thanksgiving is fast approaching. It is not the time to cower in the kitchen. It is time to repeat three little words: Plan. Delegate. Chill.

Punch up flavors using marinades, infusions

It's time to soak foods. Douse them. Drench them. Why? It's an easy way to punch up flavors.

Hurts so good: how pungent compounds work on pain receptors

Time to stop blaming chiles for setting your mouth on fire. Culinary culprits ginger and garlic deserve some grief. So do cinnamon, horseradish and wasabi.

Raising kitchen math above '1 potato, 2 potato …'

An easy way to help children learn math? Get them in the kitchen mixing up variable pizza pi, says Ann McCallum, a Maryland mom, math teacher and author of "Eat Your Math Homework: Recipes for Hungry Minds" (Charlesbridge Publishing, $17).

Properly chill, store leftovers and enjoy for lunch, later meal

The outdoor grilling and picnic season is in full swing. If you covet your free time, and I do, you cook enough for 10 when only eight are coming to dinner. You're counting on leftovers.

Give disparaged rhubarb a chance: It complements rich meats, fruits

Rhubarb deserves a bigger role at mealtime.

Break away from blasé burger blues by tucking surprise inside meat patty

Before you toss the usual burgers on the grill this summer. Before you endure the usual groans from bored burger eaters among family and friends. Do this: Stuff it.

New lower-cal flat breads gaining a slice of market

The bread aisle is getting flat - with a growing number of flat breads (tortillas, pitas, nan and more) stacked on shelves. Among the newcomers are a bun-type product variously called slims, flats and thins.

Step out of veggie doldrums

You mash potatoes with butter and chives, bathe broccoli florets in cheese sauce and stick plain butter on peas, carrots or corn. And greens? That's bagged lettuce at your house.

Size does matter: The bigger the plate, the more we will fill it

How's your diet plan working? Not so good, you say?

Redefining 'TV dinner' with foods to match what's on

We are a nation that loves to be entertained, with a little something to munch on the side.

Ending kitchen clutter creep heats up efficiency

It happens so slowly you don't notice until it's too late. It can take over your kitchen.

Grocery bill trimmed by extra effort in kitchen

You're coupon literate, grabbing them online and clipping them out of newspapers. Want to trim your grocery budget more?

Recipe adventurer takes curiosity to Oaxaca

Diana Kennedy is a legend.

Tomatillo tarts up more than salsa

Think of tomatillos, with their papery husks and tart taste, as the sassy little cousins of beefsteak and Roma tomatoes.

Lighter meals, efficient packing for picnics

Over the next several months, you probably will take a road trip with the family to a fabulous park, attend an outdoor concert or settle down on a patch of grass for a few moments of sunshine and solitude. And you probably will have something to eat.

Freezing extends shelf life of bountiful berry season

When local strawberries appear in markets, and you buy more than you can use before they spoil, what do you do?

A little help for bulk-food buyers

"Big Buy Cooking"

Turmeric's health benefits studied

Turmeric, a tawny orange-gold spice that is an integral part of curry powder and ballpark mustard, has been garnering some nice press lately - and not just among foodies.

Proper use of salt, herbed-up sauces, vinaigrettes add pop to culinary game

You vow to become a better cook, to expand your range beyond the dozen dishes you prepare from memory, to give your dishes a gourmet spin.

Think beyond the usual cabbage with skillet supper

If your cabbage consumption is limited to a creamy deli coleslaw or the occasional helping of tangy sauerkraut, now's a good time to give the humble vegetable another chance.

Buy cheap, hoard

You spot a 3-pound-plus hunk of boneless beef round steak in a supermarket meat case - $4.99 a pound, $15.62 total - and think: I can't afford that.

'Gastrokid' recipes: Turn your tyke on to highfalutin food

Book: "The Gastrokid Cookbook" by Hugh Garvey and Matthew Yeomans (Wiley, $22.95).

Polenta gets jazzed up with meaty quality of sautéed mushrooms

We have a weakness for mushrooms of all sorts: cultivated button, shiitake, portobello, oyster, cremini.

Super-easy vinaigrette has unlimited varieties

It takes longer to spell vinaigrette than it does to make it. Vinegar. Oil. Salt. Pepper. Mix it up. Splash it on the season's first greens.

Tools make Mexican cooking easier

First rule of cooking in the Mexican kitchen? Be comfortable using your hands as utensils. Beyond that? Consider these items, available at some cookware stores and grocery stores serving Mexican communities. The items are online at gourmetsleuth.com, and many Tucson stores carry them, as well.