Pancakes are one of my daughter’s favorite breakfasts, and at 16 she is old enough and skilled enough to whip up a batch for herself. But she won’t bother unless there is a pancake mix she can use. Sigh.

I make and eat a lot of soup in the winter. More often than I want to, I will bust open a carton of store-bought broth. Sometimes the time and effort of making the soup itself is all I can handle. It’s not that making broth is difficult. But it does require more forethought (and refrigerator…

Sometimes I get the feeling that too many people eat black-eyed peas annually — on New Year’s Day. While I love the Southern tradition of black-eyed peas and rice (hoppin’ John), often eaten with greens, I’m here to say that black-eyed peas deserve a place in your repertoire the rest of the …

Rice and beans are two of the humblest pantry staples. They’re also among the cheapest and most versatile. On their own, they’re pretty, pretty good, depending on how you use them. But these days I’m really digging them together, when the sum is definitely greater than the parts.

The accompanying recipes, starting with this honey-glazed salmon, each are designed to address a specific habit that can help you make a shift toward eating better in a way that is so simple and pleasurable that it will feel good to go there.

You don’t need a culinary degree, or even advanced skills, to make and eat great food. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t swipe ideas from the pros, especially when they’re simple, versatile and give you back much more than you put in.

The frittata di riso may have been born of Italians’ ability to repurpose leftovers in admirable ways, but in this recipe you’ll cook arborio rice so the grains are plump and moist. As it happens, using fresh rice makes for a soft and tender omelet that has just a bit more body to it than if…

Maybe you are one of the hundreds of thousands of people not getting your paycheck, thanks to the government shutdown. Maybe you feel squeezed after a holiday spending frenzy, or you’ve been watching the stock market the past few weeks and are worried about your 401(k). Right about now, a lo…

Coquito is a creamy rum and coconut punch from Puerto Rico. It’s frequently described as Puerto Rican eggnog, but this feels like a disservice both to coquito, which is unabashedly tropical with its coconut and rum, and to eggnog, which is fine and all if it’s your thing, but tends to conjur…

In my make-believe world of sandwich poker, I offer the following hierarchy: A warm sandwich beats a pair of cold ones. Steak as filling, when cooked properly, ranks right up there with one-eyed jacks. And when a nutritional analysis for the whole thing manages to stay within the healthful z…

Celery and pork stir fry

Have you ever felt overshadowed, your hard work, talents and range going unnoticed while some more ostentatious soul gets promoted, awarded or otherwise heaved into the spotlight? I have. And I’m not alone. Celery, my favorite winter vegetable, also knows the feeling.

It’s rush-hour on Phu Quoc Island’s Duong Dong River as Cuong Pham’s craft navigates diesel-belching fishing boats coming in from the sea with their overnight catch of anchovies piled high on decks. The Vietnamese-American and former Apple engineer, who fled his homeland on a boat decades ea…

The Longview Health Department inspected these establishments from Nov. 15 to Dec. 14

I’m the kind of person who orders takeout just to satisfy a craving for soup. As much as I love the drunken noodles and curry of our favorite local Thai spot, what really scratches the itch when I want something sour and spicy is a hot bowl of Tom Yum Gai.

When someone offers to bring a casserole to a party, I’ll admit to conjuring weary images of canned soup and mushy vegetables. Yet because that sort of dish is a perfectly sensible solution when feeding a crowd, instead, I invite casserole’s Italian cousin, the strata.

This nourishing, one-pot meal in a bowl is just the thing to fuel you during these cold days when your to-do list is longer than the number of hours of sunlight.

If you are a person with texture issues — meaning, you do not generally enjoy mushy foods — then getting through a bowl of oatmeal presents a challenge. Being generous with crunchy and chewy toppings helps; using steel-cut rather than rolled is another way to add bite. But if you’re also a p…

Making holiday cookies can bring joy and happiness — unless it doesn’t. If you bake only a few times a year or think you’re missing “the baking gene,” consult these alphabetically ordered tips. Then check out The Post’s Holiday Cookie Generator (www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/food/holiday-c…

If you are someone who is not drawn to the look and aroma of freshly fried chicken — or deliciously fried anything, for that matter — you deserve a pat on the back. I am helpless when presented with it. And I am at the point where I limit my intake, so I have become somewhat picky about whic…

Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies

The world of cookies is a wonderful and wide-ranging place. In a decade-plus of publishing holiday cookie packages, The Washington Post’s Food section alone has shared more than 300 recipes. We have options for almost any taste, diet and ingredient, inspired by a globe’s worth of flavors.

For the foodie on your holiday list — or just people who might appreciate a good tequila or pie pan — we offer a gift guide. It’s got coffee machines, books, chocolate truffles and a fabulous tote to carry it all away.

Beautifully braided, rich, and lightly sweet, freshly baked challah is delicious on its own or smeared with softened butter. After a few days, it’s great dunked in custard and made into French toast for a decadent breakfast.

Also known as posole, this fragrant and spicy New Mexican stew combines toothsome hominy and tender chunks of pork in a mildly spicy, verdant base. We wanted to use the multicooker to make a streamlined version that would maintain the stew’s characteristically complex flavor.

NEW YORK — There’s no reason to skip Thanksgiving dinner because of a salmonella outbreak linked to raw turkey.

Panini, sandwiches traditionally cooked in a ridged press, are hard to get wrong — but also surprisingly hard to get just right.

There’s a lot of potential for stress at Thanksgiving. Perspective, if you can manage it, helps.

The cookbooks come on strong this time of year. Boldface names in the food world — Nigella, Ina, Ottolenghi, Redzepi, Solomonov and Teigen among them — will prompt legions to hit the checkout button. But the dozens of titles swamping food editors’ inboxes and the ones that may generate the b…