What To Cook

For the grand finale episode of this season of the What To Cook show, I bring you a fajita feast!We’re headed to my backyard to grill up the most delicious summer spread of hanger steak, shrimp, and veg for fajitas, plus we’ll make a creamy charred jalapeño sauce and corn on the cob to finish off the meal. In this episode, you’ll learn about…* Grilling over direct vs. indirect heat* Using your intuition when you’re grilling a bunch of food that has different cook times* Cutting against the grain to make steak SO much easier to chew* How to prep all sorts of peppers* Much more!! I absolutely loved filming this first season and getting to SHOW you many of the things I tell you about all the time in the newsletter. Also to show you that my kids are in and out of my kitchen at all times trying to introduce me to lizards and climb on the counter and crawl at my feet. If you have kids, your cooking process likely looks similar, and I want you to know that we’re in it together! Have any of you become Cometeer diehards like me?! The fact that I can make myself a coffee shop-grade cup of coffee or iced latte at home in about 15 seconds flat has TRULY improved my life. Cometeer is what to make when you don’t feel like making coffee (or spending money at a coffee shop on a daily basis), and if you appreciate the ease of WTC recipes, I know you will love the ease of their product, too. THANK YOU, Cometeer, for supporting this show, and for fueling me with your delicious coffee every day! If you haven’t tried it yet, you must. Remember to go to cometeer.com/caro to get $20 off your first order!OK, that’s a wrap on this season of the show! Thank you SO much for watching. I’d love any feedback you may have. Did you like the longish-form format or would a shorter show be easier to watch? Would you be interested in watching more entertaining-style content, or anything else!? As always, I’ll be back in your inbox tomorrow with the recipe itself, including a bunch of notes and substitutions. Happy long weekend!xxCaroClick here to watch this episode on YouTube! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whattocook.substack.com/subscribe

Hi! In this week’s episode of the What To Cook show, I’m making a deconstructed version of my favorite sushi roll and adding a secret summer ingredient to the mix!Watch this episode to learn how I get my kids to eat oatmeal, how to perfectly sear tuna, what the delicious secret ingredient is, and much, much more. Tomorrow I’ll be back in your inbox with the recipe itself, including all the notes and substitutions you expect here at WTC.Not a paid subscriber? Upgrade now to get this sushi-night-at-home recipe along with a new recipe every single Saturday morning — plus access to a HUGE archive with hundreds of complete-meal dinner recipes — for just $50 a year, aka less than an Uber Eats bill for ONE sushi night delivery.Click here to watch it on YouTube! Have any of you been streaming it onto your TV to tune in!? This series is sponsored by my fave coffee brand ever, Cometeer. There are days when I’m running around with the kids and don’t have time to even think about food or coffee for myself, but I know I’m going to need a little boost of caffeine to get me through the day. One of many things I love about Cometeer is that I can make amazing coffee in less than 30 seconds — no machine needed! I love to make a hot coffee in the morning, and come back to my kitchen for a half-caff iced latte in the afternoon. They brew coffee at 10x the strength and flash freeze it into little aluminum capsules that you keep in your freezer. All you have to do is melt the frozen capsule in water (for coffee) or milk (for a latte). I love it SO MUCH. Go to cometeer.com/caro and get $20 off your first order! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whattocook.substack.com/subscribe

Hi, happy Friday! We’re back with episode SIX of the What To Cook show and today I’m cooking an easy peasy, absolutely delicious pasta. It’s pasta alla vodka, but we’re adding fresh in-season tiny tomatoes to the mix plus the spicy flavor bomb ingredient that I introduced in episode one of this series, Calabrian chili paste!I have excellent news: we are indeed publishing this recipe during Sungold season. So if you can track them down at your farmers’ market or grocery store, I highly recommend it. Do any of y’all grow Sungolds in your home garden? Give us your tips, if so! I set out to cook this pasta in 20 minutes. Watch to see if I can beat the clock!A full written recipe for this Calabrian chili cherry tomato alla vodka will land in your inbox tomorrow morning along with all the usual notes and substitutions we provide here at WTC.If you aren’t a paid subscriber yet, upgrade now so that you get it! Here are the salt pucks I’m obsessed with. And the recipe I mentioned from Make It Fast is on page 235! It’s the slow-braised skillet lasagna and it is gooood. Also…Click here to watch this episode on Youtube.This series is sponsored by Cometeer. I’ve spent years perfecting low-effort, high-reward dinner recipes, and I genuinely didn’t think that this concept existed for coffee at home, because absolutely no way, no how will you find me weighing grams and measuring water temperature in order to brew a perfect cup of coffee. The Cometeer team works with some of the best coffee roasters around the world, brews perfect cups of coffee (with all those finicky detailed measured to perfection), flash freezes them, and delivers them to your door in cute little aluminum capsules. You just pop one in your cup or mug, add water and/or your favorite milk, and get a perfect cup of coffee in seconds. Go to cometeer.com/caro and get $20 off your first order! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whattocook.substack.com/subscribe

Based on reader feedback, this recipe has been retested and updated since its original release and this show was filmed! Click here for the new and improved recipe. In this week’s episode of the What To Cook show, I’m demoing my new one-pan green chile chicken and corn rice bake that will land in your inbox tomorrow morning!This dinner showcases the spirit of the “Walk Away” chapter in my new book What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking: Make It Fast (OUT NOW and on sale, if ya haven’t heard!!). The recipes in it all require very little hands-on prep time, then have a longer cook time, letting you walk away from the kitchen and go do something else entirely. There are recipes that simmer, braise, roast, bake, and slow-cook for anywhere from an hour to, in some cases, four hours, and you don’t need to babysit a single one!In this walk-away-style recipe, we are popping rice, corn, chicken, diced green chiles, salsa verde, stock, shallots, and seasonings into the oven and return an hour later to find a cozy and delicious chicken, corn, and rice feast. Bonus points that your house will smell incredible while it cooks!Once you cook it (again, the full recipe’s coming tomorrow!), report back! I want to hear how you spent your hands-off time while dinner was in the oven!!! Did you read a book? Watch a show? Go for a walk? Pick some weeds? Break up fights between your kids?! Give us recs if you’re reading or watching something good right now!Links to a few things I mention in the episode: * Melty zucchini pasta* Tiny tomato pasta * 15-minute peanut noods* If you like the sound of “cook once, eat multiple times,” here 5 cook-once, eat-twice ideas* And here’s how to make lime pickled red onion!Click here to watch this episode on Youtube.This episode is sponsored by Cometeer! For anyone new here, Cometeer takes top-quality coffee brewed by coffee experts and flash-freezes it to lock in the flavor, so all you have to do is pop out the puck and melt it in hot water. It’s just coffee!! No fillers or additives included. And it takes just seconds to prep. Brewing delicious coffee is one of those surprisingly tricky kitchen skills, but Cometeer takes 100% of the guesswork out of it, which is hugely helpful on a crazy weekday morning when I just want a tasty cup of coffee in my body as quickly as possible. Go to cometeer.com/caro and get $20 off your first order! PS, have any of you tried Cometeer yet and also gotten hooked?! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whattocook.substack.com/subscribe

It’s time for EPISODE 4 OF THE WHAT TO COOK SHOW!!And because it’s PUB WEEK (!!!!!), today’s recipe is from the 15-minute chapter of Make It Fast! But I wanted to make it a little bit more show-off-y, so we’re leveling the recipe up in a few different ways, using the “Extra Extra” notes from the cookbook — AKA the tips that will teach you how to make the recipe a little extra!In this BBQ chicken and peach chop, we’re going to double the dressing and use half of it as a marinade for our chicken. We’re then going to grill that chicken along with fresh corn on the cob and peaches. AND we’re going to let the black beans marinate in the salad dressing for a bit, infusing them with flavor. The full recipe along with the inspo for this salad, how this version compares to the one in the book, and all the usual notes and substitutions will be in your inbox tomorrow.Want in on the full recipe? Upgrade to a paid subscription now so that it lands in your inbox bright and early tomorrow!!!I love this salad so much. The whole video crew LOVED THIS SALAD SO MUCH. We absolutely inhaled it!!!! I hope you’ll cook it this weekend and let me know if you love it, too!Links and more info for a few things I chat about in the show: * The Earthbound Farms greens I used * I am literally obsessed with Cometeer. Yes, they sponsored this show. But y’all, IT’S SO GOOD. I have become an evangelist. I had 10 people over for breakfast the other day and instead of making a pot of coffee, I made each of them a cup of Cometeer so that we could discuss it. I drink a hot coffee every morning, and I make an iced half-caff latte every afternoon. It is the best, best, best — trust me, you must try it. * Here’s my no-hangover marg recipe: Equal parts lime juice and tequila plus half part orange juice. For a single marg that breaks down to: 1/4 cup lime juice + 1/4 cup tequila + 2 or 3 tablespoons orange juice. Add ice and shake the heck out of it. It’s tart!!! Add simple syrup (I prefer it over agave) if you need it a little sweeter.* Car/breakfast meatball recipe — find it near the bottom of that post* BBQ chicken meatballs, broccoli, and tomatoes with cheesy rice* Five ingredients I always have in my house: Canned beans, boneless, skinless chicken thighs, Duke’s mayonnaise, white cheddar cheese (ideally Unexpected Cheddar from TJ’s), and honey. What are yours?!Click here to watch this episode on Youtube or Youtube TV!Tell me if you watched the episode! Did you learn anything? Favorite part? Mine is when Jess clearly thought the salad dressing was too tart LOL. I loved making this show and I want to keep doing it — let me know what you think! I’ll send someone who comments my favorite gigantic wooden salad bowl!This series is sponsored by my actual obsession, Cometeer! Cometeer works with some of the best roasters from all over the world — including Onyx, Intelligentsia, Counter Culture and Black & White from my home state of North Carolina. There are so many different coffees on their menu, all brewed to perfection and flash-frozen so you can make hot or iced coffee just by melting it. I love rotating through different roast levels and flavor profiles. They also have a ton of great half-caff and decaf options, so I can have an iced latte as an afternoon pick-me-up without then being up all night. Go to cometeer.com/caro and get $20 off your first order! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whattocook.substack.com/subscribe