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Welcome to In Zoe’s Kitchen, a weekly newsletter where I’ll share two seasonal and veg-forward recipes to inspire your meal planning for the week.

The impetus for this newsletter: I love cooking. I love reading—and trying—new recipes. And I also love when friends or family reach out to me to ask, “What should I cook this week?” But I am not a recipe developer. Instead, each Saturday, I map out my meals for the week, pulling inspiration from newsletters, cookbooks, recommendations from loved ones, or my own personal recipe archives.

My hope is that through this newsletter, I’ll assist in cutting through the recipe clutter by delivering two tested and worth-your-time veg recipes. I hope that your meal planning feels a little easier, you try some fire new recipes and if nothing else, you feel a bit more inspired to step into the kitchen each week.

The 411: It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that this is the first recipe I’m sharing. I found this recipe by Yasmin Fahr several years ago when looking for a fresh but wintry meal. By all accounts, it is perfect: acidic, textural, salty, nutritious and quick. 

Zoe’s Technique Tips: Most of the time, I find garnishes to be fussy and not worthwhile. In step 3, add all the olives. Why let half of the olives sit raw and cold, while the other half are warm and charred? And if you just read that and thought that you’ll omit the olives since you’re not an “olive lover”, I implore you to pick up a jar of castelvetrano olives (with pits!) and give this recipe a try. Castelvetranos are mild, buttery, fruity, and the antidote to any proclaimed olive hater.

Taste-to-Time Ratio: 9:9

The 411: I first discovered walnuts as the ultimate veg meat replacement through Molly Yeh’s Walnut Crumble & Zucchini Pizza (more to come on that later). In this recipe by Carla Lalli Music, you slowly toast chopped walnuts with smashed garlic until the walnuts are browned and the garlic is crispy, and add it to pasta with parm, manchego, pepper and parsley. Albeit extremely simple, this has become the go-to pasta recipe in our house. 

Zoe’s Technique Tips: Watch the full YouTube video and Carla will steer you in the right direction. Let the walnuts get real roasty under low heat, and add the pasta water and cheeses in slow batches, stirring while you do so to achieve a really luscious sauce. 

Taste-to-Time Ratio: 10:8

That’s a wrap on week 1! Please reach out and let me know: What else are you cooking this week?

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