I’m notoriously awful at baking cookies. It’s funny, since I’m usually pretty good at making everything else, but there’s something about cookies that I just can’t seem to get right. My theory is that I really don’t like following directions as a general rule and cookies require that you follow a specific formula, at least as far as fat-to-sugar-to-flour-to-leavening-agent. I get all excited about the possibility of tinkering with that formula and somehow making it “even better” and before I know it I either have tough, chewy disks that look like cookies but taste like hockey pucks or the opposite—an overly buttery, oily mess that spreads out all over the pan and burns at the edges.

The other issue I have is that I don’t own a stand-up mixer or even an electric hand mixer and the idea of creaming butter with a whisk makes me consider pursuing a different career. But today as I was considering giving cookies a try but then talking myself out of it because of my track record, I remembered: I do own a food processor and I use it to make dough for tarts, quiches and pies, all the time—maybe I could use my food processor to make cookie dough?

Turns out that not only can I do so with perfect results, but far fewer bowls got dirtied in the process, since everything happens directly in the food processor making clean-up a breeze. Sweet.

• ingredients
• 8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes $1
• 3/4 cup sugar Pantry
• 1 cup (packed) brown sugar Pantry
• 1 tsp salt Pantry
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract $4 for 4 oz.
• 2 eggs $1.50 for 12
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour Pantry
• 1 teaspoon tsp baking soda Pantry
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon $1.50 for 1 oz.
• 1 cup rolled oats $1.50 for 10 oz.
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips $2 for 12 oz.

Total Cost of Ingredients $11.50

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking sheet using the wrapper from the stick of butter (or use cooking spray).

Cream the butter in the food processor by running machine until butter is creamy and whipped. Add the sugars and salt and pulse until combined. Add the vanilla and eggs and run machine until creamy and smooth.

Combine flour, baking soda and cinnamon in a small bowl and stir gently. Add to food processor and pulse until a sticky dough forms. Add oats and chocolate chips and pulse a few times, just until combined.

Drop the dough by the tablespoon onto the greased cookie sheet, making sure there are at least 2 inches between dough balls (you will need to bake the cookies in batches). Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes about 30 cookies.

This morning, my friend Josh, a fellow telecommuting-home-office-San-Franciscan, managed to officially annoy his roommate by working from home for the umpteenth day in a row and she kindly suggested he get the hell out. Fortunately, he remembered my tipsy-but-genuine offer at a party we both attended about a month ago that he come over some time for a work date/lunch in my kitchen and called me to see if it still stood. As I am a woman of my word (even if I’ve had three glasses of wine before speaking), I happily obliged and invited him over.

He casually mentioned an interest in Thai food and so, while he worked in the living room giving soothing tech support to frazzled information technologists in Kansas via Skype, I worked on recreating my favorite Thai dish, Spinach Praram (essentially spinach with peanut sauce). I added healthy sweet potatoes to bulk it up and firm tofu for protein and then we lunched on the spicy, filling and very inexpensive result.

Feel free to switch the tofu out for chicken or prawns and/or the noodles for steamed white or brown rice. Also, I love to spice it up with a drizzle of Sriracha.

• ingredients
• 8 oz. rice noodles (thick or thin) $1.50 for 14 oz.
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil Pantry
• 1 onion, diced $0.50
• 1 large sweet potato, scrubbed and cut int 1” chunks $1
• 8 oz. firm tofu, cubed $1.50 for 14 oz.
• salt Pantry
• 12 cups (1 9-oz. bag) baby spinach $2
• 1 recipe Basic Peanut Sauce $7

Total Cost of Ingredients $13.50

Directions

Cook the rice noodles according to package directions. Drain and return to pot with a little water to keep them from sticking. Keep warm over a very low flame.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes, until very fragrant. Add the sweet potato and cook for 4-5 minutes. Add 1 cup water to the pan, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until water is absorbed and the sweet potato is tender.

Increase heat to medium and add the tofu. Cook just until hot and season lightly with salt.

Add the spinach to the pan and cook, moving around with tongs to encourage wilting.

Once spinach has wilted, pour peanut sauce over the contents of the pan. It will be very saucy. Stir gently using tongs.

Serve the praram hot over the noodles. Garnish with cilantro or jalapeño slices.

Serves 2-3.

I started thinking about lemongrass yesterday and, much like when a catchy song gets stuck in your head, I knew I had to deal with it head-on, so I went out and bought some. I puttered around in the kitchen this afternoon, pureeing it with a little of this and a little of that and eventually I had a Thai-ish, Vietnamese-ish pesto-like mixture to toss with hot Japanese Udon noodles. Check me out. I’m so worldly.

• ingredients
• 6 oz. fresh udon noodles $2
• vegetable oil Pantry
• salt Pantry
• 6 oz. firm tofu, cubed $1.50 for 14 oz.
• 2 stalks lemongrass, sliced (few rings reserved for garnish) $0.50
• 2 cloves garlic Pantry
• 1 handful fresh cilantro leaves, plus more for garnish $1 for a bunch
• 2 tbsp soy sauce Pantry
• 1 tbsp honey or brown sugar Pantry
• juice of 1 lime $0.50
• 1/2 onion, chopped $0.50
• 2 cups baby spinach $1
• 1 carrot, shredded $0.25
• 1/4 head red cabbage, sliced thinly $1.50 for a head
• 2 tbsp roasted cashews or peanuts, crushed $2 for 6 oz.
• 1 green jalapeño, sliced $0.25

Total Cost of Ingredients $11

Directions

Boil the udon noodles in lightly salted boiling water. Drain and set aside.

Heat about 1/8” vegetable oil in a medium frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry the tofu in the hot oil until golden-brown and very crispy on one side. Flip and cook on the other side. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle immediately with salt.

In a food processor or blender, combine 1 tbsp vegetable oil, the lemongrass, garlic, cilantro, soy sauce, honey/brown sugar and lime juice. The mixture should be a watery, chunky paste (lovely, right?). Taste for seasoning, adding more brown sugar/honey or soy sauce if desired, and set aside.

Heat 2 tsp vegetable oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown and very fragrant. Add the noodles and cook for 1-2 minutes. Pour the sauce over the whole mixture and cook for another 1-2 minutes, until the pan is very fragrant and the noodles begin to absorb the sauce.

To serve, divide the noodles into individual bowls (or place in one serving bowl) and top with the spinach, carrot, cabbage, cashews, more cilantro leaves, the jalapeño and a few rings of lemongrass.

Serve warm or chilled.

Serves 2-3.

I’m normally somewhat hesitant to use canned fruits or vegetables, but I make one exception: Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes. They are organic, readily available, not too expensive and absolutely delicious. The fire-roasting technique used on them imparts a sweet-yet-earthy flavor that gives serious depth to dishes with practically zero effort on the chef’s part. This soup is so freaking easy and quick to throw together, giving you extra time to make equally-simple-yet-glorious grilled cheese bites.

Will you still like me if I tell you that mashed potatoes don’t do all that much for me? I don’t hate them or anything, I just find them starchy and boring and just kind of…meh.

But this dish…this is something different altogether. This is my kind of root vegetable-based side dish. Perfect alongside roasted meats, though it’s not difficult for me to imagine eating a nice bowl of it with a crunchy salad for dinner.