Amy Powell

Specialty: 30 Minute Meals
Education:French Culinary Institute, Cornell University
Lives: Manhattan

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The Secret is Out
I am a very bad person. I have lied and I have manipulated. More than once has a friend gasped in shock at my confessions and reacted with exclamations including words such as, but not limited to, "deceived!"...


A Wine-Worthy Picnic
They say that the best way to learn about wine is to drink it. If that is the case I must be well on my way to Master Sommelier certification. Okay, so I am far from a real sommelier, but I do drink...


It's All in the Kraut
Summer is so close I can taste it. If I didn't know differently, I would never have guessed from the 90 degree temperatures while I was in Sacramento this week that Northern California had experienced...


One Salsa, Infinite Possibilities
I feel as though I am always writing about the importance of inspiration when deciding what to cook for dinner. Sometimes it is as simple as a vegetable on the verge of spoiling that demands to be cooked...


One Hot Noodle
China: inventor of pasta, birthplace of dim sum, hot pot hot spot, and home to some of the early thinkers of heat preservation during dinner preparation. I suppose I always assumed that issues of getting...


Best Meal Memories
Mexico, mangoes, margaritas, mariachis. What do these words have in common? They are all ingredients that went into making one of the top five favorite meals of my life. Attempting to name the best...


The Thing About Curry Is . . .
The thing about curry is, no matter what you may think, it is probably not what you think it is. As a personal testament to curry's convoluted history, it is appropriate that my own relationship with...


An Egg-straordinary Easter
It's appropriate that I should be writing a series of travel columns during the same month as Easter. For some reason, since I was a child, I've hardly spent two Easters in a row in the same place. With...


Kitchen Journeys
I have recently returned from a vacation of sorts. Although I don't think that the adventurous three weeks of my journey through China constitute the sort of rest and relaxation that the word "vacation"...


A Quicker, Cooler Casserole
At what point in time did the casserole get a bad rap? If I recall correctly, it was somewhere between the introduction of canned tuna to the mix and the invention of boxed one-dish meals ending in "Helper."...


Shopping For Dinner In a New York Minute
I have bittersweet news, dear readers. I have left New York, possibly for good. After seven years of East Coast living my frigid bones are in need of some serious defrosting. I miss the sun, my family,...


A Very Boxty St. Patrick's Day
A little poem for you: Boxty on the griddle, boxty in the pan, if you can't make boxty, you'll never get a man. What is boxty, you want to know? Good question. For if you were paying attention...


Meatless For Meatlovers
I have a confession to make: I used to be a vegetarian. It's tough to believe for those who are recent acquaintances and are thus familiar with my present carnivorous ways. However, for my mother, who...


Soup for the Soul
"Good soups I hold in as high regard as great breads and together they make some of life's sublime moments." -- Anna Thomas Soup, I believe, in all its simplicity, can be one of the most transcendental...


A Plea For Greens
Um, hello! Yeah, hi, this is your body speaking. Remember me? Yeah, I know, it's been a while. If you don't mind putting down that Venti Pumpkin Spice Latte Extra Whip for a second, I was wondering...


President's Day is Full of Beans
As promised, this week I am writing a very special edition of Real Meals. It is a historical and patriotic tribute in recognition of the upcoming President's Day holiday, and because February is a time...