Amy Powell

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

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The World's Favorite Food
It was really not surprising to me when I read this week that pasta has won the popularity contest for world’s favorite food. This result could raise a few eyebrows considering this was a global poll...


More Peas, Please
Peas do not have the best reputation. The idea of “eating ones peas” can evoke bad childhood trauma of shriveling green peas served as the ubiquitous side dish to the average American suburban meal....


Lavender: From Soap to Supper
Lavender is for bubble bath. Roses are for a vase. Hibiscus is for graphic prints on Hawaiian shirts. Flowers are many things, but not for consumption. Or at least, that is what I used to think. I...


Barbecue Chicken, The Sequel
Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial kickoff to summer: swimming pools, barbecues, and lazy days of taking in blockbusters at the local theater. But for all the new movies just out, there is something...


Market Fresh California Meets Asian Sauce
Inspiration for cooking comes from lots of places: new cookbooks, magazine articles, restaurant meals. This week’s inspiration derived from a combination of factors: a recently published cookbook on...


The Forgotten Fish
The man behind the fish counter jumped with glee when I told him I wanted 2 lbs. of tilapia. Did you know that tilapia was used in the original ceviche, that delicious dish where the fish is “cooked”...


The New Vegetarian: Delicious
As a food writer, it is not uncommon for people to make requests of me for recipes. It is not often however, that I get the same request from different people within a matter of days as I did this past...


Just Like The Original, Sort Of
Jealousy gripped my stomach and took hold of my taste buds when my boyfriend told me he was headed to Wild Ginger this past week. Memories of my last meal at this highly regarded Seattle eatery flooded...


The Freezer Is Your Friend
This past week a colleague and I spent a car ride discussing our cooking habits, in particular how she goes about getting dinner on the table each night as a working mother. That she uses the internet...


Poaching For Easter Eggs
It just wouldn’t be Easter without the egg--and I’m not talking about the kind you hunt for. Searching through the grass and behind books on the shelf for plastic candy-filled eggs left behind by...


What a Difference a Spice Makes
While moving out of my beach front apartment to come to San Francisco a lot of hard packing decisions were made. As my will crumbled my boyfriend stepped in to help with the more difficult calls. Really,...


Green and Grains
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! The sun is finally here. After weeks of storms pounding the West Coast, the skies parted, the sun came out, the temperature rose 20 degrees, and the first spring asparagus appeared...


Big Flavor, On a Budget
It seems in many marriages, for every Ricky there’s a Lucy. The age old tug-of-war between the sensible and the spontaneous can affect every aspect of marital life from vacation planning to nightly...


The Global Taco
Looking back, it is highly unlikely that the even the most cutting edge food writer would have predicted that the humble taco would emerge as today’s beacon of global cuisine. Essentially a sandwich...


For the Love of Clay
I’ve fallen in love with kitchen equipment in the past but never as quickly as this last time. This was love at first sight. This love is a clay pot. Clay pots have been on my radar for some time...


Vacation In My Mouth
I’ve never been to Burma, but I think I know what Burma tastes like. Spicy tomato sauce curries bath river fishes. Tea leaves and garlic blend together in punchy salad dressings. Chewy long noodles...