When I was a kid, for my birthday every year, my mother made me pasta bechamel, which is rigatoni with a white cream sauce.
For our first date, I made Ryan Hamburger Helper, which is basically what I grew up on. I make my own version of it now, with macaroni and cheese and hamburger meat. And the kids - it's their favorite dinner.
Give me rice, dal and some aachar any day, or a Spaghetti Bolognese.
I love Thai boat noodles: They are kind of like pho, but with a very hearty broth. I will make the broth and just do no noodles and more bean sprouts. I need to be able to eat what I want to eat, so I just get rid of as many carbs as possible that go into it.
My favorite meal to make for myself is meatloaf.I prepare the the ground beef (I don't use anything else) and flatten it out so it's about 1/2 inch thick, then I spread shredded cheddar all over it, then I roll it up. It's amazing. Like a big cheeseburger.
Seventy percent store-bought, ready-made plus 30 percent fresh allows you to take 100 percent of the credit.
A homemade hamburger can be a real treat.
One of my favorites is chilaquiles. It's corn tortilla chips in a simple, brothy tomato sauce with a little chile for heat. It's wonderfully homey. It has irresistible crispy bits and I love to eat it. And you can play around with it - add chicken, sliced red onions, or all these different things that can easily dress it up.
Believe it or not, my best meal is to go to the store and buy a DiGiorno pizza, come home, add some fresh Parmesan cheese, and just hang with my family!
When you cut that eggplant up and you roast it in the oven and you make the tomato sauce and you put it on top, your soul is in that food, and there's something about that that can never be made by a company that has three million employees.
For a quick, healthy meal that's also fun for kids, I serve fish tacos: soft tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, black beans and brown rice.
I have a great time cooking and eating Thai green chicken curry.
If I'm going to make something in the kitchen, even if it's something as simple as a sandwich, I will take the extra time to make it a great sandwich instead of just an average sandwich. I don't mind investing a little extra work to make something special.
The perfect ham and cheese sandwich is all about focusing on quality ingredients and about simple techniques. You start with great bread, a well-cured ham and a sharp local cheese, and the rest is easy. A little butter in a pan and a little patience - in the end you'll have a sandwich that is at once comforting and delicious.
