BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Spice up your holiday cooking with these eight helpful and stress-reducing tips and savor the true joy of the season: making merry memories with those you cherish most. Smart store-bought swaps Professionals and home cooks alike agree on a simple principle Read More...
When faced with the reality of eating the same reheated meals for days, the glamour of meal prep—those Instagram-worthy photographs of properly portioned dishes all lined up—often falls flat. The initial thrill fades into a culinary rut, with once-delectable foods becoming uninspired and Read More...
With time and real-world experience, humans often discover multiple uses for a single plant or vegetable. Okra is a delicious and highly nutritious vegetable that goes great in a variety of spicy dishes, and the gooey compound it excretes can be used to extract microplastics from water. A Read More...
Committing to cutting down on meat, or switching to a plant-based diet altogether, is good for you and is a more sustainable choice for the environment. Let’s face it, though, the texture and taste of meat and meat byproducts are hard to adequately replace with alternatives like tofu or Read More...
As cities scramble to meet their ambitious emissions reduction goals, local governments are increasingly looking to shift from fossil fuels to cleaner forms of energy. New York City, for example, has become the latest major city to ban the use of natural gas in new buildings, reports Reuters. As Read More...
Yucca, three-leaf sumac and chiltepin are all staple ingredients in Indigenous recipes, but the rich history of Indigenous cooking is often forgotten or overlooked, especially in Western kitchens. To highlight Indigenous recipes, ingredients, and chefs, Indigenous chef organization I-Collective, Read More...
We’re soaking up the last of summer and for many of us, that means sneaking in some end-of-season barbecues and cookouts. Grilling isn’t the healthiest way to prepare food, but avoiding these common pitfalls can help make your grilled meal as healthy as possible. Not cleaning your grill Is Read More...
Garlic is one of the world’s favorite flavors and, despite its potential for bad breath, it makes its way into most savory recipes. This herb is not only delicious but good for you as well. Garlic contains gut-healthy prebiotic fibers and an enzyme called alliinase, which has antibacterial, Read More...
Montreal sisters Helen and Billie Bitzas were struggling with a challenge that is likely not unfamiliar to many first-generation immigrants: recreating their parents’ traditional dishes in their own kitchens. Every time they attempted to pull together one of their family’s time-honored Greek Read More...
During the colder winter months, growing herbs indoors can be more productive and save you a trip out to the chilly garden when you need ingredients. These 10 herbs grow especially well indoors and will offer some delicious flavor to your hearty winter recipes. Mint. This herb grows so well, Read More...