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Food Friends: Home Cooking Made Easy

Food Friends: Home Cooking Made Easy

By: Food Friends
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Do you love home cooking but hunger for better recipes that help you deliver quick and delicious meals to your dinner table? Two former personal chefs turned best friends share their expertise with each other and you! Kari and Sonya have been inspiring each other in the kitchen for over 15 years by swapping recipes, tips, and trade secrets in the pursuit of better home cooking. FOOD FRIENDS is a bi-weekly podcast inspiring home cooks to try new dishes in the kitchen by sharing trusted recipes, tips, and friendship. Every Tuesday, each host delivers 3 unique solutions to seasonal home cooking, like: how to make craveable soups with your farmers market haul, the easiest one-pot meals for busy nights, or what to do with leftover rotisserie chicken. On Thursdays, we serve up a pint-sized chat about our “Best Bite” of the week, pantry essentials we can’t live without, and more. Previous guests include Seth & Lauren Rogen, actor Randall Park & writer/director Evan Goldberg, recipe developer Justine Doiron, #1 Food & Beverage Substacker Caroline Chambers, and more. If you’re looking for a boost of fun in the kitchen by discovering recipes that will make mealtime easier and more delicious with a healthy dose of laughter, then you’ll want to dig in with FOOD FRIENDS! First-time listener? Tune into Episode 2: Don’t send flowers, send soup! and Episode 4: What do you bring to a potluck?Food Friends Podcast 2022 Art Cooking Food & Wine
Episodes
  • A 10-Minute Dessert from Cookbook Club + A Lemony Pasta with Greens | Our Best Home Cooking Bites

    A 10-Minute Dessert from Cookbook Club + A Lemony Pasta with Greens | Our Best Home Cooking Bites
    Jul 9 2026

    Are you looking to beat the heat with an easy, refreshing, and QUICK dessert?

    By the end of this episode, you'll want to try a tapioca pudding topped with fresh summer berries that's vegan, gluten-free, and ready in just 10 minutes on the stove.

    You’ll also discover a lemony pasta dinner that comes together fast, with the help of a can of chickpeas, a bundle of greens, and crumbled feta.

    Tune in for a quick dose of home cooking inspiration!

    ***

    For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our free Substack here.

    And join us on our live monthly calls by upgrading your subscription to paid!

    ***

    Links:

    How to Start A Cookbook Club from our Substack

    Dac Biet: An Extra-Special Vietnamese Cookbook by Chef Nini Nguyen and Sarah Zorn – in the book you’ll find the recipes for:

    • Green Jackfruit and Cabbage Salad
    • Lemongrass Ground Meat
    • Pickled eggplant (here’s a similar version to try)
    • And Coconut Tapioca banana pudding (here are two similar recipes: one from Serious Eats with crushed peanuts, and another with caramelized banana on top from Food 52)

    You can find more of Chef Nini Nguyen’s recipes here

    Lemony Chard with chickpeas and feta by Hetty Lui McKinnon, tossed with pasta

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    Got a cooking question? Leave us a message on our hotline at: 323-452-9084

    For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our Substack here.

    Are you a local to Portland or planning a visit? You can now book a private farmers’ market tour with Sonya through Airbnb Experiences! Or order Sonya's cookbook Braids for more Food Friends recipes!
    Show More Show Less
    18 mins
  • What Do You Do With All The Zucchini? Cooking Seasonal Summer Recipes

    What Do You Do With All The Zucchini? Cooking Seasonal Summer Recipes
    Jul 7 2026
    What do you do with a pile of zucchini?If you're torn between making the same tired zucchini bread again or scrolling through hundreds of recipes hoping to find one that’s actually delicious and not a soggy mess, this episode is for you.This week, we’re sharing tried-and-true zucchini recipes, and by the end of this episode, you’ll:Discover 30-minute dinners, like a one-skillet meatless meal with a 5-minute game-changing yogurt sauceLearn cooking techniques to get the best texture and flavor out of your zucchini – like crisp edges and lots of caramelizationFind out an unexpected, delicious, and easy way to freeze and use up any summer squashPress play now and turn your zucchini overload into the most delicious problem you'll solve all summer!***For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our free Substack here.And join us on our live monthly calls by upgrading your subscription to paid!***Links:Zucchini and crispiest chickpeas in garlic yogurt from Smitten Kitchen Seared zucchini with halloumi by Ali SlagleIna Garten’s Parmesan roasted zucchini Zucchini tots from Recipe Tin EatsGrated zucchini orecchiette from Hailey CatalanoCorn and zucchini orzo casserole by Half Baked Harvest Zucchini roll-ups from Wholesome YumWhite Zucchini Pizza by Yumna Jawad, from The Pioneer Woman Zucchini in smoothies (frozen ahead of time) from Love & LemonsZucchini cookies with lemon glaze by Foodie CrushAlso mentioned:Gabrielle Hamilton’s zucchini topsA few all-time favorites;Thomas Keller's viral zucchiniElizabeth Minchili’s pasta with zucchini and herbs, and her TikTok Giada’s scarpaccia video and her recipe (gluten-free!) and Vegan version of scarpaccia from Earth To RoccoKari’s favorite carmelized zucchini pasta by Ali Slagle for the NY TimesFarfalle with yogurt and zucchini by George Germon and Johanne Killeen for Food & WineZucchini bruschetta (aka zucchini crostini!) by Martha Stewart (add a little basil in it too!)****Got a cooking question? Leave us a message on our hotline at: 323-452-9084For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our Substack here.Are you a local to Portland or planning a visit? You can now book a private farmers’ market tour with Sonya through Airbnb Experiences! Or order Sonya's cookbook Braids for more Food Friends recipes!
    Show More Show Less
    30 mins
  • The New York Times' Most Popular Recipe + Fried Zucchini Blossoms | Our Best Home Cooking Bites of the Week

    The New York Times' Most Popular Recipe + Fried Zucchini Blossoms | Our Best Home Cooking Bites of the Week
    Jul 2 2026

    What makes one recipe become the most popular in the New York Times Cooking’s history?

    In this bite-sized episode, we share the best things we ate this week to inspire each other—and you.

    By the end of this episode, you'll want to make crisp, stuffed zucchini blossoms that are restaurant-quality but come together in under 30 minutes. You'll also discover why the legendary Marian Burros plum torte has become one of the most beloved dessert recipes of all time – it's endlessly adaptable, freezer-friendly, and approachable for even beginner bakers.

    Tune in for a quick dose of home cooking inspiration!

    ***

    For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our free Substack here. And join us on our live monthly calls by upgrading your subscription to paid!

    ***

    Links:

    Stuffed zucchini blossoms from Carolyn’s Cooking – this recipe calls for parsley and chive, but Sonya likes to add basil to the filling instead.

    Original plum torte by Marian Burros for NYT Cooking, plus suggestions for adapting the recipe. Kari used plums with butter, whole wheat flour and cardamom in addition to cinnamon (¼ tsp each) mixed with turbinado sugar on top, then apricots with non-dairy butter, GF flour with almond meal, and the same cardamom and cinnamon mixed with turbinado sugar on top.

    Other mentions:

    Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop

    ****

    Got a cooking question? Leave us a message on our hotline at: 323-452-9084

    For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our Substack here.

    Are you a local to Portland or planning a visit? You can now book a private farmers’ market tour with Sonya through Airbnb Experiences! Or order Sonya's cookbook Braids for more Food Friends recipes!
    Show More Show Less
    14 mins
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