
Victoria Granof
Contributor
Victoria Granof is a food stylist who was classically trained at Le Cordon Bleu. She has worked as a cooking instructor and as a chef and pastry chef at several restaurants in Los Angeles and has done recipe development or food styling for numerous cookbooks as well as for Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Vogue, and InStyle and film and television. She lives in New York City and Taormina, Sicily.
Recipes & Menus
New MexicoStyle Pot Roast
For a falling-off-the-bone roast (about $4 a pound), crack open a tenderizing can of beer.
Recipes & Menus
Turkey Osso Buco
Rich turkey-leg meat (about $2 a pound) is a foolproof stand-in for the traditional veal shank.
Recipes & Menus
Planked Salmon with Coconut Rice
Why reserve cedar planks for the grill? They work just as well in the oven.
Recipes & Menus
Fried Rice
Feel free to use leftover rice from last night's takeout. The secret to good fried rice is starting with cold cooked grains.
Recipes & Menus
Cardamom Rice Pudding
This dessert is fantastic served with ripe summer berries. To further refine it, try mixing the fruit with a little rosewater and sugar.
Recipes & Menus
Quick Paella
The ideal summer dinner—without the labor required for the traditional Spanish version.
Recipes & Menus
Tandoori-Style Grilled Meat or Shrimp
The yogurt in this lightly spiced marinade results in extremely tender lamb, chicken, or shrimp.
Recipes & Menus
Shrimp and Mango Salad
This salad is delicious served immediately at room temperature. It's even better after being chilled for an hour to combine the flavors.
Recipes & Menus
Grilled Potato Smash
If you don't have assorted potatoes, just use regular Idahos. Scrub and cut them into 1 1/2-inch chunks.
Recipes & Menus
Yogurt Granita
The best thing about this icy, tart-and-sweet treat might be how little forethought it requires. You can use any flavored yogurt on hand.
Recipes & Menus
Arepas
Serve these South American cornmeal cakes with a side of pico de gallo or fresh corn salsa.
Recipes & Menus
Fish Cakes
Bake the potato in the microwave to save time. You can use any mild white fish instead of cod.
Recipes & Menus
Vegetable Latkes
This lighter take on the classic recipe will be gobbled up as quickly as the original—and is still best served with applesauce and sour cream.
Recipes & Menus
Bibimbap
It's delicious, but even better, it's deconstruct-ible. (You can remove any offensive elements for the kids without sacrificing your own dinner.)
Recipes & Menus
Avgolemono
A classic Greek soup that's thickened with eggs and spiked with lemon. Add some shredded rotisserie chicken and call it a meal.
Recipes & Menus
Scrambled Egg Pasta
This simple take on carbonara is the ideal postwork fallback dinner.
Recipes & Menus
Orecchiette
Protein-rich garbanzo flour can be found at health-food grocers (such as Whole Foods).
Recipes & Menus
Colander Spaetzle
Don't worry if the batter for this traditional German staple seems a bit thin—it should be more liquidy than a normal dough.
Recipes & Menus
Egg Noodle
For a nutrition boost, replace one of the eggs with 1/2 cup of pureed beans or vegetables. (That's two 2-ounce jars of baby food.)
Recipes & Menus
Quick Coq au Vin
Julia Child's world-famous coq au vin recipe calls for the dramatic lighting of cognac. Traditional ones simply call for chicken, the contents of your crisper, and drinkable wine.