Three Things

Spring-forward dinners, excellent gluten-free pasta, what Emma Straub is reading and loving right now

Greetings friends, and please join me as I attempt to stay focused on this stracciatella sandwich and the absolutely electric blue-and-orange-spiked energy coursing through the city right now, instead of thinking too catastrophically about the Knicks’ loss last night. (How’m I doing?) A few housekeeping notes before we officially begin: For those of you in the New York area, tonight, Tuesday June 9 at 7pm, I’ll be at Greenpoint’s Threes Brewing talking with Amateur Gourmet’s Adam Roberts about his now-out-in-paperback novel Food Person; and this Thursday, June 11, 2:00 ET, I’ll be in conversation on Substack Live with my book-editor-husband Andy Ward asking all the hard-hitting questions such as: What’s it like to edit writers as diverse as Yuval Harari, Lena Dunham, Imbolo Mbue, and Elizabeth Strout? What’s the go-to gift book for Father’s Day? What do you think happened in your childhood that makes you so obsessive about clean kitchen countertops?

Rare sighting of The Editor, in his natural habitat

If you want to watch live, you’ll need to download the Substack App. Both the live conversation (as well as the recording) will be for paying subscribers only, and this is the last reminder I’m sending! So if you don’t want to miss it, you’ll need to pull the trigger on a subscription at some point before we go live on Thursday. Like, perhaps, now?

Hope to see you there! And thanks to those of you who have already sent in questions for Andy. Feel free to email more (jenny@dinneralovestory.com) or just comment below. And now, Three Things I’m excited about this week…

1. Spring Dinners for Your Consideration

We eat pretty well in our house as a matter of course, but there are some stretches when I feel like we might actually outdo ourselves. And, lucky you, we are in the middle of one of those stretches right now. Part of the reason is because it’s early June, so it feels like the farmer’s market is practically shouting dinner ideas at me, like Sunday’s night’s winner shown up top: Pan-fried pizza with asparagus, artichokes, leeks, and ricotta. There’s no official recipe for it, but, as I once wrote on Cup of Jo, that is the beauty of pan-frying your pizza. You don’t need a recipe, so much as a formula:

1. Heat broiler.
2. In an oven-safe skillet, pan-fry 8-ounce ball of dough in olive oil over medium heat and flip when crispy.
3. Add cheese [ricotta and mozz in this case] and mostly cooked toppings [sautéed leeks, asparagus, artichoke hearts] to the flipped dough.
4. Slide under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes until toppings are cooked and cheese has melted.

Definitely do not get sucked into Instagram reels of Boston terrier puppies while you are broiling, unless you enjoy flirting with the fine line between deep golden brown and…burnt. (You can see I’m pushing it up there.) Other kitchen successes lately: Loaded White Sweet Potatoes with Pickles (bottom, left) from Brooks’ Headley’s Superiority Burger Cookbook. This tasted exactly like the dish served in its eponymous East Village restaurant, which is not something that happens often; Salmon with Brown Sugar and Mustard Glaze, real ones know this is an old Martha recipe we’ve been making for decades now; Frittata with Greens, an excellent way to put your spring vegetables to work at dinnertime; Spaghetti all’Assassina — as the recipe promised, I seem to be on track to make it every week for the rest of my life; And on this week’s line-up: Everything Bagel Tofu Caesar Wraps (tofu, pre-wrap; bottom right) from Family Friend. It looks like such a classic Lukas Volger recipe: Healthy, boldly flavored, and just the right amount of fun.

2. Alt Pasta of the Month (+ discount code 💚 )

There was also this lovely surprise last week. I thought I was swerving a little out of my lane when I RSVP’d yes to an event that I knew would be attended mostly by nutritionists, health writers, and, uh Olympic cross-country skier Jessie Diggins. But I should’ve known that ideas tend to find me wherever I go, which is what happened when I tried a bite of the Walnut-Pesto Pasta with Roasted Broccoli dish that was part of the cooking demo. The finished dish was great, but the real learning for me was the pasta. They were using Now Food’s Multigrain Organic Penne, made from three gluten-free ingredients — amaranth, quinoa, rice — and I was amazed by the texture, which resembled wheat pastas more than most alternative versions I’ve tried. (At least when it’s hot and tossed with sauce — as with most gluten-free pastas, the texture suffers after a sleepover in the fridge.) So here’s something cool: I talked the nice people at NOW Foods into giving DALS readers 20% off the pasta (and everything else they sell) with code JENNYNOW, good through August 31, 2026. Happy shopping, and don’t say I don’t do anything for you!

A woman of many talents (credit: Books Are Magic)

3. What the Writers are Reading: Emma Straub

If I had to give you a tagline for Emma Straub, I think it would be something like When it comes to joy, she delivers every time. Emma is the owner of Brooklyn’s beloved Books are Magic, the author of multiple bestsellers including this spring’s delightful American Fantasy (just optioned for film by Elisabeth Moss!); and the woman behind a newsletter with the mission statement “thoughts on books and things I feel good about in the world.” (That most definitely includes How to Throw the Best Birthday Party Ever, which in my opinion should win a Pulitzer or whatever the award is for someone who excels at bringing people together in meaningful, jubilant ways.) Last week, when I was in Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill neighborhood, I couldn’t walk two blocks without seeing someone wearing the Books Are Magic special edition Knicks T-shirt (above), and I thought that was as good an excuse as any to ask what’s on her book radar. Take it away, Emma!

What I’m reading now: I usually read two books at a time, one on paper and one in my ears when I go to sleep, but right now I’m trying to pick my First Edition Subscription Club for the rest of the year, and so I am reading about seventeen books, which include Hernan Diaz’s Ply, Emma Cline’s Switzy, and Priyanka Mattoo’s How to Be Less Useful.

Favorite re-read: Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake, which I feel is a perfect book. Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility can also get it. (It, in this case, meaning my undying affection.)

What I had for dinner last night: We are about to leave for vacation and therefore have no food in our house, and so we went to the Montague Diner for dinner, at my childrens’ request. I had grilled salmon with roasted yellow squash and an Israeli couscous situation. It was delicious. I also had some of my childrens’ French fries. Okay I also had some of their mozzarella sticks. Okay okay fine I also had some chocolate milkshake!!! Stop giving me the third degree, Jenny!!!

I’m 100% behind that dinner, Emma! Thanks for playing and LGK 💙🧡💙🧡

Have a great week!

Jenny

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A slam dunk again! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Jenny doesn’t know me, but her words and recipes have shaped my family’s life and eating. And now, she has done it again, with this incredible cookbook. I have made more than 20 recipes from the book (”our favorite kale salad” truly is a favorite for us now!) and it has made me think about eating and cooking in a whole new way.” Amazon reviewer “cookingandtravel” on my New York Times bestselling book The Weekday Vegetarians, shown here with its sequel The Weekday Vegetarians: Get Simple.