Rick Martinez
Senior Food Editor, Emeritus
Rick Martínez is a former senior food editor for BA and currently hosts the companion video series to his debut cookbook Mi Cocina and Sweet Heat, both on the Food52 YouTube channel and Pruébalo on the Babish Culinary Universe channel. He cohosts the Borderline Salty podcast with Carla Lalli Music, is a regular contributor The New York Times, and teaches live, weekly cooking classes for the Food Network Kitchen. He currently resides in Mazatlán with his dog, Choco, where he cooks, eats, and enjoys the Mexican Pacific coast. rick-martinez.com
Shrimp and Pimiento Cheese Grits
Quaker brand grits work really well in this recipe, and they are distributed very widely. If you can’t find them, use any other white, medium-grind, long-cooking grits.
Crispy Thai Chicken Salad
A half a cup of olive oil may seem like whoa, too much, but that's the key to crisping up the chicken.
Minestrone Soup with Acorn Squash
If you don’t happen to have or particularly enjoy pastrami, bacon or pancetta would be a delicious substitute for this minestrone recipe. Check out step-by-step photos here.
Chicken Pot Pie with Acorn Squash
Sauerkraut is our new secret flavoring weapon. It adds a little bit of acid and funk, and this chicken pot pie recipe proves there are so many other uses for it than a hot dog topping. Check out step-by-step photos here.
Ginger Cashew Chicken Curry
Instead of chicken, this curry recipe is really good with boneless pork chops. Cut into ½" pieces and proceed as written. Check out step-by-step photos here.
Lemony Chicken and Rice Soup (Avgolemono)
It’ll take a couple of hours to make the homemade broth and cook a whole chicken (your house will smell amazing) for this soup recipe. If you’ve had a long day, use 2 quarts store-bought broth and shredded meat from a rotisserie chicken. Whatever method you choose, use the chicken breasts to make this amazing salad with crispy rice. Check out step-by-step photos here.
Spicy Pasta with Shrimp and Tomatoes
For a hearty vegetarian version of this pasta recipe, use squash, mushrooms, or eggplants in place of shrimp.
Butternut Squash Cacio e Pepe
Think of this butternut cacio e pepe recipe as pasta cacio e pepe...with sausage. It’s comfort food-y, so it could use some fresh greens and/or veggies to help balance it out. Check out step-by-step photos here.
Herbed Chicken Salad over Crispy Rice
As you’re crisping the rice for this chicken salad recipe, the leeks and carrots may look very dark. Don’t be scared or angry at us; the veggies aren’t burnt, they’re just deeply caramelized and will add lots of flavor to the final dish. Check out step-by-step photos here.
Pastrami Fried Rice
This is going to seem like a lot of oil, but you really need it to a) crisp up the rice and b) make it seem like fried rice and not a rice pilaf. To that end, you can’t use freshly cooked (meaning, still warm and moist) rice for this recipe. If you do, it will get gummy in the pan and won’t crisp. Day-old rice is ideal, or you can quickly dry out a just-made batch. Spread rice on a sheet tray and put in a low oven 5–10 minutes. Let air-dry for about 1 hour and up to 5. Seems nitpicky, but worth .…
Halibut Foil Packs with Chile Butter
Turn this halibut recipe into a dinner bowl by serving the fish and veggies over any warm grains, like rice or barley. Check out step-by-step photos here.
Miso Caramel Apple
The caramel in this recipe is chewy, so it will stick to the apple but won’t turn into a hard shell when cooled.
Adult "SpaghettiOs"
These are extra saucy and a little sweet like the original SpaghettiOs, but with grown-up flavors all around.
The Swing State Cocktail
This is one of the strongest, yet tastiest, cocktails we’ve ever created using ingredients inspired by swing states—just in time to help get you through the election.
Start Sprinkling Shio Kombu on Everything—But First, What Is It?
We can't get enough of this crispy, sweet, umami-packed Japanese seaweed.
No One Is Doing Fall Better than This Hard Cider Sangria
Dear summer, please stay forever. Love, this hard cider sangria.
Apple Dumplings
If the apples aren’t cold when you wrap them, the dough won’t adhere, so make sure to put them in the fridge before you start on the dough for this apple dumplings recipe. For added texture and more fall flavors, stuff 1 Tbsp. cranberries, raisins, or pecans into the space where the apple cores used to be.
Sweet Corn and Ricotta Raviolo
These are jumbo-sized ravioli, and each one envelops an egg yolk, which will run when you cut the pasta open and mingle with the pan sauce. Duh-lish!
Butternut Squash Agnolotti
Agnolotti is one of our favorite pasta shapes because the little pockets catch the sauce; try a variation with a simple ricotta filling and marinara sauce instead. Here are step-by-step instructions on how to make agnolotti.