Food & Wine Culinary Director Justin Chapple joins us for this episode and shares some mad genius cooking tips for spicing up your kitchen! Inspired by his grandmother’s way of making something out of nothing, Justin has gone on to have an illustrious career helping home cooks cook better, quicker, and more delicious food. For our small bite, we eat a smoky marinara soup that tastes like it’s been simmering for hours.

Connect: Find Justin on Instagram as @justinchapple and on Food & Wine’s video series Mad Genius Tips

Book: Just Cook It by Justin Chapple

Small Bite Recipe: Smoky marinara soup from Just Cook It

Find A Couple Cooks: Find Sonja & Alex on Instagram at @acouplecooks or online at www.acouplecooks.com. Find Pretty Simple Cooking online and everywhere books are sold.

Are carbs bad? Are detox diets worth it? In this episode we sit down with two Registered Dieticians with an evidence based approach to eating: Jess and Wendy of Food Heaven Made Easy and the Food Heaven Podcast. They break down food myths and help us with a few practical meal planning tips. For our small bite, some crispy, salty stovetop potatoes that count as part of a balanced diet!

Connect: Find Wendy and Jess on the Food Heaven Made Easy website, on Instagram as @foodheavenshow, or as hosts of the podcast Food Heaven Show

Small Bite Recipe: Crispy Stovetop Potato Rounds from Food Heaven Made Easy

Find A Couple Cooks: Find Sonja & Alex on Instagram at @acouplecooks or online at www.acouplecooks.com. Find Pretty Simple Cooking online and everywhere books are sold.

Hosting tips straight out of Hollywood from an actress and mom of two! It’s Tiffani Thiessen, who you might know as Kelly Kapowski from Saved by the Bell. Tiffani shares her passion for bringing people together over food, and breaks down some fun ways to help people connect at the dinner table. With her interview, we pair a lemon feta dip from her new book, Pull Up a Chair.

Book: Pull Up a Chair: Recipes from My Family to Yours by Tiffani Thiessen

Small Bite Recipe: Lemon Feta from Pull Up a Chair

Find A Couple Cooks: Find Sonja & Alex on Instagram at @acouplecooks or online at www.acouplecooks.com. Find Pretty Simple Cooking online and everywhere books are sold.

Why eat organic? It’s a complicated question, so we’ve brought in an expert: the famed Gary Hirshberg who founded America’s largest organic yogurt company. Gary breaks down the benefits of organic for us as a Win, Win, Win: and helps us understand how to start with some organic baby steps. For our small bite with Gary’s interview, our fan favorite apple manchego salad. Another must listen!

Connect: Gary’s “origin story” interview on How I Built This

Book: Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World

Resources:

Dirty Dozen List: the top 12 products you should splurge on for organic produce

Skin Deep Cosmetics Database

Gary’s StonyFIELDS project to remove pesticides from playing fields

Small Bite Recipe: Apple Manchego Salad from A Couple Cooks

Find A Couple Cooks: Find Sonja & Alex on Instagram at @acouplecooks or online at www.acouplecooks.com. Find Pretty Simple Cooking online and everywhere books are sold.

“I don’t expect perfection: I long for relationship.” Cookbook author and video series host Ashley Rodriguez joins us to talk about life around the table. In an Instagram-saturated world, how do we overcome our desire for a perfect meal and simply gather around the table? We also chat about teaching kids of all kinds learn to embrace the beauty of food. With Ashley’s interview, we pair a charred scallion dip from her new book, Let’s Stay In.

Connect: Find Ashley Rodriguez at the Not Without Salt website, on Instagram as @ashrod, or as the host and producer of the video series Kitchen Unnecessary

Book: Let’s Stay In by Ashley Rodriguez

Small Bite Recipe: Charred Scallion Dip from Let’s Stay In

Find A Couple Cooks: Find Sonja & Alex on Instagram at @acouplecooks or online at www.acouplecooks.com. Find Pretty Simple Cooking online and everywhere books are sold.

Culinary legend Mark Bittman joins us for an intimate conversation about trendy diets and how to make our world a better place through food. His book Food Matters was a part of a growing food movement 10 years ago, but are we eating better today? After writing a 20-year New York Times food column, authoring countless books and being in 4 television series’, there’s still conversation to be had. With Mark's interview, we pair a simple bruschetta you can make in 5 minutes with simple ingredients.

Connect: Find Mark Bittman at markbittman.com, subscribe to his newsletter here, and follow him on Instagram @markbittman

Small Bite Recipe: White Bean Bruschetta, Idea 19 from 101 Simple Appetizers in 20 Minutes or Less

Find A Couple Cooks: Find Sonja & Alex on Instagram at @acouplecooks or online at www.acouplecooks.com. Find Pretty Simple Cooking online and everywhere books are sold.

This episode stars one woman who’s combating Islamophobia in America one bite at a time! Amanda Saab is founder of Dinner with Your Muslim Neighbor, an organization that brings Muslims and non-Muslims together over home-cooked meals. She’s also the chef behind the Butter Bear Shop bakery in Detroit and star of a new television show called Chef in Hijab. With Amanda’s interview, we pair it with a small bite: a cookie from her Butter Bear Shop.

Connect: Find Amanda Saab at amandasplate.com and on Instagram @amandasplate

Small Bite Recipe: Chocolate Cardamom Halawa Cookies from Butter Bear Shop

Find A Couple Cooks: Find Sonja & Alex on Instagram at @acouplecooks or online at www.acouplecooks.com. Find Pretty Simple Cooking online and everywhere books are sold.

Can what we eat affect climate change? In this episode we take a bite into the big topic of how what we eat affects the planet. We’re joined by Eliza Barclay, Science and Health Editor at Vox.com, to break it down and share practical takeaways to help our world by eating more plant based meals. With Eliza’s interview, we pair a small bite: irresistible tomato almond dip from our vegetarian cookbook, Pretty Simple Cooking.

Read: Eliza Barclay and Umair Irfan’s article, 10 ways to accelerate progress against climate change

Connect: Find Eliza Barclay at Vox.com and on Twitter @elizabarclay

Small Bite Recipe: Irresistible tomato almond dip

Find A Couple Cooks: Find Sonja & Alex on Instagram at @acouplecooks or online at www.acouplecooks.com. Find Pretty Simple Cooking online and everywhere books are sold.

In this episode, we’re transported to Spain by the writer behind the popular blog Gimme Some Oven. Ali Martin reports in from Barcelona about lingering over the table and Spanish tapas. Where American culture is all about speed when it comes to food, Spain is about nourishing relationships around the table. With Ali’s interview, we pair a small bite: homemade roasted patatas bravas.

Connect: Find Ali Martin at www.gimmesomeoven.com, and on Instagram at @gimmesomeoven and @gimmesomeali

Small Bite Recipe: Patatas bravas

Find A Couple Cooks: Find Sonja & Alex on Instagram at @acouplecooks or online at www.acouplecooks.com

In this episode, cookbook author Julia Turshen shares with us how to reinvent leftovers into new dishes, à la her new cookbook Now & Again. Plus, she provides inventive ideas on what to bring if you’re a dinner guest, and how to connect to your community through food. With Julia’s interview, we pair a small bite: charred broccoli crostini with creamy goat cheese.

Connect: Find Julia Turshen on Instagram at @turshen

Book: Find her book Now & Again: Go-To Recipes, Inspired Menus + Endless Ideas for Reinventing Leftovers

Small Bite Recipe: Make crostini, spread with soft goat cheese (chevre), top with roasted broccoli squeezed with fresh lemon juice (we used the Charred Broccoli recipe from Now & Again)

Find A Couple Cooks: Find Sonja & Alex on Instagram at @acouplecooks or online at www.acouplecooks.com