Food Editor Molly Siegler goes back to basics in this week's episodes of Freshly Made, a weekly recipe series on the Whole Foods Market YouTube channel. "Once you master a few techniques by heart — like how to roast a chicken, cook brown rice, and assemble a baked pasta dish — you'll have the building blocks for lots of different dinners and leftover lunches," she says. Watch and learn to get Molly's pro secrets for guaranteed success:
Molly's tips for roast chicken: "Be sure to pat the raw chicken dry with paper towels before you start seasoning — that's the secret for extra crispy skin! And, if any spots start to burn while the bird is in the oven, just tent some aluminum foil over the area to shield it from the heat."
Molly's tips for brown rice: "The basic ratio is one cup rice to two cups water. Measure the first few times, but later on you'll be able to eyeball it so you have twice as much water as rice. Once you bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat, pop the lid on and leave it alone for about 40 minutes. No peeking!"
Molly's tips for baked pasta: "One of my favorite tricks is adding butternut squash purée or pumpkin purée. It makes the dish feel really decadent and creamy without actually adding things that are decadent and creamy. Another fun trick is adding a bag of frozen vegetables. It adds lots of color, and it makes it super easy to get a lot of vegetables in the mix."
