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Longstone Farm

cows local farm oneandahalfslices farm-to-table beef
OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Longstone Farm

cows local farm oneandahalfslices farm-to-table beef

The OneandahalfSlices About page presents somewhat of a mission statement for the blog. Why am I doing this and why are we all here? – aside from the obvious: all the good food! (for the genesis of the name OneandahalfSlices, see Skillet Cornbread). The mission is simple.

 To explore ways to procure local ingredients, to cook more seasonally, and to make food healthier and more delicious at the same time. 

For those of you that know me well, you know that this topic of local, sustainable agriculture is of great importance to me and I do my best to ‘vote with my feet’ when it comes to what I eat. Once a good batch of recipes were up on the site, it was always my intention to bring the focus of the blog to the ingredients that go into those recipes. Because “when you are chasing after the best flavor, you are chasing after the best ingredients and when you are chasing after the best ingredients, you are in search of great farming.” – Chef Dan Barber (who has left his upstate NY Michelin restaurant Blue Hill at Stone Barns to consult at Blackberry Farm in Tennessee). I have many a friend and colleague who have said things like “I don’t eat seafood” or “I really hate green beans” or “mushrooms are gross,” and then proceeded to devour fresh caught Kingfish ceviche, grilled pole beans from the CSA, and fresh foraged morel and chanterelle risotto. You may not think you like green beans if you’ve only ever had them out of a can from the grocery store or slathered in Campbell’s mushroom soup in a Thanksgiving green bean casserole. But a fresh, crisp green bean, with all the flavor and sweetness of summer and sun, is something else entirely. Chef Barber said it more eloquently than I ever could. Food simply tastes better when it’s fresh. And made from ingredients that are in season and are grown in healthy soil that is part of a fully organic ecological system. 

Part of that system is meat (well, animals, really). Enter Longstone Farm in Lovettsville, Virginia. There are few farms in Virginia as dedicated to the narrative described above as Longstone Farm. Family owners Justin and Casey have gone all in with their lifestyle, their family, and their footprint, investing in the recursive, sustainable tenets of organic farming and local community, and producing some of the highest quality meats in Northern Virginia. The cream of their crop are their hogs and I firmly advocate that there is no better porkchop than a Longstone Farm porkchop. They also raise chickens and cattle. I have a lot to learn from the purveyors of Longstone Farm who engage in a lot of community outreach. For example, the photos you see here are from their Sunday Suppers, typically held over the spring/summer/fall seasons once a month, featuring local chefs who craft custom menus using Longstone Farm products. Before that dinner, Casey and Justin host a farm tour complete with hay ride where they show you their farm and briefly explain the rationale behind what they do every day and why. The evening is luxurious, relaxing, and enlightening for those who have never had the opportunity to think of food in a different way – food as community, food as nourishment for muscles and sinew, food as your personal connection to place, purpose, and your own body. 

Here is what you need to know about Longstone Farm:

  • They practice 100% organic, sustainable farming.
  • They have a self-service farm store in Lovettsville where you can buy as much or as little as you desire on your own time. Think it’s not worth the drive? Think about making a monthly trip out to beautiful Virginia countryside to buy local meat in bulk for the freezer to cook incrementally over the next 30-45 days. Not so difficult. Your meat would taste better and you’d be doing your part by supporting local farms!
  • They also have a smaller market on Rout 9. 
  • They offer bulk beef, pork, and chicken shares for those who want to purchase, say, half a cow.
  • Sunday Suppers are amazing but you have to be on their e-mail list to be notified of dates. Drop a comment if you want to be added. 
  • The farmers are serious, knowledgeable, and extremely open and generous with their time.

There will be more posts like these to come on OneandahalfSlices in the future as there are many great farms to explore in Northern Virginia. Ways to eat more locally and sustainably are things I very much want to explore through my cooking and, as mentioned previously, this blog is the chronicle of that exploration. I welcome you all to the OneandahalfSlices table for a 100% local dinner whenever you schedule permits – maybe join us for a Saturday Supper in Arlington and cook with us! And I challenge you all to take one step this year to do something slightly different around your relationship with food. Choose something like a Sunday Supper or The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm for date night. Stop eating foods that come in packages (chips, cookies, soups, instant meals and sides – it doesn’t take that much longer to make those things yourself if you know how – enter OneandahalfSlices). Sign up for a vegetable Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share. Stop buying meat in the grocery store and try Longstone Farm, Spring House Farm Store, or Whiffletree Farm meats instead. Challenging yourself or your household to do just one of these things will make a difference and may just begin an unexpected journey (there and back again) for you and your family. 
Other Local Farms & Eats
one and a half slices local simple recipes food

Three Year Anniversary

Three years of flavor, sprinkles, playlists, and exploration! Whoa. It’s been a ride, you guys. You know. You’ve been here. It may seem like things have been quiet of late – but not so. Here’s the best of 2023 and what we have to look forward to in 2024…

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January 29, 2024 No Comments
rabbit chicken cassoulet recipe simple one pot one and a half slices

Rabbit Cassoulet

Here we are with Protein #2 in our Protein Trio and it’s a bit of a non-standard one. We don’t often cook rabbit but… we totally should! It is more delicate than chicken with more flavor, but still not too gamey. Cassoulets are bean-based stews with a protein that can stew all day or come together quite quickly. They are hearty and Fall-ish, and I am thrilled to have this one on my table. You can make this with roasted chicken or a sausage if the rabbit is a stretch for you.

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September 22, 2023 No Comments
one and a half slices

Salt

“I have two lovers in life that I have never slept with. The city of Paris and potatoes.” – Francis Mallmann. The taste of empanadas, parrillada, and red wine came to flavor my adolescence, calibrating my tastes – both for food and experience – for something deeper.

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January 28, 2023 5 Comments
one and a half slices Christmas 2022 present package recipe gift

Happy Christmas 2022

Happy Christmas 2022 and a Rice Krispie Treat with #holidayvibes If you worked for me, with me, or with Merigold Analytics in 2022, chances are you got one of these in early December. These little boxes are filled with the stuff dreams are made of – stickers, marshmallows, and Oreo cookies. This Christmas season, OneandahalfSlices made layered rice krispies stuffed with Oreo, Biscoff, Graham, candy cane, and many, many, tiny marshmallows. We celebrated Christmas this

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December 25, 2022 1 Comment
One and a half Slices october oktoberfest fall vibes

Oktoberfest

October has always been my favorite month (for cooking, for being). Let me tell you why.

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October 30, 2022 1 Comment
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Veggie

Spaghetti Al Limone

one and a half slices local simple recipes food

Spaghetti al Limone

This is a fresh, light, summery pasta dish I have wanted to try for a long time in keeping with my predilection for lemon things (like my equally as simple Little Lemon Cake). Pasta al Limone is an Italian classic (see notes below for short commentary on ‘Italian Classics’). It requires just a handful of ingredients and only takes as long to make as it does to boil pasta. I like it with a piece of lemon-marinated, grilled chicken on top. Lemon and Pasta may not seem like two things that go together but, trust me, they do. It has an elegant simplicity to it that is perfect for a summery Sunday afternoon, a weeknight, or a date night. Do something different. Lemon Pasta. 🍋 

what you need

Zest from 1 lemon

1-2 generous tablespoons lemon juice, depending on desired lemon flavor

1/2 package dry spaghetti noodles

1 handful of fresh basil or mint, cut into strips

1 cup Parmesan Reggiano cheese

3 tablespoons good olive oil

(optional) 1/2 tablespoon butter

(optional) pine nuts, toasted

Suggested chicken marinade: the rest of the lemon juice, salt, pepper, dash cayenne

🍋🍋🍋

how to make it

Begin boiling pasta per directions on package. 

In serving bowl, zest the lemon and add the lemon juice. Grate cheese using fine hand grater, and add olive oil, salt, and black pepper to taste. Using a whisk or a fork, mix ingredients until just combined. When pasta is almost finished, spoon 2 tablespoons of pasta water into the serving bowl along with the butter (if using), and resume combining cheese mixture. Reserve 1 cup of hot pasta water and set aside. 

Strain the pasta and place into serving bowl. It is important you do this while pasta is piping hot. Using tongs, begin to mix the pasta and the cheese mixture until thoroughly combined, adding pasta water 1 tablespoon at a time as needed. Be sparing.

Once sufficiently combined, mix in basil and top with pine nuts (if using). Serve warm with a piece of grilled lemon chicken over the top. 

Afterward on ‘Italian Classics’ The Italians have always created pasta dishes that the rest of the world covets. That perfect, carrot-and-celery-scented bolognese, a light and airy fettuccine alfredo, the illusive meatball. Also, the seemingly simple dishes that are still fantastic – Cacio e Pepe, Pomodoro sauce, Bruschetta, Caprese. So what is so difficult to recreate about authentic Italian cuisine? And why do Italian restaurants here in the US leave you feeling overly full and uncomfortable? The short answer to both questions is ingredients. I have compiled a list of Italian cuisine rules of thumb that are by no means comprehensive but will instantly improve your Italian dishes once implemented. The first is by far the most important.

1) Most American renditions of Italian cuisine are cream and/or butter based. Most authentic Italian dishes are actually olive oil and/or pasta based. In short, we use cream and butter to make our dishes ‘creamy’ all the while removing the natural thickening agent present in all pasta. As pasta boils, the gluten cooks out into the pasta water. This means that a little bit of pasta water acts like a thickening agent that could form the basis for a creamy sauce. This is the case in Pasta al Limone, where the seemingly ‘creamy’ pasta sauce can be created using little to no butter or cream, and only a splash of reserve pasta water. The only dairy you really need is the cheese. See the cooking technique for Pasta al Limone above for an illustration of this practice. 

2) Do not make red sauces heavier by using red wine. Use white wine instead.

3) Use nutmeg to accent white, creamy sauces, and fennel to accent dark, red sauces. 

4) Turn to good olive oil, salt, and pepper for seasoning and saucing first before butter, cream, sugar, and cheese.

5) Do not put sugar in your red sauce. Or buy red sauce with sugar listed as an ingredient. Ever. Period. If you do this, we are no longer friends. 

Other Pasta Dishes
spaghetti Bolognese recipe pasta oneandahalfslices

Essential Bolognese Sauce

This Bolognese sauce is as authentic as they come, with a counterintuitive yet elegantly simple sauce making process that will ensure you never touch another jar of Classico. It is meaty, salty, and carries richness made possible only through the simplest yet most flavorful of vegetables – carrot and celery. And also… let’s talk about olive oil.

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October 21, 2020 16 Comments

Pasta Verte

This is the freshest, crispest, heartiest, lightest, most beautiful springtime thing I can think to make when the chill finally leaves the Virginia air around noontime but the mornings are still a little frosty. You can make it in one pot, with one blender, and with one half hour, which makes it a great weekday lunch if you’re working from home or weeknight dinner if you walk in late. Join me in getting my green on, courtesy of David Frenkiel from Green Kitchen Stories. David takes much better photographs than I do but I’ve made a few design modifications to the original recipe that I think serve this one well. 🌷

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April 7, 2021 No Comments
pasta recipe pomodoro red creamy simple easy sauce

Pasta Pomodoro

Pomodoro sauce is the Italian name for the simple tomato-based mother sauce, as “pomodoro” means “tomato” in Italian. It is meant to be the quickest, simplest pasta topper and I give it to you here in five simple steps that will keep you away from canned pasta sauce for life.

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November 7, 2021 No Comments
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Veggie

Grilled Cheese

OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Grilled Cheese

Hold up… before you read any further, you’re also going to want this (Roasted Tomato Soup recipe). 

🍅🍅🍅

Now that you have both tabs open, let’s proceed.

I once had a friend make me a baked brie, bacon, apple, and honey grilled cheese on sourdough. It was delightful (and delivered alongside Sudafed as I was deathly ill at the time). But I’ll be honest… grilled cheese does not need to be fancy. It needs to be cheesy, melty, crunchy, and ideally use a cheese that is a step up from the traditional American slices (Singles on Wonderbread only acceptable in golf pro shops).  The recipe below is the Piemaker’s and his alone, for he has perfected, aside from pie, the art of the grilled cheese.

It is masterful. It is simple. It is exactly what you need it to be. The Classic Grilled Cheese Sandwich.

what you need

Bread. In my opinion, challah bread is unmatched when it comes to grilled cheese, but you can really use just about anything. Challah bread is a sweeter, egg-based brioche bread. Slice it normal width – too thick and the bead won’t crisp properly. 🍞

Cheese. We’ve tried lots of cheeses. I like good, imported cheese, but it frequently isn’t soft enough to melt properly. Jarlsberg will give you a swiss-flavor. A gouda-type will definitely be soft enough to melt. My pick is Kerrygold Blarney Castle – Smooth and Milk Gouda-style cheese that you can pick up in most deli sections. 🧀

Butter. Salted butter works best. 🧈

how to make it

Heat oven to 350. Make sandwiches with just bread and cheese. Place on wire oven rack so both sides of sandwich are exposed and baked for ~5 minutes until the cheese begins to melt.

Remove sandwiches from oven and butter both sides generously. Crisp up the sandwiches in a pan on the stove over medium heat, ~2-3 minutes per side until desired golden-brown color is reached. 

Serve with Roasted Tomato Soup!
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Veggie

Tomato Soup

oneandahalfslices tomato soup recipe summer
OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Roasted Tomato Soup

oneandahalfslices tomato soup recipe summer

Everyone needs a good, solid, simple tomato soup recipe because, let’s face it, if you’re past the age of 5, Campbell’s just doesn’t cut it. I don’t claim that this will be the best tomato soup you’ve ever tasted, but it is very straightforward and easy to whip up during the summer months when there is an excess of the fruit. My CSA, Potomac Vegetable Farms, has a couple weeks of all-you-can-cook tomato availability – so soup and sauce get made, consumed, and frozen for later in the Fall. So get your grilled cheese ready, turn on the oven, and slice up your beautiful reds. 🍅

what you need

🍅3-4 pans full of ripe tomatoes of any kind

🧅1-2 shallots or small onions

🌶1-2 bell peppers

🧄2-3 garlic cloves

🌿1 handful of fresh basil

🍗1-1 1/2 cups chicken bouillon

olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, cayenne pepper (if desired)

how to make it

Preheat oven to 400. Slice the tomatoes and the peppers into very thick pieces and distribute around foil-covered pans. 

Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, dried oregano, thyme, and cayenne pepper flakes (if using). Peel shallots/onions and garlic, and wrap in foil. Place on pans next to tomatoes. Roast pans for 45-60 minutes, until the tomatoes are cooked thoroughly but not burned. 

Once slightly cool, slide the skins off the tomatoes (alternatively, you can strain the soup after the fact). Place the tomatoes, peppers, garlic cloves, and shallots/onions in a food process and process until smooth. Add the basil and process again.

Add the chicken stock and process a third time (you may have to add the chicken stock in two or three batches, removing a little of the pureed tomatoes into a large bowl each time to make room). Once all the stock has been added, transfer all of the soup into a large bowl and stir. During the transfer, you can strain the soup through a mildly course colander if you chose to leave the skins on before pureeing. Taste the soup and adjust seasoning for salt and pepper. 

Serve warm with crusty bread or grilled cheese!

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Omni

Beef Stew

OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Beef Stew

I know it isn’t exactly stew season (August) but I’ve had stew beef from the meat shack (Springhouse Farm Store) for a hot minute and stew needed to be made. Beef Stew is also not the most photogenic main course but man is it satisfying. So here it is – a quintessential, traditional, hearty, beautiful Beef Stew.

what you need

1-1 1/2 pounds stew meat

6-8 small potatoes (red or white) or 2 medium sized baking potatoes

2-3 medium carrots

3/4 cup tomatoes (cherry or regular sized, diced – can substitute with 1 can of diced tomatoes)

1 onion (Vidalia or Spanish/Yellow)

3 1/2 cups beef broth 

Salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste

1 cup red wine

2 tablespoons red wine or sherry vinegar

3 tablespoons Worchester sauce

2 bay leaves

2-3 tablespoons oregano

1/4 cup flour

3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

(optional) 6-8 button or cremini mushrooms, halved

how to make it

Note: You can get away with shortening the simmer times slightly if you’re on a compressed timeline, but be sure the meat simmers for at least 1 1/2 hours total.

Heat oil in dutch oven or stew pot over high heat. Toss stew meat in flour, salt, and black pepper. Add meat to pot, ensuring not to crowd, and brown on all sides. Remove from pot and set aside.

Add vinegar, red wine, beef broth, and Worchester sauce to the pot and stir, scraping the leftover meat bits up off the bottom. Add the bay leaves, oregano, red pepper flakes, and black pepper, and bring to a boil. Add the meat and simmer on lowest heat, covered, for 2 hours. 

Consume remainder of bottle of red wine, because, you know, it will go to waste… 😏

At the two hour mark, chop about 1/3 of the potatoes into course chunks and add to stew pot. Simmer another 1 hour.

Add carrots, remaining potatoes, onion, tomatoes, and mushrooms (if using) to pot and continue to simmer (covered) for an additional 45 minutes. 

Stir vigorously and cook uncovered for an additional 30 minutes, or just let the bot sit so some of the liquid can evaporate. Serve hot, in cauldrons, with crusty bread and a flagon of wine, if at all possible. 🍷
More Stews
lentil sausage stew soup recipe oneandahalfslices

Viking Lentil Stew

If there is crisp in the air, you want this. You want two bowls of this. And you want it with parmesan cheese on top. It is the most flavor-rich, complex soup I have probably ever tasted. It leaves you full, warm, and longing to make another pot. The secret is in the quality of the sausage.

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October 21, 2020 1 Comment
one and a half slices dahl indian lentil stew

Dahl (Indian Lentil Stew)

Dahl is an understatement of a dish. Pitch “lentils and spinach cooked until mushy” to most people and you’re unlikely to garner much enthusiasm. But this dish… this dish… is a healthy, satisfying, vegan, weeknight game changer. It is rich and hearty, and I am pretty sure you could top crispy, sea-salted naan with Pennzoil and I’d eat it. The curry spices are not as prominent as in most Indian dishes so the flavors are subtle and the lemon keeps it fresh.

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October 22, 2020 3 Comments

White Bean Chorizo Soup

As we enter into the longest winter months with January barely having come to a close, it seems like it will never be warm again. These are the months for soups, stews, and roasts; hearty and cozy. This is one such soup. It is creamy (without any cream) and I hereby dub it my Winter Soup, topped with spicy chorizo, salty pepitas, and a dash of oregano.

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February 6, 2021 1 Comment
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Omni Veggie

Rice Pilaf

OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Customizable Rice Pilaf

This highly customizable rice pilaf rounds out my rice trifecta – Customizable Fried Rice, Indian Biryani Rice, and this one. This is by far the most customizable of the three. You can make it how you want it – side dish, main course, protein of choice, strictly vegetarian. You can choose a Moroccan, Mediterranean, or Latin flavor profile with the spices that you select. My favorite is a chicken-centric, Moroccan-esque varietal. All you have to do is follow a simple process: 1) Base, 2) Spices, 3) Veggies, 4) Rice, 5) Broth, 6) Garnish, and it’s ready in 30.  

how to make it

(the bolded ingredients make my stand-by, Moroccan profile rice pilaf pictured above)

1) BASE. This is where you establish the flavor profile of your pilaf. Start by heating 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat in a large pan. Then add 3/4 cup of any of the following along with salt and pepper, and sauté ~2-4 minutes. 

  • Diced Vidalia or Spanish onion
  • Minced ginger root
  • Minced shallot
  • Diced carrot
  • Diced celery
  • Diced fennel 

2) SPICES. This is where you build the flavor profile of your pilaf. You don’t want to drown the rice in spices like you might a curry; rather, lightly fragrance the rice with 1-3 spices of your choosing. Add 1 scant tablespoon of spices total, choosing from the following:

  • Lemon zest
  • Cinnamon
  • Cayenne
  • Oregano
  • Mint
  • Turmeric
  • Coriander
  • Cumin
  • Saffron

3) VEGGIES. This is where you can give your rice a little extra, if you desire. Throwing in some small broccoli florets, green peas, snap peas, or diced bell pepper here can give your rice a little more body. For my Moroccan pilaf, I add a handful of Golden Raisins or sometimes a diced apple. Give your mixture a good stir and another 60 seconds over medium-high heat

4) RICE. Now add 1 cup of rice of choice, dry. Jasmine rice or basmati rice tend to work best to absorb the flavors, but I’ve also made it with long-grained brown rice. Stir the grains until coated and sauté an additional ~2-3 minutes. If the mixture is starting to burn or looking a little dry, you can add another dash of olive oil or toasted sesame oil. 

5) BROTH. This is the part that sets rice pilaf apart from normal rice – it is cooked in broth. Add 1 1/2 cups of broth – chicken, vegetable, homemade, or Knorr, your choice. Throwing in a splash of white wine is also acceptable and perhaps a little more salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a light simmer, cover, and cook for ~15 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. Then remove the rice from the heat, cover with a clean dish towel, and replace the lid, letting the rice rest for 10 minutes (this is key to making your rice fluffy not sticky!). 

6) GARNISH. This is the best part of the entire pilaf. It’s where you add freshness and crunch to the beautifully rich flavor profile you’ve just created. Choose one thing green and one thing crunchy from the options below:

  • Minced chives
  • Fresh parsley
  • Fresh cilantro
  • Fresh mint
  • Toasted almonds
  • Toasted pistachios 
  • Toasted pine nuts (also a favorite)
  • Toasted hazelnuts (also a favorite)
  • Toasted cashews (also a favorite)
  • Toasted pecans
  • Marinated, baked, chunked chicken or protein of choice

Fold in your garnish, fluff up this rice, and serve. The Moroccan style tends to pair well with a lemon wedge to squeeze on top for that added brightness. It may look like a lot but these six simple steps, once mastered, yield a full-bodied, hearty rice pilaf that can serve as a side dish or an entire meal. Of all three OneandahalfSlices rice dishes, this is by far my fav!
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Other Rice Things

Fried Rice

July 24, 2025 4 Comments

A quintessential fried rice recipe. AKA what to do with leftover rice, weeknight style. This hits. Make it spicy. 🌶️ Get some sake. Fuck it, go to Japan.

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Moroccan Tagine

September 21, 2024 4 Comments

I have been SO excited to release this post!!! Why? Because this is your new weeknight dinner. It will impress your family, fill your stomach, warm your heart, and make your house smell like North African spices. I started making tagine years ago when I first moved to DC and came across a tagine in World Market. I was instantly and aesthetically intrigued, and purchased the thing on the spot not having a clue what I would do with it. Well… figured that one out. A tagine is the OG slow cooker.  And whatever you put inside – lamb, chicken, chickpeas, rabbit, potatoes – you will taste the spicy exoticism. If you don’t have a tagine, no worries. You can make it in a Dutch oven, stovetop or, yes, in a slow cooker. And before you think this is just chicken slow roasted in tomato sauce… keep reading…

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oneandahalfslices black bean bowls homemade grilled corn mexican

Black Bean Bowls

October 15, 2022 3 Comments

Man, I gotta say, bowls have to be the biggest culinary hack for weeknight dinner. These Mexicali bowls are one of my standbys. The recipe I’m going to give you is for homemade black beans which, after you make them once, you’ll never buy another can of black beans again. Then I’ll leave a few bowl assembly hints for you at the bottom. #summervibes

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Cashew Chicken Noodle

OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Spicy Cashew Chicken Noodles

This is a sweet, interesting, one-pot weeknight meal that can be made quickly with fresh mango, pineapple, peach, or preserves. Throw in some Thai basil or spinach for a little hint of green and choose your favorite rice vermicelli noodle! If you’re a fan of cashews, this one is a winner. 🍜

what you need

1 1/2 cups pureed mango, pineapple, or peach

OR

1/2 cup mango, pineapple, or peach preserves

1/4 cup soy sauce or Tamari

1 tablespoon honey (you can skip this if using preserves)

1 squeeze fresh lemon juice

1 small knob of fresh ginger, minced

//

2 medium chicken breasts, diced

1 handful Thai basil or spinach, cut into ribbons

1 cup cashews, lightly toasted in the oven

1 package vermicelli rice noodles or noodle of choice 

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 large clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup red onion or shallot, sliced thinly

1 tablespoon red chili flakes

sesame seeds, for garnish

4 tablespoons coconut milk or cream

how to make it

Toast the cashews. In the oven until lightly browned.

Marinate the chicken. Mix together pureed fruit, soy sauce, honey, lemon juice, and ginger. Pour 1/3 of mixture over diced chicken and allow to marinate for at least one hour. 

Cook the noodles. Heat one small pot of water to boiling, remove from heat, and insert noodles. Stir and let stand for ~5 minutes. Strain and toss with salt and coconut milk. Set aside. 

Make the sauté. Heat the sesame oil over med-high heat. Add garlic, red onion, and chili flakes, stirring about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add marinated chicken chunks and cook almost through, about 7 minutes. (The longer you leave the chicken undisturbed in the pan, the more likely it is to caramelize). Once almost cooked through, add the remaining marinade and stir for an additional 3-5 minutes.

When ready (when chicken is cooked through and/or caramelized), add the toasted cashews and spinach, and stir until spinach begins to wilt.

Presentation. Using a spoon, push all the chicken to the sides of the pan leaving a hole in the middle. Twist the vermicelli noodles into four bouquets to fill this hole and then arrange the chicken back around it so that all the food is in the center of the pan. Sprinkle with additional Thai basil and sesame seeds. 

Watch a live video of this one-pot meal being made on the @oneandahalfslices Insta!

 
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Other Rice Noodle Ideas

Fried Rice

July 24, 2025 4 Comments

A quintessential fried rice recipe. AKA what to do with leftover rice, weeknight style. This hits. Make it spicy. 🌶️ Get some sake. Fuck it, go to Japan.

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one and a half slices cucumber healthy summer sesame side dish salad

Cucumber Sesame Salad

July 22, 2023 1 Comment

There is nothing not to like about this salad side dish: crunchy, cool, tangy, imminently refreshing, conveniently hydrating. Picnic ready and good in the fridge for a couple days.

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one and a half slices authentic katsu chicken ramen recipe

Katsu Ramen

March 19, 2022 1 Comment

You all know that 2021 was the year of the Ramen for me… I discovered it in the summer of 202 (thanks Christian and Hadlee 💜) and set to work recreating less sodium-intense, more veggie-friendly versions at home. Taking the extra step to make the chicken katsu isn’t as straightforward as the veggie ramen but it does add another dimension which is very much appreciated on cold winter nights or crisp spring evenings.

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Miso Ramen

April 17, 2021 2 Comments

This is a hearty, complex take on Ramen with about 1/3 of the sodium and no fatty meat. Using eggs as protein, this dish is bolstered with thick-cut Portobello mushrooms and crunchy veggies like broccoli and bok choy. 

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Thai Curried Noodles

March 11, 2021 2 Comments

This is a unique, Thai-style curry with the poignant flavors of shallot, turmeric, coconut, and ginger over noodle. It is somehow hearty enough for winter but light enough for summer at the same time, and it is likely my new favorite Thai-style curry. So throw in a Thai chili, spice it up, and get to marinating!

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Veggie

Caesar Salad

caesar salad sauce recipe one and a half slices
one and a half slices recipes local delicious food

Caesar Salad

caesar salad sauce recipe one and a half slices
florida

Anyone who cooks has a handful of recipes handed down from their mother, their grandmother, an aunt. I can proudly say that it is my mother who taught me to cook. More importantly still, she didn’t just teach me how to cook but what to cook – what to eat. I am pretty sure she said “eat food, not too much, mostly plants” long before Michael Pollan did. In my younger years I remember her sending me out to the garden to collect the evening’s herbs or sticking a sauce in my mouth off the stove to ask what flavors I tasted. “Salty” didn’t cut it. 

Through my twenties I set to work experimenting with the old favorites she used to make and trying to haphazardly recreate them in whatever kitchen I could make use of that year as I bounced from state to state, university to university. During this time, I also developed a culinary style of my own, favoring one pot meals over her more comprehensive family-style table setting, and foreign flavors like curries, Georgian, Turkish, and Far East soups. Now, returning to my hometown is a joy because we split the cooking. One night I make something exotic, the next night she makes the one thing that is best in Florida – fresh fish (baked, grilled, with sauces, with salsas, on salads, any which way). 

This Caesar Dressing, though, will always have a special place in my heart. It is the best Caesar dressing, and at one time during my childhood, we had it several times a week, but most importantly on Sundays. During my senior year of high school, my parents indulged a teenage ritual that came to be known as Hot Tub Sundays. There were three of us total, the other two, fellow thespians, and any additional people that wandered in to join any particular Sunday evening collection. We would sit in the hot tub and jump off the large rock statues into the pool while mom made “mocktails” and dad tried to prod us into playing poker with the card deck he had personally laminated (things only retired people do).  The only problem was, if you made so much as a ripple in the water surface, the cards sank to the bottom. 

After the ritualistic soak, the dinner bell rang, calling us all to a buffet indoors of dad’s cheeseburgers, mom’s parmesan red potatoes (skillet-style, in the oven), and mom’s Caesar salad. My friends referred to this as “salad with the Caesar dressing” and the one time it was substituted for a more traditional salad with vinaigrette, the objections were so vehement it became apparent this Sunday evening event required some modicum of culinary consistency. So here we have it. The Salad with the Caesar dressing recipe. Today, I prefer my Caesar salads with avocado, or sometimes with chicken. Red onions, tomatoes, and hard boiled eggs are also welcome additions. So feel free to beef this up or tone it down depending on if it is your main course or just your side salad. But that dressing… you’ll never buy another jar of Marie’s. I promise.

what you need

1 tablespoon unsweetened Greek yogurt (mom uses mayonnaise)

1 small clove of garlic

2/3 cup grated parmesan reggiano cheese

1 tablespoon good olive oil (if you don’t know what constitutes “good” olive oil, check out the notes at the bottom of the Essential Bolognese Sauce post)

3/4 tablespoon anchovy paste (do not skip this!)

Salt and black pepper to taste; dash of cayenne if desired

1 tablespoon whole grain mustard

1-2 tablespoons nut milk or whole milk, as required

1 hefty squeeze lemon juice

how to make it

Combine all ingredients in small blender and combine until smooth. Add the milk little by little until the mixture has enough liquid to mix.

Note that if your small blender is strong enough, you likely won’t need to pre-mince the garlic clove at all. 

To serve, toss dressing with: romaine lettuce (grilled or raw), thinly sliced red onions, chunked chicken (grilled or baked), diced hard boiled egg, a little extra lemon juice, and top with a little extra parmesan cheese. 

Some of you may be wondering how this differs from my Caesar Sauce. The Sauce is more of a dipping sauce, has stronger flavors, and is much more obviously yogurt based. This is your classic, quintessential, tried and true Caesar salad dressing.

Before Grilling
With Egg
After Grilling
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Veggie

Biryani Rice

OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Vegetable Biryani

one and a half slices biryani indian rice recipe simple

I made biryani a couple of times to master the technique, but don’t let the seemingly involved instructions deter you. I’ve made it simple, and if you’re a fan of Indian food – biryani, in particular – you totally got this! This is a vegetable version which I feel works best when it prominently features cauliflower, but you can easily make steak or chicken biryani as well. This biryani rounds out my trifecta of main course rice dishes, to include my Mongolian Beef Fried Rice recipe and super flexible Chicken Rice Pilaf recipe (which has yet to make its way to the blogosphere… coming soon). Anyway, get out your spices and give this hearty, spicy, beauty a try. If you’re really feeling committed to a full Indian/Pakistan spread, pair this alongside my classic Chicken Korma Curry (30 minute curry video version found here).  

Pre-Cook
Dum
Post-Cook
Ready!

what you need

1 cup long-grain basmati or jasmine rice, pre-soaked for 1 hour or more

3 medium carrots, diced

3/4 cup frozen peas

1/2 head cauliflower, cut into florets and, if desired, marinated in olive oil, cayenne pepper, and turmeric

1 whole Spanish or yellow onion cut into strips

1 knob fresh ginger root (can use ginger powder)

(optional) 1/2 knob fresh turmeric root

2 cloves of fresh garlic

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt + more for serving

1/2 cup fresh cilantro and/or fresh mint, chopped

3/4-1 cup halved cashews or cashew pieces

3-4 tablespoons ghee (or butter)

1/8 cup whole milk, warmed slightly

1 pinch dried saffron strands, crushed

Spices: 1 cinnamon stick or cinnamon powder, cloves, 1 bay leaf, black pepper, salt, red chili flakes to taste (for spiciness), coriander, cumin, cardamom, mace or nutmeg, turmeric.

how to make it

You are going to need one large, preferably non-stick sauté pot with a lid and some tinfoil for this recipe.

Prep steps: Crush saffron strands and deposit in warmed milk. Set aside until the milk turns a beautiful yellow color, like dying Easter eggs! And soak the rice. 

Boil rice: Set a small pot to boil on the stove flavored with cloves and cardamom. Once boiling, add strained rice and cook until al dente, ~7-8 minutes. Remove from heat, strain rice, mix with 1 tablespoon ghee, and set aside. 

Meanwhile, sauté vegetables: Add 1  tablespoon ghee to pan and caramelize the onions, sautéing on low for ~20-25 minutes. Remove from pan. Add a tad more ghee and throw in those cashews, stirring constantly so they only brown but do not burn. Remove from pan. Now throw in the cauliflower, carrots, and peas with a bit more ghee and sauté ~6-8 minutes until they begin to soften. Remove from pan. Now all your veggies are pre-cooked.

Make the biryani: Place a bit of ghee in the bottom of the pan (no need to wash it out) on low heat. Add the cinnamon stick and all the spices, stirring to keep from burning. As the spices sizzle, grate the garlic cloves, the ginger knob, and the turmeric root (no need to peel) over the mixture with a hand grater like this one. Stir well and, before anything starts to burn but after the spices have opened up, add 1/2 cup of water, scraping any bits up off the bottom of the pan. Add the vegetables back in along with the bay leaf, stirring the entire mixture and salting generously. Cook uncovered on medium heat for ~8 minutes. 

The cashews, mint, and saffron milk should still be resting…

Layer the biryani: Remove mixture from heat and whisk in the yogurt, whisking constantly to avoid curdling. Then remove half the mixture from the pan and set aside, spreading the remaining mixture in the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle some cilantro/mint and cashews on top before adding about half the rice and pressing down firmly. Add the rest of the vegetables, another layer of cilantro/mint and cashews, and the remaining rice. Your final layer on top should be rice. Press the mixture down firmly and drizzle with saffron milk.

“Dum”: Affix the pan tightly with tinfoil covering the top and place the lid down tightly on the tinfoil. Cook stovetop on lowest possible heat setting for ~25 minutes. 

Serve!: Remove lid and tinfoil, and stir biryani generously, spooning portions into bowls. You did it! See? Not so hard. Homemade vegetable biryani. 

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Omni

30 Minute Curry

OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

30 Minute Curry

I know there is already a recipe up for my beloved Chicken Korma curry, best served with naan, over basmati rice or, my favorite, with arugula dressed with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. As I’ve been chatting with more and more folks, I continue to hear that homemade, restaurant-grade curry is intimidating to make because of all the grinding, mortar-and-pestling, and slow cooking that is required. So I decided to make a video with the 30 minute version of my chicken korma to show that, as long as you have enough forethought to marinate some chicken in some lemon juice, this really doesn’t have to be all that difficult. So for those who don’t follow OneandahalfSlices on Instagram (which you totally should), here you go! You could have this in 30! 

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