Kara's Recipe Column

I know what you’re thinking…how do you serve dinner without cooking…at least a little? I deliberately omitted the word “salad” from the headline so you’d keep reading. Believe it or not, there are salads that are substantial enough to satisfy even the pickiest (and heartiest) eaters. Salads filled with lots of crunch, a little meat…

Kara Kimbrough We’re only a little over halfway through 2025 and I’m already obsessed with a few things. I’m referring to new supermarket products I’ve discovered; restaurant meals I can’t stop dreaming about, destinations to which I must return and travel products that made my life easier during the first half of the year. In…

By Kara Kimbrough     The Fourth of July is only a few days away, so the first thing I did was check the extended weather forecast. Yep…it’s going to be a scorcher.      Even though I did pick up a new charcoal grill the other day simply because it was on sale post-Memorial Day…

By Kara Kimbrough I was tempted to title this column, “Dishes I wished I tried in Pensacola.” This thought is due to the fact that, although I sampled amazing cuisine during a recent short trip, I either overlooked or ran out of time to sample quite a few amazing dishes whose menu descriptions sounded divine.…

By Kara Kimbrough An eight-mile island of multi-colored water in brilliant tones of blue and emerald green surrounded by sugar-like sand beaches attracts visitors from around the globe to Pensacola. Upon arrival, most head to Pensacola Beach located on Santa Rosa Island. After settling into this true island paradise, there’s much more to enjoy in…

By Kara Kimbrough I’m stealing this phrase…”Secret’s in the sauce” from an old TV commercial and claiming it as the motto for Summer ’25. More specifically, I’ll use it anytime I’m serving burgers, steaks, pork chops or basically any type of grilled meat that need a “little something extra.” I’ll also utter it when preparing…

By Kara Kimbrough Counting the days until it’s time to pack the car and head to the beach? Nothing’s quite as therapeutic as a vacation of sun, sand, shimmering water and seafood. As much as I enjoy dining at restaurants while on vacation, taking a few ready-made meals to bake in the condo, beach house…

By Kara Kimbrough It doesn’t take much to impress me. In fact, I’m often inspired by the simplest things. Take a video I watched this week of a cookbook author preparing four simple items for a spring dinner party: a large green salad with homemade vinaigrette dressing; white bean salad with crunchy vegetables; dry-brined, roasted…

By Kara Kimbrough When I say “salads are spring/summer survival food,” I’m not referring to pale leaves of iceberg lettuce topped with a few shakes of tasteless low or no-fat dressing. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think a top-heavy salad of rich ranch dressing, oil-laden croutons and salty bacon pieces on a miniscule layer…

By Kara Kimbrough Just when I thought I had more than enough Crockpots, I was drawn back in. I’m blaming it on an ad proclaiming the GreenPot, a fancy name for a multi-use Crockpot, could perform 8 miraculous tasks: slow cook, sauté, grill, stir fry, steam, stew, cook rice and keep food warm. As always,…