Melissa Clark

Author, In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite and Cook This
Now; and recipe columnist, The New York Times
New York, New York

How do you come up with original, publishable recipes?

Meet Melissa Clark. Clark has her original recipes published in

The New York Times on an almost weekly basis. Her column, “A

Good Appetite,” is a reader-friendly, food-savvy dispatch that

offers a straightforward yet creative approach to seasonal food.

Week after week she churns out recipes that make their way into

homes across America.

The place where it all starts is the place where I first meet her:

the Union Square Greenmarket in Manhattan. Clark, like many

other accomplished cooks, begins with great ingredients.

“Oohhh, we have to get some of this ricotta,” she says at a

stand that’s selling fresh sheep’s-milk ricotta. She leads us to

another stand for half a loaf of rye bread and then to another stand

for handfuls of sugar snap peas.

As soon as we get to her apartment in Brooklyn, those three

ingredients are put to use as Clark begins to test various crostini

combinations.

The bread gets sliced and popped into a toaster; the sugar snap

peas are slivered and tossed with olive oil, lemon juice, a chopped