Flickr/TT Arvind

Brown rice

We've always believed that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. With that in mind, we've shied away from parboiled rice. But the other day, a bag on the shelf at Trader Joe's caught our eye. Organic, dry, brown basmati rice from India labeled "quick-cook." The front of the bag brags, "Ready in 15 minutes" while the instructions on the back say 10-12 minutes (Make up your mind, guys!) but either way, it's a convenient alternative to the 45 to 50 minutes normally required to prepare brown rice.

Cynics that we are, we figured something had to be funky about this fast and furious rice, especially since the bag has a spiel on it about how the grains are "scarified," which, frankly, scarified us. But our parboiled paranoia was cured by registered dietitian Susan Bowerman, M.S., assistant director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition.

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Farmers Market Fairy

Does it sound like a dream you've had for a while? As in, "I really wish someone would go to the market for me this week." Well, that's why Linda Mark calls herself the Farmers Market Fairy. Her chariot rides on a wave of fairy dust as she flits from one daily market to another, all in service of sprinkling the fairy dust of local fruit and veggies all over your kitchen. Yes, there is a fee, but it's pretty nominal. Because who wouldn't want to support a fairy?

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Patrick M. Gookin II

Pistachio pesto with brown rice from Spork Foods

For sisters Jenny Engel and Heather Goldberg of vegan cooking school Spork Foods, the path for many uninitiated in the possibilities of veganism is sometimes paved with pesto. Built on an unyielding umami-laden trifecta of pistachios, roasted garlic and light miso, the condiment is a veritable Odyssean stratagem. It's purposefully chosen -- served with brown rice and topped with cherry tomatoes and kalamata olives -- for those who haven't been exposed to what Goldberg described as "level two" ingredients like tempeh and seitan. And if you need any mechanical help in the process of making the recipe, check out our recent story: 8 Essential Vegan Kitchen Tools: Spork Foods on Good Knives and Baby Whisks.

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Jenny Engel and Heather Goldberg of Spork Foods.jpg

Jiro Schneider

Jenny Engel and Heather Goldberg of Spork Foods take cooking to a unique vegan-friendly apogee. As full-time sisters, instructors, consultants and now cookbook authors, their relationship to the lifestyle is dedicated. They drop tips on necessary tools -- in no particular rank, save for the chef's knife -- to jump-start vegan cooking in your kitchen. And check back later for their recipe for pistachio pesto.

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Jewish Federation

the 2011 Community Service Day

If arts and crafts with Bubbe isn't your thing, maybe you'd like to help plant a Food Forest in Studio City. Or you can dig in the dirt with the Florence Firestone Community Gardeners. Or if you want to get in on some kitchen action while making new friends, then go to Ronald McDonald House and help cook a truly happy meal. The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles has a menu of volunteer opportunities this Sunday, March 25, for its Community Service Day.

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Follow Evan on Twitter @evankleiman and read her KCRW blog Good Food.

Lauren Noble

Kris Morningstar of Ray's and Stark Bar

The opening line of A Tale of Two Cities might as well have been a Dickensinian prophecy for the 21st century at-home cook for whom there is no better and yet more confusing time. You can build a giant cupcake to be topped by home-made ice cream, all paired with your own soda or beer that you've brewed. This wide scope of available gadgetry and tools is just one aspect of a consumer reality creating anxiety in consumers, as psychologist Barry Schwartz warns in The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less. So when Kris Morningstar of Ray's and Stark Bar shared that a cake tester works double -- sometimes triple -- time for him and his crew, it seemed practical to have him elaborate on his kitchen must-haves.

The Southern California native has been praised for his farm-to-table approach and creative nod to the omnivore diet in various stints at restaurants across town. If anyone can tap into resources for use past its prescribed purpose, it would be him. Case in point: Morningstar uses the aforementioned cake tester to measure the doneness of everything from fish to beets and sunchokes.

"All of our cooks have [a cake tester] either in their salt -- they have them poking out of their salt -- or in their chef coat jacket. At my house, it's in my little salt bin so that it's always easy to grab," Morningstar says.

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Billy Vasquez

the 99 Cent Chef

Where does Billy Vasquez, the 99 Cent Chef, find inspiration for his blog? At L.A.'s ubiquitous 99 Cents Only Stores, of course. His blog reports on the current food items (some vary from day to day) as well as other under-a-dollar bargains at local markets. Using these cheap ingredients, "The Chef," as he refers to himself, creates clever, tasty and often health-conscious recipes that he demonstrates with photographs, video and stop motion animation.

By day, Vasquez is a digital artist, skilled in techniques of visual and audio presentation. His background as an editor, camera operator and director of photography enliven his sometimes prosaic instructions -- cutting an onion, squeezing a lime. The stop motion animation videos are especially unique -- the kind of thing that might show in a theater alongside a feature film. (Check out this video-recipe for chicken stroganoff or scenes of restaurants at night to see the blog in action.) Many of Vasquez's posts are humorous and sometimes feature relatives, friends and neighborhood scenes. Others explore L.A. culture -- perhaps a trip east on the Metro Gold Line, a gay marriage celebration or a night at the Hollywood Park Racetrack. We talked with Vasquez about the blog's origins, his inspiration, and of course, 99 Cents Only Stores.

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Screenshot of Gourmet Gaming's website

Gourmet Gaming's real life version of "The Meat" in classic Sega video game Golden Axe

If you would like to take your video game experience to the next meta-level and, say, concoct a red potion similar to the one Link drinks in The Legend of Zelda, Gourmet Gaming is right up your alley. As both gamer and cook, creator Daniella Zelli takes the foods that exist in popular video games and recreates real life versions of them. Or, as she says by way of introduction: "What's even better [than playing video games and eating] is eating the food from the game I'm playing while I'm playing it."

So far, Zelli has almost 40 recipes, all inspired by video games old and new. Her first entry is "possibly the most famous case of food in a video game ... obviously the cake from Portal." Obviously.

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I got into an elevator empty-handed one recent morning and by the end of a short two-story ride, was the proud owner of a bright orange Le Creuset Dutch oven. A recently married co-worker who'd likely been inundated with new cookware from the registry was trying to get rid of it, for free. "Might as well go to someone who'll use it," he said.

I felt like I'd hit the lottery. Use it? Not only will I use it, it just saved me from ever having to purchase a handful of other massively expensive pieces of kitchen equipment. Yes, Dutch ovens can be expensive on their own, but they're one of the most overachieving multi-taskers in existence. (We know Alton Brown would be proud.) Moreover, they're practically indestructible. As editor Amy Scattergood aptly pointed out, they're like good Italian shoes -- they'll dent the wallet, but you'll never have to replace them.

If you're not so lucky to get one as a castoff, get one somewhere -- a flea market or yard sale if you can't afford one new. In a roundabout way, you will have also purchased the following:

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Paula Deen

Peek-a-boo, y'all.

In the spirit of the season, we thought we'd go through 2011 Rose Parade Grand Marshal Paula Deen's rich, buttery collection of online holiday recipes and highlight a few stand-outs. Deen is the author of cookbooks, magazines and hosts "Paula's Best Dishes" on the Food Network. The take-away? When in doubt, throw everything into a deep fryer.

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