Jenny Howard, Recipe Tester

A list of all the recipes Jenny Howard has tested.

Jenny Howard grew up in a household where entertaining was a regular excitement. Some of her earliest memories are of roaming the house with her brother the morning after one of her parents’ frequent celebrations, all the haphazardly scattered dishes and glasses (and ashtrays – oh my!) testimony to the good time had by all.

Thus converted early on to the special joy and satisfaction that comes with providing hospitality, she’s journeyed down the food and wine trail in a host of varying directions: cooking school assistant, retail kitchen sales, recipe editing, and testing, catering, wine tasting room management, and most recently as the owner of a mobile pizza catering business, Gigi Rolling Wood-Fired Kitchen, operated out of a belovedly restored 1962 firetruck.

Although pizza and bread are the mainstays in her flour-dusted kitchen, she finds inspiration in all kinds of recipes and loves to venture into new techniques and flavors via the breadth of the Leite’s Culinaria recipe catalog. A large bowl of Carrot Ribbon Salad or White Wine Linguine will often be served at her table.

Jenny recently relocated with her husband and two goofy labradors to Bend, Oregon, where the idiosyncratic effect of high-altitude baking is teaching her new tricks – and keeping her humble!

Eight egg bites stacked on a round white scalloped platter, surrounded by brown eggs.

Egg Bites

These egg bites are the breakfast solution we’ve all been waiting for. They’re easy to make, healthy, portable, and incredibly tasty.

A rectangular baking dish filled with roast chicken, lemon slices, and garlic cloves.

Honey Glazed Chicken with Garlic Confit

This simple, yet elegant roast chicken dinner features chicken pieces that are glazed with honey and vinegar, then slowly roasted in garlic confit until tender and golden. Do we have your attention?

A platter with several crab cake burgers topped with tomato in a soft roll.

Crab Cake Burger

Fresh crab necessitates only Old Bay and very little in way of other ingredients. That’s exactly what you’ll find here.

A white oval serving platter filled with carrot ribbon salad and garnished with cilantro leaves.

Carrot Ribbon Salad

We’re declaring this easy, healthy salad of carrots, cilantro, and toasted cumin vinaigrette your summer go-to salad.

A scoop of easy strawberry icebox cake on a white plate with sliced strawberries and a glass baking dish with the rest of the cake beside it.

Easy Strawberry Icebox Cake

When we described this classic strawberry icebox cake as easy, we weren’t kidding. A quick strawberry puree is layered with whipped cream and vanilla wafers and you’re done. Easiest dessert ever.

Three individual bowls of Instant Pot tuna noodle casserole with three forks and a blue kitchen towel on the side.

Instant Pot Tuna Noodle Casserole

This lightened-up version of the classic creamy pasta dish is filled with vegetables and tuna, and topped with Parmesan bread crumbs. Guaranteed to banish all memories of the gloppy casserole from your youth.

A mason jar with tomato chips spilling out

Tomato Chips

Got some less-than-stellar winter grape tomatoes to use up? Or even a glut of summer ones? These easy tomato chips are our new favorite snack.

A wooden spoon full of pasta noricina

Pasta Alla Norcina

Bowls of creamy pasta laden with homemade sausage and sautéed mushrooms that will have everyone applauding. (Get used to the attention.)

A rectangular pine nut-toffee tart with rosemary and orange cut into triangles

Toffee Tart with Pine Nuts and Rosemary

This tart’s an unusual but fantabulous confection. The meatiness of the nuts, the piney notes of rosemary, the citrusy orange, and sweetness of the toffee play oh-so-nicely together.

Masala smashed potatoes on a white plate, drizzled with cilantro yogurt and garnished with cilantro leaves.

Masala Smashed Potatoes

A sweet little side dish that combines crispy smashed potatoes with the intoxicating flavors of Indian spices. And that cilantro yogurt? Outstanding!

A plate and casserole dish of French onion potato gratin

French Onion Potato Gratin

Upgrade your potato gratin with a little French onion flair. Layers of mushrooms and onions are slipped between potatoes and it all gets covered in cheese.

Roasted Jerusalem artichokes in a white bowl with a fork and napkin in the background.

Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes

Jerusalem artichokes, stump so many of us. But hang on–lots of our testers weren’t hip to them either until they tried (and loved) this recipe. What are you waiting for?

A close-up of a white plate on a wooden table, filled with white wine linguine covered with black pepper and shavings of Parmesan.

White Wine Linguine

Elegant yet exceedingly simple, this white wine linguine beguiles with its rich, silken flavor despite the absence of cream and a touch of butter.

A white platter with melon and cucumber salad with strips of cucumber and melon on a bed of whipped mascarpone, topped with chopped almonds, cilantro and edible flowers.

Melon and Cucumber Salad

The cool combo of cucumber and melon never goes out of style but this version isn’t just gorgeous, it’s also light and refreshing.